best reads of 2016

[bibliomania]

Inspire me with your best reads of the year (so far)! Listed in order of reading rather than enjoyment:

Best non-fiction

1. Harry Mount's Odyssey, by Harry Mount Author travels around the Mediterranean and reflects on his failures in life. Funny and touching.
2. Byron's Women, Alexander Larmen Group biography of the women in poet's life: mother, wife, lovers, daughters. Makes you deeply grateful for modern property law and access to divorce.
3. A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, Adam Rutherford Fun with genes.

Best fiction

1. The Shepherd's Crown, by Terry Pratchett Perhaps enjoyed as a last fond farewell to the Discworld rather than in its own right.
2. The Pumpkin Eater, by Penelope Mortimer Classic piece of women's writing. If not a wife or mother, who am I?
3. A tie between Ghastly Business by Louise Levene and Field Service by Robert Edric Both set in the 1920s as society tries to move on after the Great War.

I also enjoyed Jodi Taylor's series about time-traveling historians and Angela Thirkell's comedies about middle-class life in the 1930s.

Happy to list mine! They weren't published this year though but I have read them this year.

Best non-fiction - top two are both nature writing, which I have really enjoyed this year.

Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane
The Outrun - Amy Liptrot
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield

Best non-fiction:

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout - just great writing.
Satin Island - Tom McCarthy - this struck a cord with me, very 'modern'.
The Lesser Bohemians - Eimear McBride - prose like poetry.
Hot Milk - Deborah Levy - just really enjoyed it, though others do not like!

Other books I enjoyed were Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Slade House by David Mitchell and The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall.

I'm going to look at my list and post later

Will be back later with my list. Good thread :)

me too

Right, here's my list:-

The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson
The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England - Ian Mortimer
Sweet Caress - William Boyd
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying - Marie Kondo (a bit bonkers in places but good)
Grandpa's Great Escape - David Walliams
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
My Life in Houses - Margaret Forster
Bring Up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel
Heartstone and Lamentation - C J Sansom (last two Shardlakes)
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
Company of Liars - Karen Maitland
The Tent, The Bucket and Me - Emma Kennedy
A History of Loneliness- John Boyne
Shop Girl - Mary Portas
The Cazalet quintet - Elizabeth Jane Howard
Common Ground - Rob Cowen
The Outrun - Amy Liptrot
The Trouble With Goats and Sheep - Joanna Cannon
The Lie Tree - Frances Hardinge
11.22.63 - Stephen King
Our Souls At Night - Kent Haruf
Life Class trilogy - Pat Barker
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
The Loney - Andrew Michael Hurley
His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrae Burner
Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque

There are rather too many on that list but I couldn't narrow it down any more . I think the one that stands out above all the rest has to be 11.22.63 by Stephen King. Maybe because it was an audio book, but I loved it.

Fiction-these are the books I truly loved. If I went with honourable mentions the list would be too long.
Rhidian Brook - The Aftermath
Roddy Doyle - A Star Called Henry
Keri Hulme - The Bone People
Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance
Philip Roth - The Plot Against America and The Human Stain
Lionel Shriver - The Mandibles
Rose Tremain - The Road Home
Kate Tempest - The Bricks that Built the Houses
Luis Alberto Urrea - Into the Beautiful North

Non Fiction: I don't read a lot of non-fiction but I really liked The End of Memory by Jay Ingram. It's an overview of all that is known about Alzheimer's disease. I also like Ashley Judd's memoir All that is Bitter and Sweet. She had such a difficult childhood but then chose to use her fame to do good in the world. She's inspirational.

Behind the Scenes at the Museum Kate Atkinson
The Moonstone Wilkie Collins
True Grit Charles Portis
The Railway Man by Eric Lomax
Strange Weather in Tokyo Hiromi Kawakami
HHhH by Laurent Binet
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
The Lumimaries by Eleanor Catton
The Revenant by Michael Punke
All Quiet on the Western Front by Eric Remarque
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

I also really enjoyed Prep and American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield, Olive Kitteridge, Slade House and We have Always Lived in the Castle

Non-fic I really liked The Pedant in the Kitchen by Julian Barnes

Again, not published this year, but I loved

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
Wolf Hall and A Place of Greater Safety Hilary Mantel
All My Puny Sorrows Miriam Toews

All of them written by women I have just realised.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but I enjoyed

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall
When I Heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire by John MacLeod
SPQR by Mary Beard

Just realised The Railway Man and HHhH are non fiction, but they read like novels

HhHH was a weird beast though Satsuki so you're forgiven.

