What I Read This Month (January 2024)

An eclectic mix to start the year

One thing I resolved to do when I started thinking about what I wanted to write for this Substack was sharing more of what I’m reading at the moment and what I’m looking forward to in the near future. So here we go, the first in a slightly chaotic, sure to change several times over in format and content monthly reading round-up.

A bit about me

I’m an author of historical fiction and historical mystery novels. At the moment, my area of specialty (if you can call it that) is World War 2 Britain, however I’m always casting about for new subjects that peak my interest. 

Traditionally I’ve read a lot of historical romance (where I started as an author) and contemporary romance. However, for whatever reason I haven’t been reaching for those books as often these last few years. Instead, I’ve been reading a lot of:

• historical fiction

• mystery (of all subgenres)

• fiction (mostly commercial but some literary)

• history nonfiction

I read about 50 books a year—my Goodreads challenge is currently set to a book a week—and I tend to read both for work and pleasure. I am mostly a print reader, although I read audiobooks while running, commuting, and knitting, and I read ebooks while knitting. 

January at a glance

I always claim to be an eclectic reader and then feel a little ridiculous when I open up Goodreads and realize that my last few books are exclusively historical fiction and mystery. However, I feel as though, even if the genres are fairly similar, there’s a variety of themes here.

The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by various authors

This was a Christmas gift that I finished off early in 2024. A collection of short stories, it had some heavy hitters of current Gothic and historical authors who edge into the macabre and strange including Bridget Collins, Laura Purcell, Jess Kidd, and Stuart Turton. Many of these short stories centre around Christmas, and many, although not all, are Victorian-set, although not all of them. Some standouts for me were “A Double Thread” by Imogen Hermes Gowar, “Widow’s Walk” by Susan Stokes-Chapman, and “Carol of the Bells and Chains” by Laura Purcell.

Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley

This was a gift from The Gentleman who is an excellent husband in many ways but one of which is that he sometimes pick up a book while passing through a train station that he thinks I might like. This biography by Lucy Worsley was one of those presents, and I must say he got it spot on. I really enjoyed Worsley’s writing style and her considered approach to telling Agatha Christie’s story, especially when it came to Christie’s famous disappearance. As with any Christie biography, it pays to have read her more famous works with great twists least they be spoiled.

The Fraud by Zadie Smith

The Fraud has been everywhere in the UK this winter, and I finally got down to reading it in the new year. I loved Zadie Smith’s approach to the story of the Titchborne Claimant, weaving in the stories of Mrs. Touchet, William Harrison Ainsworth, and Andrew Bogle. While I did find myself losing steam towards the end of the book (perhaps because I knew what happened in the Titchborne Claimant’s trials), I found myself very engaged in the wry humor and insight that came from Mrs. Touchet’s chapters.

The Secrets of Harwood Hall by Katie Lumsden (audiobook)

One of the downsides of being an author is that I often find myself looking for the seeds an author is trying to plant. This means that it can be difficult not to spoil a twist for myself, but I’m pleased to say that Katie Lumsden managed to surprise me with the twist in this Victorian Gothic. 

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I’m a little embarrassed to say that it took me this long to read The Bell Jar because it is such a famous feminist work. However, I was browsing through Foyles while waiting for a train and saw an illustrated copy of it for sale. I snapped it up, and began reading it on the train home. I found it a fascinating, sometimes difficult read with some beautiful prose passages, and I can see why it has been held up as such an influential work.

Moving forward, I may not offer thoughts on all of the books I read, especially during months when the number is high, so if a book doesn’t have a note against it don’t take it as me necessarily disliking a book. Remember, sometimes there’s an author on deadline on the other end of these posts 

What I’m currently reading

Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-1945 by Neill Lochery

What’s next on my TBR

The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal

What have you recently read and enjoyed? Leave a comment and let me know!