I’m a little late to making this post, for which I heartily apologise.
I’ve actually been posting some monthly cultural roundups over at my new Substack newsletter, as well as some essays. So, if you enjoy getting reading recommendations from me, as well as other media, please sign up (for free).
My reading score this year (26) is really not great, despite going back to commuting. That’s because I did a lot of language study this year (building Italian to A2 and trying to get my Greek up from B2 to somewhere closer to C1, although I’m not sure I succeeded there). Languages brought me a lot of joy in 2024, so I have no regrets there, although I do regret another year with too much scrolling in addition to more productive pursuits.
If there is a theme this year, I somehow ended up reading a lot of Classics-themed books, both fiction and non-fiction. I’m not totally on board with the ‘feminist retelling’ trend, for a number of reasons, but on the whole it was nice to get back in touch with my academic discipline, both on the page and in real life (as I walked the streets of Pompeii!).
If you only read one from this list, make it Glorious Exploits.
Faves in bold.
- Lucrezia Borgia by Sarah Bradford – loved this incredibly dense and fascinating biography of the infamous woman. By the end, I mainly felt angry that she was subjected to so much awful behaviour from the various syphilitic idiots around her, and thankful that I was born in the 20th century.
- Blood and Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
- The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper – a VERY readable story of Pompeii’s sex workers, led by smart heroine Amara who is trying to survive the mean streets of the doomed city, alongside a memorable cast of complex women.
- The House with the Golden Door by Elodie Harper – book 2!
- Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner – the sequel to Godkiller. I adore this series.
- Let Healing Happen by Eddy Elsey
- The House of Fortune by Jessie Burton
- Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan – a history of the world told through the development of vital trade routes and how these drove the flow of people, ideas, diseases, wars, and above all, money.
- Pompeii by Mary Beard – to prepare for a trip to Napoli!
- Enchanted Islands by Laura Coffey – a beautiful and touching memoir of grief and travel with a Homeric slant.
- Clytemnestra by Costanza Cassati
- The Temple of Fortuna by Elodie Harper – Book 3 and an ‘explosive’ ending to the trilogy.
- The 7 Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman
- The Missing Thread by Daisy Dunn – I’m slightly biased because I used to sit next to Daisy in Latin class, but I really enjoyed her history of the ancient world through its women.
- Son Excellence Eugene Rougon by Emile Zola – a rare miss for me from my dear Zola. So freaking boring.
- Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon – you just need to read this book. It’s simply superb. The characters, the voice, the setting, the themes, the cameo at the end that made me cry my eyes out on the tube…please do yourself a favour and pick this up as soon as possible. Classical Sicily comes alive through Irish brogue.
- The Binding by Bridget Collins
- London Clay by Tom Chivers – a meandering wander through London’s history, geography and psychology with a loose framework of exploring its soil. Of course, it’s never really about that.
- The Unwilding by Marina Kemp
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- Cwen by Alice Albinia
- L’Assommoir by Emile Zola – I think about this book at least once a week. Zola charts the downfall of a working class couple into destitution and alcoholism, and it’s as bleak and gut-wrenching as that implies. Next time you hear someone moan about the social safety net, throw this at their head.
- Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
- Echolands by Duncan Mackay – another history told through a series of walks, this time in search of Boudicca and the early Romans in Britain.
- The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
- Doppelganger by Naomi Klein – essential reading for our times and expertly expressed, but also really depressing.
Catherine Queen 
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