006. The Joy of Books.
In which I start out fairly gloomily but manage to pull it back by the end.
I’ve always found January and February the roughest months – the short, dark days, the rubbish weather, the festive come down really do a number in my mood. I’d planned on such a hearty take on the delights of Christmas this week but in light of the ongoing nonsense I’m struggling to find the joy even here. I know more people with Covid right now than I have during the entire pandemic, and the pain felt by most from so much uncertainty and cancelled plans is quite heavy. It was my last day of a ten-day isolation on Christmas Day last year and I foolishly believed we’d be back to (semi) normal by this year, so to be four days away from the big day and still not know if more restrictions will come in is pretty bleak.
However, today is the shortest day of the year, which most people dislike but I always celebrate with my dad as it means things can only get better (and lighter!) from here on out. Hopefully, before we know it the daffodils will start nudging their way through the frost and the lighter nights will shoulder their way in and things will seem easier. Until then, there’s cricket, which if I can just divorce myself from being an England fan (I’m Welsh after all) and simply enjoy the theatrics will bring some delight at least. Truly, the lord hath provided with the day/night match and my sleep schedule very much agrees with it! (But seriously, if we could make just a few decent changes and actually win one (1) test I’d very much appreciate it.)
And of course, one of my very greatest joys – reading. My attention span is shocking, and my hearing is even worse, so watching TV doesn’t offer the same escape for me but I smash through books the way most people get through box sets. This isn’t a call for anyone to read more, enjoy what you enjoy and grab whatever brings you pleasure with both hands, but if you’re looking for gift ideas or something to pad out your to be read pile – I hope the below helps. As ever, if you’re able to buy from independent book shops they could really do with our help right now and writers could really do with Bezos loosening his grip over the industry. If not – your local library is a fantastic option! I also love Hive books and there’s usually a discount code to be found if you’re spending over £10. Here’s a roundup of my favourite light or quick reads from this year
The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman.
Based on Osman’s sales figures I doubt there’s anyone reading who isn’t already acquainted with Joyce and the gang, but if you aren’t – what a cheeky little treat you have waiting! Osman manages to pull off a light-hearted, easy read that also has more twists and turns than a twisty-turny thing and then made me cry. Spies, murders, and a jigsaw room?! Yes please guys!
Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny.
Very, very late to the party as usual but I adored Standard Deviation. I wanted to be best friends with Audra whilst simultaneously hiding from her forever. A rumination on a life that could have been, but more so a tender portrayal of what parenting a neurodivergent child is like and the team you have to become to navigate the world. I’m praying Santa brings me Heiny’s latest book, Early Morning Riser.
I gulped this down in one sitting during the summer – it was like a gut punch. With pinpoint clarity our unnamed narrator conveys how exhausting it is to exist as a black woman in Britain’s colonial society, and how racism seeps in to every aspect of her successful life. Not exactly a joyful read, but a brilliant one nonetheless.
Another short story, this one translated from French, set over a family summer holiday with a big mistake and the spiral that sets us on. I found it sticky and suffocating and wanted to scream at Leonard, our protagonist more than once. Coursing with lust, guilt, and sheer youthful stupidity, I only realised at the end that I’d been clenching my jaw all the way through. If you want to spend an afternoon absorbed by a story I can readily recommend this.
In the Kitchen – Essays on Food and Life and In the Garden – Essays on Nature and Growing
These collections of essays compiled by Daunt books both contain some absolute gems. Joel Golby on the power of the buffet and his mothers funeral and Ella Risbridger on falling in love in kitchens both made me laugh and cry and Jon Day on the local community garden he helped set up is lush. There’s a lot of chat about flowers I’ve never heard of – but otherwise, thoroughly enjoyable.
Herb / A Cook’s Companion by Mark Diacono
I’ll admit to being something of a herb evangelist and stand by the fact that you can make even the most boring and beige of meals feel like a treat with the addition of some well placed herbs. Diacono’s writing is as heavenly as the recipes – I still regularly think about Rosemary “chopped to a pile of full stops.” The porchetta was a huge hit in our house and the chimichurri recipe is the best I’ve found. The book makes a great addition for the home cook who already has the basics on their shelves.
The Unusual Suspect by Ben Machell
I’ll yell it from the rooftops – but our school system simply is not set up for neurodiverse people – and this wild (but true!) story shows us what happens when diagnoses are missed and help isn’t given to those who need it most. Stephen Jackley becomes obsessed with the idea of Robin Hood and starts robbing banks as the last financial crash hit. Machell takes an unbiased but never unkind look at how Jackley ended up in a maximum-security prison in America. I think I audibly said “what the fuck?!” at least five times.
A quick read on how to get out of your own way – and why we self-sabotage to start with. I’m a huge fan of Gannon’s work with her debut novel Olive, on choosing to be child free another of my top books. It was also her that introduced me to The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and Morning Pages – another of my sanity savers this year. I’m hugely looking to Emma’s next release, Disconnected, on how to have a better experience with the internet without going completely cold turkey.
He Used Thought As A Wife and Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush by Tim Key
Key’s first set of poetry helped get me through last winter and now his second is helping me get through this one. Illustrated and pulled together by Emily Juniper, I’m not sure if I love the poetry more or the pithy footnotes of conversations between Key and Juniper at the end of each verse. If you’re in the head space to laugh at our current shitshow of a government – these are the absolute boys for you.
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett
I don’t think there’s a more generous, honest, and insightful essayist out there. I read the titular essay in Harper’s last year and was absolutely blown away by the entire story, and the other essays here are just as great. If you want to read about befriending Tom Hanks personal assistant, letting her move into your home as she goes through cancer treatment and then the ensuing difficulties of going in to lockdown whilst in a medical trial – I don’t think there’s a better person to tell this story! The other essays cover friendship, family and loss in such beautiful detail. I’m looking forward to getting in to Patchett’s fiction next year too.
I’m sure as I hit publish a tonne of other great reads will come back to me but these are the ones that have stuck with me the most over this strange, peculiar year. Thank you so, so much for reading my little newsletters over the last few weeks, your interest has meant the world to me. I hope you manage a safe Christmas with your loved ones and find some pockets of joy throughout the uncertainty. I’m off to belt out “festive ham you are so hammy” to the tune of “calon lan” for roughly the tenth Christmas Eve running and really lean in to gout season. As if my to be read pile isn’t already threatening to topple over and suffocate me in the night, please do drop any book recommendations below and feel free to share this with anyone you think will enjoy. Merry Christmas, N xo
These are a delight to read. Always have me laughing out loud and sighing with joy! Thank you for a weekly treat x