Poison for Breakfast by Lemoney Snicket. - Short, sweet, makes you really think towards the end, and just an overall great way to start the reading year. ( 3.5/5 )
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. - A quiet, beautiful story that kind of just sneaks up on you. ( 4/5 )
Beartown by Fredrik Backman. - A new favorite! Gosh Backman just can't disappoint. I read his book Anxious People last year and picked this up on a whim and just ... wow. It is so deceptively quiet, especially at first, and then it packs this punch and leaves you reeling. I cried. Also my book is now full of little post it tabs + underlines + annotations. The writing is just beautiful, I can't believe this is a translation. ( 5/5 )
Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf - I just didn't like this. I think this is partially an "it's not you it's me" sort of situation since everyone I follow on Goodreads loves this book but it left me hating life and feeling really sad and empty, and not in the contemplative deep way I sometimes appreciate/welcome. I literally picked up the cheesiest kdrama I could after this just as a palette cleanser and to get me to stop thinking about this book. This was a book I had on my physical bookshelves and it's already been donated because no thanks I'm good. ( 2/5 )
The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente. - Y'all this was such a brilliant idea and it's so short but perfectly executed! We've heard of characters being "refrigeratored" aka killed off for manpain or to push another character (usually a male) storyline. Yeah, this is the refrigeratored characters's stories. It's the same stories you're probably familiar with, just her side. Even though they have different names, they're all inspired by characters you might already know (The first one being Gwen Stacy, one of them being Harley Quinn, etc.). Absolutely engaging from the first sentence. ( 4.5/5 )