We’ve done it. We’ve officially reached the end of January! We’re now in the first few days of the second month of 2025. This past week, I read through two books. One was on the longer side and the other was much shorter – more of a novella or novelette than a full-length novel. Both were extremely thought-provoking, but in vastly different ways.

1. The Future – Naomi Alderman

CW: Child Abandonment/Neglect, Death of Parent, Bombings, Graphic Depictions of Injuries, Attempted Suicide, Overdose, Biblical References to Incest & SA

This book tempted me a number of times at several bookstores I visited before I finally brought home a copy. After that, it sat on my TBR shelf for a few months. I considered it every time I was selecting my next read and ultimately kept choosing to put it off, but I could not have said why. At least, I didn’t know why until this week, when I finally decided to take the plunge. I figured it out about halfway through the text. The book is a lot more optimistic than I had been expecting. From the synopsis, I had subconsciously been expecting it to be extremely heavy and maybe a bit of a downer.

It does deal with a lot of topics that are very real and usually very depressing like climate change, global pandemics, widespread decaying infrastructure, and increasing isolation. Somehow, throughout the text, none of these challenges are presented as truly unsolvable. Daunting? Absolutely, but not insurmountable. At every obstacle, it’s easy to trust that the extremely smart and driven characters will find a way to fix it all. In a world with so much uncertainty, it’s a surprisingly comforting read.

Unfortunately, once I put the book down and return to reality, the same problems aren’t so easy to turn around. The issues are far more nuanced and complex in actuality. The solutions that work in the narrative make for a nice story, but a decidedly fictional one. Building a better world won’t come from a single sweeping action. It requires long-term heavy lifting and tedium in tandem. Still, The Future was a fun piece of escapism while I was reading.

Disclaimer: Do not take first aid advice from fiction! There is a scene in this book where a character attempts suicide by overdose. If you encounter a person who has overdosed, they will almost definitely need more intervention than is shown in this scene. Get them attention from an actual medical professional.

2. Suffer For This – Victor D. Infante

CW: Infidelity, Drug Abuse & Addiction, Dubious Consent

This book is an experience I would recommend highly to anyone, but I suspect those who have passed their mid-twenties will grasp it most fully. It is a gloriously raw and real examination of how messy we humans and our relationships really are – even when everyone involved has the best of intentions. The prose is gorgeous, its lyrical style really shows off the author’s deep roots in poetry. It beautifully explores how we learn to mitigate damage as we grow and mature, how we learn to predict how it might be caused. The narrative delves into the ways we shed pieces of our identities like snakeskins as we age, becoming new people again and again. For every step we take into the future, it becomes necessary to sacrifice parts of ourselves to the past.

We watch the narrator lose and gain pieces of himself bit by bit between childhood and into middle age, seeing how the world both changes and doesn’t change around him. Throughout the book, there are many points where it became difficult to remember that this is a work of fiction. It is so vivid and visceral that you’re right there in the room with him. Then it’s impossible to believe it didn’t happen when you’ve just seen it. The thing is, I know this author personally and his wife. I actually paused my reading about 1/3 of the way through to go have dinner with them in their home. This is not their story. Even though it’s a work of fiction, every single word of this book rings true.

The End of January is Over – Bring On February!

Now that the end of January has passed, it feels like the year is fully in swing. We’re now into the shortest month of the year, but it rarely feels that way in New England. We’ll see how quickly it moves this year and how much reading I’ll be able to get done while it’s here. I’m hoping for quite a bit, because my physical TBR pile is growing. My partner and I have begun exploring independent bookstores around my home state of Massachusetts, and I keep accumulating more titles every time we do. Keep an eye out on my YouTube channel or the main updates page here if you’d like to follow along on our bookish adventures. The first video is scheduled to go out this coming Thursday. So that’s how my end of January went. How about yours?

As always, I want to hear from you! What have you been reading lately? Are you having fun with it? Have you read any of these titles, and if so, what did you think of them? Tell me everything, and follow along for more!