January 2024

I feel like I’m at an odd crossroads in my life, and January was indicative of that. The weather was glacial, and I watched my sister enjoy two weeks in Lanzarote through the lens of social media in a way that you’d observe a completely foreign species. I feel like I’ve forgotten what it’s like to go out in a t-shirt or crop top, to wear sunscreen and to lie on the grass and feel the relief of a cool breeze on my relentlessly sweaty body.

My work is in a truly chaotic period, and it’s been incredibly easy to feel overwhelmed, so my reading and concentration haven’t been at their peak. I also completed my introductory course in counselling skills, and while I’m still deciding whether or not I want to move onto the next stage, it was a truly revelatory thing for me to undertake. After nearly ten years of corporate life (how on earth did that happen?), I’m beginning to wonder what my next steps look like. I could stay, I could go, I could run away home to the mountains and become a sheep farmer. Who knows? I met a poet in a crystal shop yesterday who told me I had the gift of seeing things, so maybe I’ll lean into my spiritual side and finish my tarot card lessons, or start reading tealeaves.

All of this rambling to say, it hasn’t been the best month for reading. I set my reading challenge for 2024 at 104 books, or two a week, which seems manageable for me. I am already three books behind, but I am feeling the beginnings of my mojo returning. Let’s see what February has in store…!

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

An old favourite. Telling the story of Bobbi and Frances, school friends and former lovers who are students at Trinity College in Dublin, and their entanglement with Nick and Melissa, a married couple in their thirties, it makes me nostalgic for an entirely different time in my life, and a vision of Dublin that I’m not sure exists any longer. I’m guilty of romanticising and detesting the city in equal measures, but given that I had so many formative experiences there, and lived there from ages 19 to 29, I have such a fondness for reading books set there.

Silent Night by Danielle Steel

I won’t go into depth, but this is about a psychiatrist who adopts her disabled niece after she is injured in a car crash that kills her mother. Did I mention that the niece is also a child TV star? In trying to sell DS novels to my friend Sara, I told her the only things she needed to know are that everyone is rich, and tragedy always strikes. She read her first one this month.

The Wedding Planner by Danielle Steel

This one is about a wedding planner, who is commitment phobic. Classic! You’ll never guess how it ends up…!

The Old Place by Bobby Finger

If you don’t listen to Who? Weekly, the podcast where you’ll learn everything you need to know about the celebrities you don’t, what are you doing?! The Old Place is written by one of the hosts, and is an intriguing novel set in small town Texas about a recently retired schoolteacher, her past and her standing in the community. I found the ending a little rushed, but I enjoyed it overall.

High Stakes by Danielle Steel

This is Danielle’s take on sexual harassment in the workplace, and high powered literary and talent agents. Turns out it’s really hard to have it all, but there’s usually a rich man to bail you out when things get tough. I am manifesting this life for myself, but it has yet to come to fruition.

Worthy Opponents by Danielle Steel

This was probably my favourite of the Danielles I read this month. It’s about an investment manager who wants to take over a family owned shop in a bad part of New York that houses couture and boutique brands. It sounds a bit random, but it’s fun. I know I've been a bit mocking of Danielle Steel in this post, but it is truly meant with love and affection. Her books are always the ones I turn to when I can’t focus on anything else and offer a brand of escapism that always soothes my frazzled brain. There’s also a great selection of them in Liverpool Central Library.

I’ve also decided to start sharing my monthly playlists on this blog. I stole this idea from my sister, who I think stole it from our cousin, but every month, I make a playlist of the music I’m listening to. I have them going back to January 2016, which is a fascinating time capsule of my thoughts, feelings and state of mind in any month. I strongly associate music with people, so I always enjoy going back to listen. I don’t really know what to say about this month, but enjoy the playlist below. It’s shorter than usual, but as well as being a bad reader in January, I was a bad music consumer. Again, we look onwards!