Jocular January Staff Picks

“Schwab has a masterpiece on her hands with this title. I loved it from the beginning, and that love grew until the very end. Addie needed to find a way to escape the life she is supposed to live as a woman in France, 1714. “No matter how desperate or dire, never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” As the sun sets, she is praying to any god that will listen to help her be free, someone eventually hears her... and they answer. 300 years later Addie walks into a bookstore to find a young man at the counter. Upon her return she realizes he remembers her...”

“We all make choices throughout our lives, choosing different paths to follow, different roles to play. But who selects the options we choose from? Interior Chinatown is like a rapier taken to stereotypes that inhabit society's attitudes towards Asian Americans. The main character, Willis Wu, is a minor actor in an ongoing cop drama who wants to be more than a generic Asian male in the background, maybe even someday becoming "Kung Fu Guy". The novel bounces back and forth between the script Wu is inhabiting and an interior monologue . And one of the strengths of this book, for the reader, is how thin the line sometimes feels between these stereotypical roles that Willis is acting, and the ridiculousness of the particular situation. Interior Chinatown is a brilliant novel, one that challenged this reader in the best possible ways”

“Melanie Benjamin is at her best in this historical fiction account of the terrifying blizzard of 1888. It seemingly came out of nowhere and caught the residents of the Midwest by surprise, especially the children and teachers who were preparing to go home for the day. Benjamin looks at the lives of two sisters — both teachers at different schools — and how their decisions that day meant life or death for their students. I spent several late nights on this one!”

“Being excited about a follow-up to a debut novel can be fraught — will the second book live up to my expectations? A Rogue of One’s Own absolutely did! Evie Dunmore’s series (the first entry was Bringing Down the Duke) features a quartet of lively suffragettes and the men they fall in love with and bring over to The Cause. The characters are compelling and likable, the relationships solidly built. There are also some interesting tidbits for history buffs, like excerpts of actual letters written by women of the time.”

“Take a Hint, Dani Brown is the most fun I’ve had reading a book all year. The banter between all of the characters was hilarious and relatable. The moments of compassion between Dani and Zaf on which their relationship is built emphasize the power in vulnerability. Zaf’s struggles with anxiety and Dani’s struggles against her own insecurities are so familiar and understandable. Hibbert has entirely embraced the friends-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes to create the most heart-warming book, and she will be an automatic-buy author for me in the future. This is a great book for adults looking for some diverse romance and a comfort read. Some content warnings include anxiety, racism, death of a parent, death of a sibling and explicitly sexual content, but none of these topics are the focus of the story.”

“I am a big fan of Natalie Barelli's. Her books just keep getting better. Unfaithful is a gripping domestic thriller that captivated my attention from the first page and held it until the last page. Nobody writes an unreliable character/heroine than Natalie Barelli. The story begins with a bang. The shady heroine witnesses one of her favorite students taking his life. She then leaves quickly so as not to be seen. She then drops in on her husband at his studio and finds two wine glasses - one bearing a lipstick stain. I could spill the rest of the story, but then I'd have to kill you. No pun intended. If you are looking for a pageturner to take your mind off this nightmare of a Pandemic, this book is for you. The narration was topnotch.”

“There comes a time in all our lives when we say, “If I knew then, ...” In this memoir, Jann Arden takes us there with humor, warmth, and honesty. Her words resonated deeply with me, a woman “of a certain age”. She reflects on growing up and growing older, on the ways her body has changed, on her father’s alcoholism, on her parents’ dementia and Altzheimer’s disease and deaths, and on the wisdom she has gained along the way. Some of us can relate very intimately with her story; others can relate to the humanity of it - to the conflicting emotions, to the loss, love, change, and growth. And above all, to the humor and hope. This is an entertaining and thought- and emotion-provoking quick listen.”

“No one really needs my blurb to help sell this book, but I wanted to give it anyway, especially for the audiobook, narrated by Barack Obama himself. If you want to know his incredible knowledge and wisdom that guided him through major decisions, and also hear him drop a few F-bombs, you need to listen to this fantastically written book. ”

“This was just fantastic. Amari is such a great main character, smart and gutsy especially as she navigates grief, bullying and a new magical environment. I loved her new found friendship with Elsie as well as this new magical school world. If you loved Harry Potter and Morrigan Crow (from Nevermoor), you will adore this.”