2023 as read by S

^{Books for further discussion}

It’s the final day of 2023, and a time to reflect. Since J reflected last week on our year in publishing, it’s my turn to reflect on my year in reading. The StoryGraph, the really wonderful alternative to Goodreads, is great for this, with their amazing stats page. For instance, they convert the audiobooks I listened to into page numbers, so I can get a total number of pages read for the year. As you see, this number is right above my swanky Mood pie chart.

And if I don’t want my audiobook minutes converted, there’s also this stylish format chart.

Cool, right?

In case you’re wondering, 70 is my total books read/listened to, including rereads. As always with my year end wrap up, I’m only going to tackle books I read for the first time this year. Over the years, I’ve talked about and listed my books in a couple different ways, and this year I’m doing something similar, yet different. On The StoryGraph, you can rank books by the quarter star, so I’ve listed books by star rating, and then alpha by author within the star rating. In the past, I’ve often talked about the books in batches at this point, but this year I’m just going to talk about one or two in each group, but a bit more in depth. Will this be a success? Only you can tell me, dear readers.

Anyhow, let’s jump in!

2 -3.25 Stars
The Ten Loves of Nishino by Hiromi Kawakami, Allison Markin Powell (Translator)
What the Ermine Saw: The Extraordinary Journey of Leonardo Da Vinci’s Most Mysterious Portrait by Eden Collinsworth
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, Eric Ozawa (Translator)
The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon

Under discussion: Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (The Comic/Manhua), Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

I haven’t had a chance to really put this in action yet, but in 2023, I decided I really ought to try more manga/manhua and graphic novels. The only one I had a chance to finish was Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, which some folks will best know as based on the same source material as the Netflix show The Untamed. Honestly, I didn’t love it, but by also talking about it with J, who does know his manga, I think I understand why, and I’m willing to dive into more. So, if I’m here again next year and don’t have more than one manga or graphic novel to discuss, shake your finger at me. (Aside: Apologies for not having the translators. They are not included in any of the metadata, and I took the book back to the library without writing down the names.)

3.75 Stars
Love Maayan Eitan, translated by the author
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, Michael Hofmann (Translator)
River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Road by Cat Jarman
Sacrati by Kate Sherwood
The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier by April White
The Orphanage by Serhiy Zhadan, Reilly Costigan-Humes and Isaac Stackhouse Wheeler (Translators)

Under discussion: Trust by Hernán Díaz

The books in this group I liked, but something prevented me from getting really excited about them. This puts me at odds with the Pulitzer committee, who gave their prize for Fiction to Hernán Diaz. (In a tie with Barbara Kingsolver, for what that’s worth.) It’s a real puzzle of a novel, told in a few different sections from different POVs that then shed light on what came before and make you question which narrators you can, well, trust. Set around the turn of the century, it looks at the world of finance and early Wall Street, while also examining ideas of genius and mental health. It would definitely reward repeated readings, and I do wonder if my rating would get bumped up on reread. If you’ve been debating reading it, I would definitely suggest diving in.

4 Stars
Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang, Julia Lovell (Translator)
The Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes, Ann Goldstein (Translator)
Her Side of the Story by Alba de Céspedes, Jill Foulston (Translator)
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux, Tanya Leslie (Translator)
Sing, Memory: The Remarkable Story of the Man Who Saved the Music of the Nazi Camps by Makana Eyre
Dust by Hugh Howey
This is Amiko, Do You Copy? by Natsuko Imamura, Hitomi Yoshio (Translator)
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
You Are Here by Karin Lin-Greenberg
Next-Door Nemesis by Alexa Martin
When Race Trumps Merit by Heather Mac Donald
The Night House by Jo Nesbø, Neil Smith (Translator)
Heresy by S.J. Parris
Don Carlos by Friedrich Schiller, R. D. Boylan (Translator)
Transit by Anna Seghers, Margot Bettauer Dembo (Translator)
Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
Hard by a Great Forest by Leo Vardiashvili

Under discussion: Calamity by Constance Fay; and Eclipse the Moon and Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

2023 was the year I discovered what I’m calling Sexy Sci Fi. Which is just an alliterative way of saying books that blend the Science Fiction and Romance genres. Both the Jessie Mihalik series and Constance Fay series launch are futuristic space stories with women at the center. These women know how to kick ass and run a ship, but they also have been known to melt under the touch of the right man. Both series are a ton of space opera fun, with excellent spicy bits. Also, both series are often promoted as good choices for fans of Firefly, (which as a fan of Firefly, I can confirm is accurate), but I also think it’s a good choice for fans of the TV show Killjoys. So, if you liked either show and/or think having your space suit torn off in the sexiest way imaginable sounds appealing, definitely check out both of these series.  

4.25 Stars
War Diary by Yevgenia Belorusets, Greg Nissan (Translator)
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas, (translator not included in the metadata 😦 )
The Lover by Marguerite Duras, Barbara Bray (Translator)
A Rulebook for Restless Rogues by Jess Everlee
Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness by Miriam Grossman
Wool by Hugh Howey
Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, Jessica Moore (Translator)
The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, Boris Dralyuk (Translator)
All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris
The Rot by Siri Pettersen, Siân Mackie and Paul Russell Garrett (Translators)
A History of the Island by Eugene Vodolazkin, Lisa C. Hayden (Translator)
In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Under discussion: Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang

Now that I’ve hit the books over 4 stars, I want to talk about them all, but for at least one more section, I’m going to confine myself to just the one, Young Queens by Leah Redmond Chang. It’s not a mystery to longtime readers of this blog that I love Renaissance history, and this book takes an interesting and different approach to the era. The book focuses on Catherine de’ Medici, who married a younger Prince of France, but eventually became queen. Three of her sons then went on to become Kings of France, but those boys are not the focal point—instead this is an examination of Catherine herself, her daughter Elisabeth de Valois (who married Philip II, King of Spain) and Mary, Queen of Scots (who Catherine raised before she then became Catherine’s daughter-in-law). By looking at the lives of these three women and how they influence the course of events in Europe during the 16^th Century, the reader gets not only a feel for what these particular women did, but what roles of power were open to women at the time. Incredibly readable and fascinating, I listened to this one on audio, and definitely recommend the narrator, Olivia Dowd.

4.5 Stars
The Extinction of Irena Rey by Jennifer Croft
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
Shift by Hugh Howey  
African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan by Thomas Lockley and Geoffrey Girard
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat
Sailing the Graveyard Sea: The Deathly Voyage of the Somers, the U.S. Navy’s Only Mutiny, and the Trial That Gripped the Nation by Richard Snow

Under discussion: Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard; and A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel and The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

Okay, now I’m giving myself two opportunities to talk about the books in this section. Let’s start with how I feel about the dumbest fad of the year: Thinking about the Roman Empire. Now, I’m old and grouchy and wish I had more opportunities to tell people to get off my lawn, so I understand that most things on TikTok are not for me. And usually, I can just ignore TikTok trends when they manage to penetrate my cranky bubble. However, this whole how often do you think about the Roman Empire nonsense really got under my skin. Did these women with their perfect contour makeup doing their annoying Millennial uptalk really not realize how stupid they looked making fun of men for thinking about the Roman Empire? I’m just going to guess no, since I’m pretty sure these women spent more time thinking about their manicures than Mary Beard ever thought about her nails, because Mary Beard is too busy being the best historian of ancient Rome alive, as she proved yet again in her magnificent book, Emperor of Rome. What’s so interesting about this book is that she doesn’t do the typical, slightly dull, and hard to follow “And this emperor did this, and then this emperor followed him and did this other thing.” Instead, Beard looks at the job of being the Emperor of Rome. How did the emperor entertain? How did he manage his correspondence? Where did he travel? I can’t recommend this book enough to folks who are thinking about the Roman Empire, which, honestly, should be everyone.

With the rant out of my system, let’s talk KJ Charles, who is a fixture near the top of my yearly reading blogs. Charles continues to write historical romance better than anyone, this time tackling life on the marshes in southern England during the Napoleonic Wars in her Doomsday duology. The series revolves around the Doomsday family, smugglers on the marsh, and the noblemen two of the Doomsday men fall in love with. There’s also stolen treasure, murder, and plenty of action and mystery. Charles is just such a fantastic writer, effortlessly juggling steamy romance, historical detail, mystery, and action. There’s just no one else like her.

5 Stars
Battle of Ink and Ice: A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media by Darrell Hartman
Fiendish Prince by Aron Lewes
Dom Casmurro by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson (Translators)
Killing Moon by Jo Nesbø, Sean Kinsella (Translator)
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin, Hildegarde Serle (Translator)
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck

Under discussion: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, Thomas Teal (Translator); and Love in a Time of Hate: Art and Passion in the Shadow of War, 1929-39 by Florian Illies, Simon Pare (Translator)

And now my 5 stars! Obviously, I loved all of these, so it was particularly hard to narrow it down to just two books to talk about, but after a good deal of agonizing, I picked a favorite Fiction and a favorite Nonfiction. Here they are!

The Summer Book has been on my tbr list for ages. In spite of lots of smart folks saying how good it is, I kept putting it off, not sure I would enjoy the short story structure. The thing is, it turns out that calling the book a collection of stories really sells short the beautiful arc of the book and development of the characters. In the most basic terms, it’s the moments in the summer shared by a young girl and her grandmother at their island summer home. Their relationship, with the little girl learning about life and the grandmother nearing the end of her own, is just beautifully and simply told with a perfect balance of charm and bittersweetness. If this isn’t on your tbr, put it there immediately, and if it is already there, finally pick it up.

