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Best book you’ve read this year

133 replies

lastqueenofscotland · 25/11/2019 23:26

Doesn’t need to have been released this year, just one you’ve read in 2019 and why.

I really enjoyed The Dust That Falls From Dreams recently, which was far better than its shitty title implied it would be

Also reread Oryx and Crake. Which is one of my all time favourites.

OP posts:
healthylifestylee · 27/11/2019 22:43

The Brighton mermaid

Only book I read this year but thoroughly enjoyed it

frankiefirstyear · 27/11/2019 22:35

This is going to hurt

Cherrypi · 27/11/2019 22:32

Fiction The garden of lost and found by Harriet Evans. Really adored this one and wasn't expecting to. A wonderful chunk of a book.

Non fiction The Easternmost house by Juliet Blaxland. A memoir about leaving on the eastern edge of England for a year. Really stayed with me.

Puppylucky · 27/11/2019 22:25

I am desperately trying to recommend The Five so this thread is a godsend! It's the story of the 5 victims of Jack the Ripper and is one of the best social history books I have ever read.

Legomadx2 · 27/11/2019 22:22

Emilie Pine - notes to self. Staggeringly good.

John Boyne - the heart's invisible furies. Also fab.

Sleepysquirrelin · 27/11/2019 22:18

Tin Man by Sarah Winman- brilliant.

Booboostwo · 27/11/2019 20:50

The Silence of the Girls

BG2015 · 27/11/2019 20:39

I loved....
Life, Death & Vanilla Slices by Jenny Eclair
Something to Live For by Richard Roper
Things We Never Said by Nick Alexander

And although it wasn't brilliant literature, as a Take That fan, I totally loved A Better Me by Gary Barlow Blush

Deecaff · 27/11/2019 20:36

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield- brilliant book

Also Engleby by Sebastian Faulks - a very very dark comedy

fishonabicycle · 27/11/2019 15:54

I've loved:
The underground railway
A thousand ships
Erebus
The testaments

weebarra · 27/11/2019 13:10

I've really enjoyed
Educated by Tara Westover
Milkman by Anna Burns
The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
Hag Seed by Margaret Atwood

Hellohah · 27/11/2019 13:06

I've had one of those years where pretty much all the books I have read have been ok (or hard work - like The Goldfinch).

The ones that have been better than OK, but still not anywhere near my top ten were The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter, Little Fires Every by Celeste Ne and My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkin Braithwaite.

I also really, really enjoyed the Cormoron Strike books written by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling's pseudonym).

I have just reserved Station Eleven, so hopefully this changes my year :)

Layoverlife · 27/11/2019 12:45

@lastqueenofscotland Thank you for starting this thread it's a planned trip to the library on Saturday which I usually dread it because there's to much to choose from 😂

jennymac · 27/11/2019 12:40

Himself by Jess Kidd - very lyrical and engaging

PrettyShiningPeople · 27/11/2019 07:57

Rebecca - compelling and truly unforgettable.

milliefiori · 27/11/2019 07:50

@ImportantWater - I'm about 10 pages away from finishing Station 11. Lovely book. I don't want it to end. I want to read another 800 pages about the new world and about Station 11.

BookWitch · 27/11/2019 07:34

@PickleChipsareyummy Thanks for the recommendation

ImportantWater · 26/11/2019 22:45

It was definitely Station 11, followed by All The Light We Cannot See.

Startoftheyear2019 · 26/11/2019 22:41

The Choice by Edith Eger was powerful and uplifting. Also loved Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. Highly recommend that to everyone who liked Educated.

PickleChipsareyummy · 26/11/2019 22:37

A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my top 10 of all time. Loved it. If you like that, you might like A Son of the circus and Until I Find You. Really exceptional story telling and I marvel at how Irving manages to bring so many strands together to close his books

BookWitch · 26/11/2019 21:01

The Heart's Invisible Furies

Educated

Mythos

Becoming Michelle Obama

Am about half way though A Prayer for Owen Meany and I think it will be one of my top books this years as well

PoetaDeLosSandwiches · 26/11/2019 18:10

Without a doubt it is Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. Memorable characters

Tara I also loved The Siege, though I read it a couple of years ago.

StepawayfromtheBiscuittin · 26/11/2019 18:08

Oh, I must put some of these on my Christmas list.
Non-fiction I loved Becoming by Michelle Obama and Christine Armstrong The Mother of All Jobs.
Fiction, I sped through The Dry by Jane Harpur and her two subsequent novels. Gripping good reads, hope there will be more.

Tarahumara · 26/11/2019 18:06

Non fiction:
The Heartland: Finding and Losing Schizophrenia by Nathan Filer

Fiction:
The Siege by Helen Dunmore

milliefiori · 26/11/2019 17:42

Educated by TaraWestover. Gripping.