January Reads

With finally feeling better comes the inclination to read  (and the unofficial hope that I will be a far more frequent reader this semester).  For some reason, three of the four books I've read this month were about English girls in India.  No idea how that one happened...

Apple: A Global History, by Erika Janik
(from the MIT Browsery, a section of the library set up for new fiction and non-fiction)

Part of the new Edibles series, it's a look at the cultural and environmental history of apples.  The most interesting part of the book?  Learning that apples are not native to North America.  They are native to Kazakhstan.  Amazing.

A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray
(checked out the Kindle version from my library in Minnesota)

Fascinating but a bit on the contrived side.  I didn't dislike it, exactly, but I think I would have loved it far more if I was still 14.  I'm told by a friend that the rest in the series simply aren't as good.  It is marvelously freeing to say, well, then, I just won't read them.

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett
(free Kindle version)

I had forgotten how atrocious those two children were, my word.  They are both sallow spoiled brats.  Thank goodness for gardens to bring out the best in people (also---Maggie Smith as Mrs. Medlock is perfect.  Love).

East of the Sun, by Julia Gregson
(borrowed from a friend)

I'm just a few pages into this one, but I already like it.