January 2020 Reading List
Books to read in January 2020, including Such a Fun Age, Followers, The Truants, Run Me to Earth, and Underland.
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Happy New Year! It’s a new year of reading and I am looking forward to so many new books–some of which are on my January 2020 reading list.
A new year is also a great time to kick of a reading challenge. If you’re looking for one, I outlined six excellent reading challenges you might want to consider.
You also might want to build your own challenge, one that’s specific to your own reading needs and goals.
Whether you choose to follow along with a challenge or create your own, my reading challenge journal will help you stay on track all year long.
My challenge for this year is to read one nonfiction book per month and one book from my own shelf.
I haven’t chosen the book from my shelf yet for this month–leaving it open gives me the opportunity to do some “mood reading,” which I’m less able to do when I have ARCs on deck.
But I have a number of excellent fiction books coming up, as well as an intriguing nonfiction book that’s a perfect followup to one of the best books I read last year.
Books to Read in January 2020
Author: Kiley Reid
Source: G.P. Putnam’s Sons via Edelweiss
Publish Date: 12/31/19
Quick Take
- Compulsively readable literary fiction
- Subtle social commentary on race and privilege
My Thoughts
When Emira is accused of kidnapping her young babysitting charge one night at the grocery store, her affluent white employer, Alix, tries too hard to make it up to her.
I finished this one up at the tail-end of December and will have a full review later, but I’m adding it here as a must-read for January. Compelling characters, compulsive readability, and a sly take on day-to-day class and racial tensions.
Author: Megan Angelo
Source: Graydon House via Edelweiss
Publish Date: 01/14/20
Quick Take
- Speculative fiction about social media and life on the screen
- Dark literary humor
- Comparisons to The Farm, Station Eleven, The Circle
My Thoughts
I love speculative fiction that feels plausible, so I’m intrigued by the premise of this book that starts with two friends aiming for social media stardom and moves into a near future where government-appointed celebrities live on camera. I’m hopeful for a thoughtful take that doesn’t veer into the ridiculous (as The Circle did).
Author: Kate Weinberg
Source: G.P. Putnam’s Sons via Edelweiss
Publish Date: 01/28/20
Quick Take
- Literary suspense set on an English campus
- Comparisons to The Secret History and Agatha Christie
My Thoughts
I love a good campus novel and I’m always up for trying one compared with The Secret History, though it’s a tough one to live up to. The premise is very similar: a group of students comes together under the tutelage of a charismatic professor. Their relationships take a dark turn after a tragedy.
Author: Paul Yoon
Source: Simon & Schuster via Edelweiss
Publish Date: 01/28/20
Quick Take
- Historical fiction set in 1960s Laos
- Blurbs mention spare, elegant, and affecting prose
My Thoughts
Amid relentless bombings in 1960s Laos, three orphans are taken in by a doctor and assist him as motorcycle couriers. This is decade-spanning historical fiction that follows the orphans from Laos through their lives after they are evacuated from the country. I’ve read a number of books set in Vietnam during this time but I know less about Laos, so I am looking forward to diving into this one.
Author: Robert Macfarlane
Source: Library
Publish Date: 06/04/19
Quick Take
- Nonfiction exploration of Earth's underworld
- Spans "deep time," from the birth of the universe to a post-human future
My Thoughts
A book called Underland seemed like the perfect, must-read foil to The Overstory, which I read in 2019 and loved. Not strictly about trees, but about the deep places below the earth. Macfarlane examines “deep time” and our relationships to these spaces as well as how they are–and are not–affected by humans. It’s is a hefty book (and look at that amazing cover!), but the little I’ve read so far is intriguing. This will be my nonfiction read this month for my 2020 reading challenge.
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What are you reading this month?
