January 2025 Reads

 

Anyone that takes an interest in my blog postings will be aware that crime and thrillers are my go to genres. January was a little different as I read or listened to quite a lot of female fiction. I'm really enjoying anything that fits the "up-lit" genre and a number of January's books certainly fit the bill. I did manage a few thrillers along the way, all of which were brilliant.

My first book of the month was the superb The Many Futures Of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson. When Maddy has sex she gets a brief glimpse of her life ten years in the future with her current partner. Not liking what she sees she swears off relationships completely, until she meets Oliver. Her future with Oliver looks perfect, but then Maddy realises that she will have to break his heart if she wants that perfect life. The story throws up lots of questions that would be ideal for a book group.

We All Live Here from Jojo Moyes is the story of a blended family and their messy lives. I loved every word of the story of Lila and her family. Lila is struggling to come to terms with the death of her mother, a cheating husband and a house that is falling apart around her. As a result, she is finding it impossible to make headway on the book she is supposed to be writing. When her estranged father suddenly reappears everyone’s life is shaken up.

Quirky titles always grab my attention so I was keen to read Life Hacks For A Little Alien by Alice Franklin. Little Alien is a young child struggling to understand why she is so different from everyone else. For the reader, it’s obvious that she is neurodiverse. Hearing about a manuscript that has defied translation, Little Alien wonders if this will offer answers. After a strong start the story seemed to lose its way for me.

DC Ffion Morgan returns in Other People’s Houses, the third book in the series by Clare Mackintosh. Ffion is investigating a suspicious death while her boyfriend, Leo, is looking into a spate of burglaries at an exclusive housing estate. Meanwhile, the whole country is obsessed with a podcast about a ten-year-old unsolved double murder. Could all three crimes be linked? Leo’s ex-wife features heavily as she desperately wants to be friends with the women who live in the luxury homes.

The Woman With All The Answers by Linda Green looks at many of the problems faced my families today and puts a light-hearted spin on the story by having our smart speakers, completely unknown to us, controlled by humans rather than AI. When Pauline, the voice behind the smart speaker in the Banks household, realises that the mother is at breaking point she makes herself known and offers help.

A parent’s worst nightmare features in The Daughter from T. M. Logan. Lauren goes to collect her daughter, Evie, at the end of her first term at university only to discover she is missing. She hasn’t been seen for weeks and the university is adamant Evie dropped out weeks ago. As Lauren investigates her daughter’s disappearance she begins to doubt if she really knew her at all. The more she digs, the murkier things become and lives are put at risk.

My final book of the month was You Killed Me First by John Marrs. From an opening that packs a punch, we move to an uneasy friendship between three women. The need to be top dog between two of the women results in lots of bitchiness. Beneath all the gloss lies a murky web of secrets, deceit and murder. You do begin to wonder if anyone will survive in this twisted tale that has a surreal element.

My first audiobook was The Secret Gift Of Lucia Lemon by Celia Anderson. A feel-good story about a middle-aged woman who is gifted some money and an unusual object in the hope that it will help her get out of a rut. Lucia buys a campervan and, along with a group of friends, sets off on her travels. The story was a little too “twee” for my liking.

I went into my second audiobook of the month, Below The Big Blue Sky from Anna McPartlin, completely unaware of what to expect. The opening chapter is one of the most emotional I’ve ever come across as family and friends gather around forty-year-old Rabbit Hayes as she dies of cancer. Over the next two years, we follow everyone as they struggle to come to terms with Rabbit’s death. From survivor’s guilt to wondering if you carry the same gene responsible for your sister’s death, the author explores a wide variety of topics in a sensitive way.

Publication dates to watch out for:-

The Many Futures Of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson will be published on 4/2/25 in paperback, ebook and audio format.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes will be published on 11/2/25 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

Life Hacks For A Little Alien by Alice Franklin will be published on 13/2/25 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Woman With All The Answers by Linda Green will be published on 26/2/25 in paperback, ebook and audio format.

Other People's Houses by Clare Mackintosh will be published on 27/2/25 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

The Daughter by T. M. Logan will be published on 27/2/25 in hardback, ebook and audio format.

You Killed Me First by John Marrs will be published on 4/3/25 in paperback, ebook and audio format.