First Quarter Favorites
Book Recommendations-Part One
Hello fellow readers,
I hope today’s post finds you well and that spring weather is treating you kindly. We finally have some sun again in Idaho…it’s been gloomy and a tad soggy the last few weeks. On the positive side, the grass is green and growing. Coupled with warmer temperatures, I’m reminded that the year is well under way. We are speeding toward summer!
Given that we are now in April, I’ve been reviewing my finished book list from the first quarter of 2024…perusing which titles I’d most like to pass along to my reading comrades. I’ve read or listened to a dozen or so fiction titles thus far, and truthfully, I’ve enjoyed all of them.
However, for the next two posts (and for our purposes here at Faith & Fiction), I chose four that particularly impacted me. Today I’ll share the first two.
*Before I do so, I want to reiterate that I read among a wide variety of genres. As such, I will always endeavor to categorize titles accordingly and be sensitive to conscience, adding a comment where possible offenses or triggers lie.
And one other note: This is not literary analysis! These are simply my observations and takeaways as a person of faith and a reader…a student and lover of the written word.
With that said, here are my first two recommendations…
Literary Fiction:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
“By their very nature, human beings are so capricious, so complex, so delightfully contradictory, that they deserve not only our consideration, but our reconsideration—and our unwavering determination to withhold our opinion until we have engaged with them in every possible setting at every possible hour.” Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow
I know…I know. “What took you so long?” will say the literary lovers in the crowd.
Truthfully, this one had been on my TBR list for ages, but other books just kept coming along (including other Amor Towles books!). And while many here may have already read A Gentleman in Moscow, with the new television series out, I feel compelled to mention it and implore you to read the book first (just in case you’ve dragged your feet in like manner).
Please. You’ll thank me.
I loved this book. For one thing, Towles is a masterful storyteller, and I enjoy his writing in general. But on reflection, I boiled down my affection for this story to one primary thing: The main character.
I fell for Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov.
Count Alexander is a Russian aristocrat who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifelong house arrest in the Metropol, a luxury hotel in Moscow (I’m thinking it could have been worse).
While there are myriad significant moments that propel the story forward, the book is primarily a succession of scenes that follow the Count’s days and nights and seasons. One sees the tides of Russian history through the hotel’s comings and goings and through the Count’s acquaintances, but the central narrative is based on his relationships.
I finished this book feeling slightly melancholy. I wasn’t ready to leave the Count! I realized, like his loved ones at the Metropol, Alexander had beguiled me. He is a man of extraordinary hospitality.
A few friends and I were recently talking about what it means to be hospitable. It’s about so much more than simply opening your home for a meal. It’s about how one treats others, and how they feel in your presence. Hospitality is the act of putting someone else at ease, no matter where you are.
Count Alexander possesses this attribute, and with it makes himself a rich and large life, despite the smallness of his physical circumstances. Readers are taken into the richness, which I suppose is what makes it hard to leave.
I long to emulate and cultivate more of Count Alexander’s gift of hospitality. It’s a good and godly one.
When I mentioned these thoughts to my husband (who also just finished the book), he reminded me of Proverbs 18:24: “A man who has friends must himself be friendly” (NKJV).
Indeed.
May we all learn the art of friendliness and the gift of hospitality from A Gentleman in Moscow.
*This title portrays a sliver of physical intimacy in a few scenes. In my opinion it is handled discreetly.
Christian/Women’s Fiction:
Words by Ginny Ytrupp
“I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. I’d like to keep them in a real box, something pretty, maybe a shoebox covered with flowered wrapping paper. Whenever I wanted, I’d open the box and pick up the papers, reading and feeling the words all at once. Then I could hide the box. But the words are safer in my mind. There he can’t take them.” Ginny Ytrupp, Words
This next title is wildly different from my first recommendation and let me be straight. This book is not for the faint of heart.
It deals with sexual abuse, abandonment of a child, and addiction issues. The first half or so of the book is particularly intense, and the content is weighty. I’ll be honest, I tend to shy away from these types of stories. It’s so much easier to stick my head in the sand.
That being said, I couldn’t put this book down.
The novel is written from a dual point of view narrative:
First, we meet Kaylee Wren, a ten-year-old girl who has been abandoned by her mother and left to the whims of an abuser. Kaylee is one of the most sympathetic characters I’ve ever encountered. Her life is steeped in tragedy, but her survival story is beautifully heroic. Readers will fall in love with her and long to protect her.
Second, we meet Sierra Dawn, a thirties-something artist wrestling with regrets (and the consequent shame) from her past. Sierra’s family background is Christian. Her parents know and love God, but I appreciated how her own path to freedom and faith was not portrayed as swift or reductive. She struggles and gropes to find her way to God. It’s an intricate tale of grace.
When Sierra’s path meets Kaylee’s, it stirs in her the same protective impulse the reader is experiencing. Her actions to rescue the child become a relief for the audience, too. Ultimately, the convergent stories change both of the characters’ lives.
This book, while difficult, is worth the pain. It’s incredibly redemptive, grace and gospel-oriented, and wonderfully written. I stayed up until the wee hours of the night to finish it one evening…an extreme rarity for me. And I closed the book crying (the good kind of tears).
I encourage you to muster the courage to read this treasure; you will be deeply touched.
*Obvious trigger warnings given the subject matter
I hope you will find your way to one of these two titles (or both!) if they are new to you. And stay tuned for Part Two next week…
Until then, blessings in books!
Tiffany
I’ve had A Gentleman in Moscow on my list also. Now I want to get to it quicker.
Words… yes! Oh my, such an intense, aching story, but beautiful. Many tears, both sad and relieved. I had been forewarned of the possibility it could be triggering for me and was ready to put it down if needed, but I never needed to. The hard topics were handle with sensitivity and honor.
Tiffany, thank you for reading Words, and for your thoughtful review. I’ve had A Gentleman in Moscow on my shelf for many months! Having read your review, it will be the next novel I read. Thank you!