The structure of Love in a Time of Hate is what will most likely make or break it for most readers. It’s a collection of vignettes about European lovers in the 1930s. It rotates through more than a dozen romances/flings/marriages of famous artists, writers, intellectuals, and creatives from Simone de Beauvoir to Bertolt Brecht to F. Scott Fitzgerald. It follows Marlene Dietrich around Berlin’s lesbian bars and then onto Hollywood, as well as the various member of Thomas Mann’s family through numerous loves and marriages. But no part of anyone’s story is told for any more than a few pages at most before moving on to someone else, but eventually circling back into the flow of the story later. Somehow, weaving the stories back and forth in loosely chronological order works so much better than if each story were just told to its completion and then moving on to the next. The book is hypnotic, and I hated for it to end, yet leaving everyone in 1939, obviously, has its own impact. Publishers Weekly called it one of 2023’s best books you might have missed but shouldn’t, and if I do say so myself, they are exactly right.

And those are the books I read in 2023! (Minus the titles I read for research, in case you’re curious.) Once I post this, I’m going to jump back into my current read, Into Siberia by Gregory Wallance, which I very well may finish before the clock strikes midnight. To find out what I think of it, though, will just have to wait until 2024 even if I do hit The End today. (Actually, spoiler: I’m about two-thirds of the way through the book, and I like it a lot!)

Happy reading!

~S

Sports Ball Love Day

   

^{From https://www.tumblr.com/operaladies. Marie and Tonio are too cute not to love.}

Looking back at previous years to see how we’ve marked Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day, I’ve uncovered exciting traditions. In the first case, I am reminded that we have often just skipped substantive blogging on Super Bowl Sunday. In the second, I’m reminded of when we wrote about our favorite literary lovers. I’ve decided to combine these two by using game day as an excuse to do a short list of our favorite lovers, this time from opera.

Nero and Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea by Monteverdi)

So, historically, these two are what the kids like to call problematic. Murder, adultery, regrets, and castration all play a part in the real story of the Emperor Nero and his Empress Poppea. But in Monteverdi’s opera, they, well, they are sometimes still pretty awful, but in the hands of a director and cast who know what they are about, they are also compelling and sexy, and get one of the best ever duets to close out the opera. I’ve been obsessing the past few days over a new production from the Royal Opera of Versailles that’s on Medici TV. Let me show you why.

^{Elsa Benoit and Jake Arditti as the ancient Roman lovers.}

Enjoy a beautiful performance, if odd staging, of the closing duet sung by Philippe Jaroussky and Danielle De Niese (who just happens to be J’s Imaginary Girlfriend).

Onegin and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky)

If you want your heart ripped out this Valentine’s Day, may I recommend Tchaikovsky’s exquisite opera based on the Pushkin novel, Eugene Onegin. For those who don’t know the story, the basics are these: Tatiana meets Onegin and falls in love with him and declares herself in a long letter. He says, “Thanks kid, but you’re too young for me, and I’m too awesome and sophisticated for love and marriage in any case.” After some, um, other drama, Onegin leaves town for years and when he returns, he runs into a grown-up Tatiana who is now elegant and hot, and he’s in love with her. However, she’s married to someone else and a decent human being, so things don’t work out. It’s incredibly painful, and I love it. I feel bad suggesting to folks who maybe don’t know the opera that they should skip to the end, but I’m sharing the last 4 minutes of the opera in one of my favorite performances with Mariusz Kwiecień (my Imaginary Boyfriend) and Anna Netrebko.

Marcello and Musetta (La Boheme by Puccini)

Mimi and Rudolfo usually get all the press for La Boheme, but the secondary couple, Marcello and Musetta, is a favorite at Unicorn HQ. One of our favorite moments for them comes from this Royal Opera House production, once again with my Imaginary Boyfriend, and soprano Simona Mihai. The two have a tumultuous relationship, and at the start of this scene, they are on the outs and Musetta is at dinner with another man. By the end, however, their fiery relationship is, well, still fiery, but directed in a more harmonious direction.

Violetta and Alfredo (La Traviata by Verdi)

I know lots of opera fans who would happily punch Alfredo Germont in the face. In his pain over losing Violetta, the love of his life, he treats her pretty shabbily. But if Violetta can forgive him, then surely I can as well. Especially when the two of them get one of my favorite duets. And when I say it’s one of my favorites, it has been known to make me cry. In spite of the poor video quality, I hope you can enjoy one of my favorite performances of “Un di felice eterea,” here with the extraordinary Natalie Dessay and Charles Castronovo. (Yes, we’ve talked about this production on the blog before.)

Figaro and Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart)

Sometimes opera couples actually get to be happy, and few are quite as well suited and happy as Figaro and Susanna. In fact, the opera is all about the troubles they go through on their wedding day to make certain their slimy employer with the hots for Susanna and a meddling local woman with the hots for Figaro, don’t ruin it all. Spoiler—they pull it off even with the insanity happening around them. And when you have singers with great chemistry and a sense of fun, like Ildar Abdrazakov and Marlis Petersen, they are a joy to root for.

Marie and Tonio (The Daughter of the Regiment by Donizetti)

Another genuinely adorable and happy couple is Marie and Tonio. Marie is a foundling who has been raised by an army regiment, and she considers all the men her papas. But when she falls in love with a local boy, instead of having just one dad to win over, the couple has to get the entire regiment on board with their love. But if you can’t be charmed by Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez, I’m pretty sure you are, in fact, a corpse.

Grand Inquisitor and his Bassoons of Doom (Don Carlo by Verdi)

And I would be horribly remiss if I didn’t include J’s favorite operatic couple—The Grand Inquisitor whose entrances and exits are accompanied by the most ominous contrabassoons in all of opera.

So, happy opera love and/or sports ball day to all who celebrate.

And don’t forget to preorder When You Are King, the next book in our Reign of the Eagle series, which is coming out on February 22–a week from Wednesday! It’s actually got a fair amount of romance in it, too–both the good and bad kinds.

~S

Read the Year

^{My 5 Star Reads}

So, another year has wrapped and books have been read. In last year’s wrap up, I mentioned that it would be my last year of having a list full of books I read for book clubs at work, because at the new job, I would no longer be leading book clubs. But it turned out that I still read a lot for work. In my new job, I have much better access to ARCs (advanced reader copies), and knowing what’s new is more important. Also for work, I focused a lot on history and books in translation, which you all know is something I enjoy, so even though I am now doing reading for work on my personal time, I didn’t mind it a bit. (It also helps that, unlike when I was running a book club, if I don’t like a book, I can now just drop it. It’s awesome.)

So, here’s my year in reading. These are the books I read for the first time, arranged by star rating, and then by whatever criteria works best at the given moment. This is actually my biggest list since I started doing this—57 books plus a bonus. Reminder that I now use The StoryGraph, the awesome book tracking and rec site with the truly cool ability to rank books by quarter star.

3 Stars
The Warrior by Stephen Aryan

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest by Wade Davis

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

Love in the Kingdom of Oil by Nawal El Saadawi, translation Basil Hatim and Malcolm Williams

I read these for different reasons—to finish up a series, I like the topic, wanted to see what the fuss was about, and because of good reviews. What I ended up with were four books that, for just as diverse reasons, didn’t manage to land with me.

3.5-3.75 Stars
The Coward by Stephen Aryan

The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr

Asking for More by Lilah Pace

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides

Solomon’s Crown by Natasha Siegel

Day of the Oprichnik by Vladimir Sorokin, translation Jamey Gambrell

Declassified: A Low-Key Guide to the High-Strung World of Classical Music by Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch

Punishment of a Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva, translation Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp

These are my the slightly less mediocre, but I still couldn’t really get into them books from 2022. The Carr and Pace are both sequels I didn’t like as well as earlier entries in their series, and the Aryan was just good enough that I kept going to the duology’s meh ending. Solomon’s Crown and Punishment of a Hunter are both books I got ARCs of and had sky high expectations for that were probably unfair. Both the nonfiction books also probably suffered from unfairly high expectations. The Sorokin is definitely as brilliant as everyone told me; however, there are clearly references I’m just not getting, and a whole lot of it flew right over my head.

4 Stars English Fiction
The Gentleman’s Book of Vices by Jess Everlee

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

Saint Sebastian’s Abyss by Mark Haber

Ithaca by Claire North

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

With the exception of The Cuckoo’s Calling, which was mostly great but dragged a bit, these are books published this year. The Raybourn, about a group of menopausal assassins, could not be more fun, and Haber’s book is a stylish debut about art scholars. The North and Everlee books are particularly exciting, as both are the starts of series—one a mythology retelling and the other Victoria M/M romance—and I’m very excited to continue both.

4 Stars Nonfiction
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff

Henrietta Maria: The Warrior Queen Who Divided a Nation by Leanda de Lisle

The Last Winter of the Weimar Republic: The Rise of the Third Reich by Rüdiger Barth and Hauke Friederichs, translation Caroline Waight

Stalking the Atomic City: Life Among the Decadent and the Depraved of Chornobyl by Markiyan Kamysh, translation Hanna Leliv and Reilly Costigan-Humes

The two English language biographies were ARCs I picked up for work as I looked for great history reads, and I was not disappointed with them. (Unlike several of the other history ARCs I picked up and dropped.) I feel like anyone with any interest in Adams, Queen Henrietta Maria, or the eras covered in these books would enjoy them a great deal. The two books in translation could not be more different. Last Winter is a day-by-day look at the final few months of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazis, which could easily have been dry, but is incredibly compelling. The Kamysh is a wild little book I read in a day about a man with an obsessive need to constantly visit the exclusion zone around Chornobyl. It’s one that will stick with you.

4 Stars in Translation
Brickmakers by Selva Almada, translation Annie McDermott

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer, translation Shaun Whiteside

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk: Selected Stories of Nikolai Leskov by Nikolai Leskov, translation Robert Chandler (Aside—I only read the title story in this collection.)

Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translation Sophie Hughes

Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky, translation Sandra Smith

Odin’s Child by Siri Pettersen, translation Siân Mackie and Paul Russell Garrett

Katalin Street by Magda Szabó, translation Len Rix

Solovyov and Larionov by Eugene Vodolazkin, translation Lisa C. Hayden

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi, translation David Boyd

Some of these books were returns to favorites (Smith translating Némirovsky, Rix translating Szabó, Hayden translating Vodolazkin). A couple were recs I’d been meaning to tackle for some time (The Wall and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk). With the Yagi, I returned to what is clearly a trend in Japanese lit—weird women dealing creatively with misogyny and troubles in the workplace and society in general. Almada and Melchor are part of my concerted effort to read more Hispanic and Latino authors, and I’m glad I read them both. And Odin’s Child proved a well-rewarded impulse buy, and I really need to finish up this so far excellent Norwegian YA Fantasy series.

4.25 Stars
The Sinner and the Saint: Dostoevsky and the Gentleman Murderer Who Inspired a Masterpiece by Kevin Birmingham

The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz, translation Philip Boehm

Maurice by E.M. Forster

The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry

Captain Ni’mat’s Last Battle by Mohamed Leftah, translation Lara Vergnaud

Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy

I Will Die In a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart

The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream by Charles Spencer

The three nonfiction couldn’t be more different in topics, although in quality, they are hard to beat. The Birmingham is a must read for all Dostoevsky fans, with its close look at how Dostoevsky came to write Crime and Punishment and the real life criminal who served as inspiration. The White Ship and Labyrinth are both historical books right up my alley—the beginning of the Anarchy and a cold weather disaster, Levy specifically covering the Greeley expedition. I Will Die and The Orchard are both English language novels about modern Ukraine and Russia that moved me to tears. The Passenger, much like Suite Française, is one of those books where it’s a miracle it even exists, and then is incredibly moving about the horrors of the Nazis. Maurice and Captain Ni’mat, though written about a century apart, both examine the inner lives of gay men living in societies that do not accept them, and both are exquisitely written.

4.5 Stars
One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Suppression, Deception, Snobbery, and Bias: Why the Press Gets So Much Wrong—And Just Doesn’t Care by Ari Fleischer

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

The Long Game by Rachel Reid

Into the Great Emptiness: Peril and Survival on the Greenland Ice Cap by David Roberts

The Venetians: A New History: From Marco Polo to Casanova by Paul Strathern

And my year in excellent nonfiction continues. Strathern’s Italian Renaissance histories are always winners, and this is the second Roberts cold weather exploration I’ve read, and I will happily read more. And while I’m not usually one for political books, Suppression, etc. was worth the exception. The fiction books are a mix of series I’ve loved for years (Reid and what might be Arnold’s best yet), and a great first in a series that then went awry (Carr). Plus, I read my first Maggie O’Farrell historical, since, as I mentioned, I love the Italian Renaissance, and this novel about Lucrezia Borgia is just fantastic.

5 Stars
And here are my 5 star reads. I was going to rank them. After all, it’s just 12 titles. The first year I did this, I ranked all 45 books on the list. But then I realized I might start crying if I tried to put these in order of how much I liked them. So, enjoy this thoroughly uninspired alphabetical listing by author.

The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II by Svetlana Alexievich, translation Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Alexievich’s oral histories are magnificent, and too emotionally taxing to read frequently. My plan is to read one a year, so as with last year’s Secondhand Time, get used to seeing an Alexievich book among my 5 star reads every year for a good long time.

Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine, 1921-1933 by Anne Applebaum
An examination of the Holodomor, this book is as timely as it is excellently written. I absolutely intend to dive into more Applebaum.

Subtle Blood by KJ Charles
The third and final book in The Will Darling Adventures, I am genuinely annoyed this series is over, because I just love Will and Kim so much. Charles continues to be unchallenged as my favorite M/M romance author, and this series is one of her best, perfectly combining great characters, steamy sex, and a riveting mystery.

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
So, let’s get this out of the way—best book cover this year. What’s even more exciting is that the book lives up to the cover. A story about a middle-aged female professor in a failing, open marriage to another academic, she becomes obsessed with a younger male colleague while her husband fights sexual misconduct charges at the school. An absolutely wild ride.

Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones
I’ve always enjoyed Jones’s books (see his Plantagenets for example), but I think this amazing overview of the Middle Ages might be his best yet. If you are remotely interested in this era, don’t miss this one. Jones also does a great job reading the audiobook.

Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, translation Boris Dralyuk
Emotional and compelling, this novel about a beekeeper living in the grey zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces is a quiet book that is somehow impossible to put down. (Dralyuk’s eminently readable translation certainly helps.) In a lot of ways, this really feels like the book of the year, and I’ve been recommending it pretty much nonstop to anyone who will listen since I read it back in March.

Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy
I read two Levy cold weather exploration books this fall, and I loved them both, but this one really sucked me in. It was especially interesting to read this after In the Kingdom of Ice, since the poor Karluk suffered much the same fate as the USS Jeanette in the Sides book—locked in pack ice and forced north of Siberia, eventually stranding the crew. The captain of the Karluk and one of his men then travel across ever-shifting ice between the island where they are stranded and Siberia, journey hundreds of miles to the eastern coast, and hop a boat to Alaska to find help. It’s absolutely riveting and painful, and should be read with a blanket and hot beverage.

Priest of Crowns by Peter McLean
This final installment in McLean’s historical mob fantasy series does not disappoint in that the writing is great, the world fascinating, and the characters compelling. It is, however, in many ways hugely disappointing in the fates of many beloved characters. But I suppose when you sign up for grimdark organized crime fantasy, expecting good things for the character you love would be foolish.

Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read
I, of course, knew the outlines of this story—plane crash in the Andes, survivors eat the dead in order to live—but what I had no idea of was the deep religious faith of the survivors that helped them to live. Read recounts the story with immense respect and juggles the large cast elegantly. I am beyond pleased I finally got around to this one.

The Wolf Age: The Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Battle for the North Sea Empire by Tore Skeie, translation Alison McCullough
Speaking of elegantly juggling a large cast, Skeie does this extremely well as he covers the political and military machinations of Scandinavia and England at the turn of the 11th century. I know I said I wasn’t going to try and rank these books, but this very well might be my favorite nonfiction of 2022. I hope Skeie keeps turning out histories of Norsemen in the Middle Ages and McCullough keeps translating them so readably.

Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
So, this one was in the news A LOT in 2022, but I have absolutely nothing to say on that front. But I have been promising J for years to read this, and I figured it was about time to finally do that. Even though I’ve never really connected with a graphic novel before, this one is entirely as good as everyone has always said. If you’re only going to read one graphic novel, this certainly seems to be the one to pick.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Stuart’s prose manages to be both raw and gorgeous, and he uses both abilities expertly in this coming of age love story of Protestant and Catholic boys falling in love 1990s Glasgow. Tense and frightening, but also beautiful, this book is one that has really lingered with me. Flip a coin between this and Grey Bees as my favorite novel of 2022, because I refuse to choose between them

Special Mention
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translation Bela Shayevich
That’s almost it, but I do have to say a little something about one more book. I don’t include rereads on my yearly wrap ups, but I feel like a new translation that is this good deserves a mention. I first read and loved Zamyatin’s sci fi dystopia classic in college in the Clarence Brown translation, which I’m still very fond of. But when I heard that Shayevich (translator of my favorite book of 2021, Secondhand Time) had a new translation of We, I had to check it out. If you’ve never read this remarkable book, which far too few people have, I strongly urge you to put this masterpiece at the top of your 2023 TBR pile.

And that’s it! My 2022 year in reading has been discussed and summarized. Now, it’s time to go start a new book.

~S

Best so far

^{The 2022 releases I’ve read so far.}

At work, I’ve been looking over a lot of Best of 2022 So Far lists, so I thought it might be interesting to list the 2022 releases I’ve read this year and say a little of what I think of them. (I totally reserve the right to reorder these when I do my year end list, so don’t think my opinion on a book is ever final.) Let’s dive in.

(Within the star rating, books are listed alpha by author.)

3+ stars

Punishment of a Hunter by Yulia Yakovleva (Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp, translator)

I’ve been excited to read this since I heard about its English-language release last year in the UK. When the ARC (advanced reader copy) popped up on a service I use, I grabbed it and immediate jumped in. Sadly, I feel like the mystery doesn’t hang together quite like I’d hoped, and the prose is a little clunky in places. Whether this latter issue is a problem with the original or the translation, I’m not quite sure, but at the end of the day, if it doesn’t read well, it doesn’t read well, and it doesn’t entirely matter why.

4+ star

One Foot in the Fade: The Fetch Phillips Archives #3 by Luke Arnold

I really can’t recommend this series enough to grimdark fantasy fans. Set in a world where magic has stopped working, Fetch, the human man who blames himself for the loss of magic, works tireless to bring the magic back, all while solving mysteries and building some fascinating relationships. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the author is Luke Arnold, the actor you quite possibly know from Black Sails. He reads the audiobooks, and I firmly believe this is the best way to consume this series, which I hope runs for a very long time.

The Orchard by Kristina Gorcheva-Newberry

A beautiful story of growing up in the 1980s Soviet Union, this book left me in tears. With hints of Chekhov and certainly memories of my own childhood, this is an extremely moving read. (Good on audio.)

Saint Sebastian’s Abyss by Mark Haber

This book is very much about the unique style of the slightly neurotic narrator. It tells of the relationship between two scholars who are both obsessed with the same painting, covering their lives from when they meet in college and see the painting for the first time, through their academic careers, and up to death. Perfect for people who love scholars, but can also appreciate the absurdity of academia.

Paradais by Fernanda Melchor (Sophie Hughes, translator)

Claustrophobic and violent, this densely-written novel takes a very uncomfortable look at the odd, not quite friendship between a spoiled adolescent boy of privilege and the alcoholic teen gardener at his family’s exclusive apartment complex. Rather horrifying, but fascinating nonetheless.

