Well, here we are a few days past the middle of this short month. Most of my reading so far has consisted of books off my NetGalley shelf, but I did read one of my own.
The Muse by Jessie Burton (personal copy)
I picked this up in a charity shop while we were away. I'd read a previous book of hers and enjoyed it so figured I'd give this one a try. I quite liked it. The story opens in 1967 and is told by Odelle Bastien, who immigrated to London from Trinidad with her best friend Cynth. In the five years she's been in London, she's not pursued her dream of becoming a writer. Instead, she works in a shoe shop. But her life is about to change because at the same time Cynth is getting married, Odelle is starting a new job at an art gallery. Into her life comes Marjorie Quick, one of her bosses, and a young man with a painting that disrupts lives. The story of the painting is told in a related storyline, set in 1936 in Spain. The books alternates between these two timelines, both of which are equally compelling. As the book goes on, it becomes increasingly clear what the painting's relevance is and why it causes such distress to some of the characters. This was a good read and I'm glad I picked it up.
From the NetGalley shelf and soon to be published here--dates and publishers may vary in different parts of the world.
When the Good Life Goes Bad: The US and Its Seven Deadly Sins by Stacie M. Floyd Thomas (to be published on February 24, 2026 by University of Illinois Press)
When I saw the description of this book, I thought it looked like one I had to read. When I started it, I knew it was. The author begins by describing how she, as a child, could see the differences between societal norms and individual behavior. She wanted to understand these norms and why people behaved as they did. She started to ask why things were the way they were. This was also me as a child. I never got satisfactory answers when I would ask an adult, but I kept watching and thinking, as did Stacie M. Floyd-Thomas. Our curiosity led us along different paths--she became a social ethicist and I an anthropologist, but we're interested in the same questions. Therefore, it was with great interest that I read this book. Not being a Christian, I am familiar with the 7 deadly sins--lust, pride, greed, sloth, envy, gluttony, and wrath--but only from a secular perspective. In this book, Floyd-Thomas shows readers clearly and with examples, how these deadly sins put into practice actually define what it means to live 'the good life' in the USA today. There is a disconnect between what people say is good and how they strive for 'the good life.' While I don't think this behavior is limited to the US, that is perhaps the most blatant example and it is the focus of this book. I found this book to be highly readable and quite fascinating. She does a fine job of explaining her arguments and giving excellent examples to illustrate what she's writing about. This is an important book, especially now. I have known many people in the US who have been reeling from what has been happening. It took them by surprise because they didn't see beyond the myths of what the country is and always has been. They are now dealing with that knowledge. This book can help people do that. It can bring awareness. It can give people new frameworks with which to understand what is going on. It's a book that is timely and much needed. I highly recommend it.
Into the Hush by Arthur Sze (to be published on February 26, 2026 by Penguin Press UK)
I read this collection because I heard the poet in an interview and was intrigued. I was not disappointed. With various poetic forms included, these powerful poems bring to mind our place in the natural world as well as what we and other creatures are losing--languages, habitat, and more. Much wildlife is included in these poems, particularly birds. My favorite poem in the collection was Jaguar Song, but I also quite liked Eraser Song. The poems are set in many locations, from India to the Arctic and many places in between. This is a wonderful assortment of poems and this book would be great to have nearby, opened at random, and a poem enjoyed when there are a few free minutes available. Highly recommend.
Murder Like Clockwork by Nicola Whyte (to be published on March 12, 2026 by Bloomsbury Publishing LLC)
Audrey Brooks lives in a community of people who were down on their luck bit who caught a break when they came to live there, being able to rent flats at well below market value. Each of the residents has a skill set and the 'matriarch' of the community and owner of the square is Celeste. Audrey is a professional cleaner who takes her job very seriously indeed. One of her clients lives abroad but has a house full of antiques. He's particularly into his clocks. Audrey's job is to enter the house at precisely noon on a particular day each week to clean, but more importantly to wind the clocks. One cold winter day, she arrives at the property early. She's freezing and decides that it'll be fine if she goes in half an hour ahead of schedule instead of waiting outside on the pavement, so she goes in, disarms the alarm, gets some feeling back in her fingers and toes, and gets to work. Suddenly all the clocks but one start to chime. She goes to investigate the outlier and discovers a blood spattered room with a dead body in a chair. She runs back outside and calls the police, who take a while to arrive. When they do, they find nothing amiss. The room is clean. Nothing to see here. But Audrey knows what she saw and with the help of her friends--in particular Lewis--she's going to find out what's going on.
This was a good read. I liked the characters and their individual quirks. I would have liked to know more about a few of them who made short appearances in this book, only to provide helpful information to the sleuths. This is the second book in a series, I think, and I didn't even know about the first one, so while I suspect I would know more about Celeste in particular and probably some of the others as well had I read the first book, it was in no way necessary to enjoy this one. The setting was interesting and the plot was unique in my experience. I quite like Audrey and her zeal for cleaning. Lewis grows a bit in the book and learns some things about himself, which I also found interesting. All in all, I really enjoyed my time with this book and I would read more by this author in future. Recommend.
I'm just about done with a funny classic that I'm enjoying very much--The Female Quixote, first published in 1752. More about that at the end of the month after I've finished it. I've got a comic Dostoyevsky novel (who knew?) on my NetGalley shelf that I need to read next because it's going to be archived in a couple of weeks. And when I got to the library on Thursday, I should have at least a few books to pick up besides the one that's already waiting. Plenty of good reading coming up! Hope it's the same for you!
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