There’s something about the 1930s that keeps pulling me back as a reader, in a way that’s almost subconscious. It’s a dynamic decade: suspended between wars, thick with anxiety, experimentation,…
1930s Literature: Reading Books from (& about) the Age of Anxiety
Under the Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino
This collection of short stories has an interesting history: it was meant to be part of a larger collection of stories, The Five Senses, where each story was connected to…
Reflections in a Golden Eye by Carson McCullers
This aesthetic Penguin Archives edition was a really lovely read thanks to the beautiful prose of McCullers. This narrative was first published in 1941: it’s a classical tragedy set in…
Ariel by Sylvia Plath
This is first time I’ve properly sat down and read Ariel as a complete collection, and I wasn’t surprised by how immediately it clicked for me and how much I…
Not to Disturb by Muriel Spark
This was such a great little book! My second Muriel Spark of recent times, this is the sort of book where you just sort of let the story and the…
Muumilaakson marraskuu (Moominvalley in November) by Tove Jansson
A very apt final book from November, I loved reading in Finnish again. I started the year reading Tove’s childhood autobiography in Finland, so it felt apt to be ending…
A Clergyman’s Daughter by George Orwell
This is a more obscure Orwell read, one that he himself and critics found lacking, but I really enjoyed this. Dorothy is daughter of a curmudgeonly Anglican rector, and the…
After Leaving Mr Mackenzie by Jean Rhys
This is a bleak novel about precarious survival in big cities, perfect for this time of year. Despite the bleakness, the beautiful prose of Rhys carries you through this narrative…
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Felt like an obvious September pick, but this wasn’t the effortless read I expected. I’ve enjoyed Bowen before, yet I found myself wading through a slightly disjointed narrative, with many…
Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner
This was the quintessential autumnal #spinsterseptember read with a supernatural feminist twist: a woman escapes family obligations and relocates to a small village in the Chiltern Hills and becomes a witch! 🧙♀️…
Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo
I wasn’t immediately aware that this was actually my second book by Xiaolu Guo until I began reading it, but from the moment I started, I was captivated by its…
La Femme de Gilles by Madeleine Bourdhouxe
This Belgian modern classic from 1937 was referenced by famous French feminist, Simone de Beauvoir, and has been more recently rediscovered and made into a film. It’s a book about…
August is a Wicked Month by Edna O’Brien
I really wanted to love this book more than I did. I knew this book had been controversial/banned when it first came out in 1965 so I was expecting a…
Reading Romance: The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
I remember a bookseller being super judgemental when I asked whether he stocked this title! It was honestly a pretty funny moment as I am very confident in my literary…
Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
This is the third book of the Dune series! It very much focuses on the next generation of the Atreides dynasty and the challenges of dynastic rule. How to revive…
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Two books in one, and what a treat these are! These works are absolutely iconic, and the first one catapulted Helene to instant cult fame. I can really see why….
Madonna In a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
A modern Turkish classic, first published in 1943, this is a bittersweet tale of love, identity, intimacy, and friendship. It wasn’t translated into English until 2016! Raif, an “innocent” Turkish…
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Stylesin Tapaus) by Agatha Christie
I’ve read two books in Finnish so far this year, something I rarely do these days, but I’m very pleased I did! Reading Christie in Finnish takes me back to…
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
Dune part two packs a punch! What a way to start off my 2025…. (this was actually the first book I finished this year). We pick up the action quite…
Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie
One of my early year reads: an easy one to keep up with amongst all the festive and travel shenanigans. Ariadne Oliver and Hercule Poirot join forces in this tale…
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
Despite the subtitle, this did not have much in it that made it seem like “the last Marple case” – she seemed her usual sprightly self! This cover is another…
Dune by Frank Herbert
I’m not the biggest science fiction aficionado but this was a real pleasure to read. Herbert didn’t necessarily make it easy to get into the book, but once it gets…
Murder is Easy by Agatha Christie
I love a Christmas Christie! This is not a Poirot or a Marple, but it’s a fun detective novel anyways. Published in 1939, this is actually the first edition dust…
The Third Man and The Fallen Idol by Graham Greene
Firstly, Greene is such an incredible writer and I was again reminded of this fact reading these two stories of his! The premise of this book is to present two…
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
This is an incredible read. It packs a punch and leaves you bleeding, but I have so much time for the genius of James Baldwin! What happens when a young…
Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, And LA by Eve Babitz
I didn’t know I’d love this as much as I did! Eve Babitz is a bit of a legend, a Hollywood muse, and I thought it was really powerful to…
Modern Baptists by James Wilcox
This was a bit of a revelation! In the intro they make the point that Wilcox perhaps never attained the same reputation as his contemporaries writing about similar social issues…
Peril at End House by Agatha Christie
Another Hercule Poirot mystery from the Queen of crime! This one wasn’t as good as Sad Cypress that I have just recently read, but it’s still pretty good. The premise…
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
This is a murder mystery and court room drama a la Poirot, but I was also really taken by the romance of this book. The story of Elinor Carlisle, Roddy,…
Flowers for Mrs Harris (also Mrs ‘Arris Goes to Paris) by Paul Gallico
Now, first of all, Paul Gallico is a great writer. Go and track him down. Secondly, this was a great read. Like I was very entertained, touched, and had a…
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
A story about a life that starts auspiciously on the 15th of August, 1947, the day of Indian independence; Saleem’s life is wrapped up in his country’s history from day…
Clock Without Hands by Carson McCullers
This was a great book that took you on a journey that felt both profound and deeply connected to the ways in which ignorance, racism, and fear permeate small communities….
A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch
Oh Iris Murdoch. Her novel A Severed Head took me on a journey! What starts off as a rather conventional social novel set in London, where its townhouses act like…
The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer
So, this was an interesting, punchy book! Love discovering a new writer like Penelope Mortimer: this was my first read from her. The Pumpkin Eater tracks the internal musings and…