Matt's Books and Music

January was an interesting month in my reading life. Overall it was been successful, with a lot of 4.5- or 5-star reads, but not much has really stood out to me so far. The book for which I had the highest hopes, David James Duncan’s Sun House (2023), proved to be far too long, repetitive, and wildly inconsistent, which doesn’t erase its extraordinary highs, but certainly means that it failed to live up to his earlier work, and to my expectations.

Fiction

Superlative

The Book of I, by David Greig (2025): A propulsive novella about a clash of beliefs and building community in the aftermath of trauma.

Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri (1999): There’s a good reason this collection of short stories won the Pulitzer Prize.

Standouts

The Artist and the Feast, by Lucy Steeds (2025): An excellent take on the ‘feminist deconstruction of the ‘great man’ phenomenon’ trope.

Murder at the Vicarage, by Agatha Christie (1930): The first Miss Marple novel is very successful, and a lot of fun.

Role Model (Game Changers 5), by Rachel Reid (2014): This queer hockey romance successfully manages a difficult balance by tackling the sport’s toxic culture surrounding sexual assault head on while remaining a charming and delightful story.

Before I Forget, by Tory Henwood Hoen (2025): A heartfelt novel that takes a unique approach to what it looks like to walk alongside someone living with dementia.

Is This a Cry for Help?, by Emily Austin (2026): A timely story told from the author’s trademark queer, neurodivergent perspective.

The Book of Luke, by Lovell Holder (2025): A compelling story of personal reckoning set within the disturbing world of reality tv.

Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, by Maurice Leblanc (1907): I was surprised how well these stories that have been called the French counterpoint to Sherlock Holmes hold up.

Sun House, by David James Duncan (2023): While this doesn’t really work as a cohesive piece of literature there are some standout excerpts that are incredibly written, and so much wisdom too.

Standard Fare

Every Day Is for the Thief, by Teju Cole (2007): This set the tone for all the African homegoing novels that have followed it; unfortunately that made it feel less exciting than it probably would have been twenty years ago.

Walk the Blue Fields, by Claire Keegan (2007): A lovely collection of short stories set largely in rural Ireland.

Days of Light, by Megan Hunter (2025): Well-written, but its two plots didn’t play well together.

Vaim, by Jon Fosse (2025): A good story, but I was thrown off by his choice to give his three point-of-view characters the same narrative voice.

God and Sex, by Jon Raymond (2025): This comes so close to being amazing, but the insight the author was grasping for was just beyond his reach.

Horrorstör, by Grady Hendrix (2014): This was a lot of fun and a great blend of satire and horror.

Lost Lambs, by Madeline Cash (2026): A satire that works well, but whose targets are the obvious ones.

Vigil, by George Saunders (2026): If you like Saunders’ other work, you’ll probably like this; otherwise, it was a bit of a nothingberry.

Basketball Jones, by E. Lynn Harris (2009): In its themes, culture, and literary conventions, this was very much a time capsule.

Subpar

n/a

Nonfiction

Superlative

Your Inner Fish, by Neil Shubin (2008): This is what happens when you get a palaeontologist to teach human anatomy, and I am absolutely here for it.

The Serviceberry, by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2024): A hopeful exploration of a different way of approaching wealth, equity, and generosity.

Standouts

Forensics, by Val McDermid (2015): A great book about the history and science of forensics, that may just be a bit dated now.

Locked in Time, by Dean Lomax (2021): An exploration of the types of behaviours that have been captured in the fossil record.

Standard Fare

n/a

Subpar

Queering Contemplation, by Cassidy Hall (2024): While not ‘bad’, the author seems to assume her experience of the contemplative tradition is representative of the tradition as a whole, thereby marginalizing the very voices she wants to centre