My December in reading

Whenever winter hits, I get really into sweeping, dramatic period pieces. And/or books that are actually from those historical periods. Either works! Much of my December reading was of that genre—but there was more, of course.

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

I’d obviously heard of Poirot and Miss Marple, but I’d never heard of Christie’s characters Tommy and Tuppence until the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast decided to tackle this one. The Secret Adversary is the first of her books featuring these plucky Young Adventurers—literally, that’s what they call themselves. To be honest, Tommy and Tuppence themselves were a little too plucky for my taste. On the other hand, I did enjoy the geopolitical intrigue of the book—facing off against a sinister socialist organization, of course, because what else would be so sinister in the 1920s? I also called who the culprit was way before the Young Adventurers did, so that was satisfying.

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

This book was so sweeping and dramatic that it bowled me right over—I loved it. The novel tells the tale of Lilliet Berne, a famous Parisian opera star in the late 1800s, whose rise to fame is full of twists and turns and encounters with famous historical figures and events. It would seem totally ridiculous if Chee weren’t such a skilled writer. He mesmerizes you, wraps you tightly in rich fashions from the House of Worth and fills your ears with Faust and Carmen. Can’t recommend this book enough.

The Things They Fancied by Molly Young

My friend Gena brought this little zine to my attention. In it, Young’s essays illuminate the various absurd ways that the ultra-rich have spent their money throughout the ages, from pet squirrels to $50,000 custom perfume. A quick and enjoyable read—honestly, I would have read more of it. Hope she does a second volume someday.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

I’d never read anything by Wharton before, and now I’m very glad that I did! I’d heard good things, but I was taken aback by how funny The Age of Innocence was. Of course, the love triangle between lawyer Newland Archer, his young fiancée May Welland, and her cousin, the mysterious and tragic Countess Ellen Olenska, is all very romantic. But I preferred the narrator’s snide commentary about New York’s upper classes during the Gilded Age. I watched the movie soon after finishing the book, and I think the book wins, simply because the movie contains less of that commentary.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

I also listened to this one on the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast. I’d read it before, years ago, and I remembered not liking it. Turns out my memory was correct! James treats his sentences horribly. He wraps the meanings around themselves so tightly that it drains all the sentiment out of them. And why does the narrator always intuit things for no reason? How did she know the ghost was talking to the child? She just knew, that’s how. There are way better ghost stories out there. I’d skip this one.

A Letter of Mary by Laurie R. King

The third entry in King’s Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series is…not my favorite. Chatting about it with some friends, we decided that the main problem was that King left a lot of room for Mary to do some introspection about what she wants out of her life, how she does or doesn’t want to differentiate herself from Holmes—and then she just forgot to do the actual introspection. The mystery gets solved in the background. It’s not all that compelling. I guess it’s not surprising that I didn’t remember much about it from when I read it as a kid. Looking forward to the next installment, though.

Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch

I’d been saving this one for the holidays, since I knew it took place at Christmas. Our narrator, Janet, is, as the title suggests, sad. In fact, she suffers from serious depression—but she also has a wicked sense of humor. She works at a dog shelter, trying to avoid as much human contact as possible, especially since everyone always tries to convince her to take medication. But then a pharmaceutical company introduces a new antidepressant, a temporary one that you take 6 weeks before Christmas so you can enjoy the holiday, then go back to being your grumpy old self. I liked this book for so many reasons—I’m a sucker for voice-driven narration, for one. But speaking as someone who constantly deals with anxiety, and occasionally depression, I related to Janet’s qualms about medication—even though I’m a longtime citalopram taker myself. But I distinctly remember sharing some of the same concerns. Anyway, this is a great debut—you should pick it up.

Anthony Adverse by Hervey Allen

I inherited a very old copy of this 1933 novel from my Great Aunt Joan; it’s been sitting on my shelf for ages, so I finally decided to tackle it—all 1,224 pages. Technically I finished on January 1st, but I’m counting it for December since I read over 970 pages in the last weeks of the year. Apparently it was wildly popular at the time, but now nobody’s ever heard of it. It was an interesting read in terms of structure and pacing—a classic bildungsroman that follows the orphan Anthony on his adventures throughout Europe, and later Cuba, Africa (it never specifies a country), and the United States during the late 1700s and early 1800s. He’s not even born until around page 100. I liked his encounters with famous historical figures like Napoleon, since he was so clearly a miniscule side character in their lives. That said, there was one big thing I didn’t like about this novel: RACISM. I was prepared for some racism, given when it was written, but boy howdy I didn’t expect Anthony to spend so much time in the slave trade. But of course, Anthony was a kind and generous master—major cringe. Unless you too are curious about the gigantic, antique tome on your bookshelf that once belonged to a relative, I can’t recommend this one.