The Monthly Line: October 2024

Hello book worms,

I hope you're well, sorry this missive is a little behind my usual schedule (although also congrats if you noticed!). October was a surprisingly busy reading month, helped along by going away for the weekend and benefiting from babysitters!

We've got Puerto Rican revolutionaries, women weightlifting, and absurd colour blindness. Let's dive in.

One. Olga dies dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

I was recommended this by someone at work and I'm so glad because I don't know where I would have come across it otherwise. It follows Olga, a woman of Puerto Rican heritage but who has lived all her life in New York. She's running a wedding planning business, fleecing all her mega rich clients, and hating every second, feeling guilty for climbing the corporate ladder because her mum is an activist, who left her and her brother when they were children to continue the revolutionary cause in Puerto Rico. It's about what happens when life meets revolution, and the messy reality of fighting for any cause - no matter how just. I also learnt a lot about Puerto Rican history!

How I read it: at bedtime

Two. Stronger by Poorna Bell

I picked this non-fiction book about women doing weight-lifting after reading Bell's novel earlier this year, which I enjoyed a lot. This was also enjoyable, though it took me a while to get into it. Bell is a journalist and her style was a bit too similar to a collection of articles at first - lots of repetition of points, stating the obvious a bit too much. Nevertheless her personal story of learning to love exercise, and specifically weight-lifting was really beautiful to read. Did it make me want to lift weights? Sure! Not right now though, you know, at some point.

How I read it: my commuting book, standing up on the tube whilst reading counts at exercise right?

Three. The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden

I picked this up because it was on the Booker prize shortlist. It's set in the Netherlands, in 1961, and is about a woman who lives alone in her family's house. But is it really their house? And if it is, at what cost? The interpersonal relationships are complex and interesting to read about, but I felt like the ending was a bit of a cop out. It's hard to explain why without huge spoilers! It is also absolutely filthy! Which took me a bit by surprise.

How I read it: on our weekend away

Four. Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

This was a book club pick, and another one that didn't really work for me. It's about Greta, a single woman in her forties, who has a lot of childhood trauma. She writes transcripts of therapy sessions as her job, and she gets particularly obsessed with one patient called 'Big Swiss'. Inevitably they meet and begin an affair. There are also bees, miniature donkeys, a falling-apart house and a whole cast of kooky characters. Others in the group enjoyed it much more but we all agreed the ending was very disappointing.

How I read it: slogging my way through at bedtime

Five. Striding folly by Dorothy L. Sayers

A palette cleanser of zippy short stories about my favourite posh detective Lord Peter Wimsey. I raced through this collection of three stories. My favourite one involved a theft of some peaches - a bit more low stakes than his usual tasks but very enjoyable just the same.

How I read it: in an hour or so one evening

Six. Red Side Story by Jasper Fforde

Fforde is a brilliant writer of absurd capers, usually involving some kind of injustice brought to bear by an overreaching authority. This one is the sequel to Shades of Grey which set up a world where people are ranked according to what colours they can see. Greys can't see any at all, so they're at the bottom. It had all his hallmarks of a fun romance, high stakes adventure and a huge amount of puns. I enjoyed it a lot!

How I read it: very quickly because my husband got it out of the library and he wanted to start it so I was on a deadline

Seven. In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

This is a science fiction book, which I picked up mostly because I liked the cover if I'm honest. It turned out to be an interesting exploration of the realities of space travel, and what humans would do if we were contacted by possible alien life. It also had a lot to say about what makes us human, how we tell our own stories to help us make sense of the world, and also - a bit surprisingly - how business can corrupt even the most pure endeavours. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, but I think it did fit.

How I read it: in fits and starts till it gripped me about 80 pages in

Book of the month: For the way it taught me about history but in a character-led way, it's got to be Olga dies dreaming.

Until next time reading pals!