Essentially what I'm writing today is a mini wrap up of what I've read so far this year and highlighting my faves as recommendations to you all, cos nobody hates a book recommendation, do they?
Last year I did quite well with books, reading 32 in total. This year I've stepped up my game/had way more time as I haven't had a degree to finish and only work 16 hours a week/and have read 29 so far! Loving life. But basically anyone who has known me since childhood knows I used to live with my nose buried in a book and I had really missed reading for pleasure which ended pretty much around GCSE time. Hoping to keep the habit up this time because reading to me feels like a way better way to spend my time than scrolling through facebook or watching reruns of friends.
I've read some crackers this year so let's get on with it, shall we?
01 - The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck - Sarah Knight
02 - milk and honey - Rupi Kaur
We've made it to my first favourite and we're only two in! Getting into poetry has been on my New Years Resolutions for the last couple of years and milk and honey I think is perfect for anyone wanting to dip their toes in the water. Rupi Kaur's work first caught my eye on instagram and as I read more and more of her short form work I knew I needed to read the entire book of this poetry. The collection is just exquisite. It's so raw and emotional but accessible and relatable and UGH I just devoured it. Please please please just look this up. No single poem is longer than a page and it's very simple but just beautiful.
03 - Girl in the Mirror - Cecelia Ahern
04 - Dear Amy - Helen Callaghan
05 - The Mirror World of Melody Black - Gavin Extence
Gavin Extence has solidified himself as one of my favourite authors this year. I've read two of his novels but Melody Black just pipped The Empathy Problem (see below) to the post as my fave. Also do check out The Universe Vs Alex Woods if you've not read it, it's v good. Extence just portrays mental illness so well in his writing and maaaaan it just hit so hard. Also part of this is set on Lindisfarne and it pulled me heart strings a bit, I can't lie.
06 - Arms Wide Open - Tom Winter
07 - Todo lo que podríamos haber sido tú y yo si no fuéramos tú y yo - Albert Espinosa
08 - When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
09 - The Empathy Problem - Gavin Extence
10 - After Hello - Mhairi McFarlane
11 - We Should All Be Feminists - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Aw mates how can anyone not have heard of this by now? Bloody Beyoncé featured it in ***Flawless. I don't need to say anything else except READ THIS NOW.
12 - Dan and Nat Got Married - Jon Rance
13 - 1984 - George Orwell
14 - All My Puny Sorrows - Miriam Toews
15 - I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban - Malala Yousafsai & Christina Lamb
16 - Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls - Jes Baker
17 - My Name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
18 - The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
An utter classic that I can't believe I put off reading for so long. It was horrifying and uncomfortable and I just LOVED Atwood's writing. I finally understand why people have been raving about Atwood for so long cos mates she is a fantastic writer. The Handmaid's Tale is feminist dystopia and has been made into a TV show that I'm yet to start watching so be like me and read the book then see how they adapt it and LET'S CHAT.
19 - Blue Sky July - Nia Wyn
20 - Midair - Kodi Scheer
21 - The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
This was an odd lil book but I really loved it. It follows the story of a second-generation Bengali man and his life growing up in America with parents who have assimilated to varying degrees. It was just really interesting. Dunno if you can tell but I'm trying to widen my range of what I read with more female authors but also people of colour. We live in a diverse society and our reading habits should reflect this - there are only so many stories about straight white guys we can tolerate.
22 - The Power - Naomi Alderman
Really been loving my feminist dystopian fiction this year as you can tell lol. This has probably made it up there into my favourite books of all time. UEA alumna Alderman explores the build up to a revolution in which women have a 'power' they use against men to become the stronger sex. I recently had a conversation about this on Twitter with an American guy and he said he was horrified threefold - first, "troubled by what happened to man in the book", second, [SPOILER ALERT] [TW] "the violence, the rape and the realization this happens to women everyday" and finally "realizing how unaware I was of this before I read the book". That last point is so important. As a woman reading this it resonated so much with me, looking at the elements of a patriarchal society being flipped on its head. The power (lol) this book has to change the outlook of men about feminism is incredible and we need to spread it like wildifre.
23 - Fifteen Modern Tales of Attraction - Alison MacLeod
24 - These Foolish Things - Deborah Moggach
25 - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Newt Scamander (JK Rowling)
26 - The Princess Saves Herself in This One - Amanda Lovelace
27 - Seven Steps to Happiness - Stella Newman
28 - The Chaos of Longing - KY Robinson
This was another excellent poetry collection I read this year. It's essentially a work based on mental health and sexuality and it was just gorgeous and I am proper loving my poetry right now ok. Get on it.
29 - Como Agua Para Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
I just finished this this morning so it is very clear in my mind. The majority of Spanish novels I've read have been contemporary and whilst this isn't really old (1989) its language felt a lot older and more intricate than those I've read before. This is steeped in gorgeous language and gorgeous sounding Mexican dishes and crazy family politics. Mainly though it's magical realism and whilst I don't think that genre is for me, this is still a great read and you should have a go if you like romance and mystery and food (lol).
So that's it for now! If you're interested with keeping up with what I'm reading you can always check the books page on my blog or add me as a friend on goodreads. Please recommend me stuff!! I'm into female writers, particularly WOC. I like contemporary fiction (nothing from like, 1980 backwards basically), literary fiction, anything with a focus on mental illness/mental health, poetry, feminism, dystopia. Also with Spanish I just need to read more of anything so go go go.
Up next I'm currently reading Umami by Laia Jufresa (in English because I found it in an airport and then realised it was translated from Spanish so hopefully I'll read it in Spanish soon too) and The Improbability of Love by Hannah Mary Rothschild.
On my kindle I'm looking forward to so much but mainly Lo que te diré cuando te vuelva a ver by Albert Espinosa (me fave spanish writer) and The Other Half of Happiness by Ayisha Malik, the sequel to Sofia Khan is Not Obliged. Also Matt Haig's new novel How to Stop Time is out soon and I cannot wait because he is excellent.
Happy reading, pals.
Hasta la próxima,
KB
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