February Theme... Family Sagas

Feburary's reading themes

I’ve unexpectedly hit a reading slump, I’ve had a few books on the go, two which I am really enjoying but I don’t have the mental energy to pick up in the evenings. The longer they sit there unread the less energy I’m finding to complete them. I’m taking it easy and have cancelled all of my library holds (for now) and going to finish one book at a time. I still plan to look forward and plan some of my reads but right now I’m going to take it slower.

Last year I began theming my book selections. I would chose a topic, genre or theme if you will and try to select books that all sat complimenting or contrasting each other. This was a new experience in organising my tbr in this way. I wondered whether reading books on the same topic would take the fun out of sporadically picking up novels or whether it would feel tedious reading a few similar books.

So far I read books all themed together with retellings, looking at greek myths and Shakespeare. I also focused on unlikeable (or unhinged) women in fiction. It’s been really enjoyable putting a bit of a focus on what I am reading. It has also enabled me to compare and critically review the books as a body rather than separately.

Sometimes I find it hard to slot books into a star rating. Enjoying a rom com simply can not be compared to a story that is complex and challenging. But that doesn’t make either a bad book. Things can be enjoyable for different reasons or not work as well as others. But whilst reading a handful of books that sit in the same theme it made much more sense in reviewing them together.

For February I’ve chosen the theme Family Saga, on my TBR I’ve planned to read White Teeth, before I would have squeezed in a few others around this theme. But my goal is to just read this book! below are some other books that I have read and loved that sit in this genre. As well as other books on my radar that I would love to (some day) read.

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Books

• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee This was so beautiful and so intense. The whole time I was reading this it was as if nothing else existed. A multigenerational book following 4 generations of Koreans living in Japan. Be prepared to be totally immersed.

• The Bee Sting by Paul Murray Shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize The Bee Sting is one of those books that cropped up in so many situations. Although the profit song in my opinion was the better book this book was much more prevalent. The story is told from every member of the XX family. Exploring friendships, relationships, familial dynamics. Jumping between the present and the past. Each character absorbed by life. One of either the best or most frustrating endings I’ve ever read.

• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

  This is one of my favourite books on my bookshelf and crying out for a reread. Spanning 300 years in Ghana and landing in America. Esi and Effia half sisters born in two different villages we see generation and generation develop. It’s fast and vast making it a really interesting read for not only subject but structure.

• Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

  I really enjoyed this book and loved the tv show on Disney. When Eleanor Bennett dies she leaves a long audio recording to be heard by her two grown children Byron and Benny they discover their Mother isn’t exactly who she said she is, weaving through the lies she has told but most importantly why.

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White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Set against London’s racial and cultural tapestry, venturing across the former empire and into the past as it barrels toward the future, White Teeth revels in the ecstatic hodgepodge of modern life, flirting with disaster, confounding expectations, and embracing the comedy of daily existence.

Please read along if you’re interested in Zadie Smith’s debut novel. I will send a note out in my chats inviting you along.

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On my Radar

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and heartache, crowded with life and people and inciden

• Moonglow by Michael Chabon- Moonglow is a (perhaps) fictionalised, account of the lives of Chabon family with Chabon’s character as narrator. His grandfather shares stories whilst under the influence of prescription painkillers shortly before his death.

• Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien - Follows a 10-year-old girl and her mother who invite a Chinese refugee into their home.

• These Ghosts Are Family by Maisy Card - A transporting debut novel that reveals the ways in which a Jamaican family forms and fractures over generations