What I Read in January: Funeral Directors, Viscounts, and Shady Composers

I will never understand those people who loudly proclaim that "January always drags on for so long!" As for me, I feel like I never get quite enough done in January to suit my plans. All of those Resolutions, and I've got only a fraction of anything completed to get on board with them. To point: I didn't read nearly enough this month to soothe my aspirations for 2022. (And I didn't even get a single five-star read, either!) 

Also, I've just barely gotten good at remembering to write "2022" on my papers at all. 

At the same time, I'm looking with a little bit of dread ahead at February, which has - to my experience - always managed to go by in the blink of an eye. With a quadruple-header pulling up the week of February 14th (younger sibling's birthday PLUS Valentine's Day, directly followed by Mardi Gras, followed two days later by my best friend's birthday), I've already got major plans in place packing those first two weeks of the month. Now I'm just busy trying to find a way to fit in as many romance novels and chocolate, King's Cake and crawfish into those 15 days as possible.

But that's a problem for Tomorrow Me. Instead, let's take a look back at the three books I DID manage to read this month: 

CONFESSIONS OF A FUNERAL DIRECTOR: HOW THE BUSINESS OF DEATH SAVED MY LIFE, Caleb Wilde

So, here's how it played out: one of my younger siblings is an aspiring funeral professional, and received this book as a part of a Christmas present. Once finished, it was passed along to me. Then, Mom saw it sitting in the hallway outside of their room, and asked to be able to read it, too, and once she was finished, passed it along to Dad, as well. Now, we're in a situation where the only people who haven't read it are the ones who don't live at home anymore, and the ones who have and do, had widely different reactions to the book we've all read.

My sibling - the one who actually works as a staff assist at a funeral home about a half an hour from our house - didn't like it. The background of a family-run practice, as well as something steeped in small-town feelings and religion, was definitely not their favorite, from both a professional standpoint and a personal-political one. The religious bent was a part of my problem with the book, too, as well as the almost juvenile nature of the writing style, which I found very distracting: the diction and syntax didn't exactly impress me, and the organizational focus of having every chapter need to end with some kind of moral or summarizing bow put on it, felt very "fifth grade book report" (or at least gives off a "definitely pulled this chapter directly off of your blog" kind of smell).

Meanwhile, what my Mom and Dad appreciated the most about it, was that they felt it afforded them more of a perspective into the work my sibling does every day. For them, the book took a more balanced and personal perspective into a world that is, for many, either ignored or viewed with outright suspicion.

So, I think the main takeaway is that for those who have had little cause to encounter the funeral industry otherwise, or who are looking for more unique perspectives on grief and loss, this book is an easily accessible gateway. But for those who might have a little bit more familiarity, or who have their own insider perspectives on the industry as well, you might want to skip this installment for something a little more wholistic, rather than restricted to such a specific viewpoint.

The thing we all agreed on, though, was that our favorite part of the reading experience was seeing all of the handwritten notes Val had annotated in the columns... of which there were many.

SOUNDS LIKE TITANIC: A MEMOIR, Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman

What I had been thinking, going into this book - an impulse cart-add from Book Outlet last year - was that it sounded interesting enough, and like an easy read to pass on to my younger brother, someone actively going to school for Music. By the time I'd gotten even halfway through it, I had seriously reconsidered my position: while it was an orienting focus for the narrative, Music had very little to do with this read. Instead, what the story became, included perspectives on socioeconomic class and values, reflections on girlhood in the late '90s, and memories of war gleaned from a firsthand perspective on foreign soil. That being said, it was all still very much about a totally bonkers composer and maybe-con-artist, which kept me more than engaged the entire way through.

My favorite part of the book ended up being Hindman's sense of amoralism: despite the fact that elements of the book definitely reflected realities that were sketchy, suspicious, and lacking in integrity, she keeps personal inflection of support or rejection at arms length. Despite the fact that this composer is clearly at least a little bit of a fraud (honestly, a LOT of a bit), she continues to work for him for years. Despite objective impressions of small-town mindsets, big-city elitism, American illusions of wealth and status, and foreign impressions on security and privilege, Hindman didn't take a lot of the opportunities given for voicing her own emotionally-driven judgement or response. Mainly, she recognized that every decision has its motivation, which exists on a spectrum of human experience, and just let you decide. 

I also really loved the writing style and narrative voice: conversational enough to be direct and intimate, while giving into metaphor and emotional descriptions in order to better translate an intangible medium, like Music. 

As someone who reads a lot of memoirs, this was one that felt very fresh and different, to me. I read it and thought to myself, "This girl could have been a character in a novel." The truth can be like that sometimes.

THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME (Bridgerton #2), Julia Quinn 

For a show as groundbreaking as Netflix's Bridgerton, I can't help but feel that they managed to polish gold from a patch of clay. Sweeping set décor, bright and vibrant costuming, diverse and high-caliber cast, and new and exciting musical scores... not exactly the kind of material I would have expected to accompany this book series. At least not what I've read so far.

What I will say, though, is that the snappy and engaging dialogue certainly translates between the two mediums. In fact, I think the conversational aspects of the book are its greatest strengths... if among its only ones.

This is no dunking on romance novels, I assure you: I read quite a few of those, and happen to enjoy a lot of them regularly. Even in passing through this particular novel, I frequently found myself laughing along, smiling and grimacing as the narrative required. But unfortunately, the things I found distracting or mediocre were not directly relegated to the story's characters or pacing, but instead, how trope-heavy it is.

(Yes, I get that this is my problem, not the genre's. There are plenty of historical romance authors who choose to eschew time-related tropes, and those who engage with them fully, and I'm fully a fan of numerous people on both sides of that spectrum. Still, it gets tiring after a while.)

The other side of the coin was that things that make this particular installment unique and not trope-heavy, also left it feeling mor than a little SILLY. While the humor of the series is absolutely an asset, there were other parts involved that were so out-of-pocket as to feel completely ridiculous. I mean, I love a good marriage-of-convenience / social-requirement plot, but doing so because you got caught attempting to suck bee venom (?) out of a woman's breast (??) by three people in a garden, including your mother (???). Good God. I had to put the book down and pick up my jaw off the floor. TRULY can't wait to watch that scene play out on screen, especially because I also watch with my mom. 

All in all, a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but in the end, that's still kind of the general feeling I was left with at the close of the novel: I cannot wait until March 25th. 

What did you manage to read this month? Anything exciting on the docket for February? Let me know, in the comments below!