December 2023

December was an interesting one. Highs and lows in the most extreme sense. I didn’t get an awful lot of reading done, but here’s to finishing a year’s worth of documenting books. My best of the 2023 are coming.

Common Decency by Susannah Dickey

My adventures reading books about married men cheating on their wives continues into December! This is a thoughtful and well-examined book about two women who live in the same building, and the ways in which their lives intersect and diverge. I really enjoyed the small details of how they came across the same people. Susannah Dickey writes about people with a considered wisdom and I’m looking forward to reading some of her poetry, having read her two novels.

Superficial: More Adventures from the Andy Cohen Diaries by Andy Cohen

I love Andy Cohen, I love Bravo, and I was excited for this after I devoured the first volume of his diaries. I didn’t enjoy this as much as I did the previous round, but these books are a must-read for anyone who wants Andy’s uncensored opinions, as well as the insider scoop on your favourite Bravo shows. I’ve ordered the latest instalment, which goes through Andy becoming a dad, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

I finally jumped on the bandwagon! I’ve been an ardent Britney fan since I saw the …Baby, One More Time music video on Top of the Pops back in the late nineties. I’ve always had a huge soft spot for her, feeling devastated for her in 2007/08 when she had her much-publicised mental breakdown and feeling jubilant alongside her when she was released from her conservatorship. While you can read so many of the juicy details on gossip blogs, what I loved most about this book is how singularly Britney it feels. While reading, it is as if she is speaking directly to you. The whole thing reads so strongly in her voice, and as a long time fan, that felt like such a huge treat. When I saw Britney on her last world tour, I felt so sad, and wanted nothing more than for her to retire into obscurity and happiness, and part of me wants the same for her now, but it’s hugely gratifying to read her story in her own words.

Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

This was a recommendation from both Sara and Clare, with Sara kindly borrowing it from Liverpool Central library for me. This is a fun and pacy story, introducing a secretive government department of witchcraft, with its origins with Anne Boleyn. It wasn’t perfectly to my taste, but definitely gave me a fun and easy read when I was going through a tricky time. I will get around to the sequel eventually, but I’m not clamouring to read it the way I’ve heard everyone else was when they finished this one. I liked Juno Dawson’s writing and storytelling on the whole, but it skewed a little YA for me.

Hand in Hand with Love: An Anthology of Queer Classic Poetry by Simon Avery

I am not a fan of New Year’s Eve, so I curled up on the sofa and read this slim tone to bring me into 2024. I love poetry, and while it did skew a little more classic than my usual tastes, I loved to see that queer love has been expressed for as long as humans have written adoring and horny odes to one another. Covering from Sappho to Travis Alabanza, or Ancient Greece to now, this would be a lovely gift for the poetic queer in your life.