January 2020 books

The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid sounded like JUST the thing to start 2020. Unfortunately, it was not. I did not finish the book and after reading other reviews, I am really glad I didn't! It sounds like it only got worse. Sigh. You know how some people misinterpret (wilfully or not) feminism to mean hating men? This book does that! It was so weird! ALL of the men are just these horrible, leering, over-the-top villains. And all of the women are enemies and constantly competing against one another! Not a healthy female friendship in the bunch! And I just kept thinking, you know, the society we actually live in is already problematic for women in many, many ways! It doesn't need to be made worse to Prove A Point or Be Feminist! I am overusing exclamation points to convey to you my complete befuddlement at this book and what it was trying to accomplish by being the way that it is, i.e. terrible!

Oh yeah and the Little Mermaid retelling fell flat all on its own, so it was especially not worth wading through all the mustache-twirlers.

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The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I continue to really enjoy these books!

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We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Second reading January 2020:
The first time I read this book was when we were living in the UAE and the story was all the more incredible due to the foreign landscape it took place in. Skiing as a mode of transportation! Twilight at midnight! Snowstorms in May! Now, reading it in Finland, it is even MORE amazing since I know first-hand the conditions these people had to work in to rescue each other. The ticking time bomb of the spring thaw with its wet and cold and mush is a formidable foe and almost as much of a villain as the Germans are in this book.

Aside from some, um, "quaint" ideas about women and the Sámi people (put on your best 1950s mid-Atlantic accent and imagine you are narrating archival footage of Norwegian women skiing, or Sámi people herding reindeer, and you've just about got it!), this is a truly excellent read. It will fill you up with hope and appreciation for what people will do to save friends and even strangers.

First reading December 2011:
A spare and unemotional read about a British spy's amazing escape from German-occupied Arctic Norway during WWII. Survival stories often focus on the iron will of the individual. This one is different in that it includes the stories of those who risked all to help the spy survive.

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