Hot Girls Read Podcast

Julia

I’ve been re-circulating through a few ongoing books recently (some books really do take a lot longer than others!) when inspiration suddenly hit me in Athens airport as I was preparing to leave my week long sejour in Greece and come back to Paris. Now, I love an airport bookstore: WH Smith, Hudsons etc. I have spent hours upon hours throughout my lifetime toddling through the books and magazines on offer whilst waiting for my gate number and more often than not, I find myself buying something to add on to my numerous books that I have already, undoubtedly, packed with me. The thing is, the books I pick up in an airport are usually surprising. They’re not the type of book I might usually go for in a regular bookstore – I’m not sure if it’s simply the different offerings that are available which change by country/region, the heightened emotions brought on from travelling, or the magic of airports, but somehow or another, I find myself drawn to some absolute gems that I am then compelled to read right away and can’t seem to put down. Memorable books I have picked up at airports include ‘The Sweetness of the Bottom of the Pie’ by Alan Bradley in Bahrain (I believe Ayesha and I both chose this book to buddy read as we headed on our 8th grade school trip to Nepal!), and ‘The Fortunes of Jaded Women’ by Carolyn Huynh in Miami. 

Well, right after stumbling through security in Athens airport and popping out of the other side into terminal C, I found myself right in front of a little display shelf by a WH Smith that was promoting all sorts of books about Greece. The choices ran from historical accounts of the battle of Troy and mythical retellings to fictional and non-fictional stories of moving to Greece from abroad and discovering that beautiful ‘Je ne sais quoi’ that Greece seems to offer. Hidden behind a thick tome promising to tell me everything I would ever need to know (and more) about Sparta and the Spartans, I found a title that caught my eye: 24 hours in Ancient Greece. Each chapter takes place during a particular hour of the day/night, starting from midnight, and features a rotating cast of ‘everyday’ characters (housewives, fishmongers, slaves, spies) in Athen’s thriving metropolis in 416 BC. 

Much of the material has been conjured from either archeological construction or the repackaging of both contemporary texts on Greek history or ancient Greek texts themselves, creating a super informative and yet easily digestible look at what daily life in Ancient Greece was really like. Whilst I do enjoy reading certain mythologies and retellings from a historical lens, this book has given me the most comprehensible idea of what life in ancient Athens was really like. And they say time travel doesn’t yet exist! We readers know better.