we may have flipped the calendar but the days still feel very 2020...
thanks to the copious amount of books I ask for + am very lucky to receive each Christmas, I always start January with a heaving bedside table... and while my to read pile deflates rather fast over the first few days + weeks of January, once life kicks in again, inevitably something must give. Unfortunately usually that’s reading. But this New Year has brought with it yet another lockdown which has given me a lot of time on my hands... enter stage left: books on books on books
my reading taste is quite eclectic - a heavy dose of murder and mayhem, authors dead + alive, non fiction, old favourites and new pleasures
Strange Flowers
Oh, I’m very excited to tuck into this one. Set in Tipperary in the early 70s, Strange Flowers is a story of love + loss from an author who has plenty of accolades including being nominated for the man Booker prize. It was also was the novel of the year in the Irish book awards... so I’ve high hopes.
Midwinter Murder
Ah, it wouldn’t be a Martha - to - read - pile if it didn’t feature my dear faithful favourite, Agatha Christie, I’ve eaten my way through nearly every one of her books over the years, so when I happen upon one I’ve not read, it promptly joins my bookshelf. Midwinter Murder is just my sort of read for a cold + barren January night. A compilation of short stories featuring some of her most famous creations (Poirot + Marple anyone?) all set on the backdrop of the unforgiving midwinter. Add a crackling fire + a hot cuppa and you’ve got a pretty perfect winter evening!
A Ghost In The Throat
A bit of a different one for me. Blending poetry and prose, A ghost in the throat weaves the stories of a slightly macabre noblewoman in the 1700s + a young mother in the present day who stumbles upon her poem + becomes obsessed with the parallels in her own life... billed as a tale of finding your voice, this is another homegrown read I’m very excited to dig into! Also the cover is rather swoon worthy too.
The Five
Right I’ll admit it ok, I’m a sucker for good covers... if you’ve got a good cover your half way there in my book (pun very much not intended) and this cover is one of the best, a Sunday times best seller, The Five tells the story of the women killed by Jack the Ripper, often reduced to stats, historian Hallie Rubenhold finally gives these five women back their stories
Invisible Woman
In Invisible Woman, Caroline Criado Perez collates an impressive range of case studies + research from across the globe to illustrate the intriguing and hidden ways out world is truly made for *men*. From medical research to technology, workplaces and media. Criado reveals how ignoring 1/2 the population often has serious consequences.
The Mountains Sing
Set against the backdrop of the Vietnam war, the mountain sing is multigenerational tale of pain + war. This debut English language novel from the Vietnamese poet, Nguyẽ̂n Phan Qué̂ Mai, paints a vivid picture of the country’s turbelent 20th century history. Told through the lives of grandmother and granddaughter, it promises to be brutal + intimate tale. A story of a country at war and a family’s battle to survive
Whew, that’s a right mixed bag and only a very small snapshot of my current bedside pile (we’d be here till next year if I went through the whole lot!)
And still I’m eager to add to it... so what books are you currently sinking I your teeth into?
