2019 Reading Round-up
You could say I'm a bit behind with updating this blog with the books I've read...August appears to be the last time. I've been keeping a list on Twitter, and I thought I'd use this space to mention a few of my favourites.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is without doubt the best book I've read this year. Perhaps for several years. I was sent it a while ago from Char who said she loved it, but it sat on my pile of unread books for a while. It's a very long book, and has a small font, and I think that was off-putting (that, and the nondescript blurb which basically says the book is about four friends). But as soon as I started it, I was captivated. I frequently messaged Char saying how amazing it was, how awful an awful event was, how I was happy and sad and scared of what was coming. She replied, saying she'd felt the same - she'd put off reading it too, but now regularly recommends it. It is graphic and raw and deals with big topics, but it is never self-indulgent. It was well-worth the thumb ache endured as I held the book open.
Ben found the Sue Barton - Student Nurse series of books by Helen Dore Boylston in our favourite charity shop and thought I'd like them: he was right! Written in the 1940s, they are a series of YA books about a student nurse, her friends, and Dr Bill, the man with whom she falls in love. But will they ever get together?! The plots are predictable, the medicine is rather odd by today's standards, but they're all rather lovely stories and I've enjoyed working my way through them.
This was the year I discovered the joy that is by Maggie O'Farrell and I've read several of her books now, my favourite being Instructions for a Heatwave. All her books have excellent characters that you feel invested in, and the plot moves along at a fast pace. She's become the author I recommend when someone tells me they want to get back into reading but aren't sure where to start.
Non-fiction-wise I was fascinated by Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez and Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd. I work in health research, and Invisible Women explores the gender data gap - basically, we know very little about how the world affects women, and how women affect the world, as they are excluded from, or ignored by, research that goes on. There are sections about health research, the dummies used for testing car safety, town planning, for example, and how these simply do not consider women. I was informed and appalled in equal measure. Unnatural Causes explores forensic pathology and is very interesting (perhaps not for the squeamish). It also strikes the right balance (for me, anyway) between medical jargon and plain English.
I was going to write about the books I didn't enjoy, but why would I? I didn't enjoy them, other people probably did, taste and enjoyment is subjective. Now please excuse me, I am retiring to the sofa with a cup of tea and will see if there are any more books I can read this year which could make it to this list. Here's to 2020!
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is without doubt the best book I've read this year. Perhaps for several years. I was sent it a while ago from Char who said she loved it, but it sat on my pile of unread books for a while. It's a very long book, and has a small font, and I think that was off-putting (that, and the nondescript blurb which basically says the book is about four friends). But as soon as I started it, I was captivated. I frequently messaged Char saying how amazing it was, how awful an awful event was, how I was happy and sad and scared of what was coming. She replied, saying she'd felt the same - she'd put off reading it too, but now regularly recommends it. It is graphic and raw and deals with big topics, but it is never self-indulgent. It was well-worth the thumb ache endured as I held the book open.
Ben found the Sue Barton - Student Nurse series of books by Helen Dore Boylston in our favourite charity shop and thought I'd like them: he was right! Written in the 1940s, they are a series of YA books about a student nurse, her friends, and Dr Bill, the man with whom she falls in love. But will they ever get together?! The plots are predictable, the medicine is rather odd by today's standards, but they're all rather lovely stories and I've enjoyed working my way through them.
This was the year I discovered the joy that is by Maggie O'Farrell and I've read several of her books now, my favourite being Instructions for a Heatwave. All her books have excellent characters that you feel invested in, and the plot moves along at a fast pace. She's become the author I recommend when someone tells me they want to get back into reading but aren't sure where to start.
Non-fiction-wise I was fascinated by Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez and Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd. I work in health research, and Invisible Women explores the gender data gap - basically, we know very little about how the world affects women, and how women affect the world, as they are excluded from, or ignored by, research that goes on. There are sections about health research, the dummies used for testing car safety, town planning, for example, and how these simply do not consider women. I was informed and appalled in equal measure. Unnatural Causes explores forensic pathology and is very interesting (perhaps not for the squeamish). It also strikes the right balance (for me, anyway) between medical jargon and plain English.
I was going to write about the books I didn't enjoy, but why would I? I didn't enjoy them, other people probably did, taste and enjoyment is subjective. Now please excuse me, I am retiring to the sofa with a cup of tea and will see if there are any more books I can read this year which could make it to this list. Here's to 2020!
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