The Long Game: Game Changers #6, by Rachel Reid

The direct sequel to Heated Rivalry, the best book in this M/M romance series, The Long Game is a book I’ve been excited about for years. The first book shows the torturous (and extremely sexy) route a straitlaced Canadian hockey player and his playboy Russian rival take toward admitting their love. This book shows them finally figuring out how to have their happily ever after.

5 star

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

Like Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, this is another great book for folks who have a taste for the absurdities of academia. But more than that, I feel like this book really speaks to me as a Gen Xer. I often have a low tolerance for books with predominately unsympathetic casts, yet somehow, this one really works for me. It’s a complex look at MeToo, open marriages, power dynamics, regrets, and the desires of middle-aged women. Also, hottest cover of the year.

Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov (Boris Dralyuk, translator)

Kurkov is often referred to as Ukraine’s greatest living novelist, and I can see why after finishing this book. Set a few years in the past in the grey zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces, Sergey Sergeyich is one of the last two people in his village, everyone else having left because of the war. But he stays to tend his bees. That is until he realizes that his bees are stressed, and he takes them on a road trip to Crimea. This is a quiet novel, but utterly profound, not to mention timely. I can’t recommend this enough.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Two young men in Glasgow, one Catholic, the other protestant, fall in love. Hate and poverty, not to mention a gut-churning ominousness, makes this a tough read, but it is so entirely worth it. I took a break while listening to the audiobook, but ultimately, I am so happy I finished it.

And that’s my 2022 so far.

~S

Year in Reading

^{S’s 4.5 and 5 star reads this year}

So, yeah, some stuff has happened. Last week, J apologized that I would be unable to make my planned post, rounding up my year in reading. Turns out we have Covid, and let me tell you, even a “mild” case for two folks who are vaccinated is super exhausting. Luckily, we’re on the mend, and I have my list!

I’ve gone crazy and mostly ranked these in exact order from worst to best. (The large number of 4 star books are in order within the clumps in which I discuss them, because that just made for a more organized post.) It’s surely not my best written year in reading post, but hey, I’m just happy to be alert enough to write something.

And now, here’s the list! (Reminder—the ability to award quarter stars is a function of the wonderful The StoryGraph site, which I recommend to everyone.)

1-3 stars

I’m Proud of You by Tim Madigan
Story of O by Pauline Réage, translation Sabine d’Estree
20,000 Leagues under the Sea by Jules Verne, translation Anthony Bonner
The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan
The Emissary by Yōko Tawada, translation Margaret Mitsutani

Some I hated. Some were disappointing. All should have been better. (How you make erotica so boring is beyond me, but Réage managed it.)

3.5-3.75 stars

Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
Begging for It by Lilah Pace
The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi
Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night by Julian Sancton
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann, translation Ross Benjamin
Later by Stephen King

I liked all of these more than not, but I couldn’t entirely get into them for one reason or another. (For instance, I bet actual horror fans would like both Later and You Should Have Left more than I did.) On the upside, J and I have spent a lot of time discussing A Woman of No Importance in terms of the Myrcia ‘verse. The story is really fantastic.

4 stars for work

The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Passing by Nella Larsen
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
Orlando by Virginia Woolf

With my job change, this is going to be the last year in which my reading list is padded with stuff I read for work. Good stuff like these books will make me miss that. For instance, I have every intention of continuing with Mukherjee’s mystery series set in post-WWI India, but I would have never discovered the series except for book club.

4 stars for me

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold
Role Model by Rachel Reid
Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier

The Arnold and Reid books are both continuations of series I’ve enjoyed and look forward to continuing. The du Maurier is a book that’s been lingering on my tbr list for years and years. I’m really quite pleased I finally got around to it.

4 stars in translation

Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, translation Nichola Smalley
The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translation Lucy North
Bolla by Pajtim Statovci, translation David Hackston
The Jealousy Man and Other Stories by Jo Nesbø, translation Robert Ferguson
Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin, translation Lisa C. Hayden
Olav Audunssøn: I. Vows by Sigrid Undset, translation Tiina Nunnally

Only the Undset was read for Women in Translation Month (A LOT more from my successful #WiTMonth to come). The rest were just things I wanted to read, and I’m quite happy that I did. I could actually talk about all of these individually for quite a while, but there is still a lot of list left, and I only have so much energy. Suffice it to say, I will be reading more of Hayden’s translations of Vodolazkin and continuing the Undset series.

4.25 stars

Skullsworn by Brian Staveley
Death in Florence/The Florentines by Paul Strathern
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
Slippery Creatures/The Sugared Game by K.J. Charles
House of Names by Colm Tóibín
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

I absolutely loved all of these, but other than being good, there’s not a whole lot that connects them. Skullsworn is an excellent fantasy, and Strathern continues to be my favorite Renaissance nonfiction author. Wilde’s moving letter during his imprisonment is like nothing else he ever wrote. My current read is the final book in this Charles series, and she just really nailed it with this post-WWI mystery/romance. Tóibín I have more to say about below. And it’s hard to believe this gay coming of age in Communist Poland is Jedrowski’s debut.

4.5 stars

The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie
Dark Rise C.S. Pacat
What’s Left of the Night by Ersi Sotiropoulos, translation Karen Emmerich
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles
Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

I’m still feeling awfully conflicted about this final book in Abercrombie’s The Age of Madness trilogy, but the other 4 books here are all incredibly well-written with characters I adore. I can’t say how excited I am that the Pacat is Book 1 in a series, because I’m very much looking forward to diving into this world more, and a special shout out to Christian Coulson who reads it perfectly. (His reading was also a highlight in several of the Nesbø stories back up the list.) Heyer and Charles are both Regency romance done right, if on completely different heat levels. And the dreamy eroticism of Sotiropoulos is utterly intoxicating.

5 stars

All the Way Out by Ingrid Sterling

Two young men have a Grindr hookup one summer night in Rome, only to end up in the same class at Northwestern in the fall. One is an out music major with a past, and one is very much not out and on track to win the Heisman Trophy. Watching these boys navigate their emotions and society is just lovely, and I was entirely invested in their relationship.

Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos

I’ve been meaning to read Dos Passos for years, and I’m thrilled I finally got the chance with one of my book clubs this past year. The characters are so rich, and the slightly off-kilter style and structure works so well at bringing early 20^th Century New York City to life.

Priest of Gallows by Peter McLean

2022 is going to bring this series to a close, and I’m already annoyed that this fantastic grimdark fantasy series is ending. Tomas Piety is the leader of an organized crime empire, and the series begins with him rebuilding his power after returning from war. But soon he finds himself embroiled in politics at the highest level, and Gallows is the book that really dives into the world of shadowy government forces. I really can’t figure out how this is all going to end, but my guess is it ain’t going to be pretty.

Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki, translation Karen Van Dyck

The first of three books here with 5 stars that I read for Women in Translation Month. (My August was reading heaven.) A modern classic of Greek literature, this book beautifully tells of three sisters coming to the edge of adulthood over a 3 year period. The writing is magic and the characters feel so entirely real. And not to give any spoilers, but I love that Liberaki doesn’t opt for the ending I expected—she does so much better.

Abigail by Magda Szabó, translation Len Rix

In WWII a Hungarian general sends his spoiled, sophisticated (but not entirely self-aware) daughter to a strict boarding school in the middle of nowhere. Gina cannot comprehend that this change to her privileged life is for her own good, and her first days at her new school are a painful transition. But the extraordinary cast of students and teachers come more and more into focus for the reader (and for Gina, if a bit more slowly), and a remarkable story of belief and community and fighting for what’s important unfolds. This is one of those books that as soon as I finished it, I got excited about the day I get to reread it.

The Magician by Colm Tóibín

In its simplest terms, The Magician is historical fiction about the life of Thomas Mann. But that barely scratches the surface. It’s a book about creation, writing, music, desire, obligations to society, and family. It also completely immersed me and by the end had me in tears. I’ve been meaning to read Tóibín for years, and this was finally the year I did it, and now I cannot wait to read the rest of his works.

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich, translation Bela Shayevich

Alexievich is a Nobel Prize winner for literature for a very good reason. She is able to elicit the most personal stories of people’s lives, distill them, and then organize these experiences into a book of such powerful oral history the reader is left reeling. This book is a moving testament to a time and place, but also nearly too painful to read. (I had to take a break halfway and read something else.) Simply an extraordinary achievement, I’m still amazed at this book’s very existence.

And that’s all for my year in reading. Hopefully, very soon we will have that newsletter and new short out to all of you. Thanks for your patience while we get better!

~S

#WITMonth wrap

^{Women in Translation Month reading.}

I love international literature, as I’ve mentioned before on the blog. For instance, last year on my wrap up of books I read for the first time in 2020, I did a separate section for works in translation. One of my favorite ways to support and celebrate international literature is participating in Women in Translation Month. The idea behind #WITMonth is that too few women get translated into other languages, and readers, publishers, and others in the book world should support the literature by women that is getting translated and encourage more to be done. So every August now, I try to read books by women that were not originally written in English.

This August, in fact, I completely dedicated myself to reading nothing but women in translation (save for a book I had to read for work). I finished 3 audiobooks and read three more, and I bailed on two books I started reading and didn’t like. Other than the two I didn’t finish, I mostly enjoyed what I read for WITMonth. Well, enjoyed might be the wrong word for some of them. Let me just go the list, from worst to best.

(Links are to The StoryGraph, the AMAZING book tracking alternative to Goodreads you should all be checking out.)

DNF (Did Not Finish)

^Pass.

I thought about not mentioning these two books, because it seems impolite to say negative things about books when you’re an author (and you know how freaking hard this is). But I think there is value in examining what doesn’t work for me as a reader. So, what didn’t I like about these two books? Completely different things.

