{"id":66009,"date":"2025-02-03T12:22:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T12:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/january-round-up-wordy-witterings\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T12:22:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T12:22:47","slug":"january-round-up-wordy-witterings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=66009","title":{"rendered":"January Round Up \u2013 Wordy Witterings"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

January proved to be a productive start to my reading year. I tackled a few a Christmas present from my wish list, a \u2018buzz book\u2019, a couple of ARCs and two Elizabethan plays.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d started reading \u2018Wicked\u2019 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 \u2018high brow\u2019 fantasy than I\u2019ve read before, almost literary fiction.<\/p>\n

A trip to Manchester Waterstones had me noticing displays dedicated to \u2018Butter\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s difficult to walk past a table of yellow books without your curiosity being piqued. I wasn\u2019t 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\u2019s motivations, she discovers much more about herself and uncovers a love of French cooking and dairy products.<\/p>\n

I read three ARCs from NetGalley in January. Out of these, by far my favourite was \u2018Life Hacks for a Little Alien\u2019 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 \u2018The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime\u2019 by Mark Haddon. <\/p>\n

\u2018The Vanishing Bookstore\u2019 was a disappointment really. It was not at all as bookish as I\u2019d been lead to believe \u2013 lots of searching for a bookshop for the majority of the novel, then very little description of it when it\u2019s found. This is a witchy fantasy novel set in the split-era settings of modern day, and seventeenth century, Salem. Think \u2018Hocus Pocus\u2019 (which is referenced very often in the novel) meets a cosy crime-style narrative. <\/p>\n

My final ARC for January was \u2018Everyone in the Group Chat Dies\u2019 by L. M. Chilton. This one has an interesting premise \u2013 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 \u2018The Murder After the Night Before\u2019 which I read a few months ago. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m completely blaming the podcast, \u2018Save Me From My Shelf\u2019 for my final reads of the month. Their latest episodes on \u2018The Duchess of Malfi\u2019 led me to read it first, and then on to \u2018The White Devil\u2019 which was in the same volume. Not quite as poetic as Shakespeare, and with a somewhat looser sense of plot and motive, I\u2019m happy that I\u2019ve ticked another two literary classics of my list. <\/p>\n

I also read the majority of \u2018Babel\u2019 by R.F. Kuang in January \u2013 but I\u2019ll include that on February\u2019s round up.<\/p>\n

Thank you for reading, and I hope I\u2019ve given you some ideas of some books to settle down with in the future. <\/p>\n

Do let me know what I should be reading next!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

January proved to be a productive start to my reading year. I tackled a few a Christmas present from my wish list, a \u2018buzz book\u2019, a couple of ARCs and two Elizabethan plays. I\u2019d started reading \u2018Wicked\u2019 on Boxing Day in anticipation of seeing both the Musical stage show and film this month. 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