Reading and Listening to Escape

Reading has been a welcome escape over the lockdown. And I have a regular habit of plugging into a podcast for my walk around beautiful Bushy Park. Here is a roundup of some of my reading and listening highlights.

Reading (Debuts marked with *)

*We Are Animals-Tim Ewin

I found it very difficult to focus and read at the beginning of the lockdown. I chose this one to get me back into it and it worked. I don’t usually read comedy but this was exactly what I needed at that point in time.

*People Like Us-Louise Fein

*Island Child-Molly Aiken

*This Lovely City-Louise Hare

The Hiding Game-Naomi Wood

*Leonard and Hungry Paul-Ronan Hessian

The Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme-Andrei Makine

Silver Sparrow-Tayari Jones

Just finished this one and loved it. Clever storytelling, vivid characters. Brilliant. If I had to choose a favourite from this list, I think this would be favourite.

Weather-Jenny Offill

American Dirt-Jeanine Cummins

Hamnet-Maggie O’Farrell

Nightingale Point-Luan Goldie

The Street-Ann Petry

Published in 1946, this is a great book from a writer who should be better known. The Street sold more than a million copies, which is an incredible achievement now, much less in 1946! She was the first for African American woman to do so. Fascinating discussion about her in one of the podcasts I mention below.

Doninicana-Angie Cruz

Yellow Crocus and Golden Poppies-Laila Ibrahim

The Painted Room-Lounis Tidar

Villa America-Liza Klassmann

The Dutch House-Ann Patchett

Favourite Podcasts

BBC More or Less-I find comfort in a rational discussion of statistics of the day.

Women’s Prize for Fiction Podcast-(Series 2, Episode 15 has a discussion about Petry and interview with her daughter)

Winds of Change (Spotify)-Investigation into CIA link to The Scorpians. Starts a bit slow but loved it.

Grounded with Louis Theroux

Loved the BBC adaptations of Queenie (Candice Carty-Williams) and Girl, Woman, Other (Bernadine Evaristo)

Dolly Parton’s America (Actually, I listened to this before lockdown, but have to include it because I loved it.)

And here is a sample of some of my non-fiction reading