January 2022 Wrap-Up

 I definitely get a new rush of reading energy in with the new year. It helps that the nature of my work is often slow or nonexistent in January, so I have plenty of time for reading. 

Books Read This Month

1. The Babysitters' Coven by Kate M. Williams--extremely meta cross between The Babysitters' Club and Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a very Gen Z nonviolent code--much to love!
2. The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer--the most amazing Jewish rep and the only chronic illness rep I've ever read wrapped up in one entertaining yet satisfyingly thoughtful Hanukkah romance story. Also, in case this is also you, even the Christmas content, which annoyed me reading the blurb and almost put me off reading it--because really, we need that even in a Hanukkah novel?--ended up making sense and not being annoying.
3. The Leavers by Lisa Ko--very important story about children left behind when parents are deported; sensitively explores issues of ethics around adoption and immigration without being didactic
4. Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey--This flew by, and felt more like a novella, but it was fun reading a post-apocalyptic Western entirely centering queer women (and librarians). 
5. Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce (book club)--An odd-buddy journey to New Caledonia in the 1950s--I loved the characters, the travel, the beetles--so much great beetle info, funniest birthing scene I've ever read. In my opinion, it had more death and grief than necessary but still a fun read.
6. The Rabbi Who Prayed With Fire by Rachel Sharona Lewis--Like the author, I serendipitously discovered Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small mystery series from the 1960s and '70s at a used book sale a few years ago. Lewis updates the genre with a young queer female rabbi at a Conservative synagogue set in present-day Providence, RI. For better or worse, this book made me feel totally at home!
7. This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel (other book club)--This got rave reviews, which I think were totally deserved. It's about a family whose youngest child is trans but really it's a novel about parenting and all of the unique kids and parents in the book, Felt very real. Also, they're Jewish, which only matters in like 5 sporadic references including a reference to the Talmud on the first page.