January proved to be a productive start to my reading year. I tackled a few a Christmas present from my wish list, a ‘buzz book’, a couple of ARCs and two Elizabethan plays.
I’d started reading ‘Wicked’ on Boxing Day in anticipation of seeing both the Musical stage show and film this month. It is a long read, and I was not quite what I was imagining. I found it to have completely different story to the musical and film, with a more political central plot and completely different character dynamics. I found it to be much more ‘high brow’ fantasy than I’ve read before, almost literary fiction.
A trip to Manchester Waterstones had me noticing displays dedicated to ‘Butter’ – it’s difficult to walk past a table of yellow books without your curiosity being piqued. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the reviews were largely positive. I was expecting a Japanese murder mystery but it turned out to be a really thought -provoking read, and more literary fiction than psychological thriller. The murders have already occurred, and in her exploration of the murderer’s motivations, she discovers much more about herself and uncovers a love of French cooking and dairy products.
I read three ARCs from NetGalley in January. Out of these, by far my favourite was ‘Life Hacks for a Little Alien’ by Alice Franklin. This is a really gorgeous novel with the protagonist being autistic, with their particular area of interest developing around a strange manuscript which they learned about in a television documentary. I enjoyed the audiobook of this novel, which was beautifully read by Sally Phillips. It reminded me a little of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime’ by Mark Haddon.
‘The Vanishing Bookstore’ was a disappointment really. It was not at all as bookish as I’d been lead to believe – lots of searching for a bookshop for the majority of the novel, then very little description of it when it’s found. This is a witchy fantasy novel set in the split-era settings of modern day, and seventeenth century, Salem. Think ‘Hocus Pocus’ (which is referenced very often in the novel) meets a cosy crime-style narrative.
My final ARC for January was ‘Everyone in the Group Chat Dies’ by L. M. Chilton. This one has an interesting premise – a serial killer from thirty years ago, a group of modern-day flatmates, a social media true crime influencer, and a somewhat hapless journalist. There are a few different strands at work at once, and quite a few characters for a modern-day mystery, but it all comes together in the end. It reminded me of ‘The Murder After the Night Before’ which I read a few months ago.
I’m completely blaming the podcast, ‘Save Me From My Shelf’ for my final reads of the month. Their latest episodes on ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ led me to read it first, and then on to ‘The White Devil’ which was in the same volume. Not quite as poetic as Shakespeare, and with a somewhat looser sense of plot and motive, I’m happy that I’ve ticked another two literary classics of my list.
I also read the majority of ‘Babel’ by R.F. Kuang in January – but I’ll include that on February’s round up.
Thank you for reading, and I hope I’ve given you some ideas of some books to settle down with in the future.
Do let me know what I should be reading next!
