Tag Archives: amor towles

My Favorite Reads of 2024

6 Jan

Whenever I sit down to write up this post, I always have some idea of what books will be on the list. Stories that stuck out to me enough that they still linger, however many months later. I found that this year, I had a whole series that has been such a favorite that I’ve started collecting the physical copies whenever I find them second-hand.

At the beginning of the year, I had intended on focusing on reading more classics, especially those that I already own. And while I did read a few of them, I have been very much a mood reader this past year and so didn’t get to many of the ones I wanted. No regrets though, I read some wonderful books! And, of course, there were a handful that I quit partway through for various reasons. But we aren’t talking about those today. On to the favorites!

For the fun of it, here’s my reading stats for this year: I read 74 books, 57 of which were first time reads and seven different series.

A friendly little note : While covering different genres, I do not read anything that has blatant sexual content. I will tell you if there is any sort of such (typically very mild and delicately put) in them and if I don’t think they’d be appropriate for young/teenage readers.

FAVORITES:

Around the World in Seventy-Two Days by Nellie Bly (orig pub 1890)

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

Why the Jews? by Dennis Prager

Come Out of the Kitchen! : A Romance by Alice Duer Miller (1916)

Lord Peter Wimsey Series by Dorothy L. Sayers

Brotherhood by Mike Chen

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

In The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

Homegrown Tea: An Illustrated Guide to Planting, Harvesting, and Blending Teas and Tisanes by Cassie Liversidge 

Re-reads:

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (orig pub 1908)

Hunted by Megan Spooner

Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey series) by Dorothy L. Sayers – a post on this whole series is coming soon!

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

And here’s some bonus themes:

Oldest Published: A Christmas Carol (1843)

Newest Published: Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes

Favorite reread: Wildwood Dancing or The Hobbit (really, how can one decide?!)

Cutest romance: Come Out of the Kitchen!

Unexpectedly loved: In the Heart of the Sea

Shortest Book: The Black Bag Left on a Doorstep by C.L. Pirkis (48 pages)

Longest Book: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson (1,232 pages)

New Favorite author: Dorothy L. Sayers

And there you have it! What was one book that you thoroughly enjoyed this past year, I’d love to hear about it!

~Laura

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A Gentleman in Moscow Book Review

3 Oct

Welcome back to SGL, thanks for spending a few minutes of your busy day with me.

As most of you probably did, I saw this book floating around the internet, especially when it came out in 2016. And while I was intrigued, I never was moved enough to actually read it. Until I learned that they were making a tv series based on it, and of course, before watching it, I knew I had to read the book first.

Synopsis:

Count Alexander Rostov, a man of learning and wit, faces a Bolshevik tribunal in 1922 and is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol – a grand hotel right across the street from the Kremlin. The Count – a man who’s never worked a day in his life- finds that his reduced circumstances have provided him a foray into a much different sort of world.

My review:

I had hopes that this would be an enjoyable novel and that it wouldn’t have any…. ‘spice’ that would cause me to immediately close it and return it to the library. I’d never read anything by Amor Towles and so, of course, had no experience with his writing.

Let me tell you, I was absolutely captivated. His writing style just pulled me in almost instantly to the world of the Count and the Metropol. It really was fascinating, reading about the grand hotel as it became the Count’s whole world. And of course, the Count himself was a wonderful character to read about – being a man of learning and insatiable wit… and seeing how he did grow and change as time went on.

Now, I’ve not studied Russian history, so I don’t know how accurate Towles’ portrayal of that was, but I did find it interesting, as well as the idea of seeing the changes without being a part of them, per se.

The descriptions of the food – for the Count is a dedicated lover of such- were wonderful. I always love it when I find a novel that somehow centers around good food (immediately, I thought of Chateau of Echoes and the Redwall series).

There is some ‘spice’ (aka sexual content) here and there throughout the story but I did find it to be written subtly enough that I didn’t dnf it. Because of these scenes, I would recommend pre-reading it before handing it to a teenaged reader.

All in all, I had a hard time putting this book down and an even harder time not picking it up again. I am interested in reading other books of his, so if anyone has a suggestion for a next read, I’d love to hear it!

All in all, highly recommend this book for the beauty of the scenes, the character development, the plot (all the things you don’t see coming!) and just a wonderful escape.

And hopefully, I’ll watch the tv series soon and will be able to come back and share my opinion on that.

~Laura

dnf = did not finish

While covering different genres, I do not read anything that has blatant sexual content. I will tell you if there is any sort of such (typically very mild and delicately put) in them and if I don’t think they’d be appropriate for young/teenage readers.

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