Another productive year with 39 books read, including four non-fiction. The male to female author ratio was 24:15 and the same ratio applied to previously read against new to me writers. The eleven reading group selections included three I did not fancy, but the other eight helped the ratios with majority female and new to me authors; also, two make it onto the highlights reel. It was a good year for the Book-et List - four ticked off leaving six outstanding.
My nine best books of the year are:
(Month of full review in brackets.)
Phosphate Rocks – Fiona Erskine: Interestingly
constructed mix of science, memoir, and whodunnit set in the chemical industry.
(Feb)
Should We Stay or Should We Go – Lionel
Shriver: Darkly playful exploration of late life choices. (Apr)
Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell: Moving re-imagination
of how the loss of the playwright’s son affected the man himself and his family.
(Apr)
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony
Doerr: Masterful twin track tale of two young people caught up on opposite
sides of the German occupation of France in the Second World War. (Jun)
The Bee Sting – Paul Murray: Set in
Ireland, the disintegration of a family, comic and tragic by turns, is told
from the wildly different perspectives of Dad, Mum, Daughter, and Son. (Jul)
Bridge of Clay – Markus Zusak: Another
tragi-comic family saga, this one set in Australia where five brothers make
their rough and ready way following the loss of both parents. (Aug)
The Muse – Jessie Burton: Two timelines – 1960s swinging London and 1930s revolutionary Spain – become improbably but cleverly linked as mysteries unfold. (Sep)
The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John
Boyne: Cleverly constructed story of a life in seven decade-skipping episodes
- each told with wit, humour, and wisdom – and together providing satirical
comment on the last seventy years of Irish society. (Oct)
You Are Here – David Nicholls: No longer boy meets no longer girl on a hike. Will opposites attract or will ingrained habits get in the way? Funny and moving by turns. (Dec)
