January reads

I thought I'd share a few of my reads this year, it's all about fun & distraction! 

Here's my reading roundup for January

Jodi Picoult's latest novel Wish You Were Here, is fresh off the front page of life, but be prepared to go on a gutsy journey about survival, courage, love and loss.   

Diane O’Toole is climbing the professional ladder in the cut-throat art auction world, and is about to depart for the Galápagos, with her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident in Manhattan, when the first cases of Covid-19 appear in the city.
It reminded me of the Sliding Doors idea - when faced with two choices, left or right - in the middle of pandemic. The result? A tale as heartbreaking and poignant as you could possibly imagine. Be sure to read the author’s notes AFTER the epilogue.

It's not an easy read, and if you're not in a place where you can read about the early experiences of Covid from many different angles, then I'd recommend you steer clear of this one for a while.

Scrublands by Chris Hammer is a multilayered investigative crime novel which starts off as a seemingly simple assignment for journalist Martin Scarsden when he is sent by the Sydney Morning Herald to write a follow up feature on a mass shooting that occurred a year ago.

Scrublands is the almost desert-like territory outside of a small rural town in Australia. Where the village priest shot five men from the steps of his church, and no one has figured out why he did it. Where his friend and local cop then shot the priest. Where rumors have spread, but few solid answers are known. Where a reporter with a history is sent to write a feature a year later focusing on how the town has recovered or not.

It's a longish book, where you get all tangled up in whodunnits. in a slow moving, detailed way, and I enjoyed it.

The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce is a quirky, but sweet love story wrapped up inside a loving ode to music. 1988. Frank owns a music shop. jam-packed with vinyl records {and the occasional lava lamp!} and day after day Frank finds his customers the music they need.

Such a delightful gentle read! It doesn't demand constant attention or keep you awake at night, it's just a lovely nostalgic story that makes you feel so happy when reading it.
If you enjoyed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy. then I'm sure this one will hit the spot too!

I'm a little late to the party and have only just finished Four Winds by Kristin Hannah. 

"The epic drought which turned Texas into a giant Dust Bowl in the 1930's and brought the state to its knees is a vivid backdrop to this story of a woman trying to make the best of things in the middle of The Great Depression.

Like others at the time, Elsa Martinelli and her family eat and breathe and drown in the inescapable dust (the descriptions of which are unimaginable) and eventually migrate to California, looking for a better life - which is nowhere to be found. The migrants are unwelcome; living in the camps and picking cotton is brutal, and their labour is cheap, and easily replaceable.
This book is a piece of history brought to life with all its hardship, grit and strength of the human spirit, and I loved it". - Joan's picks, from Whitcoulls. 

And Joan's review had me hooked, it's an era I don't know much about, so glad I read this one!  Oh, and also, most of my bookclub had read it, but wouldn't discuss until a couple of us had caught up and read it too! 

Four Winds is my pic for this month

Love to hear your thoughts if you have read any of these too ?

Linda