HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And welcome to my 6th year of blogging. 2016 had a bit of a hit in terms of blogging and reading volume, but I’m hoping to rectify this in 2017. Nevertheless, I’ve encountered some brilliant books.
2016
- 80 books read, 26 less than in 2015.
- 34 5* books. 2 more than 2015. I’m always surprised when this number increases, but perhaps I am better at selecting books that challenge and entertain me.
- Zero 1* books. Huzzah!
I began the year with All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and ended it with
Queen and Country, Vol. 1: Broken Ground by Greg Rucka. 2016 was the year of embracing the graphic novel and comics.
My top 34 books
2016 was the year I discovered both Sarah Moss and Magda Szabó, now two of my favourite authors.
- All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
- A Monster Calls – Patrick Ness
- Think Like an Artist – Will Gompertz
- Ex Libris – Anne Fadiman
- Iza’s Ballad – Magda Szabó
- The Portable Veblen – Elizabeth Mckenzie
- Embers – Sándor Márai
- The Girls – Emma Cline
- Ruby – Cynthia Bond
- My Name is Leon – Kit de Waal
- We Were Liars – E. Lockhart
- Dracula – Bram Stoker
- The Vegetarian – Han Kang
- The Book of Memory – Petina Gappah
- Contagious – Jonah Berger
- Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin
- Pyongyang – Guy Delisle
- Logicomix – Apostolos Doxiadis
- Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys – Viv Albertine
- Animal – Sara Pascoe
- Agatha – Anne Martinetti
- Hysteria – Richard Appignanesi
- The Tidal Zone – Sarah Moss
- The Interestings – Meg Wolitzer
- Ctrl, Alt; Delete – Emma Gannon
- Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
- Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide – J.K. Rowling
- Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies – J.K. Rowling
- Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists – J.K. Rowling
- Where Am I Now? – Mara Wilson
- Eileen – Ottessa Moshfegh
- His Bloody Project – Graeme Macrae Burnet
- Night Waking – Sarah Moss
- Love, Nina – Nina Stibbe
Hard to pick a favourite, but The Interestings affected me the most – I felt very emotionally invested.
2016 saw my first visit to LA to visit my lovely, generous friend Tania, as well as a fantastic new job. It’s also been a good and shit year culturally (such is the way of a recession, humanity gets selfish). On a superficial level, it has also been heartbreaking, with many famous deaths including actors like Alan Rickman (who I adore).
All in all, I look forward to 2017 being better.
Happy New Year to your too. While 2016 has been a sad year in celebrity deaths and politics, on a personal level I have a good year.
I’m glad you’ve had a lovely 2016, Jessica :)
You have a wonderfully diverse list of books, which only a few of I’ve read. It’s interesting to see how many of us bloggers/readers read The Vegetarian, a book I’m not entirely sure what was the meaning other than being very creative and showing a woman’s hopelessness. Or, mental decline…anyway, it was fascinating.
I read outside my comfort zone in 2016, and I think my top books have reflected how beneficial that tactic was,
I feel exactly the same about The Vegetarian!
I love the diversity of your list, too. Sarah Moss has cropped up so many times this year that I feel I ought to try her at some point, maybe as a book group read. Magda Szabo sounds very interesting as well. Happy New Year, Alice – I hope you have a great year of reading in 2017.
Oh do, I absolutely love her and I think you would enjoy The Tidal Zone. Sadly there are only two of Szabo’s books translated from the Hungarian, and I highly recommend both! I think both Iza’s Ballad and The Door would be right up your street.
Happy New Year.
A great list and a lot of new books to me, so a lot to explore.
Yay, do let me know if you read any of them. :)
Happy New Year, Alice! It’s good to read about your reading year. Sounds like a really good one. Very pleasing ratio of 5* to 1* books :)
Isn’t it! I honestly thought there would be fewer 5s, considering I read less than last year. I hope 2017 is just as good.
6th year in blogging? I’m impressed :D Keep it up, always! I love the selection of different books. I might check them out sometime this year. I need to get back into reading as I have a back log of books to finish or start. XD
Do let me know if you end up reading any off my list, I’d be interested to know if you liked them :)
I decided after the election that my first book of 2017 was going to be James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, and that’s what I went with. I thought I should begin my reading year as I mean to go on. :)
Coincidentally, I just watch the trailer for “I am not your Negro” which is Baldwin telling the story of race in America, via his interviews and writing. Its reminded me I need to read his essays.
Happy new year, Alice! 80 books is awesome, forget the previous year :) “I am better at selecting books that challenge and entertain me” – I think that’s probably true, ever more experience :) I’m going to have to put Gyasi on my list and I still need to get to the Moss I have already on my shelf. Gappah and Moshfegh are two I’ve heard are great, too. My first book of the year is (haven’t finished – slump) Evie Wyld’s All The Birds, Singing. In bookish ways my 2016 was good, so I’m holding on to that because… Read more »
I found All the Birds, Singing quite a difficult book (good, but not enjoyable). It might be worth putting it down for something a bit lighter if your slumping. I’m not finding an insane urge to read this month. I’m currently on my last Moss fiction, it’s so good, but I can’t bring myself to stay up reading it. Maybe tonight.
Always a good idea to look to the positive, I shall do likewise :)
I still remember your review for Iza’s Ballad – I’ve got to get my hands on that one!
Yes, definitely!
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