Leo Tolstoy once said, “If it is true that there are as many minds as their heads, then there are as many kinds of loves as there are hearts.” So I offer to you a smattering of four very different books this January, because if Tolstoy is correct, then there are as many kinds of readers as there are books.
The Pretentious one
Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” has been around awhile — more than 2,000 years — but it’s never been more relevant than in these times of ever-shifting changes. A collection of short stories featuring transformations and consequences, “Metamorphoses” is both intellectually challenging and rewarding.
Ovid may seem deceptively complex, but his prose mimics Shakespeare for impressively lewd commentary. When it comes to reading Ovid, it’s actually best to keep your mind in the gutter.
Orpheus and Eurydice is Ovidsbest piece. A story barely longer than a few pages, it’s tragic yet luscious and hopeful but doomed. Orpheus and Eurydice reminds readers that no matter the outcome, no matter the tragedy, love is never wasted—though the book itself is ancient, we continue to tell the same stories because we feel the same things as the immemorial author.
Our modern day world is restless and distressingly inconstant. It’s a comfort to return to stories that have valued the same hopes and dreams for countless lives and thousands of years. Since 8 CE, people have read this book with the same heart.
Read “Metamorphoses” for the dirty jokes and the heartbreaking portraits of unconditional, irrevocable love, and let it transform you.
The one with typewriters and journalists
The first in a two-part series, “Divine Rivals” by Rebecca Ross features two journalists on a fantasy, World War II-esque landscape who become war correspondents for their newspaper.
Ross masterfully weaves the world’s mythology in with the main plot, creating a colorful tapestry upon which her journalist characters face a war between gods who vaguely imitate Hades and Persephone in a dark, twisted way.
Armed with magical typewriters and an arsenal of quips, they courageously embark into the unknown. And while the two of them rival for authority on the news sheets, they cannot deny the spark between them. “Divine Rivals” is a slow-burn, rivals-to-lovers story filled with angst, playful banter and refreshingly intelligent characters who are nonetheless oblivious to the love story blooming between them.
If you’re looking for a jump-start back to reading, “Divine Rivals” is quick paced with charming characters and a miraculous world. The second half of the duology, “Ruthless Vows,” was released in December, so there’s no agonizing wait for the next book. If there’s one thing you can trust Ross with, it’s finishing a story and setting your heart ablaze in the process.
The one everyone should read
I borrowed “The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationships” by Miguel Ruiz from a lovely friend—typically, it’s not the sort of genre I gravitate towards, but I’ll always be grateful that I took the chance. This is the sort of book that everyone should read, but a part of them dreads because it requires immense emotional growth. It asks the reader to change their perspective and open their heart.
The book is geared towards counseling relationships, but it covers far more than romantic attachments. It will change the way you see your friends, your family and yourself. The most important relationship in this life is the one you have with yourself, and this book does not shy from that truth. It’s written with earnestness, honesty and a fearless vulnerablity. Should you read it, you will not be the same after you turn that last page.
The book challenges readers to live a life from love rather than fear — effectively holding up a mirror to the reader’s heart. If you’re feeling introspective (and brave enough), reading this book might just change the way you feel about yourself, those around you and the world itself.
The witchy one
A story of love, terror and flying fish creatures, Brom’s Slewfoot’s “A Tale of Bewitchery” is written for those who need a little retribution for the injustice of patriarchal oppression — or if you just want to read about cottage witches coming into their own power, magical skulls and enchanted bees.
One of the most unique aspects of this book — all of Brom’s books, actually — is that Brom inserts illustrations of his own making into the books, providing depictions both elegant and grotesque of his elaborate characters. So for those who may have a difficult time visualizing things, Brom’s books are for you. His descriptions are cutting, quick and visceral, keeping the pace of this book fast enough that you’ll be finished with it before you can blink.
This story is thrilling and bittersweet with an ending more satisfying than sweeping the porch using an old straw broom —if you want to find a quick read without too much world building to slog through, let Slewfoot bewitch you.
