What’s been your best read this year?

There are some great books mentioned on this thread.

For me, it was Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I couldn't put it down.

The other one I absolutely loved but won't be everyone's cup of tea was The First Bad Man by Miranda July. That was quite a ride.

Four shots in the night - Henry Hemming

From Amazon -
On 26th May 1986, the body of an undercover British agent was found by the side of a muddy lane, with a rope tied around its wrists and tape over each eye. Years later, it was reported that this murder might have been carried out by another undercover British agent, known as 'Stakeknife'. In 2016, a detective began to investigate this case, and would soon find himself running the largest murder investigation in British history.

In a compulsive blend of investigative journalism and true crime thriller, Henry Hemming exposes the parallel worlds of the IRA and British intelligence through the lives of those inextricably bound up in both. He reveals the bravery of those who were crucial in ending the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the bloodiest and longest-running conflict in recent British history, and the determination of one detective in his dogged search for justice and the truth.

A brilliant read, stayed with me for ages afterwards.

I discovered Iris Murdoch this year. It has been like a mad love affair. I read seven of her novels in about two months. I couldn’t stop. I have never experienced anything like it. I could have spent the entire year doing nothing but read her books. In the end, I literally had to force myself to stop and get on with some work!!

I also started reading P G Wodehouse’s Blandings books this year. Until then I had only read the Jeeves and Wooster novels.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Took some time to adjust to the racism (I accepted it was a totally different time to any I have known, and that I read books that are sexist and offensive)but what a book. The writing is superb. The characters fascinating. It blew me away. The fact the protagonist is so flawed and unpleasant was fascinating too. And it helped me to understand why America is the way it is.
It was a journey.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.

About a chemist Elizabeth Zott and her experiences of sexism in her profession during the 50s/60s. Her life as a chemist became v. difficult as a woman so she changed tack and unwittingly became a huge TV star on a cookery show. Through that show she empowered women and well.... you have to read it to find out more. Tragic in places but so uplifting I thought.

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton
woman living in rural England finds a baby hare and brings it up (during Covid). Beautifully written and very moving.

Another vote for Safekeep by Yael van der Woulden. Just read it - beautiful writing and characters and relationships that are absolutely themselves and very human, intimate histories and realisations. Stays with you.

I second The Ministry of Time. I loved it.

This certainly gave me a new found respect for migrants.

I’m about to finish James tonight. I’m also reading Domination by Alice Roberts and The Walnut Tree by Kate Morgan. I must admit I’ve not read anything this year that I didn’t want to end up- but there’s still time and I’ll try some of the books mentioned in this thread.

I like all her stuff

The Names , Florence Knapp for me as well so far this year

I read Pachinko in the first two days of the year and I think it’s the book I enjoyed the most. I’ve also finally read The Goldfinch, about 10 years after everyone else, and loved it. The Women by Kirsten Hannah was phenomenal.

(sorry, can’t do a single “best”!)

for the PP who said All The Light We Cannot Sea, I read it (very unusually for me) one sitting in the depths of baby non-sleeping madness (ie giving up sleeping time was a big deal), and I adored it so much I haven’t dared to read it since in case it’s not quite as good as I remember.

Mine is Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively which I got on a recommendation from the Rather Dated book club thread on here
A dying woman looks back on her life, especially a very intense stay in Egypt during WWII. It won the Booker and I totally understand why, it was absolutely gripping.

Close second was Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It's science fiction but very literary (?). It's about a group of pilgrims telling the story of why they are going on the journey. Loosely based on the Canterbury Tales and with lots of classical/literary references. It was really good.

@CatChant - I loved The Ministry of Time. Also really liked The Goldfinch, but it was just so long, and I struggled with the middle section.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is a novel about a boy whose life becomes entangled with the fate of a famous painting after a bomb explosion. Reminiscent of David Copperfield and Great Expectations, it is utterly immersive: gripping, sad, funny and exciting. The characters felt so real. I didn’t want it to end. When it did, I immediately read it again, twice. Then I re-read all my favourite bits.

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton is the writer’s account of how she found herself raising a wild leveret during lockdown. It is fascinating and beautiful. Another I had to re-read immediately.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley is a compulsively readable novel. Sometime in the near future the government acquires the technology to snatch a few individuals from history. The heroine is a civil servant assigned to look after one of them; a Victorian naval officer rescued from a doomed Arctic expedition. It is imaginative, clever and funny.

Reading this at present. A real page turner !

The Names by Florence Knapp was good read

Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
Each chapter follows a different character but their stories intertwine. There's no big story arc really but I devoured it.

American Dirt by Jeannie Cummins

Ive never felt so anxious reading a book. It's about a Mexican mother and her son who are forced to flee as migrants to the USA after a drug cartel massacres their family.

Never been so gripped reading a book. It was brilliant.

All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker - it was so long but I didn’t want it to end!

I loved Piglet by Lottie Hazell.

It’s a book about a woman and her insecurities and also her relationship with food. It’s really beautifully written and thought-provoking.

I'm still advocating for Ken Smith's "The Way of the Hermit" (AKA the hermit of Treig). It's someone who dropped out of most people's version of "normal" society, went travelling, came back to the UK, built himself a log cabin in the woods, has a fairly peaceful life, and gets merry brewing his own alcohol!

Oh, and Jasvinder Sanghera's "Shame". It's an interesting look into another culture, and how family pressure and forced marriages collide, with some devastating consequences (including her sister setting fire to herself to escape an abusive marriage). That was an eye-opener, and not in a good way!

The wren the wren by quite a long margin, really stayed with me