In library school, we are taught Ranganathan’s Five Laws. Two of the most important are every reader his or her book, and every book its reader. This just basically means that every book doesn’t work for every reader, and matching the book and reader is the ultimate goal. The Governesses is simply not my book. I generally don’t love novels that are billed as adult fairy tales. But when I started WITMonth, I was aiming to read all different languages, and I hadn’t read a book in French yet, and this one was short, so I thought I’d give it a try anyway. Didn’t work out, and I ended up switching to my second Greek book of the month and was much happier.

And I was only tempted by a French language novel, because I’d bailed on my German language book, The Piano Student. A novel based on real letters about an affair Vladimir Horowitz had with a male student (adult and consenting, I should add), sounded amazing. But I disliked the frame story and even a quarter of the way in, I felt like I wasn’t getting from the characters what I’d hoped for. This goes to show that picking a book on premise can be tricky. A good writer can make anything interesting, but sometimes the most fascinating topic just fails to come together.

3 ⭐⭐⭐

The Emissary by Yōko Tawada, trans. Margaret Mitsutani

A short dystopian novel about a world in which an environmental disaster has made older people immortal and young people are condemned to an early death. The writing is fine, but as I often find with literary fiction attempting genre stories, the dystopia of it all doesn’t hang together logically. This was a short audiobook I listened to while taking a break from the long book that is #1 on this list.

4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Olav Audunssøn: Vows by Sigrid Undset, trans. Tiina Nunnally

Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy is some of the best historical fiction I’ve ever read. Set in a Catholic medieval Norway, that trilogy is an immersive examination of the life of a woman from childhood to death. When I heard the magnificent Nunnally was translating Undset’s other multi-volume medieval historical fiction, I was thrilled. There is no other way to say it other than to admit this first volume is slow, but that’s ok. Not every novel needs to be a rush. I will be hopping on volume 2, which is due out later this year.

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What’s Left of The Night by Ersi Sotiropoulos, trans. Karen Emmerich

This is an historical fiction about the Greek poet Constantine Cavafy and a few days he spent in Paris at the end of the 19^th Century. It’s about his longing for other men and the struggle to create; it also has some wonderful and weirdly erotic moments. The writing is incredibly dreamy and poetic, and I think the best word to describe it is meandering, but in the best way.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Three Summers by Margarita Liberaki, trans. Karen Van Dyck

This is the novel I ended up with once I dropped the two books I didn’t like, and man, am I happy I did. Set in Greece in the 1930s, the novel follows the coming of age of three sisters in their late teens to early 20s over the course of three summers. Each sister has her own unique personality and passions, as exemplified by the straw hats they are wearing at the beginning of the novel. (In fact, the original Greek title would translate as Straw Hats.) The youngest sister, Katerina, is the primary narrator for the novel, and the way Liberaki captures the infatuations, confusion, and erratic nature of a teenage girl is spot on and gorgeous.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Abigail by Magda Szabó, trans. Len Rix, read by Samantha Desz

Last year as part of my drive to read more translated literature, I started Szabó’s novel The Door, but dropped it because I found the characters, especially the central character, so unappealing. But a friend recommended this to me, saying that the main character and story here are quite different, and she was reasonably sure I would enjoy it. Her final selling point was that the heroine, Gina, is often compared to Emma Woodhouse, my favorite character in all of fiction. And my friend was right. Gina, like the characters in The Door, is not necessarily a warm and fuzzy heroine one is immediately attracted to, but like Emma Woodhouse, she is both smart and oblivious, but ultimately well-meaning, even while making so many mistakes. Set during WWII, Gina is sent to an extremely strict boarding school by her general father for her own protection. Gina’s life there and the people she meets are all extremely compelling.

I also want to give a particular shoutout to the audiobook. Desz’s reading is wonderful.

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets by Svetlana Alexievich, trans. Bela Shayevich

As I mentioned when I discussed The Emissary, I listened to that book so I could take a break from this one, even though this is the best book I read for WITMonth. The audiobook is 23 hours long, and while there are moments in this oral history of people discussing things that are good in their lives, this account of the people of the former Soviet Union discussing their lives as that country broke apart is mostly grim and brutal. Endless stories of torture, suicide, and lives ruined, Alexievich is a master of eliciting accounts and feelings from people that is truly astonishing. And then she weaves these lives together in a remarkably readable manner. This book is an extraordinary document to a time and place.

And that is this year’s Women in Translation Month! See you next August.

~S

PS To leave you on a happier note, there will be a new novella soon that will only be available to newsletter subscribers. Keep an eye out!

Opera Top 10

On Sunday I counted down my favorite streams from The Metropolitan Opera, numbers 11-20 with some honorable mentions. This coming Sunday I’m going to be busy working, so you’re getting my list today of my Top 10 favorite streams the Met has shown during the pandemic. (There might be some bonus mentions. Shh. It’s not cheating.) All the free opera the Met has provided for 71 weeks has literally been life changing for me. I’ve long loved opera, but now my passion and understanding are miles deeper. I’ve fallen madly in love with singers I’d never heard before, and made friends screaming about how much I love (or hate) things on the internet. Truly, it’s been amazing.

But Sunday, we all say goodbye to the free streams. The Met has a pay streaming service with all the content I’ve seen and so much more. At some point, J and I are likely to spring for it, but it won’t be the same as the excitement of racing home from work and checking what the Met is showing tonight. Anyhow, I hope you’ve enjoyed my countdown, but if you haven’t, we will return you to something more traditional next week. 😉

Again, presented in alphabetical order, because I can’t rank them. These are the operas, productions, and performances that spoke to me most.

1-10

Glass Akhnaten (2019)

Conductor: Karen Kamensek

Akhnaten: Anthony Roth Costanzo

Nefertiti: J’Nai Bridges

Amenhotep I: Zachary James

I’m not usually one for modern classical music. Really, as far as opera is concerned, I pretty much stop with Puccini. (That’s roughly a hundred years ago, for readers who aren’t familiar with opera.) But I make an exception for Glass. His minimalism makes a surprisingly perfect accompaniment to the story of the Pharaoh Akhnaten. And the wild juggling act happening along with the drama is remarkably beautiful. This is very much one to see.

Verdi Un Ballo in Maschera (2012)

Conductor: Fabio Luisi

Amelia: Sondra Radvanovsky

Oscar: Kathleen Kim

Ulrica: Stephanie Blythe

Riccardo: Marcelo Álvarez

Renato: Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Radvanovsky, Álvarez, and Hvorostovsky who headlined the Il Trovatore I mentioned last week are absolute heaven in yet another tragic Verdi opera. Based on the real assassination at a masked ball of the King of Sweden, this opera has some of my favorite Verdi music. And this production is all sleek and 1920s, and the dressing gown game is strong. I could post pics and links to excerpts all day for this one. But I don’t have to! This is officially the last stream the Met will be showing. It starts at 6:30 pm Sunday and runs until 5 pm Monday. You should absolutely watch it.  

Rossini Le Comte Ory (2011)

Conductor: Maurizio Benini

Countess Adèle: Diana Damrau

Isolier: Joyce DiDonato

Ragonde: Susanne Resmark

Count Ory: Juan Diego Flórez

Raimbaud: Stéphane Degout

I said last week that I don’t love Bartlett Sher’s Barber of Seville, but I do adore his production of this Rossini comedy. All the men have gone off to war, so the sneaky Count Ory goes to absurd lengths to get into Adele’s castle. His right-hand man, Isolier, rather than being much help, though, is also putting the moves on Adele. There are disguises and stupidity and the wildest adjustable bed you’ve ever seen on stage. Oh, and utterly gorgeous music. Damrau, DiDonato, and Florez are flawless. The closing trio has to be seen to be believed.

Mozart Don Giovanni (2011 and 1990 with a side of 2000)

2011

Conductor: Fabio Luisi

Donna Anna: Marina Rebeka

Donna Elvira: Barbara Frittoli

Zerlina: Mojca Erdmann

Don Ottavio: Ramón Vargas

Don Giovanni: Mariusz Kwiecien

Leporello: Luca Pisaroni

1990 (ALSO 2000)

Conductor: James Levine

Donna Anna: Carol Vaness

Donna Elvira: Karita Mattila

Zerlina: Dawn Upshaw

Don Ottavio: Jerry Hadley

Don Giovanni: Samuel Ramey

Leporello: Ferruccio Furlanetto

Masetto: Philip Cokorinos

I love this opera every time the Met runs it out. I’m madly, passionately in love with the 2011 version, starring Mariusz Kwiecien, on whom I might harbor something of a crush. The rest of the cast in this beautiful production is also exceptional. The 1990 cast is also wonderful, Ramey and Furlanetto both born to sing these roles. And even though I didn’t list the entire cast, the 2000 production is also fantastic, with Bryn Terfel in the title role.

And do I need to do a summary for this one? Hot dude beds all the women, but he refuses to repent for his sinful ways, and gets dragged into hell. Watch the wow finish here.

Donizetti Don Pasquale (2010)

Conductor: James Levine

Norina: Anna Netrebko

Ernesto: Matthew Polenzani

Dr. Malatesta: Mariusz Kwiecien

Don Pasquale: John Del Carlo

Donizetti comedies are just a crazy amount of fun, and the chemistry of this cast is as good as I’ve ever seen. (You’ll hear this again about some members of this cast. They are just perfect together.) The elderly Don Pasquale has decided that rather than allow his lazy nephew to inherit from him, he will marry. Don Pasquale’s doctor and the nephew’s friend, Malatesta, comes up with a scheme to pass off as his sister the woman the nephew loves and have her “marry” Don Pasquale. The hope is she will teach him a lesson that will make him happy to leave his money to his nephew as planned. With this cast, it’s a laugh riot and musical treat from beginning to end.

