Hello, and how are you? Finally January is drawing to a close after what has felt like a long time.
This is the first monthly round up of what I have been writing about/reading for the month of January, something I have been meaning to do for a rather long time and just not got round to. As a new thing, I will probably write a few before I fully settle into the structure for these monthly review posts, so if there is anything that you feel I should or could include in them please let me know and I’ll think your suggestion over. So without further ado, I shall get into it.
Writing
I have been rather busy in January. 2024 was not an overly productive year in terms of writing reviews. I read quite a few books that I just had not got around to reviewing, so I have spent a few weeks catching up with all of the books that I read in the last few months of 2024, and published several book reviews, including one that appeared first on my other blog all about getting children into music on the website http://www.getkidsintomusic.com. If you would be interested in reading the reviews of the books about music aimed at children that I publish over on that blog, and would like me to include them here, please let me know in the comments.
The reviews that I have published this month, in order of the date I published them on are:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The life story of glamorous Hollywood actor Evelyn Hugo is told in a series of interviews with journalist Monique Grant. She is famous for her life and her seven husbands as much as for the films she starred in. Through the interviews Evelyn and Monique grow close, but that bond is threatened when it becomes clear why the reclusive actor has chosen Monique to write her life story.
A nice story, a good holiday read and 3.5 out of 5 stars from me. Click on the link below to read the full review.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama
5 different people find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. They need to find ways to move on, but are struggling to work out what their next steps should be. The answers they are looking for may well be in, yes you guessed it, the library.
Another nice story, read to me like it could have been a series of stories published one a month in a monthly magazine. 3 stars out of 5 from me. Click the link below to read more.
What You Are Looking For Is In The Library by Michiko Aoyama
The Party by Tessa Hadley
A coming of age tale set in Bristol in the aftermath of the war. This is a novella about the sisters’ relationships with each other and with people they meet at a party one night. It is a story about the sisters navigating their new relationships as they become adults, with each other, their family and with friends.
It is a very well written book, but didn’t grab me so I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Read my full review by clicking the link below.
The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley
A heartwarming, easy to read tale of the lives of 5 commuters on the train into central London from the suburbs. They have all been riding this train together for a long time, never speaking to or interacting with each other, but all forming their own opinions about their fellow commuters. One day, one of them chokes in front of everyone else, and they are forced to interact with each other. This sets off a chain of events resulting in several unlikely friendships.
A lovely story and a good book to take on holiday with you. This is a book that entertains without demanding too much from the reader. I gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Link below for the full review.
The People On Platform 5 by Clare Pooley
Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton
My favourite of the books in this roundup, and one of my favourite books of 2024, Birnham Wood is a book about the conflicting interests of a group of very different people: an idealogical gardening collective, the eponymous Birnham Wood, who are struggling to break even at the start of the book; Sir Owen Darvish, owner of a farm in Thorndike that Birnham Wood want to occupy; and American tech billionaire Robert Lemoine who is very used to getting everything his own way.
A book that has made me want to read more by Eleanor Catton, and a very good read. I gave the book 4.5 out of 5 stars. Link below for the full review.
Birnham Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable
A book that first appeared on my main blog, this is the story (loosely based on real events) of Anna Maria della Pieta, a girl with extraordinary musical talent and a prodigious violinist. She is taken under the wing of her teacher who teaches her violin, and encourages her in her composition. However, he only wants her to work helping him with his own compositions, making her learn to write in his voice. This is a story about passion for music, about a girl’s struggle to avoid her fate of being married off at the first opportunity and how her escape comes from her music. But there are sacrifices along the way.
I quite liked this book, but found some parts of it a tad frustrating. I gave it 3 stars out of 5. To read the full review, click the link below.
The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable
Reading
This blog is all about the reading, isn’t it? So what books have I been reading this month and that you can expect reviews of next month?
Fiction
I finished two fiction books this month, one of which I thoroughly enjoyed and one of which I am glad I got to the end of, but wasn’t really my cup of tea. These are Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt and The Children’s Bach by Helen Garner. You will have to wait for my reviews to find out which book I loved and which I wasn’t quite so fond of. But if you have read either of these books let me know what you thought in the comments.
I usually read one book in paper format downstairs and out of the house (I have children who are of the age that they have plenty of clubs and activities and parties that they go to and I often find myself waiting for them somewhere – it’s the perfect time to whip out a book and have a bit of a read!); and I usually read a different book before bed on my kindle (my husband tends to fall asleep before I do, so kindle books are great for reading in low light). Since finishing Remarkably Bright Creatures I have downloaded, but not yet started The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré. I haven’t started it yet largely because I have been enjoying my paper book too much and have taken it upstairs with my book light rather than getting the kindle out. The paper book is Circe by Madeline Miller, a retelling of the story of the goddess Circe. About a year ago I read a retelling of the story of Medusa, in a book called (yes, you guessed it) Medusa by Jessie Burton which I loved, and this book is shaping up to be no different in my estimation. I didn’t study Greek mythology at school, and clearly adult me now feels I need to make up for it!
My children are 7 and 10, and are reading more and more by themselves – my 10 year old son is a voracious reader; and my 7 year old, who initially wanted to avoid doing the same things as her brother, is starting to get into reading books by herself now. I think there are 3 things that have helped her with this. The first is that she has loved the Dork Diaries series of books; the second is that she really likes writing stories and has got herself a reputation at school as being a writer of stories so we have told her that if she wants to be a writer, the best thing she can do is read a lot; the final thing is that we have a “reading night” each week where the children “get to stay up late” as they see it if we all read our own books to ourselves all sat together.
Having said that, I have been reading a chapter book with them, reading a chapter or so together before bed – not necessarily every night, but regularly. This month I finally finished a lovely book with my son, The City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak. This was a great book to read with my son, it was full of action, adventure, peril, mystery and magic. My daughter and I are still slowly reading through To Be A Cat by Matt Haig, and it’s lovely to hear her ask for “just one more chapter” when we get to the end of each chapter.
Non-fiction/Books About Music
This month I have read a couple of books about music for children. One has already been reviewed over on my other blog, and the next one’s review will come out in February. The book I have already reviewed this month is I Want To Be A Musician by Peter J: Read the review here
Next month’s review will be the book Wild Symphony by Dan Brown. Yes, The Dan Brown who wrote The Da Vinci Code. It even has music written by Dan Brown too, something I was really pleasantly surprised about.
I also read a non-fiction music book called Practice Pie by Nicola Canton, a book that uses the analogy of baking a pie to talk about the steps you can take as a parent to support your child’s music practice. This was a really good guide, and contains a lot of very good suggestions that I am going to put into practice with my own children. The review of this book will come out next month over on http://www.getkidsintomusic.com
I have started to read the book Quartet by Leah Broad, a book about the lives of 4 influential female composers from the early 20th Century. So far I have only read the introduction, but I am enjoying it so far.
So what’s coming up in February?
On the review front, January was all about catching up with reviews from 2024. While I have finished a couple of books this month, I have not yet written the reviews for them. So, you can expect reviews of Remarkably Bright Creatures and The Children’s Bach in the next few weeks. I hope to finish Circe soon, and so that will be my next review, and I will copy over my review of Practice Pie after it has appeared over on my other blog. As long as something like Australian Married at First Sight doesn’t come along to distract me and tempt me to watch that before sleep rather than reading, I want to read The Girl With The Louding Voice as well. Once Circe is finished I will need to choose my next paper book to read. I shall be choosing between these two books, which one would you suggest I read first?
Coffee Break Books 