For the third year, I am delighted to share with you the books I’ve read over the last 12 months. It’s become a lovely way for me to reflect on my year, where I’ve been and how life, and words have touched me.
The list is in the order I read them, the good the bad, the indifferent and the ones I couldn’t finish. Did you read any of them, or the ones I read last year or in 2019? And what should I read next, fellow bookworms? Tell me what you’ve enjoyed (or not!) over at Instagram or in the comments, life is short, let’s spend it reading some great books!
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell – An awesome read. Don’t read it because it’s about Shakespeare’s son, read it because her language pulls you into the world of Elizabethan England by the senses. Have tissues handy, it’s great for processing that drop of unresolved grief you’ve been saving up for later.
The Changing Mind: a neuroscientist’s guide to ageing well, Daniel Levine – key points; happiness and decision-making skills improve as we age. Best self-care? Go for a walk with a friend. Boom.
The Mermail of Black Conch, Monique Roffey – Mixes magical and social realism with a gorgeous love story on a Caribbean island. Highly recommend.
Asylum Road, Olivia Sudjic – A cool look at a heartbreakingly ratchety relationship, seen in the context of how it was to grow up in Sarajevo. About assimilation, otherness, families and marriage.
Jigsaw: an unsentimental education, Sybille Bedford – pottering between memoir and fiction we view Sybill’s life from Kaiser’s Germany to inter-was Britain. Privilege and trauma both. Gripping.
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid – Diamond sharp, nuanced first novel set in New York, a gripping enquiry into financial and racial privilege. Great social commentary on social media use, feeling lost, and how complicated it is to be a grown-up.
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig – had to read this to see what the fuss was about and loved it. A juice blend of philosophy, mental health and magical realism that plugged me back into life. Clever, witty, soulful; a great combination.
Breath: the new science of a lost art, James Nestor – Most famous for mouth taping (top tip go slow with this!) it’s easy reading science with pulmonautic adventures. Potentially life-saving too, with its practical tips on practices.
Small Pleasures, Clare Chambers – Heart-rending love story set in 50’s London suburbia. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t written by one of those understated inter-war writers, Katherine Mansfield, perhaps. Beautiful. Spare. Sad.
Luster, Raven Leilani – super-sharp, sexually charged exploration of race, self-belief and desire.
Entangled Life: how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures, Melvin Sheldrake – a fungus-tastic feast of joy. Each page opens a fabulous new possibility. Melvin is hot!
When Breath becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi – posthumously published memoir of this outrageously talented neurosurgeon who is given a terminal cancer diagnosis. Heartbreaking, but also life-affirming as Paul explores what makes a life worth living.
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris – laughed so much I wet myself. Feel slightly sorry for his family being used as material though.
Mindful Menopause, Sophie Fletcher – a loving, reassuring tone from dear Sophie in this book stuffed to the gills with brilliant practices and tips. My favourite bit is that she reframes vaginal atrophy as a ‘trophy vagina’. Genius.
A Woman in Berlin: 8 weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary, translated by Marta Hillers and Phillip Boem – I had to stop reading this because it was too upsetting. It’s an anonymous diary, written by a Berlin woman as the Russian troops rode in, coolly reporting the mass rape and betrayal and how humans survive in atrocious situations.
Nothing But Blue Sky, Kathleen MacMahon – after my previous outing, I think I chose this for the title alone! Explores how couples keep their secrets close. Beautifully written.
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, Neil Gaiman – how I got to be 56 without reading any Neil Gaimen I’ll never know, but I am now making up for lost time by hanging out properly with his royal majesty. The most convincing portrayal of a boy’s inner experience I’ve encountered. Brilliant stuff.
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman – So I continued…. NG now feeding my new addiction underneath London. I loved the jokes and upside-down references to real places in this engaging, magical adventure.
Stardust, Neil Gaiman – it’s about fairies. Seriously, there is nothing better.
On Connection, Kae Tempest – inspirational, radical mindfulness from everyone’s favourite musician/poet/performer. Read this please.
The Soul of an Octopus: a surprising explanation into the wonder of consciousness, Sy Montgomery – stuffed full of delight and many, many mind-blowing facts about octopuses, Mr C got pissed off with me waking him up because I had to tell him each one. Read after I watched My Octopus Teacher on Netflix, this only made me love them more.
