February certainly was a month! I didn’t do as much reading as I did in January — things got just a little bit busier here at A Turn of the Page HQ — but I’m still happy with the books I finished. Some of them were very serious. Maybe most of them were very serious. I look for that in the middle of winter sometimes. Do you? I’m not sure why I think weighty tomes belong to the season that’s also most likely to leave me feeling VERY SAD, but I do.

Anyway, you can still say hi anytime. You can still follow me on The StoryGraph. I’d be happy to hear from you!

The Book of the Month:

Calling For A Blanket Dance, by Oscar Hokeah

Hokeah’s 2022 novel is really a series of interconnected short stories highlighting moments in the life of Ever Geimausaddle, whose Kiowa and Cherokee family watch him grow from a serious child into a troubled youth and on into a man responsible for his children and community. The book is hard. I won’t deny that. It’s very hard. It’s also, though, a beautifully written story with a real sense of humor and heart. I loved Calling For A Blanket Dance and I can’t wait for whatever Hokeah writes next.

The Rest:

The Swimming-Pool Library, by Alan Hollinghurst

I read Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty (2004) a couple of years ago because it was assigned to me. That book is stunning, a consciously virtuosic exploration of gay life in Thatcher’s Britain. It’s the best of The White Lotus refracted through the work of Henry James. The Swimming-Pool Library has less grand ambitions. Without the specter of AIDS looming over its characters, there is a real sense of sexual freedom The Line of Beauty can’t provide. Homophobia and prejudice abound, but Hollinghurst’s gay London is just too beautiful for words. The plot is a bit thin and novel ends abruptly, but the prose is gorgeous and the characters wonderfully rendered. I adored it.

Nine Dirty Words, by John McWhorter

An examination of the history of English-language profanity through nine dirty words. Very fun! I listened to the audiobook, which I absolutely recommend. It’s read by the author, who does a really nice job.

Beloved, by Toni Morrison

I don’t think there’s anything I can say about Beloved that hasn’t been said before. A hard read, well worth working through.

If Beale Street Could Talk, by James Baldwin

So, yes, I picked this up because I wanted to watch the movie. I still haven’t watched the movie, but I loved the book. Again, I don’t think there’s anything I can say that hasn’t been said before. A wonderful read, a hard read, well worth your time.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, by Sonali Dev

An Indian-American spin on Pride and Prejudice. Like Nine Dirty Words, this was an audiobook listen for me. The narrator (Soneela Nankani) is great and the book is… fine. I think this one was a little serious for me. I did enjoy it enough to start the sequel, Recipe for Persuasion, which I’m enjoying much more. I’ll report back next month!