What’s been your best read this year?

😆Just waiting for friday god its taking for ever.

Me too 😀

I have read it haha.
Im also watching the series.

You have to read heated rivalry first though or you won’t get the whole story

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

The long game by, Rachel Reid.

Its not for all but wow.
Now on chapter 5.

Fiction
We all want impossible things by Catherine Newman

Non Fiction
When you lose it by Roxy and Gay Longworth

Read this a couple of years ago and loved it

Came to add this one. Just finished it and feel bereft. I loved We Begin at the End too.

All My Mothers by Joanna Glen. I loved this book, it's a coming of ages story of a woman in search of her birth mother but also about all the other mothers she encounters along the way.

Oh I would like to read this just voted for it to be our next book club selection.

Oh no! Another 50 titles on the Wishlist - thanks to everyone for some excellent recommendations.

Restless Dolly Mauder by Kate Grenville

From Amazon;
Born into the sweat and drudgery of a New South Wales sheep farm at the end of the 19th century, Dolly Maunder is different to her siblings. She will not endure the small, servile existence of a wife. Dolly, bright, ambitious and stubborn, dreams of a different fate, of building something that she truly owns.

She will do whatever it takes to be the woman she deserves to be. Even with a husband and children, Dolly pushes the boundaries of what is 'proper' and what a wife and mother ought to do, as war spreads across Europe and the rules are forever changed. But every life has its limits. What happens when Dolly's wanderlust finally risks taking her too far?

I've just completed my 50 book challenge and want to rate them but so hard. I think I have a top 5. All my mothers, Hamnet, Precipice, Small Pleasures and The Siege by Helen Dunmore. The last one was a tough read but amazing.

For everyone that enjoyed Raising Hare, I would recommend Corvus: A Life With Birds by Esther Woolfson:

One spring, many years ago, Esther Woolfson's daughter rescued a fledgling rook. That rook, named Chicken, quickly established herself as part of the family, and other birds, including an irascible cockatiel and a depressive parrot, soon followed. But it was the corvids - members of the crow family - who amazed Woolfson with their personality and their capacity for affection. This classic blend of memoir and natural history combines the author's fascination with all things avian, from the mechanics of flight to the science of birdsong, with her funny, tender stories of life among the birds.

The nightingale - Kristin Hannah.

Set in WW2 and is about sisters in France in their own way dealing with the nazis - one becomes a resistance operative but the other remains in their little village. Such an amazing read.

Interesting recommendations. They include some I have read and enjoyed this year (The Marriage Portrait and Lessons In Chemistry), some old favourites (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall), one I read this year but didn’t enjoy (The Names), one that was recommended to me and I know I will be getting for Christmas (Raising Hare), and some that I read years ago and had more or less forgotten (Precious Bane and Oscar and Lucinda).

The best book I have read this year (not new, but I was rather late to the game) is A Gentleman in Moscow, which describes the life of a Russian Count after the Russian Revolution when he is placed under house arrest for life. It’s a fascinating and very enjoyable read.

Thank you @SereneLilac - I will check that out. I love Artemisia’s paintings and would welcome another book about her.

Based on this thread, I reserved this on my Libby app and it’s become available today! 👍

Thanks for this, I wasn't aware of it. There's another wonderful book based her life, The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland.

The Glassmaker by Tracey Chevalier, follows a glassmaking family on Murano through the centuries and has a lovely twist to do with time. The main character is the first woman in her glassmaking family to work with glass and we see the changes in the family's fortunes through her eyes.

How to Build A Boat by Elaine Feeney. A story of a young ND lad navigating his way through the world around him and the two teachers who take him under their wing. Magical.

The Lighthouse Keepers Wife by June O'Sullivan. Man with happy family takes up the post of Lighthouse Keeper on Skellig Michael in 1860s, Assistant Lighthouse Keeper and wife arrive and move in next door and it all goes very gothic.

Same here, I also didn't finish.

The God of the Woods is probably the best standalone book of the year for me (murder mystery set in a remote mountain region of the US).
Very closely tied with Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (queer vampire historical revenge drama!)

I also loved The Hallmarked Man (book 8 in the Strike series) but you do need to read them in order.

My overall favourite though is Sunrise on the Reaping. Devoured in a day, and had to sit quietly for some time after. Probably only has that effect if you enjoyed The Hunger Games books, it really was perfection for me.

I just couldn’t get on with Lonesome Dove - it was a rare dnf for me. Everyone i know who read it has raved about it - I must be missing something!

I added Lonesome Dove to my list just a couple of days ago so I’m glad to see another positive review. Apparently it’s one of the most frequently recommended books on Reddit’s r/suggestmeabook.

Project Hail Mary is my favourite book of the year. I recommended the audiobook to my DH who hasn’t touched a book in years but often listens to podcasts. We’ve both listened to it several times since he downloaded it and can’t wait for the film.