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin (2013)

Conductor: Valery Gergiev

Tatiana: Anna Netrebko

Lensky: Piotr Beczała

Onegin: Mariusz Kwiecien

Gremin: Alexei Tanovitski

Remember what I just said about chemistry? Netrebko and Kwiecien have it out the wazoo. Now, there is another production and cast of Eugene Onegin that literally everyone loves more than this one, except me. I love these two together, and Beczała is utterly heartbreaking as the idiotic poet who challenges his best friend to a duel in a fit of jealousy. Also, I really like Deborah Warner’s production, which has great depth, literal and metaphorical.

Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor (2009 and 2011)

2009

Conductor: Marco Armiliato

Lucia: Anna Netrebko

Edgardo: Piotr Beczała

Enrico: Mariusz Kwiecien

Raimondo: Ildar Abdrazakov

2011

Conductor: Patrick Summers

Lucia: Natalie Dessay

Edgardo: Joseph Calleja

Enrico: Ludovic Tézier

Raimondo: Kwangchul Youn

Yep. That first cast is Netrebko, Beczała, and Kwiecien again, with their knockout chemistry. Abdrazakov is also wonderful, as honestly, the supporting cast is what really sets this particular Lucia apart. Although I have to mention the 2011 version of this same creepy, ghost story inspired production starring Dessay. There simply isn’t a better Lucia. In a perfect world, you would watch both, often. At least do yourself a favor and listen to the famous Sextet. 2009 here and 2011 here.

Bizet Les Pêcheurs de Perles (2016)

Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda

Leïla: Diana Damrau

Nadir: Matthew Polenzani

Zurga: Mariusz Kwiecien

Nourabad: Nicolas Testé

This is one of the first streams I specifically remember watching. I was all, “Oh hey. Bizet wrote an opera besides Carmen. Let’s check it out.” And I started it, but I was doing other stuff and not paying close attention. Until I was. I actually watched the whole thing, then grab J and insisted he watch it again with me. Most importantly, it was the moment Polezani and Kwiecien both showed up on my radar, from which they’ve never left.

The libretto and story aren’t fantastic. In fact, I read somewhere that the librettists later felt bad they hadn’t done a better job, but they didn’t see any reason to work too hard on something for some 24 year-old nobody. Once they actually heard Bizet’s music, well, they wished they had put forth more effort on this tale, set in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where two old friends are torn apart by their love for the same priestess. Listen to the famous duet, sung with total perfection by Polenzani and Kwiecien.

Donizetti Roberto Devereux (2016)

Conductor: Maurizio Benini

Queen Elizabeth (Elisabetta): Sondra Radvanovsky

Sarah (Sara), Duchess of Nottingham: Elīna Garanča

Robert (Roberto) Devereux, Earl of Essex: Matthew Polenzani

Duke of Nottingham: Mariusz Kwiecien

Yep. More Kwiecien and Polenzani in Donizetti. I am actively annoyed I did not even know this opera existed until the Met streamed it. This is some sort of redheaded stepchild in Donizetti’s catalog, usually only performed when some opera house is doing all three of his Tudor Queens operas along with Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda. Radvanovsky is positively fierce as Elizabeth, and the music accompanying these final days of Elizabeth I is magnificent. The production is gorgeous. I just freaking love this.

Verdi La Traviata 2012

Conductor: Fabio Luisi

Violetta: Natalie Dessay

Alfredo: Matthew Polenzani

Germont: Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Traviata is one of the most performed operas in the world, which means directors are always looking for a new way to present the story of a dying courtesan and the one man she truly loves. Willy Decker’s production is minimalist, the most memorable aspects an ever-present giant clock and Violetta’s red dress. It really takes great singing actors to pull it off, and much as no one can touch Dessay as Lucia di Lammermoor, no actress is better than her when it comes to Violetta. Polenzani is charming as always, and Hvorostovsky as his father is just glorious. I’m soooooooooo picky about my Traviatas, and productions almost never manage to really nail all three roles, but this one is absolutely as good as they come.

And that’s it! That’s my countdown of my favorite streams the Met has shown during the pandemic. Don’t forget that tonight you can watch The Daughter of the Regiment (which was on Sunday’s list), tomorrow a really excellent Il Trovatore, and on Sunday the final stream, Un Ballo in Maschera, featuring the kitchen knife of doom.

~S

End of an Era

Tomorrow marks the start of the final week of free streaming opera from the Metropolitan Opera. Since they closed their doors in March 2020, The Met has streamed an opera every day for free. These streams rekindled my passion for opera and served as an object of real joy throughout the pandemic. I’m really quite sad to see them go.

So I thought I would list my 10 favorite streams today to mark the occasion. I then came up with a list of 23 operas. Lucky you, though, that means you get to see my Top 11-20 and some honorable mentions this week, and my Top 10 next week.

How did I pick these? Well, it’s a mix of how much I like the opera and how much I enjoy the production and the specific performances. Certain singers and composers are going to become something of a theme. I made no concession to including a little bit of everything to provide a mix of styles and schools. For instance, there’s no Wagner or anything else in German. (If forced to pick something, the production of Wagner’s Parsifal is something I admire quite a bit, even if I can’t actively like it.) This is just a list of stuff I like.

So, without further ado (and in alphabetical order, because there’s no way I could rank these)…

Honorable mentions

Berlioz La Damnation de Faust (2008)

Conductor: James Levine

Marguerite: Susan Graham

Faust: Marcello Giordani

Méphistophélès: John Relyea

The music is good, and Graham and Relyea are particularly excellent, but what I really love about this one is the production. The staging happens on multiple levels with action going on in individual squares. There’s lot of cool wire work, with soldiers marching up the walls and falling to their deaths, for example. It’s just a really gorgeous and inventive looking production.

Verdi Don Carlo (2010)

Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Elisabetta: Marina Poplavskaya

Eboli: Anna Smirnova

Don Carlo: Roberto Alagna

Rodrigo: Simon Keenlyside

Philip II: Ferruccio Furlanetto

This has absolutely become one of my favorite operas in the past year and a half. And this production is interesting and the cast all do well, but I only love Furlanetto here, hence only honorable mention.

Massenet Werther (2014)

Conductor: Alain Altinoglu

Sophie: Lisette Oropesa

Charlotte: Sophie Koch

Werther: Jonas Kaufmann

Albert: David Bizic

I’ve seen an even better Werther with Kaufmann and Koch from the Pairs Opera, but this one is excellent, and I super want Werther’s Act 1 coat.

11-20

Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2007)

Conductor: Maurizio Benini

Rosina: Joyce DiDonato

Count Almaviva: Juan Diego Flórez

Figaro: Peter Mattei

Bartolo: John Del Carlo

Basilio: John Relyea

I love this opera, Figaro doing his best to set up the Count and Rosina. Also, this cast is PERFECTION, like, it literally could not be better in any way. But as much as I like other productions directed by Bartlett Sher, I don’t love this one. The staging is the only thing keeping this out of the Top 10.

Mozart Così fan tutte (2014 and 2018)

2014

Conductor: James Levine

Fiordiligi: Susanna Phillips

Dorabella: Isabel Leonard

Despina: Danielle de Niese

Ferrando: Matthew Polenzani

Guglielmo: Rodion Pogossov

Don Alfonso: Maurizio Muraro

2018

Conductor: David Robertson

Fiordiligi: Amanda Majeski

Dorabella: Serena Malfi

Despina: Kelli O’Hara

Ferrando: Ben Bliss

Guglielmo: Adam Plachetka

The singing is better in the 2014. (There isn’t a tenor alive I’d rather hear sing Mozart than Polenzani.) But the 2018 production set on Coney Island in the 50s is so incredibly inventive, I can’t help but mention is as well. I mean, swan boats, people. Anyhow, just run with the ridiculous story of two dudes who take a bet that their girlfriends are entirely faithful by showing up in disguise and trying to seduce them. The music is so spectacular, it’s all worth it.

Donizetti L’Elisir d’Amore (2012)

Conductor: Maurizio Benini

Adina: Anna Netrebko

Nemorino: Matthew Polenzani

Belcore: Mariusz Kwiecien

Dr. Dulcamara: Ambrogio Maestri

Netrebko, Polenzani, and Kwiecien performing Donizetti together is one of life’s great joys. (Stay tuned for next week’s Top 10.) This silly opera features a clueless tenor who spends all his money on a love potion (spoiler—it’s just wine), but when he’s drunk, he’s sure the soprano will love him. The baritone, of course, also wants the soprano and tries to thwart the tenor. It’s a ludicrous story. It’s also perfect.

Donizetti La Fille du Régiment (2008)

Conductor: Marco Armiliato

Marie: Natalie Dessay

Marquise of Berkenfield: Felicity Palmer

Tonio: Juan Diego Flórez

Sulpice: Alessandro Corbelli

I’d actually seen this production with Dessay and Florez from the Royal Opera House in London before the pandemic, so when I realized I would get to see this charming opera again with these two, I was thrilled! Dessay is the titular Daughter, an orphan adopted by a regiment of soldiers. Florez is the local boy who falls in love with her and joins the regiment so he can marry her. But Marie is found by her long-lost family and forced to become a proper lady. When the regiment shows up, complete with Tonio on a tank, to rescue her, it’s a joy. Also, this production is famous for Florez earning the first encore at the Met in 14 years (Pavarotti had been the last) for his remarkable performance of “Mes amis,” with it’s famous 9 high C’s. (This isn’t that exact performance, but you will understand how he got that encore.) If you want to watch this, the Met is streaming it Friday evening to Saturday afternoon.

Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro (1998 and 2014)

1998

Conductor: James Levine

Countess Almaviva: Renée Fleming

Susanna: Cecilia Bartoli

Cherubino: Susanne Mentzer

Count Almaviva: Dwayne Croft

Figaro: Bryn Terfel

2014

Conductor: James Levine

Countess Almaviva: Amanda Majeski

Susanna: Marlis Petersen

Cherubino: Isabel Leonard

Count Almaviva: Peter Mattei

Figaro: Ildar Abdrazakov

Both of these productions and casts are absolutely magnificent. The 1998 is a very traditional production with the exception that Bartoli does alternate arias, which, while fascinating, ends up being disappointing when you really want to hear “Deh vieni non tardar.” Still, Bartoli, Terfel, and Fleming are all hard to top in these roles. If you want to see it, it’s showing on the Met’s website tomorrow starting at 6:30 pm until Tuesday at 5 pm.

