It’s that time of year again, where I’m rounding up the best things that I’ve read this year, and I’m starting with the new fiction because it has been a really good year for it.
As I’ve said already, in contemporary romance 2023 has been the year of the celebrity and normal person romance in my reading life. I’m still not sure if it’s an actual trend or if it’s just what the algorithm has been feeding me but I’ve really enjoyed it and the hardest part is how do I pick just one for this list? Well the answer is I’m not. I’m picking two: Romantic Comedyby Curtis Sittenfeld and Once More with Feeling by Elissa Sussman. Yes, they are two of the books that were on my half year favourites list, but I really did love them and they’re two of the books that I’ve recommended the most this year. Romantic Comedy is still the only book with the quarantimes in it that I’ve enjoyed and Once More with Feeling made me so happy for some bookish revenge on a Justin Timberlake type figure.
Also in contemporary romance is Lucy Parker’s Codename Charming – this was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and it lived up to my internal hype for it when it finally arrived in the autumn. Also excellent was Christina Lauren’s True Love ExperimentandRole Playing by Cathy Yardley, the latter of which has an older pairing than you usually see which was fun.
And finally it wouldn’t be one of my end of year lists without a Rich People Problems novel, and this year it isPineapple Street, which was also on the mid year list.
I realise now that there’s no crime on this list, which is a slight surprise to me given how much mystery I have read, but a lot of it was either not new or from long running series and you know my policy on that. I wonder what 2024’s fiction list will look like?
I’m already back at work, but as I’m still trying valiantly to cling to the Christmas spirit, for today’s recommendsday here’s what I’ll be reading (or listening to) between now and the end of the year – once I’ve got my fifty states challenge finished (why are West Virginia and the Dakotas always so hard?) and some ideas for you too.
If you turn on the TV in the afternoon at this time of year, chances are you’ll stumble across a movie version of an Agatha Christie novel – Death on the Nile was on on Christmas Day, Mirror Cracked this afternoon and Murder on the Orient Express is coming up too in the next day or too. And the novels make a pretty good choice for this time of year too – there are some Christmas-set stories, but my pick is always Orient Express – something about being stuck in a snow drift just makes it Christmassy to me.
You also could do worse than a Christmas Meg Langslow, the only reason I haven’t read the new one yet is because I haven’t read the summer one yet because the kindle edition is eye wateringly expensive and I’ve even reading them in order from the very start and I refuse to change that now after more than thirty books! There’s also a Christmas book in Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery series that came out this autumn that I can’t read yet because: Reading in order and a book or two behind, but if you’re not bothered about reading in order they’re a pretty reliable series.
In fact most of my favourite series have Christmas books – I’ve mentioned most of them ad nausem (Royal Spyness, Daisy Dalrymple, Phryne Fisher etc) but I might actually reread one of my favourite Drina books this year – ballet at Christmas is such a thing and in Drina Dances Again she’s in Edinburgh, playing Little Clara in the Nutcracker (although not at Christmas!) and it’s a pivotal moment in the series for reasons that are a bit spoilery. If I want a boarding school story, the Chalet School series is full of Christmas plays – I usually pick one from the early days of the series so maybe I’ll go later this year.
Once I’ve got the last few states ticked off my 50 states challenge I’m planning on reading another of the Christmas stories from the British Library Crime Classics series – I think I have The Christmas Egg on the actual to-read shelf but there’s bound to be one in Kindle Unlimited too.
And finally, it’s not strictly festive, but I’ve been listening to the Radio 4 serialisation of Miss Buncle’s Book on BBC Sounds this week, and it’s just such a lovely cozy book, if you’ve never read it before, this time of year would be perfect to discover it for the first time. You can find my review of the trilogy here.
Happy Boxing Day everyone – if Boxing Day is a thing where you are. We’re on our way back home from the frozen North after a family Christmas at my sister’s house. However today’s pick is a non-Christmas book because I already told you about it in last week’s Recommendsday! The good news is that I got a stack of books that I wanted for Christmas so expect to hear more about them in the near future too.
The titular Maggie is a home renovation YouTube star. She buys houses, does them up, flips them and then moves on. Her latest project is in a small town in Idaho and it’s her biggest one yet. But she’s got a plan and she’ll be in and out in just a few months and on to the next thing. One of the things on her to do list is the gardens and grounds, so she sends for local landscapers to give her quotes for the work. One of them is Silas – a sexy local boy who sees her and decides that she’s the one for him. But Maggie’s time in town has an expiration date on it – and there’s no way it can be more than a casual fling, or can it?
So, first things first: Silas is the most alpha-y hero I’ve read in a long time and it was a bit jarring at first after a bunch of grumpy/sunshine romances to have this big hot guy fall in instantly-lust with the heroine and start trying to win her over. I was prepared to hate it, except that he does it with a smile and although he’s always telling her she’s his future wife he never actually pressures her to do anything. This has got a really nice found family sort of vibe to is as Maggie accidentally builds herself a community in Kinship and then has to work out if she wants to stay or go. This also means it has good cast of secondary characters for you to enjoy as well.
I read a Lucy Score and someone else romance as part of my 50 states challenge in 2021 and found it too New Adult for me, but this was much, much better. I do like a book with a house renovation at the centre of it – romances like The Honey Don’t List or cozy crimes like the Fixer Upper series so I like the concept of this as well as the romance. Basically it’s a nice fun read with a romance that doesn’t have an obviously cinnamon roll hero – although deep down he turns out to actually be a really champ.
Like a lot of Lucy Score’s books, this is currently in Kindle Unlimited – although I bought it this time last year when it wasn’t in KU, I suspect because I noticed it was set in Idaho which is always a tricky state in the challenge stakes!
Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you’re all having a delightful day filled with whatever you want to be doing and hopefully lots of lovely food. And that you got the books you wanted of course. I’ve checked off another four of my missing states so I may still get the list finished before the end of the rest! Wish me luck.
After last week’s not-new Christmas books, today I bring you some of the new festive books I’ve read so far this year in case you’re in the market for some last minute purchasing and reading before the big day. Because some of you may be more prepared for Christmas than I currently am!
A Holly Jolly Ever After by Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy
This is the sequel to last year’s A Merry Little Meet Cute and is also set in Christmas Notch, Vermont (Hello ticking another state off my 50 States Challenge for the year!). This time our heroine is Winnie Baker a former child actress who managed to keep her career going into adulthood by maintaining her wholesome Christian image. Except now her perfect life has come falling down and now she’s going to reinvent herself in a steamy holiday movie. Her co-star is Kallum, former boyband star and now owner of a regional pizza chain who went viral after a sex tape leaked (and who you may remember from that first book) and who has some history with Winnie that means that it’s all a bit awkward. But when Winnie has trouble faking pleasure on screen she asks Kallum for help with research and you all know where this is going. Sex lessons for reasons is always a fun trope – and obviously it’s extremely not closed door. The premise is bonkers, but it was an entertaining read even if purity culture makes me really angry.
The Christmas Book Club by Sarah Morgan
This is this year’s Christmas Sarah Morgan, and I’m probably cheating by mentioning her again so soon after reminding you about the Snow Crystal series, but this is women’s fiction and those are straight up romances so I’m just going to go with it. This follows four women – three friends approaching their fortieth birthdays and taking a Christmas trip to a quaint inn in Vermont and the inn’s owner, a young widow with a little girl whose husband died while they were renovating the hotel together. Each woman is facing some sort of challenge in her life and the week at the inn will help them figure out what to do next. I think I would have liked less main characters and more focus on each storyline but then I’m often a bit like that and I don’t know which woman I would be happy to lose! This is quite low stress and very festive and perfect for a winter afternoon once you’ve got your presents wrapped!
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders by Alexandra Benedict*
Early in December, crossword setter and grouch Edie receives a parcel in the post containing jigsaw pieces showing a crime scene and a note saying unless she solves the puzzle at least four people will die. Of course she starts investigating with the help of her nephew who is a police detective – until he starts to worry that she’s in danger and tries to shut her out of the investigation. But of course that’s not going to stop her. This is a murder mystery with some hidden clues in there that tie in for puzzlers, *but* don’t be deceived by the festive cover and colour scheme, it’s actually pretty dark. I was expecting/hoping for something Christmassy but with Thursday Murder club levels of grimness or something cozy crime adjacent, but if it wasn’t Christmas it would be a murder mystery with a dark and brooding cover, rather than an arty one. So not really a for me book, but I think it will appeal to a lot of people who like their crime a bit grimmer.
And that’s your lot today – I’ve got a couple more Christmas books I’m going to try and read this December, but who knows if that will actually happen, because I keep getting distracted away to other books!
Quite a strange week in books: I know I need to read Christmas books and books that will help me tick off the last few states in my 50 states challenge, and yet here I am reading hustorical crime and girl’s own. What am I like…
One ebook and one book bought. Restraining myself in the hopes of getting more books this time next week…
Bonus photo: the ice rink in Hannover square on Tuesday night – I didn’t skate, I justdrank mulled wine and caught up with a friend while watching other people skate!
*next to a book book title indicates that it came from NetGalley. ** indicates it was an advance copy from a source other than NetGalley.
I’m taking a break from the usual schedule today as there’s one week to go before Christmas and I thought it was time to recommend some books for your last minute gift buying. And as Him Indoors has been grousing at me this week that he couldn’t get any of the books I wanted in store when he went in to Waterstones, I’ve tried to keep it simple and easy for you and stick to stuff that should be easily available.
I’m going to start with Murdle, because I can think of several people in my life who would like it. It’s a book of murder mystery puzzles – there’s a hundred in it and there’s also a second book of even more Murdles with a hundred more. If you have a puzzler in your life – and it turns out I’m turning into one (daily routine now includes a sudoku, a mini crossword, a bigger crossword and NYT’s Connections puzzle, plus their history quiz once a week) then this would be a good stocking filler for you. I’ve seen it in every bookshop I’ve been into this year.
If you’re buying for an occasional reader, who likes their TV, I know it sounds basic, but I’m going to suggest the books and authors who have been turned into the big adaptations this year. So depending on what you know they’ve watched, it could be one of Taylor Jenkins Reid‘s other books if they’ve seen Daisy Jones and the Six, because she has enough that you have options beyond the one that’s been adapted or Bonnie Garmus’s Lessons in Chemistry because that’s her only one so far. There’s also the fifth volume of Heartstopper which has just come out, and would be perfect for people who have been watching that on Netflix. Alice Oseman also has some tie-in titles as well as other novels if you know that you have someone you’re buying for who is into Heartstopper.
R F Kuang’s Yellowface has been the buzzy book of the autumn season – I’ve read it and I didn’t love it, but I know people who have and it’s definitely one that’s going to generate discussion and turn up at bookgroups, so if you have someone who is in a book club, that wouldn’t be a bad bet. The risk of course is that they’ve read it already, which also applies to Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow which is in paperback now – but Zevin also has other books that you get buy if you think your person has read that one. Kuang’s other books are epic historical fantasy type novels, so if you have someone who liked Yellowface but doesn’t do fantasy then you might want to try something like the new Emma Kline, The Guest. I read Kline’s The Girls and enjoyed it, but I haven’t read this (yet) because just the description makes me stressed and anxious, but has had good reviews and gets on the people who read this enjoyed that lists for Yellowface (and vice versa).
On the non-fiction front, there’s lots of memoirs out this year from celebs of various eras – so you could do the Britney Spears for people who were teenagers when she burst onto the scene, there’s another Miriam Margoyles for people who enjoy her on chat shows, there’s Patrick Stewart for the Star Trek/X-Men fans, Billy Connely for the comedy fans and 900 pages of Barbra Streisand’s long awaited memoir for those film and musical watchers that can face something that heavy – and it doesn’t have an index so you can’t even skip to the bits you’re most interested in!
There is also a crop of books written by podcasters and personalities of various kinds – so if you know what your giftee is into on that front there are plenty of options – from Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO book, through Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Tools for a Life and cookbooks galore.
Hopefully there are enough ideas here for you – if not, just go to a bookshop and have a little wander – you might be amazed what you find!
Have a great Sunday – and good luck with the final pre-Christmas stretch!
Yes, I’m cheating because I finished this on Monday, but as ever they’re my rules and I’m allowed to break them if I want and nothing else on last week’s list qualifies for a variety of reasons. So here we are.
It’s 1957 and Henry and Effie are on honeymoon in Cape May, New Jersey. They’re staying at Effie’s uncle’s house, where she spent some of her childhood summer holidays. Except the season is over and the place is deserted. Or nearly deserted. Staying at the house down the street is Clara, now a beautiful socialite but formerly one of the children Effie used to sometimes play with. With her are her lover Max and Alma, Max’s half sister. Over the course of their trip, under the influence of a lot of gin, Effie and Henry’s marriage will be tested and the pattern of their lives will be set as they run riot through the town, swept up in the glamour and decadence of their new friends.
This has been sitting on the tbr pile for some considerable time, but this weekend I felt in need of something a bit different. The cover has a blurb that compares it to The Great Gatsby, and I can sort of see why – Clara’s world is a heady alcoholic world of yachts by day, illicit wanderings by night and gallons of alcohol. Effie and Henry are the outsiders – from Georgia compared to the other three’s big city sophistication and the reader can see that they’re heading for trouble and heartbreak.
The narrative follows just Henry and his actions, which is a little frustrating because I wanted to know what Effie was thinking and doing, but given that the author is a man, possibly for the best as I didn’t always love the way the sex scenes were written as it was so maybe I would have liked the book less if I’d been given more of Effie’s inner life. So, not perfect but I still read it in just over 24 hours so it’s very readable despite that. It’s not really Rich People Problems, because Effie and Henry definitely aren’t rich, but it is Rich People Problems-adjacent – in that the rich people are the ones who are causing the problems!
This was Chip Cheek’s debut – and I’d read more from him if/when it appears. I had my copy of this in the NetGalley backlog (!) but it’s on offer on Kindle and Kobo for £1.99 at the moment which is a pretty good deal. I can’t say I remember seeing it in bookshops, but I’m also not sure I ever specifically looked for it and it’s had a couple of different covers now too. Anyway, worth a check if you’re at a shop with a fairly decent literary fiction selection.
