January 2025 Reading Round Up
Posted 10th February 2025
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
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I’ve had a tiny moment of celebration with each book finished this month, especially as two were on my non-podcast reading list. I have one book left to read from that list and then I get to make a brand new one. It’s been a good experiment.
Amy Jordan – It’s 2024 and retired DI Julia Hart is called back to the Irish police force because a current murder case has echoes of one Hart solved in 1994. We also get that narrative from 1994 wherein Julia became traumatised, lost her marriage or her husband (we don’t yet know) and dealt with sexism. This is an excellent thriller.
Gabrielle Zevin – Sam and Sadie met as children when Sam was in hospital after an accident and Sadie was there because her sister has cancer. They bonded over video games but a conflict separated them for many years. We join them in adulthood as they decide to start a game development company. It lacks emotion, but the last quarter of the book was exceptional.
Gill Paul: Another Woman’s Husband – In the 1940s, Mary watches her childhood friend Wallis burn one marriage, not appreciate another, and start a relationship with the Prince of Wales. In the 1990s, Rachel and Alex are witnesses to Princess Diana’s death and while Rachel has her boutique to get back to, Alex is determined to create a documentary on what really happened that fateful night. A very good read.
So, it’s been a good month. Amy Jordan’s book may make my best of list; of Zevin’s I found the two main characters impossible to read but a third character was wonderful and had me quite emotional; and of the Paul, I personally preferred the Wallis Simpson narrative as it was mostly factual and fascinating, but there are parts where Rachel’s chapters shine through.
I ‘actively’ carried over two books into February, Orlando Ortega-Medina’s Emerald Road, and Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon. Yes, the same Sam Sotto whose work I’ve loved for years. This latest book is her UK debut and I’m thrilled for her. I’m also hoping to get to book 10 on my non-podcast list, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne, as well as Kate Packman’s You Can See The End Of The World From Here. And of the ‘not actively’, Drums Of Autumn I’m going to read slowly. I have officially decided to stop carrying Vanity Fair over – it would’ve been year 13 this time. I’ll try and start it another time – who knows, maybe leaving it off my list now will help me get back to it.
Episode 115: Éric Chacour (What I Know About You)
Charlie and Éric Chacour discuss Egypt in the 1970s for the Levantine community and LGBT people, the famous French-Egyptian singer Dalida, Romeo and Juliet, Éric’s use of the second person, and author and translator working together on writing that had been in place for 15 years.
If you’re unable to use the media player above, this page has various other options for listening as well as the transcript.
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