December 2024 Reading Round Up
Posted 13th January 2025
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
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Happy New Year!
I didn’t read much in December but I did read somewhat. I suppose more to the point, I enjoyed what I read and ended up with one book unfinished but nearly finished so it meant January’s blank slate filled quite quickly. I’m still working on getting some stability back to my days since my fluffy one died but I’m getting there. And on a semi-related note, I got back into TikTok.
Amy Engel: I Did It For You – Greer comes back to ludlow, Kansas, when there is a copycat murder of a couple just like the murder of her sister and her boyfriend Travis years before. Greer felt called to return and this new murder is bringing back all the feelings she had that while the killer was caught there was someone else involved. The killer was executed and he definitely did it, but surely now the town must realise there was someone else? A brilliant thriller. Slow-paced in a nod to the slower pace of life in a small midwestern town, with a literary focus, and a great use of the red herring as a device.
Noelle Adams: Married For Christmas – Jessica proposes a marriage of convenience between her and her friend so that she can have a family and he can become pastor to their childhood church. I’ve actually read this three times now; it could’ve done with another draft but it’s a nice predictable read .
Nydia Hetherington: Sycorax – Sycorax’s parents met in what we’d call a magical or spiritual manner and the family lives away from their homeland. When Sycorax is an adult and on her own she tries to strike the right balance between being alone and being part of the community but it never gets easier – she is the daughter of a witch, after all. This is a prequel/reimagining/adaptation of the life of Sycorax, the witch Shakespeare’s Prospero hates and does a great job at being physically contained in one location whilst being incredibly interesting. The themes of women and chronic condition are done very well.
So the book I carried over into January, and have finished, is Gill Paul’s Another Woman’s Husband, and that’s book 8 or 10 from my non-podcast reading list. The other ‘main’ book carried over is Diana Gabaldon’s Drums Of Autumn which I’m only a couple of chapters into. I had quite a few unfinished books on my 2024 list from earlier in the year; I’m still to decide what to do with them!
Author’s Afterword Episode 113: Chloe C Peñaranda (The Stars Are Dying)
Charlie and Chloe C Peñaranda discuss the incident wherein her heroine stabs the hero, getting around her hero’s ability to run amok via deus ex machina, and becoming a hybrid author after success as a self-published writer.
If you’re unable to use the media player above, this page has various other options for listening as well as the transcript.
Christmas 2024
Posted 20th December 2024
Category: Miscellaneous Genres: N/A
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I will be taking a longer Christmas break this year as after my rabbit died I’ve had a severe burnout in writing; I think I need time to recharge and to get used to this new, less stressful, living I have. I plan to be back on Monday January 13th.
On Monday my podcast with Eliza Chan, the author of Fathomfolk, will be released. It’ll be the last episode under the name of The Worm Hole Podcast. Eliza’s episode will be found here.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!
My Podcast Is Going Live!
Posted 16th December 2024
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I’m thrilled to announce that on Wednesday 26th February, I’ll be doing a live podcast recording under my podcast’s new name, Author’s Afterword, with guests Alex Hay, Stacey Thomas, and Lucy Barker. It’ll be held at Goldfinch Books in Alton, Hampshire, and will consist of a general bookish conversation with time for audience questions and book signing afterwards. I’m over the moon that Alex, Stacey, and Lucy have agreed to join me – they are fantastic both alone and as a group and I’m looking forward to a second round of conversation with them following Milestone Episode 2.
Tickets are available from Goldfinch Books here. It’s a great, fairly new, indie bookshop with a great bar and I’m happy to say it’s fully accessible. Hope to see you there!
And, because it’s only right, given it’s a podcast event, here’s the announcement in audio:
Alex Hay is the author of The Housekeepers, an Edwardian heist novel which sees a group of disgruntled former employees and associates plan to clear a Mayfair mansion of all its contents over a 24 hour period whilst the mistress of the house hosts a ball. Optioned for film, The Housekeepers was the Waterstones Thriller of the Month for May 2024. Alex’s new novel, The Queen Of Fives, is set in the Victorian era and focuses on a confidence trickster who has five days to win the hand of the richest man in England and make off with his money. It will be published in the UK on 30th January 2025.
Lucy Barker is the author of The Other Side Of Mrs Wood, a comedic tale of Victorian mediumship. The eponymous Mrs Wood is getting on a bit, at least by Victorian standards, and when she spies a young woman watching her house she seizes both the moment and the girl and suggests an apprenticeship – that’ll keep her at the forefront of everyone’s minds! But Miss Finch has a way about her and soon Mrs Wood finds herself with a particularly gifted student who is close to stealing the spotlight.
Stacey Thomas is the author of The Revels, a beautifully written novel set during the witch trials. We follow Nicholas, a man who can hear the dead sing, as he attempts to end the witch hunts. With a theatrical atmosphere courtesy of the period and James I’s obsession with stamping out anything related to the Occult, Thomas shows us the horrific reality of the time to stunning effect.
On Losing And Regaining Excitement For Books You Didn’t Read Quickly Enough, Or An Ode To N M Kelby
Posted 9th December 2024
Category: Chit-Chat Genres: N/A
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I mentioned in my last reading life post that I was working on the idea of soon adding to my reading list books I’d let fall by the way side; I think it would be a bit silly to focus too much on new books and not use the list as an opportunity to read some books I really should have already read.
