What I Read in January 2022

It’s felt like a very January, January – wouldn’t you agree? I had Covid so that meant it all felt a little more dreary and drawn out but we’ve done it – we’ve reached the end! February is on the cusp and it being a short month makes me think winter is coming to an end; spring is therefore on the horizon.

ANYWAY onto books – I did read some great ones despite that slightly downbeat intro!

My January Book Reviews:

(Click on book title for my full review.)

/ Free Love by Tessa Hadley

/ The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett

/ Five Tuesdays in Winter by Lily King

/ The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

/ Send Nudes by Saba Sams

/ Passing by Nella Larsen

/ Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

The first thing to note this month is that I read not one, but two sets of short stories. Five Tuesdays in Winter and Send Nudes were excellent collections. They both had stories from women’s POVs – all with interesting hooks and ideas. Some were snippets of life, some tight little narratives. I really enjoyed them as palette cleansers, I’d dip into them while reading longer novels for something a little different every now and again.

Novel-wise, all my January reads were fantastic. Two centred around authors – the first was the imaginative The Christie Affair that gave us a fictional account of the 11 days that Agatha Christie disappeared IRL and the second was a brain-twisting little puzzle to unravel featuring a fictional author – although heavily resembling Enid Blyton – Edith Twyford in The Twyford Code. Loved them both!

Passing was such an interesting book – written in 1929 it tells the story of Irene and her friend Clare. They are both light skinned black women and Clare now ‘passes’ as white. It looks at identity, race and how both women feel in this situation.

Smoke and Mirrors is book two in the Brighton Mysteries series by Elly Griffiths. I loved The Zig Zag Girl, the first one, and Smoke and Mirrors was just as easy and fun to read.

Until next month – happy reading!