I only recently got back in to reading late this year after a bit of ill health so I've only got about 10 different books to choose from.

Just as a visual aide for me I've read

Miss Peregrine/Hollow City - Ransom Riggs
Take Six Girls - Laura Thompson
A Spool Of Blue Thread - Anne Tyler
Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (re-read)
A God In Ruins by Kate Atkinson
So You Think You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson

I think that might be it - but I'm sure there's one I've forgotten

Of these

Best non fiction : So, You've Been Publicly Shamed
Fiction : The Night Circus even though it was a re-read I loved it just as much as the first time round

My top reads this year are:

Fiction:
Flight Behaviour - Barbara Kingsolver
Black Water - Louise Doughty
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra

Non fiction:
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? - Jeanette Winterson
Wild - Cheryl Strayed
Born to Run - Christopher Macdougall

I've just remembered the other book Non Fiction : The Last Act Of Love by Cathy Rentzenbrink which I loved

I've had a generally disappointing year with the books I've read - just eight of fifty-five I'd say were outstanding.

Fiction:

1. Charlotte's Web - E.B White
2. Case Histories - Kate Atkinson
3. Nutshell - Ian McEwan
4. Eileen - Ottessa Moshfegh
5. Not Working - Lisa Owens

Non-fiction:

1. Untold Stories - Alan Bennett
2. Out of Time - Miranda Sawyer
3. Inside Vogue - Alexandra Shulman

My favourites this year - all fiction:
• Uprooted - Naomi Novik
• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
• Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
• Wolf Winter - Cecilia Ekback
• The Good People - Hannah Kent
• The Three Body Problem Trilogy - Cixin Liu
• Mr Mercedes - Stephen King
• The Golem and the Djinni - Helen Wecker

Mine were

A God In Ruins -Kate Atkinson
Rubbernecker - Belinda Bauer
Hope and Glory - Stuart Maconie

But the most outstanding book I read this year was All Quiet on The Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque.

Mine are

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
The Power - Naomi Alderman

Both incredible memorable books, nothing else has made that much of an impression.

.

I will be back later

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
Lie with Me by Sabine Durrant

Fiction
Slade House by David Mitchell
The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver

Non Fiction
The year of living Danishly by Helen Russell
The life and loves of a he devil by Graham Norton

His Bloody Project - stayed with me for days
The Wonder - Emma Donoghue again on the power of parental love/ love for a child

Right, I'm going to be picky and limit them to my three favourite non-fiction and three favourite fiction reads for this year.

Best Non-Fiction

1. Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon. Excellent.
2. 12 Years A Slave by Solomon Northup on audiobook.

So sad, so important a story and the narrator of the audiobook was very good. It's sad what people will do to one another.

1. How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish

Sensible advice to help me stop yelling at my kids.

Fiction.

1. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.

An oldie but a goodie.

1. Uprooted by Naomi Novic.

Fun and exciting fantasy.

1. Noontide Toll by Romesh Gunesekera

Gentle story of post civil war Sri Lanka with some lovely lyrical descriptions.

(With The Shining by Stephen King coming in a close fourth)

Best children's book

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A.Milne.
Funny with lots of hidden advice for adults to remember about being young.

Looking back over my list from 2015, 2016 has been the year of some great non-fiction reads whilst in comparison 2015 was the year of 5* fiction reads. Fiction has not been so good to me this year.

I've read a fair amount this year, and hope to better it next year - planning on contributing rather than lurking on the 50 books thread.

My highlights this year:

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Katherine by Anya Seton
World Without End by Ken Follett
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
11.22.63 by Stephen King
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Memoires of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Also read but meh
Just one Damned Thing after Another - Jodi Taylor (just didn't get into it)
Here be Dragons by Sharon Penman (Should have loved it, I'm from Wales, love historical fiction etc, but it just dragged)
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronvitch (again, thought I'd love it, there were some funny moments and an interesting idea but it didn't work for me)

I teach KS2&3 English lit, this year I've taught (and enjoyed)
Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone
Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe CS Lewis
James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
Treasure Island - RL Stephenson (Yo ho ho!)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Didn't finish-
The Hive - by Gill Hornby (Utter bilge - it was recommended to me as 'intelligent' chick lit- uh no)
100 years of solitude Just couldn't figure out who was who- if you have 8 generations, all with similiar/identical names and you keep jumping back and forth in time, you're going to wreak your readers head.

His Bloody Project - Graeme Macrae Burnet stayed with me too. Pestered my husband to read it so we could talk about it