I know I’m not the only one to have this happen – you acquire a book in whatever way, are very excited about it, and then all often have other books to read first or you decide to wait a bit before reading it, and then because you haven’t capitalised on that initial excitement you lose at least some measure of interest in the idea of reading it. The book is no longer new and shiny. The honeymoon period is over.
(It was quite damning writing that because it made me think of the times I have read a book when it was still exciting and how – as long as the book is at least an average read – it categorically is a better experience to read when the iron is hot.)
So I guess my main question was, can that excitement be regained, reconstructed?
I think it depends on seeing it as a new start, effectively wiping the excitement slate clean, or perhaps alternatively, leaning in to why you were excited originally… so long as your excitement extended beyond ‘new book!’ Certainly you have to let go of any guilt or feelings of burden you might have over not having read the book already. I think the only big issue with achieving this would be if you received the book with an effectively time-limited period in which to read it – say a review copy you didn’t get to (I used to get a fair number of unsolicited books). But it’s not impossible even then.
I’ve a particular book in mind as I write this: N M Kelby’s White Truffles In Winter. I acquired it so long ago I had to check my archives to find out whether I’d bought it or been sent it for review… I got it in August 2013 only three years into blogging and when I was yet to always declare whether I’d purchased or received a book. So I haven’t a clue.
It was so long ago I had it on my (albeit later abandoned) Long Awaited list… in 2019. It was so long ago the author isn’t on social media or to be found online at all – for whatever reason she hasn’t published anything since. (I will avoid making any theories here!)
I remember being taken by the title, cover, and the thought that it might be a perfect choice for Christmas, which I think is understandable. I left it for longer than I’d planned and then found out the title didn’t much reflect the contents; it was simply one of the first of those books with a title that worked as a marketing tactic – oh it did indeed!
I think of it now and then but the magic of before is gone; I wonder if I have to do something else in regards to that loss, perhaps just accept that it’s long gone and just read the book regardless.
I’d like to know from you all: what do you do about books you’ve left unread for too long? Do you get to reading many of them later? If so, how has the experience of reading them been?
Episode 111: Elaine Chiew (The Light Between Us)
Charlie and Elaine Chiew discuss early 20th century Singaporean photography and its influences on Elaine’s novel in depth, which involves looking at social issues and the history of the qipao. We also dive into the time travel aspects and the use of Chinese spirit-mediums.
If you’re unable to use the media player above, this page has various other options for listening as well as the transcript.
November 2024 Reading Round Up
Posted 6th December 2024
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
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November did not go nearly as I thought it might but in terms of reading, when AnAn died I was reading a couple of really good books, the Hay and the Stokes-Chapman – having those to fall back on later was very helpful in getting me back to some sort of routine and I’m happy to say I completed four books.
Alex Hay: The Queen Of Fives – Quinn, the current Queen of Fives among a group of tricksters in Spitalfields takes on what will be her masterpiece, conning the richest man in the country into marriage in order to fleece him of his money. She has a few close friends helping her, however what none of them know is that there is a Man In The Blue Waistcoat and Lady In The Cream Dress that have their own ideas of what should happen. This is Hay’s second book and if you thought his first was excellent (I sure did!) you’re going to be blown away by this one. It’s got the same over all vibe in terms of this-is-an-Alex-Hay-book but has a lot of new concepts in it. It’ll be published late January and I highly, highly, recommend it.
Lee Seong-bok: Indeterminate Inflorescence – A book of aphorisms from university lectures by the famed South Korean poet, collected by his students. Strange comparisons made at times but over all a lovely book. I would recommend reading up to a couple of sayings a day as opposed to the all-at-once method I used given it was for review.
Raven Leilani: Luster – A young working class woman, Edie, looses her job after her team’s put up with ‘issues’ with her and she ends up moving into the house of the older man she had been seeing after meeting his wife and adopted child who, like Edie, is black. Said older man is in an open marriage (at least that’s what he says) and the wife seems to get on with Edie but Edie knows she needs to move back out but the occassional sex continues. This is quite a unique book, a bit like Megan Nolan’s Acts Of Desperation but more relatable and with more going on. I feel I may have ‘missed’ some of it, so to speak, which I put mostly down to not being American, but the vast majority of it was accessible. There’s a lot of good stuff here about the experience of Black Americans, subtle and overt racism, poverty and the difficulties of getting a job, and manipulation. There’s also fun to be had in video gaming and Comic Cons.
Susan Stokes-Chapman: The Shadow Key – In the mid-1700s, Dr Henry Talbot from London is given the position of doctor to a wealthy family in Wales. When he gets there he finds a community hostile to his arrival, a house full of secrets, his charge is a woman seemingly mentally ill but with off symptoms for it, and his employer is mysterious and at odds with his niece who favours the working people on their land. And Henry’s home, the gatehouse, has been destroyed. The Doctor needs to work out what’s going on and find out why the local people are trying to kill him. This is a wonderfully immersive and Gothic book with a strong sense of place and a steady use of pace and secret reveals.
I have already finished one book in December and have two more I want to complete by the end of the month if I can with others I’ll finish if I can.