Due to hectic work schedules and a light sprinkling of travel, despite the hibernation level temperatures, I haven't really managed to do too much book snuggling over the last couple of months. Luckily though, the ones that I have managed to sneak some bookworm time with, have been pretty dazzling. So here's a quick round-up of my recommended reads for February...
Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald - Therese Anne Fowler
I'm a little bit obsessed with anything Gatsby, so this novel, based on the lives of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, has been on my must read list for a while. While I had this pegged as a romp around New York in the Twenties - packed with tales of jazz clubs, flappers and Absinthe-fuelled midnight swims in fountains (of which there is a certainly a generous helping) - it actually turned out to be a pretty dark read. The book chronicles the Fitzgerald's decline from dazzling talk of the town to crumbling shadows of their former selves. Beautiful, sad and compellingly readable, I now have a whole lot of Fitzgerald and Hemmingway to add to my Kindle download list.
Kiss Me First - Lottie Moggach
A story centred around social media and euthanasia may not sound like a page turner but this is guaranteed to have you hooked from the very first page. The book centres around socially awkward loner, Leila, who agrees to help a stranger to disappear by impersonating her on the internet. Dealing with trust, betrayal, obsession and manipulation - it's a bone-chillingly brilliant read. This is Lottie Moggach's debut novel and I can't wait to devour whatever she writes next.
The Other Typist - Suzanne Rindell
Continuing in the Gatsby-mania vein, the Other Typist is set in Jazz Age New York - a city where debaunchery bubbles under the dry Prohibition facade and where gangster rackets rule supreme. Rose is a typist in a Police precinct on the Lower East Side where she works for a Lieutenant tasked with clamping down on illegal speakeasies. She's hardworking and prudish; a rather annoyingly good two shoes, until that is, the new typist Odalie arrives at the precinct. Odalie captivates and enchants everyone that she encounters, even Rose. Before long, the two are inseparable and all at once Rose is drinking gin martinis in underground drinking dens and tearing around town in Odalie's beyond glamourous wake. Which is exactly when everything begins to unravel and very bad things start to happen...
The Other Typist is without doubt the best book I've read in a very, very long time. As soon as I'd finished it, I wanted to read it again immediately and a month or so after finishing it, I'm still thinking about the story and periodically googling other people's thoughts on it. When you finish it, I'd love to hear what you think...
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