booklist 2019

Happy new year one and all! Time to look back over the reading year that was 2019.

This was the highest number of new books read of any year since I had my first baby, so that seems like a positive thing! 36 books- not huge but I did feel like I had some time to read this year.

So what was 2019 like? Let's break it down:

 Longest book- Lethal White by Robert Galbraith vs shortest book- Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise by Katherine Rundell. Shortest book wins here- it was a charming and pithy essay extolling the virtues of children's literature. Lethal White was the latest installment in a detective series that seems to be losing its way, or rather the author has different opinions on where it should go than I do.

Reading themes
I feel like a large part of the year was dominated by Dodie Smith. It started when I read 'Guard Your Daughters' by Diana Tutton, a book which I'd seen compared to 'I Capture the Castle' and widely recommended. It didn't disappoint, I really loved this story of an eccentric family of sisters and their precarious relationship with their mother. Inspired by this I reread 'I Capture the Castle' and all of Dodie Smith's memoirs. These are great, Dodie Smith is such a definite character with an interesting life, from her Edwardian childhood in Manchester to life on the stage in London to her time in America and her relationship with Hollywood. There are ebbs and flows in the narrative, but overall I really liked these. Be prepared for lots of talk about her clothes and houses if you plan to read them, and hardly any mention of 101 Dalmations (though she talks a lot about her own dalmatians). 

A few fairytale inspired books (Spinning Silver, Uprooted, Gingerbread and The Hazel Wood) as well.

Favourites
As usual I have marked my favourites with an asterisk, but this year the stand-out favourite was Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. A beautiful fairy tale retelling which looks at antisemitism, female power and the power of negotiation and just a very satisfying fantasy book. Loved it and it inspired me to seek out Naomi Novik's other books.

The full list:

Happy All the Time - Laurie Colwin
Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos - Lucy Knisley
Transcription - Kate Atkinson
Wundersmith - Jessica Townsend
Cedar Valley - Holly Throsby
*Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Winter - Ali Smith
The Wych Elm - Tana French
Lethal White - Robert Galbraith
And Now We Have Everything: On Motherhood Before I Was Ready - Meaghan O'Connell
The Place on Dalhousie - Melina Marchetta
Sorcerer to the Crown - Zen Cho
If I Fall, If I Die - Michael Christie
Cat Among the Pigeons - Agatha Christie
Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor
The Travelling Cat Chronicles - Hiro Arikawa
Swing Time - Zadie Smith
Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch
Gingerbread - Helen Oyeyemi
*Guard Your Daughters - Diana Tutton
Big Sky - Kate Atkinson
*Look Back With Love - Dodie Smith
*Look Back With Mixed Feelings - Dodie Smith
When Dimple Met Rishi - Sandhya Menon
The Lifeboat - Zacharey Jane
The Wedding Date - Jasmine Guillory
The Proposal - Jasmine Guillory
*Look Back With Astonishment - Dodie Smith
Friday Black - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Look Back With Gratitude - Dodie Smith
The Dead Queens Club - Hannah Capin
The Corset - Laura Purcell
*The Hazel Wood - Melissa Albert
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise - Katherine Rundell


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