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What's the best books you've read in the last 12 months?

231 replies

lizkt · 03/09/2021 00:07

American Dirt really stands out for me.

Looking for some new books to read so would love to hear any ideas.

OP posts:
usedtobeboss3 · 05/09/2021 09:15

My two absolute top reads of this year are Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton (and this might be one of my favourite books ever - just incredible) and Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers (and then lots of other stuff by her since then).

mum2jakie · 05/09/2021 09:11

I was going to say Girl A too. I enjoyed it on audiobook read by the lovely Holliday Grainger and it had me sobbing some days on my way to work. Definitely one I'd revisit

LongLive89 · 04/09/2021 19:12

@ScottishDiblet a fellow Swiftie, lovely to see!

Girl A made me scream, cry and laugh, all in the same 10 minutes. I thought it was an excellent debut and by the far the highlight of my summer reading.

I was talking about the ending for days after with my DP!

ScottishDiblet · 04/09/2021 18:29

@LongLive89 I thought Girl A was incredible. It took me two attempts to read it. How did you find it? Ps are you a Taylor Swift fan?? Long Live is such a beautiful song!

LongLive89 · 04/09/2021 18:05

Girl A

purplesequins · 04/09/2021 17:30

not quite the best but very interesting given the current pandemic: The Death of Grass
by John Christopher
it's about a plant virus epidemic that starts in asia.

NeverTalkToStrangers · 04/09/2021 17:30

Piranesi, hands down

Runners up:
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik - YA and probably not the OP's thing but I loved it.
Fire and Blood by George RR Martin as a follow up to a Song of Ice and Fire reread.

WorryMcGee · 04/09/2021 17:20

Shuggie Bain - incredible, but be prepared as it’s rather harrowing.

purplesequins · 04/09/2021 17:16

the lates strike novel
a german trilogy (isabel rohner, schöner morden)

dementedma · 04/09/2021 17:13

Shuggie Bain
My Dark Vanessa
Miss Benson's Beetle
Mythos by Steven Fry
50/50 by Steve Kavanagh

Themadcatparade · 04/09/2021 17:09

Haven’t read much myself this year as I’ve been too tired and distracted but Station Eleven stands out for me.

I’ve just finished Piranesi and I thoroughly enjoyed it that’s a close second!

KickAssAngel · 04/09/2021 16:10

I love The Fire keeper's Daughter. It's officially YA lot, but I really enjoyed it. I live in the same state that it's set in, so that made it a little more interesting.
It's a cross between YA Romance and detective genre, and also very deliberately describes the culture of the author who is part Ojibwe and part French American. It's been described as a really important book in the publishing world as it's commercially successful and shows that books with a lot of cultural description can be accepted.

Standrewsschool · 04/09/2021 15:52

Seven Sister series - Lucinda Riley
The Lido - Katie Quinn
Three Hours - Rosemary Lipton
The Heatwave - Kate Riordan
(Didn’t like Hamnet)

EssentiallyDisorganised · 04/09/2021 15:43

Shuggie Bain
American Dirt
The Strike series by Robert Galbraith

BarefootHippieChick · 04/09/2021 15:39

My Dark Vanessa
Tampa (not for the faint hearted though)
The Truants
The Serpent (after watching the Netflix show)
Little Fires Everywhere
Tangerine

ScottishDiblet · 04/09/2021 13:46

Thursday Murder Club ( v witty)
Where the crawdads sing ( really loved it)
The paper palace (absolutely incredible cannot get it out of my mind)
Such a fun age (easy reading but sooooo good )
Sorrow and bliss (v v good)
How to kill your family (loved it!!!)

JaninaDuszejko · 04/09/2021 13:45

These are not new books but I read them this year.

Bright by Duanwad Pimwana. Stories of a boy in a working class community in Thailand.
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi. Famous writer escapes the Bolsheviks.
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Coming of age in Zimbabwe.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Two sisters during the Biafran war.
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey. Fisherman catches a cursed mermaid.

Sheerheight · 04/09/2021 13:42

Run by Ann Patchett

The Midnight Library (another divider of opinion, but I really enjoyed it.)

Miss Austen by Gill Hornby

Concestor · 04/09/2021 11:57

I've just read The Law of the Heart by Boris Starling and it was incredible. Not the sort of thing I'd normally read based on the blurb but one of the best books I've ever read.

PermanentTemporary · 04/09/2021 11:46

Another vote for Hamnet. It does seem to divide opinion though (not on here!)
Girl by Edna O'Brien
Halfway through Where the Crawdads Sing and it's awesome.

elkiedee · 04/09/2021 11:42

Non fiction:
Rachel Holmes, Eleanor Marx: A Life
Francesca Wade, Square Haunting

Fiction:
Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet
Elly Griffiths, The Postscript Murders
Michelle Magorian, Goodnight Mister Tom
Emma Donoghue, The Pull of the Stars
Claire Chambers, Small Pleasures
Claire Fuller, Unsettled Ground
Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman
Alix E Harrow, The Once and Future Witches

KateyKontent · 03/09/2021 23:34

Hail Mary by Andy Weir was the best book I've read this year

I really like Gentleman in Moscow, think I actually preferred Rules of Civility by the same author.

I'm about the re-read the Sanctuary fantasy series by Robert J Crane.

Alltheprettyseahorses · 03/09/2021 21:02

My Sister The Serial Killer. It was just so clever and touching and totally not what I expected. I absolutely loved it. Closely followed by 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World which was incredibly beautiful and surprisingly joyous and life-affirming underneath its sadness.

Kote · 03/09/2021 20:56

Another vote for Hamnet

lazylinguist · 03/09/2021 18:13

Piranesi
The Country of Ice Cream Star

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