I also adore the uninterrupted reading time I’m afforded during holiday time. I mean, just see the 5(!) books I managed to read during our family beach week last summer.
Over the past week, I’ve read three new books and revisited one classic:
The mini favorite…
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (2021)
This work reminds me of a quote from Sigrid Nunez’s book: “almost every long book I read I see a short one shirking its job.” This short volume is nonetheless a tome. Only 128 pages long, there is not a single word out of place in Keegan’s story.
Based on the horrifically true history of discarded women at the hands of the Catholic Church in Ireland, this is an especially feeling read during the Christmas season. Bill, a coal merchant, is already plagued with existential thoughts, nostalgia, and regret when he stumbles across a terrible secret at the local convent that forces him to make a choice. Will he remain complicit, or potentially ruin everything he’s worked his whole life for? You will not regret picking this one up.
If you’re looking for a quick, gut punch of a read….
5/5
The (local) queer historical fiction…
I came across this book when Christmas gift shopping and as soon as I discovered it was about Lewis Ginter, a very familiar name around Richmond, I knew I wanted it as part of my collection. Discovering that the novel is about Ginter’s not-so-secret lifelong love, John Pope, only cemented my interest.
Lewis Ginter, a New York native who adopted Richmond as his home to such a degree that he served as a Major in the Confederate Army, made a fortune in the tobacco industry. Lewis would go on to found the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and The Jefferson hotel, two Richmond landmarks that still stand today. John Pope, a young, working class man from Brooklyn, lived and worked with Lewis for over twenty years until they both died “confirmed bachelors.” The writing of this novel is not its strong point—rather middling at times, in fact—but the story kept me engaged until the end.
If you’re looking for a simple, trueish story about a Richmonder, recommend.
4/5
The standout favorite…
The Vulnerables by Sigrid Nunez (2023)
This is my first foray into Sigrid Nunez, but it will most definitely not be my last! I don’t even know how to describe this book, so I’ll use some of the quotes from the book jacket to help me: “Nunez’s voice is unflinching and intimate.” “It takes something more than intelligence to be able to write intelligently…whatever it is, Sigrid Nunez has it.”
There are very few books, television shows, or movies that can bring me back to the very beginning of the pandemic without feeling like it’s rubbing salt in my wounds. This is a book that takes place almost entirely within the pandemic, and it still feels like a comfort to read. Nunez’s unnamed protagonist shelters through the unprecedented time alongside a manic depressive Gen Zer and a parrot named Eureka. Part confessional, part story, I wanted to turn back to the first page as soon as I finished it.
6/5
The reliable classic…
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, illustrated by P. J. Lynch (2006)
You can’t go wrong with the classics, especially around this time of year! (At least, that’s what I tell myself when I watch White Christmas eight times in two weeks…)
I’ve had this beautifully illustrated edition of Dickens’ classic since it was published in 2006 and I try to read it every year—starting December 23 so that I finish with the final chapter on Christmas Day. The text that appears is the original, and Lynch’s illustrations are beautiful pieces of art that fit beautifully within the body of the text.
5/5
Note from Kate: Hi! If you buy something through a link on my page, I may earn an affiliate commission. I recommend only products I genuinely like, and my recommendation is not for sale. Thank you!
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