My 2023 book hauls are only just beginning…

 With a new year comes many more opportunities to pile up more books for reading and already my TBR stacks have started to get a bit steep there.

So, let’s begin with my Christmas book haul, which was  comprised of my December BOMC box(just easier that way).

Under my holiday tree we’re two more Evie Dunmore titles(A Rogue of One’s Own, Portrait of a Scotsman) and R. F. Kuang’s Babel, the latter that I’m making a leisurely but steadfast progress through.

Set in pre-Victorian England, a young man who has named himself Robin Swift is entering the title institute for advanced studies in translation. 

Robin was brought to Britain as the ward of Professor Lovell as a boy due to his mother’s death in Canton from a raging epidemic of cholera. Robin’s skills at multiple languages are impressive as well as his talent for tapping into the magic of silver bars, a much sought after power source dominated by the British empire.

Adjusting as well as he can to another new life, Robin makes a few friends who are considered outsiders much like himself and who are equally excited to increase their linguistic abilities.

However, Robin discovers a group of rebels known as the Hermes Society who seek proper redistribution of the silver bars for those unable to use their powers for the betterment of the less fortunate. He also learns a few secrets about his benefactor that tips him further towards a set of divided loyalties that could change not only his future but the world itself.

So far, this story is incredibly engaging, the kind of book that you need to force yourself to slow down and savor. Kuang’s world building is as elegantly designed as a Christopher Wren piece of architecture and this tower of knowledge is well worth climbing indeed:

Meanwhile, my January Book of the Month Club picks have been delivered and it’s a tempting trio to be sure.

One of the headliners here is Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh, which chronicles an underworld gang of female criminals in post-WWII London.

Ruled by the infamous Alice Diamond, this select set of high class shoplifters regularly rob the top department stores of thousands of pounds worth of merchandise. Least you think these ladies are the meek and mild sort, Alice arms herself with a razor at the ready and uses her often worn diamond rings as a set of brass knuckles.

Entering this ruffian realm is Nell, hoping to better her already unfortunate circumstances by making some needed coin but soon enough sees a chance to move up this precarious ladder. Can she join the inner court of Queen Alice without stepping on too many toes or better still, make a play for this criminal throne herself?

I do like historical fiction set within a time frame of social upheaval, which was a significant part of this era in England, and Alice Diamond is definitely a crown princess of crime that I would love to get more acquainted with:

While I’m saving my other recent BOMC pick for an upcoming readathon (more on that soon!), I did round my selections out with a much talked novel from last year-Lessons in Chemistry

by Bonnie Garmus.

Our leading lady is Elizabeth Zotts, a chemist in the 1950s who is unceremonious drummed out of her job at a research laboratory due to the rigid moral code placed on women in those days(which haven’t changed enough, some would say).

Nevertheless, she manages to find work as the hostess of a TV cooking show called Supper at Six. As it turns out, Elizabeth is deftly able to mix in a few chemistry tips during her culinary lessons that appear to go under the radar of the men in charge.

While she enlightens her home audience in more ways than one, Elizabeth does her best to find her own way to personal happiness with the help of some good friends and a clever dog named Six Thirty.

This book has made quite a few Best of the Year lists and the word of mouth praise has been abundant to say the least. 

However, I am intrigued by the whole cooking show/chemistry education angle of the story here as modern cuisine has taken up this combo strongly with the past several years and checking this concept out from the Julia Child era of televised culinary fare sounds delicious to me:

                               

 

In between all of this, I was able to make a quick trip to the library (mainly to return an overdue book but trust me, The Hacienda was worth taking the extra time with!).

My library haul was rather small but as it happened, there were two books by the same author that were side by side on the shelf that I have wanted for a long while and couldn’t pass up the opportunity in front of me.

J. Ryan Stradal got a nice bit of notice from his novel of interconnected stories entitled Kitchens of the Midwest but his next  book after that, The Lager Queen of Minnesota , did make folks sit up and notice there.

It’s a tale of two sisters, Edith and Helen, who made a decision regarding their father’s inheritance that not only changed their lives but broke them apart as well.

Decades later, Edith is content with her quiet life of baking pies and taking care of her teen granddaughter Diana despite their difficulties in making ends meet.

Helen, on the other hand, has prospered by investing fully into her husband’s brewery and making his brand a household name.

 She refused to mend the breech with Edith but when Diana starts becoming a rising star in the brewing business, a chance for the sisters to reconnect bubbles up to the surface. Will they take it before the foam of a new found friendship dissolves for good?

Food themed fiction is my weakness (drinks included sometimes) and this quietly told story of savory emotions seems like the perfect comforting meal of the heart for these cold winter days ahead:

A new year of books is a welcome sight indeed and even with the all too real headlines these days, we still have much to look forward to.

Plenty of new movies and returning TV shows like Abbott Elementary (which is so good!) are just some of the pop culture delights that await as we wait for more new books to be claimed for the literary good.

 Also, lots of readathons need to be prepared for as well, so taking a TV break is just fine to rev up those reading engines for the bookish road trip ahead of us: