In this neverending pandemic, especially now with cases numbers blowing up in my province thanks to these fabulous new Variants of Concern and the turtle-slow rollout of vaccines, I find myself in need of escape. I read a very wide variety of books, but lately anything contemporary and based in reality is not appealing at all.
If you’re in the same boat, and would like a ticket to far different realities, I would like to present the following options. These made it into my tbr pile recently and I loved them.
A DEADLY EDUCATION – NAOMI NOVIK
If this is your first time reading Naomi Novik, congratulations, I’m very jealous of you. I’ve read all three of her books and will read every book she publishes from now until forever. Her characters are fantastic, her premises are fantastic, and I love her writing style. A Deadly Education is no different. I love everything about this book. The best part? It’s the first of a series (her other two books are stand alone) and the sequel comes out in June, so you won’t have to wait long for the next one. And in the mean time you can read her other two novels, Uprooted and Spinning Silver.
PIRANESI – SUSANNA CLARKE
Don’t ask me to say the title out loud, because I doubt I could get the pronunciation right, but this book is amazing. The best way I can describe it is it’s like one of those really strange dreams, filled with meaning, that you struggle to remember in the morning. The main character, Piranesi, spends the book puzzling out who he is and what his relationship is to the house he lives in, and its sole other occupant. It’s lyrical, hypnotic and really out there in the best way.
MEXICAN GOTHIC – SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA
I loved this book. It starts slow and grows more and more creepy and unnerving with an ever-expanding ball of dread in your gut, until you get near the end and everything jumps to hyper-speed and you’d rather cut your own eyelids off than stop reading. It’s strange and awful and beautiful and the writing is gorgeous. And the characters! Silvia Moreno-Garcia knows how to craft an insanely imaginative story and give you some truly repugnant characters. Magnificent.
There you have it! May these books serve you well in the coming weeks. Remember: stay in, read books, see no one.
Thanks for reading! If you like what you’ve read, remember to subscribe and share.
Melanie Cole 