I like to refer to the 2014 production as Gosford Park Figaro given the setting. It’s incredibly charming, and Mattei might very well be the best Count I’ve ever heard. For those who don’t know, the story is simple, but also weirdly, and comedically, complex. Susanna and Figaro work for the Count and Countess. They are about to get married, except Figaro owes money to a different woman he’s pledged to marry if he can’t pay her back. Spoiler—it turns out he can’t marry her, because she is his long-lost mother. Meanwhile, the Count is constantly hitting on Susanna, who’s just trying to help the Countess win back her husband’s affections. Cherubino runs around like an idiot.

Verdi Rigoletto (2013)

Conductor: Michele Mariotti

Gilda: Diana Damrau

Maddalena: Oksana Volkova

Duke of Mantua: Piotr Beczała

Rigoletto: Željko Lučić

Sparafucile: Stefan Kocán

This production is the perfect update. The story is about the court jester, Rigoletto, trying to protect his innocent daughter from the advances of the Duke while also trying to avoid a curse. Literally everything goes wrong for Rigoletto in one of opera’s great tragedies, but it can be hard to relate to the story in a traditional, medieval setting. This production moves the action to Vegas in the 50s, Rigoletto a sort of Don Rickles to the Duke’s Frank Sinatra. The production is brilliant, and all of the singers are amazing.

Verdi Simon Boccanegra 1995

Conductor: James Levine

Amelia: Kiri Te Kanawa

Gabriele Adorno: Plácido Domingo

Simon Boccanegra: Vladimir Chernov

Jacopo Fiesco: Robert Lloyd

This may be Verdi’s prettiest opera, and the sets in this production of 14^th Century Genoa are stunning. Add to that the remarkable performances by the cast, and I immediately fell in love with this one. Like so many Verdi’s operas, it’s a complicated plot—the people of Genoa want Boccanegra to be Doge, but he’s more focused on his dying, imprisoned love and finding their missing daughter, all while lots of political intrigue is happening. It’s lovely and tragic, and I wish this opera got more love.

Bellini La Sonnambula 2009

Conductor: Evelino Pidò

Amina: Natalie Dessay

Elvino: Juan Diego Flórez

Rodolfo: Michele Pertusi

Apparently, Met audiences booed this production, but I think they are crazy. No one doubts Dessay and Florez, again absolutely stunning together, but the production is far more meta than opera audiences are used to. Here’s the thing—Amina is a sleepwalker, and this leads to issues with her one true love, Elvino. The original setting is Alpine, which is usually presented as a little kitschy, so it’s tough to do a traditional production. What director Mary Zimmerman did here is imagine an opera company rehearsing a traditional production of the opera. It’s a crazy idea, but I think it works. And did I mention that the singing is wonderful?

Puccini Tosca 2018

Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume

Tosca: Sonya Yoncheva

Cavaradossi: Vittorio Grigolo

Scarpia: Željko Lučić

This is one of my very favorite operas, and this traditional production by Sir David McVicar is such an improvement on the horrific production the Met had been trotting out for at least a decade before this one. The cast is also fantastic. This marks role debuts for both Yoncheva and Grigolo, but you would never know it. And Lučić is a perfectly menacing Scarpia. The story is as simple as it is tragic. Cavaradossi, a painter and Tosca’s boyfriend, helps a friend who has just escaped from Scarpia’s prison. Scarpia has the hots for Tosca, plus he’s an asshole. So he tortures Cavaradossi for info about the escaped prisoner until Tosca agrees to tell him everything if he will release Cavaradossi. Scarpia says sure, as long as you’ll sleep with me. They agree, but Tosca kills him before she has to do it with him. But in a painful last act double cross, everyone dies and it’s super sad. Listen to Grigolo nailing the big Act 3 aria.

Verdi Il Trovatore 2011

Conductor: Marco Armiliato

Leonora: Sondra Radvanovsky

Azucena: Dolora Zajick

Manrico: Marcelo Álvarez

Di Luna: Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Ferrando: Stefan Kocán

Arguably the most convoluted plot in all of opera, you just show up and pray the four principals are good. The four here (with the addition of the always magnificent Kocán, the Met’s go-to character bass) are as good as you will ever hear. The Met will be showing this production with a slightly different cast on Saturday evening-Sunday afternoon this week. It’s very worth seeing, especially the late, great Hvorostovsky.

And that’s all for this week. Tune in next week for operas 1-10!

~S

Literary Lovers

_{Look at all that romance! Maybe we should have bought a bigger bottle.}

Happy Valentine’s Day! We’re celebrating here in the same way we celebrate every holiday: we’re sitting in our comfy chairs and drinking coffee. But in the most romantic possible way, of course. (Actually, we do have some champagne chilling in the fridge, but that’s for later. Probably in the evening sometime. Unless we get a sudden hankering for Mimosas.)

Thinking about Valentine’s Day made us think of all the great romantic couples in literature. One of those couples, of course, is Grigory Sobol and Presley Kemp from our very own Of Duty and Silver Series. And if you’re one of those people who’ve been following their relationship since they first met in The Queen’s Tower, you really need to read Reunion Vale, our latest book, to find out if they get a happy ending, or if their romance is the tragic kind, instead.

But other than those guys, here are some of the best romantic pairings in all of literature, in no particular order.

Emma Woodhouse and Mr. Knightley from Emma by Jane Austen
Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth from Persuasion by Jane Austen
These are the holy trinity of Austen romantic relationships, and we can’t make ourselves choose between them. So they count as one entry on this list. In all three cases, Austen does a marvelous job at showing people who are perfect for each other, if they could only just figure it out. An honorable mention goes to Henry Tilney and Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey. (We will politely refrain from comment on the relationships in Sense and Sensibility, and Mansfield Park is best forgotten for any number of reasons.)

Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
“There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her. They never meet but there’s a skirmish of wit between them.” You’ll notice Romeo and Juliet aren’t on this list. That’s because we are no longer 15. Beatrice and Benedick, in contrast, are a romance for adults. They are the patron saints of healthy romantic conflict.

George and Martha from Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
These, in contrast, are the patron saints of unhealthy romantic conflict. We’ve probably mentioned this before, but our first date was watching the movie version of this play. (Fortunately, our own relationship is nothing like theirs. I mean, for one thing, we’d have to start having company over before we could play “Get the Guest.”)

Lucy Honeychurch and George Emerson from A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
There’s nothing like travel to spur romance and make you want to throw off the bonds of your conventional Edwardian-era life. As one does. This book is guaranteed to make you want to go to Italy. Just don’t bring your Baedeker guide when you visit Santa Croce.

Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton from North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
S and I like to say that Gaskell’s works are where Austen meets Dickens. Margaret and Mr. Thornton have that same kind of inevitability as the best Austen couples. They are, in fact, probably the best Austen couple that Austen didn’t write. Arguably, they’re better than some couples that Austen did write. (Casts side-eye in the direction of Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon.)

Vin and Elend Venture from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
These two are one of the great couples from fantasy literature. They complement each other perfectly, both in their work and their romance. And they’re both introverts, too, which proves you don’t need an extrovert in the relationship to make it work. So there.

Sabriel and Touchstone from the Sabriel series by Garth Nix
Another great fantasy couple that complements each other perfectly, just like Vin and Elend. They’re so compelling, in fact, that unfortunately when they become secondary characters later in the series, they’re still more interesting than the ostensible protagonists of those books. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of great couples in fantasy, we have to give an honorable mention to Taran and Princess Eilonwy from The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander.

Ramses Emerson and Nefret Forth from the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters
These two have a fantastic slow burn relationship through six novels of the series (which take place over seventeen years). To say that we (and all Elizabeth Peters fans) were thrilled when they finally got together would be a significant understatement.

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov from Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
The enemies to lovers trope has rarely been so perfectly executed as in Book 2 of the Game Changers series about the gay romances of professional hockey players. Shane is the sweetest Canadian boy you’ve ever met, and Rozanov is an absolute bastard Russian, but somehow, they end up being the perfect couple.

Damen and Laurent from Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat
Oh. Shoot. Wait. This might be the best ever execution of the enemies to lovers trope. In this imagined world, Damen is denied his rightful throne and is sent in chains to become the sex slave of his enemy, Prince Laurent. This slow burn trilogy takes its time setting things to right, politically and romantically, but every second of the journey is impossibly compelling.

Kristin Lavransdatter and Erlend Nikulaussøn from Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, Tiina Nunnally (Translator)
It’s important to cite the translator, Nunnally, because the original English translation edited the first romantic encounter between Kristin and Erlend. And what got left out from that scene in this brilliant 14th Century historical epic? Erlend kissing Kristin’s knee, and yes, it’s so hot I see why it would be edited for content.

Elio and Oliver from Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
More than just a coming of age romance, this exquisitely written novel is infused with a sense of middle-aged regret that makes the story of these two young men falling in love one summer in Italy more than a mere first true love tale.

Monza Murcatto and Caul Shivers from Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
This is an Abercrombie novel, so these two are both kind of terrible people and the sex scenes are more uncomfortable than titillating, and yet, this pairing just works. She’s a discarded General looking for revenge and he’s a warrior in search of a better life, and together they bring out the best and the worst in each other.

Achilles and Patroclus from The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
One of the oldest pairs of lovers in the world, Miller breathes new life into the story of Achilles and Patroclus. From the burgeoning of their passion in the centaur’s cave to the Trojan War and their deaths, this story is full of beauty and impending doom, and it provides a really fantastic ugly cry.

