Gothic ❤️ vs. Adventures⚓️ vs. Murder 💀
A Gothic Romance Classic vs. 🏴☠️Adult Fantasy vs. 🕵️Crime in 1928
Who’s ready for the February book battle?
This month, I was pulled in by dark, wild, and gritty covers. Perhaps next month I’ll consider balancing it out with a pick amongst comedies…but who can say. That’s the beauty of going to the library; a long series of random and unpredictable events shall determine what the choices are on the shelf. Peruse through the 3-page excerpts of each book below and tell me which one you want to hear about:
The Italian by Ann Radcliffe
This book is “real” historical fiction. Lord Byron loved this author. Now while there is certainly a lot that’s been said of him to suggest Byron was hardly the kindest nor most ethical of men, I’ve always loved his writing, so I was immediately intrigued to read the work of an author who influenced him.
Here’s a bit from the middle:
And at last, the finale paragraphs:
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty
I was double-checking the genre to give you all an accurate description of this book, and as it turns out, this novel was a nominee for Best Adult Fantasy book in the GoodReads Choice awards last year. Readers also frequently tag it under the label of “Historical Fiction” as well.
Let’s dive into page 1:
Moving onto a middle page:
Then here is the conclusion:
Dead Man’s Blues by Ray Celestin
Apparently this one is a historical fiction that slots nicely into the mystery-thriller section as well. This novel had me at the fedora-hat-wearing skull on the cover with the tagline: Chicago, 1928 (read: Al Capone and jazz vibes).
This book opens with a short prologue or flashback, followed the first chapter that states “1928.” Both openings are intriguing, and I couldn’t decide between them…so I’m putting both here:
Then onto the middle:
Then we end with:
Alright, you’ve got one week to vote for your favorite …
(and ask your friends to do the same to improve your odds)
Well, since the vote is a tie again, here I go into the page-by-page book battle face-off to see which is more compelling!
Page 1:
I'll have to start with the prologue of Dead Man's Blues to get into the full reading experience here, which very atmospheric of Louisiana, where Louis Armstrong boarded the train. It feels real, intriguing, but no hints of real conflict yet.
As for Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, well the promise of a sea-faring warrior woman like a djinn with this incredible phrase "rumors about her body and her sexuality: these things that men obsess over when they hate what they desire and desire what they cannot possess." She wins this round!