2024 has been a year of way more reading than writing (hence the year lag in making this post!). However, as my head turns back to writing, I thought I’d give you a taster of the reading that piqued my interest over the last twelve months. Here are three recommendations if you’re interested in fiction. (I’ve also picked three non-fiction ones to talk about in my next post.)
In no particular order, they are … (drum roll) …
The premise of Liane Moriarty’s book was so interesting I was prompted to make an impulse purchase. The story opens on a plane flight as a seemingly ordinary older woman moves along the aisle, telling passengers at random how and when they’ll die.
Unusually for a mystery by this author, this isn’t an interconnected series of threads that culminates with an ‘aha’ ending. Instead, the novel asks how hearing these revelations will shape the future decisions of the characters, including their effect on the life of the woman who found herself making the predictions. It took me a little while to let go wanting a whodunnit but, once I did, I enjoyed the explorations of each character as a reality-bound way to think about deeper philosophical questions (‘who am I?’, ‘why are we here?’).
Of course, as you’d expect from Liane Moriarty, the prose writing is crisp and a pleasure to read. If you’re prepared for something on the more reflective side, I can recommend it.
I’ve recommended the Slow Horses series by Mick Herron before, and it’s great to see so many people enjoying the television adaptation. Herron’s latest book is ‘The Secret Hours’ and the press associated with it spent a lot of time trying to tell us that it was a standalone publication. Don’t believe a word of it. I don’t want to spoil the plot twists but perhaps knowing that the story is set in Berlin before the wall came down might point to the two Slow Horses characters you’ve always wanted to know more about. The writing is tight yet poetically evocative (as is always the case with Herron), and the audiobook is read by Sean Barrett, whose dry gravelly voice catches every nuance.
Yes, I’m obsessed with Philip Pullman’s two series about the nature of ‘Dust’, i.e., the development of human consciousness. I’ve read the three volumes of ‘His Dark Materials’ in paperback, ebook, and listened to the audio book recordings read by the author.
However, as much as I enjoy his writing, I don’t think Pullman’s reading stands up to the wonderful reading of his ‘Book of Dust’ by the actor Michael Sheen on the first two volumes currently available in that series (‘La Belle Sauvage’, ‘The Secret Commonwealth’). I’d secretly wished that Michael Sheen might be asked to do another audiobook version of ‘His Dark Materials’.
Lucky for me, Audible have gone one further with a fresh audiobook version of ‘His Dark Materials’ by the inimitable Ruth Wilson, whose acting as the evil Mrs Coulter in the television series was outstanding. So far only ‘Northern Lights’ is available for purchase (which the other two volumes expected in 2025). Ruth Wilson’s reading breathes life into Lyra’s character and provides a layered performance of all the other characters, including the fascinating Mrs Coulter.
This is the first of three planned prequels to ‘His Dark Materials’. I, for one, will be lining up for the others. The reviews have welcomed the return to Lyra’s world, for example see the review in the