Anna Karenina and Alexei Vronsky from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
These two were never going to get the happy ending readers want for their romantic pairings, but what makes it so painful is how much they do love each other and how much they both want it to work. After multiple readings over decades, their point of no return when Vronsky follows Anna when she’s trying to get away from him and her budding feelings can still send a crusty author’s heart fluttering. (From the Constance Garnett translation)
“I didn’t know you were going. What are you coming for?” she said, letting fall the hand with which she had grasped the door post. And irrepressible delight and eagerness shone in her face.
“What am I coming for?” he repeated, looking straight into her eyes. “You know that I have come to be where you are,” he said; “I can’t help it.”

Honorable Mention: Us and Our Readers
And the love between us and all of you, our dear readers, cannot be forgotten. Rest assured, we got you something nice. Be sure to check your email tomorrow.

So that’s our list of great literary couples. If you disagree with us, you could write a lengthy rebuttal. Or you could use your time much more profitably and enjoyably by reading Reunion Vale, which is on sale now, and would also, hypothetically speaking, make an excellent gift for someone special.

J and S

2020–It wasn’t all bad

^{The best of the best}

For the past two years, I’ve done a wrap up of all the books I read for the first time during that year. Two years ago, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller topped my list, and last year when I merely grouped everything and said I wasn’t going to rank them, I still divulged that Joe Abercrombie’s A Little Hatred was my favorite. This year, I’m doing a bit of both.

It struck me that I read more than usual in translation this year, which isn’t surprising, since I specifically made a point of it. (Somehow, though, I read very little nonfiction this year. I’m planning to fix that in 2021.) So, since I read so much in translation, that gave me the idea of splitting my list between English language books and those in translation. Each list then ranks the books in order, and then I talk about them as groups based on my star rating. If I had to actually combine the lists, my head might explode a bit.

For the groups by star rating, you might be confused by 3+ and 4+. Well, this year I made the move from Goodreads to The Story Graph, and TSG allows you to give star ratings refined to the quarter star. So, for instance, I gave both My Dark Vanessa and The Trouble with Peace 3.75 stars. I found this really exciting, along with a bunch of other features at TSG. I totally recommend checking it out. (And BTW, it’s in beta now, but the live date is January 1.)

So, with that out of the way, let’s see what I read!

ENGLISH
< 3
Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict
The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts
These are books I read for work, plus an audiobook I kept listening to while I waited for better books I was on hold for at the library.

3
The Bright Lands by John Fram
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
Spellbound by Allie Therin
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason
It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian
Several of these are me attempting things I normally don’t like, and well, I’m just generally not a fan of horror, paranormal romance, or YA. However, shout out to Christian Coulson who reads the Lee book, and who I would happily listen to read just about anything, even slightly stupid YA.

3+
The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
Band Sinister by K.J. Charles
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie
I’ve read Sanderson and Abercrombie, including others in these respective series, that I’ve enjoyed a lot more. And I have higher ranked Charles this year. The Russell is actually really close to being 4 stars, but it often reads like it’s been workshopped about 3 too many times.

4
The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Waiting for the Flood by Alexis Hall
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Asking for It by Lilah Pace
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Price of Salt: Or Carol by Patricia Highsmith
The Henchmen of Zenda by K.J. Charles
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
I read a lot of books this year I like very much, but couldn’t quite love, hence the high number of 4 and 4+ star books. The classics on here were all for work, and I enjoyed them a lot. Alexis Hall I’ve liked since I read For Real last year. However, that book is far smuttier than either of those I read this year, and I’m wondering if the amazing smut level of that book was an aberration. Speaking of smut, Asking for It is very smutty, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel. The Charles is sort of middle of the road on the Charles smut-o-meter, but incredibly fun on the old-school romance adventure front. The Nguyẽ̂n, Vuong, and Tevis novels are all well-written, compelling character studies. The Renault was totally heading for 5 star territory, but it loses momentum in the second half, although it ends strong.

4+
Common Goal by Rachel Reid
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss
Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup
The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Rachel Reid’s M/M hockey romances continue to charm, and I cannot wait for the next two books that have already been announced. As a fan of Dumas, The Black Count, a biography of his utterly remarkable father, has been on my TBR list for a while, and I’m so happy to have finally gotten around to this. Twleve Years a Slave is another that was long overdue and even better than I expected. The Arnold and Mandel are both books I intended to give a pass until people I trust told me to check them out. Bless them. Also, since Arnold is an actor, his reading of the audiobook is absolutely the way to go with Last Smile. Speaking of audiobooks, Nadia May’s reading of Jean Brodie is phenomenal. Not only is it an exceptionally good character study and story, but the way Spark tells the story is perfection.

5
Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles
Charles remains the Queen of my historical M/M romance heart. As always, the romance is delightful, but also the set up and the heist in this are particularly clever. I’m not sure how many books Charles has planned in this series, but the next book is coming in the summer, and you better believe I’ll be hopping on it as soon as I can.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I was a little nervous when I started this one. The last Steinbeck I read was The Grapes of Wrath, and I loathe it. Passion of a thousand burning suns level of hate. But then my book club selected this one, and I had no choice, and thank goodness they did pick it. The psychology of the characters is so profound, the writing stunning, and the entire experience (because it feels like reading it qualifies as an experience) has left me better off as a reader.

What Belongs to You and Cleanness by Garth Greenwell
I read most of the first chapter of What Belongs to You a couple years ago, and it didn’t click. Then I read this piece by Greenwell and I have to admit, his idea of Cleanness having passages that are “100% pornographic and 100% high art,” intrigued me. So I grabbed the audiobook of Cleanness, read quite well by the author, and I fell in love with Greenwell’s language and the way he writes about sex and desire in such a fully honestly way. After that, I decided to give What Belongs another chance, this time on audiobook, and perhaps I just love the way Greenwell’s prose sounds, because I loved every second of the book. I plan to keep reading every word he writes.

TRANSLATION
< 3
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translation Antonia Lloyd-Jones
In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende, translation Nick Caistor, Amanda Hopkinson
In fairness, Drive Your Plow is probably a very good book. I am just not the right reader for it.

3
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, translation Adrien Kijek
It Would Be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo, translation Elizabeth Bryer
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, translation Kencho Suematsu
Although it seems odd to say it about something as ancient as Genji, these are all debut novels. Genji, of course, is inventing the artform, and while it’s all very interesting, I feel like this abridgement by Suematsu is as much as I need to read. Azar and Borgo are both writing about extreme times in their native countries (Iran and Venezuela respectively), and I look forward to what both of them do next.

3+
Jenny by Sigrid Undset, translation Tiina Nunnally
Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translation Jonathan Wright
Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, translation Stanley Mitchell
Undset and Pushkin are both legends, but these particular works, as much as they had moments I absolutely love, I couldn’t get into. Couldn’t quite click with Saadawi either, even though it’s a very good novel.

4
The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti, translation Erica Segre, Simon Carnell
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, translation Lowell Bair
Klotsvog by Margarita Khemlin, translation Lisa Hayden
Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang, translation Karen S. Kingsbury
Isolde by Irina Odoevtseva, translation Bryan Karetnyk, Irina Steinberg
So, Phantom is crazy fun and Eight Mountains is lovely. The final three books here could really be placed in any order—I really liked them all and I would enthusiastically read more books by all these authors and translators. (Aside, I picked up Klotsvog primarily because it was translated by Hayden who translated last year’s #2 book Zuleikha, which, seriously, if you haven’t Zuleikha, stop reading this blog immediately and go do that instead.)

4+
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas, translation Robin Buss
The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo, translated by Robert Ferguson
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori
Pretty much every time I read Dumas, I think to myself, “Why don’t I read more Dumas?” Such a fun writer, and there’s always more there if you want to dig. Speaking of more, it’s amazing to me how much Murata squeezes into such a short book, but there’s just so much to unpack about society in this novel. I finished this in August, and I’m still thinking about it. And Nesbo is pretty much always brilliant, even though this is psychological mystery rather than his usual police procedural. Honestly, I feel like it has a real East of Eden vibe, which I wouldn’t mind reading more of from Nesbo.

5
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, translation Richard Howard and Ivan Minatti, illustrations Nguyễn Thành Vũ
There are moments when you realize everyone on the planet is right about a classic book and you wonder WTF took you so long getting to it. This story is so remarkably charming and rich and just plain beautiful, not to mention incredibly moving. I listened to the audio back in the spring when I was having eye problems, but I peeked at all the illustrations, which are beyond lovely and delightful. I look forward to reading this one again and again.

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translation Ross Benjamin
And here we are—my favorite book of 2020. I’ve never had so much trouble talking about a book I love as I have with this, but there’s something about this novel that leaves me a little tongue tied, no matter how much I want to gush. But how to describe it? Sure, I could tell you it’s historical fiction, set during the Thirty Years War, but that barely scratches the surface. Because it’s also almost magical realism, Tyll’s antics bordering on magic of the slight-of-hand variety and magic of the fantastical. And all of this blends to make the story something akin to folklore. And yet it’s pure literary fiction of the best sort. It’s the life story of Tyll Ulenspiegel, son of a miller, traveling performer, and witness to history, but even that description falls woefully short.

For a time, I really thought someone would come and take away my Librarian Card if I couldn’t hand sell a book I love so much. But then I reread the Publisher’s Weekly review that first put the book on my radar, and I felt decidedly better about my inability to say why I love this novel: “Located somewhere between German romanticism and modernism, superstition and science, history and high fantasy, this is a rapturous and adventuresome novel of ideas that, like Tyll’s roaming sideshow, must be experienced to be believed. ” So there you are. A book that defies any real description other than you should read it.

And that’s my year in reading! I hope you read some stuff you loved this year, maybe even our stuff! I look forward to doing this all again next year. 😊

~S