The Hand That First Held Mine, Maggie O’Farrell – back into the hands of the mistress I go… a genius with plot construction and detail so sensory it’s like being inside the story. Art, love and motherhood.
My Lover’s Lover, Maggie O’Farrell – so I rolled straight into the next one. As above, just spookier. Brilliant for revisiting 80’s London: the smell of the Underground, the texture of tablecloths in Soho, quite a nostalgia trip.
Common Ground, Rob Cowen – a beautiful combo of fiction, memoir and natural history exploring the liminal space at the edge of town. It moves tenderly backwards and forwards through history and viewpoint from humans and animals. Tender, informative, poetic.
Hidden Nature A Voyage Of Discovery, Alys Fowler – another combo of memoir and natural history, but this one is floating in the canals and industrial architecture of Birmingham. Alys explores the vulnerability of coming out and how her adventures in the cut with her friends helped her through to her new life.
The Making Of Them, Nick Duffel – written in the 1980s this was written following a television documentary of the same name. Its dated attitude is frequently excruciating, but it was the first book to peek underneath the attachment, trust and emotional issues that boarding school causes.
Weeds: how vagabond plants gatecrashed civilisation and changed the way we think about nature – Richard Mabey, I love this guy, he wrote the bible on British native plants and then just keeps going; Margaret Atwood is a fan. Nuff said. This looks at weeds from a historical, practical, poetic, artistic, fashion, engineering and much more. It is a bit of a tough read, but worth it.
Where The Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens – a hymn to the natural world and to resilience in a cruel world. No surprise it’s a huge bestseller. Definitely read this if you haven’t already.
My Brilliant Friends, Elena Ferrante – the first of a three-part, wildly famous novel series, that I just could read. Honestly, I tried, but the violence, disassociation, bleakness and awkward translation just made it too hard.
Typical Girls? The Story of the Slits, Zoe Street Howe – joyous fan-lit. I bloody love Viv Albertine so I really enjoy this. Though it’s was a bit lumpily written in places, I loved the verbatim recollections of the people who were there at the time. It describes perfectly their innocence, creative integrity and brilliance.
Gifts, Ursula K Le Guin – a bit of fantasy now. The message is… be who you are, despite who your family want you to be.
Yin Magic: how to be still, Sarah Robinson – nourishing combo of yin yoga, magic, Celtic traditions and neuroscience celebrating the value of stillness. We need to be reminded to be still every day as a corrective to our culture.
Note To Self: Essays, Emilie Pine – I picked this up at the station book swap and OMG I am glad I did! Her work gave me a deep writerly envy; sharp, startling, utterly stripped back brilliance. The absolute queen of killer openings.
Underland: a deep time journey, Robert Macfarlane – the king of natural history goes underground to explore the literature, myth, history of what lies beneath. At least three new words to each page, whether squeezing through the catacombs or contemplating the Mendips lyrical sweep that makes it worth sticking with.
The Old Ways: a journey on foot, Robert Macfarlane – I gave up this one quite quickly, it was just too wordy and too much.
Bananarama: really saying something, Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward – a cheeky cocktail after all that clever stuff. Written by two of the three band members it has The Sex Pistols, Top of The Pops, George Michael, Elton, Andy Warhol… and of course those ra-ra skirts.
Magnificent Midlife: transform your midlife, menopause years and beyond, Rachel Lankester – Like a kind and competent big sister, Rachel takes us by the hand and shows us how to use menopause to create a fabulous life. Practical, full of inspiring quotes, resources, wit, useful practices and enquiries every menopausal woman should read this book.
Prep, Curtis Sittenfeld – set in a New England boarding school full of rich students, outsider hero Lee struggles to find her way. I gave up on this one, I just couldn’t sustain interest in rich teenagers. Too many better things to read. Like…..
Little Weirds, Jenny Slate – extraordinary! Like a magic-realism Bridget Jones, we canter through heart-longing, misogyny and body image with freshness and surprises on each page.
Did you spot the elephant in the room? Yes, Second Spring! Because of the editing process, I read, in great detail, three times this year. According to Sophie Fletcher, Louis Theroux once left an Amazon review on one of his books in which he said “I have read this many, many times”.
