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

[lizkt]

American Dirt really stands out for me.

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

I have just finished This Tender Land. Wonderful book which will stay with me for ages.

My Dark Vanessa
The Salt Path
The Appeal
The Vanishing Half
The Night She Disappeared
Ghosts
American Dirt
Troubled Blood

Bring up the bodies
All the light I cannot see
Hamnet

The Glass Castle. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.

I also enjoyed The Salt Path.

I thought American Dirt was outstanding. I dudnt like the midnight library much either, it was ok. Same with Thursday Murder club. I think I expected them to be amazing after all the great reviews I read.

This is cheating a bit because I read it more than a year ago but Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk is a terrific book, and a bit different.

As meat loves salt. Stick with it, it's mad.

Favourite of the year:
We Begin At the End - Chris Whitaker

Also loved these:
This Is Going To Hurt - Adam Kay
Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers
Piranesi - Susannah Clark
The Sealwomen's Gift - Sally Magnusson
The Cat and the City - Nick Bradley

Sorrow and Bliss Meg Mason
Americanah- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
My Wild and Sleepless Nights- Clover Stroud
Queenie- Candice Carty-Williams

The Olive Kitteridge books by Elizabeth Strout
Commonwealth and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Small Island (in audiobook format, read by the author) by Andrea Levy

Never Let me Go
Leave the World Behind

Was going today American Dirt!! Otherwise my favourite books this year have been:

Shuggie Bain
Parable of the Sower
The Mercies
What Strange Paradise
Mr Loverman
Dirt Music
The Four Winds
The Alice Network

The Salt Path
The Wild Silence
The Trick to Time

Coming back to report that I've now read and loved My Dark Vanessa and Piranesi.

I read the Girl with the Louding Voice and it was ok but I just couldn't get on with the writing style, I'm afraid.

Going to read Hamnet next.

Thanks everyone, this thread has been a great source of ideas.

I have loads that I have loved, but 2 really stood out for me and I think they were all recommendations from here.

Csardas by Diane Pearson. Free on Kindle Unlimited (although I am now going to buy the hard copy) which was an epic based in Hungary, covering the two World Wars. I love Hungary and the people, so it was very interesting to read about a side of the wars I have never learned about.

Zemindar - another saga free on KU based in India around the time of the Indian rebellion in 1857.

I love big saga books. I have one called Stalingrad but it's a physical copy and is huge so not easy to curl up in bed and read. It's meant to be good though, as is Warsaw by Richard Foreman which had me in tears several times, and I don't usually cry at fiction. I've just realised the latter is free on KU too.

Mayflies by Andrew O' Hagan very moving

@Athenajm80

I have loads that I have loved, but 2 really stood out for me and I think they were all recommendations from here.

Csardas by Diane Pearson. Free on Kindle Unlimited (although I am now going to buy the hard copy) which was an epic based in Hungary, covering the two World Wars. I love Hungary and the people, so it was very interesting to read about a side of the wars I have never learned about.

Zemindar - another saga free on KU based in India around the time of the Indian rebellion in 1857.

I love big saga books. I have one called Stalingrad but it's a physical copy and is huge so not easy to curl up in bed and read. It's meant to be good though, as is Warsaw by Richard Foreman which had me in tears several times, and I don't usually cry at fiction. I've just realised the latter is free on KU too.

Oooo great thanks for these. I’m always on the lookout for kindle unlimited recommendations.

If anyone is interested the third book in the Vera series Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves is on kindle unlimited at the mo. None of the others.

American Dirt for me too.
Snuggie Bain was another standout for me
Also really enjoyed More than a Woman by Caitlin Moran and Educated by Tara Westover if you fancy a non-fiction book
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi also very good

Hamnet by far my favourite read of the year. I also liked The Girl With the Louding Voice. My concentration is a bit shot at the moment as my Dad is very ill but the Rebus books (Ian Rankin) have been a great get away.

Couldn’t stand Crawdads and wasn’t that keen on American Dirt (though it was a gripping read).

Just working my way down this topping up kindle.

American dirt 99p today

Beekeeper of Aleppo
The vanishing half
Small pleasures

@stripetop I find a lot of these bestseller books tend to go for 99p on Kindle at some point or another. Goodness knows why but not complaining :-) I got Piranesi recently for 99p.

@lizkt absolutely. I have a list and check them from time to time. Try to always get on offer

Not a new book but I Am Pilgrim, the best book I've ever read.

I loved reading The Girl With All The Gifts. Have yet to see the film.