Quick Lit January 2020 – Modern Mrs Darcy

Gold: A Novel

by Chris Cleave

When my husband, Will, was on the podcast, he named this as his favorite book possibly ever—and so I made it a winter break priority. I LOVED it and read it in two days. The story centers around two velodrome cyclists who are best friends and arch-rivals, training under the same coach for their last remaining shot at the London Olympics, while respectively navigating personal crises and the life-threatening sickness of a child (note that content warning, please). I was riveted as Cleave set out the complicated history between the two women and kept raising the stakes in the present. The story is told from multiple points of view to great effect; the coach's point of view made the book for me.

The Unquiet Dead

by Ausma Zehanat Khan

From the publisher: "Detective Esa Khattak is in the midst of his evening prayers when he receives a phone call asking that he and his partner Detective Rachel Getty look into the death of a local man who has fallen off a cliff. At first Christopher Drayton's death - which looks like an accident - doesn't seem to warrant a police investigation, especially not from Khattak and Rachel's team, which handles minority-sensitive cases. But it soon comes to light that Drayton might have been living under an assumed name, and he may not have been the upstanding Canadian citizen he appeared to be. In fact, he may have been a Bosnian war criminal with ties to the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. And if that's true, any number of people could have had reason to help him to his death. As Rachel and Khattak dig deeper into the life and death of Christopher Drayton, every question seems to lead only to more questions, and there are no easy answers."

Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City

by Robin Nagle

From the publisher: "America's largest city generates garbage in torrents - 11,000 tons a day on average. But New Yorkers don't give it much attention. They leave their trash on the curb or drop it in a litter basket, and promptly forget about it. And why not? On a schedule so regular you could almost set your watch by it, someone always comes to take it away. But who, exactly, is that someone? And why is he - or she - so unknown? Robin Nagle introduces us to the men and women of New York City's Department of Sanitation and makes clear why this small army of uniformed workers is the most important labor force on the streets. But the more time she spent with the DSNY, the more Nagle realized that observing wasn't quite enough - so she joined the force herself."

Headliners (London Celebrities Book 5)

by Lucy Parker

Lucy Parker is one of my favorite authors for fast and fun romance; she's the author that inspired summer's 10 Romance Novels That Are Perfect for Summer Reading post. in her newest novel, out January 20, two rival tv presenters who hate each other's guts suddenly become colleagues who must not only work side by side, but act like they like it. (It's not essential that this series be read in order, but if you want, go back and read the first, Act Like It, it just might be my favorite.)

Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity

by Charles L. Marohn Jr.

From the publisher: "A book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he cofounded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. You'll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles - and why it just doesn't work. New development and high-risk investing don't generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle."