Half Year Reading Round Up

Genre reading and the best of the rest.

I’ve read or listened to thirty books so far this year—literary and award-winning as well as random picks from Audible. My reading goal for 2024 is to diversify and read new kinds of books. Here’s how it’s going so far …

Sad Girl Novels

I realise I’m very late to the party. I discovered this subgenre accidentally (or, more accurately, through the algorithmic machinations of my Audible library). Once I downloaded one Sad Girl Novel, another one popped up. For weeks I was on a sad girl loop until I finally figured out what was going on.

Frankly, I found most of the Sad Girl Novels bewildering. Am I supposed to relate to this narrator? Do people under thirty really communicate like this? Maybe this is a subtle allegory?

The most sad of the bunch was “A Lonely Girl Is a Dangerous Thing” by Jessie Tu followed closely by “Girl in Pieces” by Kathleen Glasgow. Others, such as “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” by Coco Mellors was like being trapped at party with people I had absolutely nothing in common with. With Madeleine Gray’s “Green Dot,” I wanted to take the protagonist out of a coffee and give her a serious talking to (such a bright girl). Fortunately, ‘Sorrow and Bliss” by Meg Mason and “The Rachel Incident” by Caroline O’Donoghue redeemed the genre for me by making me laugh.

Crime and Psychological Thrillers

I rarely read crime or psychological thrillers so why did I put crime in my novel, you ask? I’ll tell you. Privately.

In this mode, I read “What Happened to Nina?” by Dervla McTieran, “Try Not to Breathe” by Holly Seddon, and am currently in the middle of the mixed genre novel “All the Colours of the Dark” by Chris Whitaker. So far, “All the Colours” is making the strongest impact on me. The crime element is the foundation for a story of relationships. I’ll let you know when I’ve finished it if it still leads the pack in this category.

Rom Coms

I read two books by David Nicholls, “One Day” and “You Are Here” and enjoyed them both. Nicholls writes witty, fully developed female characters and his language is often quite beautiful. These went down like a fine wine.

I read Dolly Alderton’s “Good Material” because of a review in the New York Times (“Like Nora Ephron but with a British Twist” – tell me more!). It’s a fun read with a fabulous switch at the end.

The Best of the Rest

My strongest recommendations so far this year are:

• Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano - a beautiful, character-driven story that has stayed with me.

• “This Must Be The Place” by Maggie O’Farrell is clever and interesting. I can’t wait to read more of O’Farrell’s work.

• “American Youth” by Phil LaMarche is a slim, perfect novel that is very American indeed.

I’ve just started “Kairos” by Jenny Erpenbeck. I’m intrigued so far but will report back at the end of the year.