What’s been your best read this year?

[HighburyLass]

Just one book (if you can!) that has stood out for you this year?

For me, it’s James by Percival Everett. Was given it as a present, I wouldn’t have chosen it. But my goodness what a great read. I was unsure as I hadn’t read Huckleberry Finn but it really didn’t matter (and now maybe I will!)

What have been your reading highlights?

I've looked back at my list and it's really hard to just pick one or two. I read books 2 and 3 in the Jo Callaghan Kat and Lock series. (Read book 1 last year.) Set in Warwickshire, DCS Kat Frank is a widowed single mother. She's partnered with the world's first AI detective to solve some cold cases. I've really enjoyed this series and it brings up interesting moral dilemmas and questions about the use of AI versus the human instinct.

Another favourite was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. In order to save Earth, a lone scientist/astronaut must discover why the Sun has dimmed. His crew mates die while en route to the mission (not a spoiler, it's in the blurb) so the future of humanity lays solely on his shoulders only...or does it?

I read this in the summer and really loved it.

I also read Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro.

I am not sure I could choose between them.

I like the sound of that one @Fuckitydoodah

This is a tough one, I haven't really taken to audiobooks! But will give it a go. 🙏

Yes, I would also recommend it.

I could have written this post!
I would never have chosen the kat and Lock series myself. We read the first one for book club and I adored it. I couldn't wait to read the next two.

Again, While I'm not into Science fiction, a friend persuaded me to try "project hail Mary" It's amazing, and I can't wait for the film next year.
I would highly recommend the audio book.

I'd love to hear more recommendations from you, if you have any

Catherine Chidgey's The Book of Guilt is amazing. It went in directions I never expected.

The Ministry of Time and The Names were also excellent.

This is really difficult, so I'm going to do 2 (sorry)😂

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall because I've been resolute for many years that I hate the Brontes (only read Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights previously).
TTOWH surprised me by how readable it is, I didn't hate all the characters. It's far from perfect, but is really engaging and beautifully written. Basically a story of a woman escaping domestic abuse from an alcoholic husband.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells. I don't ever read memoirs but like the way this was written (more like fiction). Is a memoir about a truly dysfunctional family.

I asked this question in a book readers group and got about 300 replies and most popular book was the correspondent which I've never heard of.

Personally I read fluff books so the best romance I read was seven year slip.

My favourites this year have been Hello Beautiful - a story about a man who grew up in a loveless home that marries into a family who are chaotic and messy. It broke my heart several times while reading and I just loved the twists and turns of this family over the decades.
Also loved Wild Dark Shore, about a family based on a remote island who are caretakers of said island. Climate change is happening fast in this book, affecting how safe the island is, and a mysterious stranger washes up on shore with a hidden motive.
Bat Eater was another favourite - it’s incredibly gory, so not for the faint of heart. It’s about a woman who is a crime scene cleaner in New York’s Chinatown, who notices a sudden uptick in Chinese people being murdered, and starts to experience supernatural things happening in her apartment. It takes place during the Covid pandemic, and covers what it was like to experience the kind of anti Asian hate/racism that flourished during that time, as well as family relationships and cultural traditions.

I loved James but read it last year. I discovered Peter Carey this year and loved Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of the Kelly Gang. He writes so well and is a great story teller.
Am now reading The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai which is great - highly recommend.
Sorry - realised that doesn’t fit the brief of just one book. I guess that would be Oscar and Lucinda.

The Names by Florence Knapp wins it for me this year, swiftly followed by
The Voyage Home by Pat Barker - 3rd book about the women of Troy focussing on Clytemnestra waiting for Agememnon to return and his war wife Ritsa.

Honorable mention the Elements series by John Boyne - each book is only about 170
pages- description from Amazon:
In The Elements, John Boyne has created a vivid kaleidoscope to reflect that contradiction: a quartet of intertwined narratives, each providing a different perspective on cause and effect from the points of view of the enabler, the accomplice, the perpetrator and the victim.

I’m making a wish list of those mentioned here that I’ve not yet read.

I loved Piglet too. My choice is he The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb. It follows the story of a stay at home dad, whose secret addiction leads to a catastrophic accident. The book deals with the fallout and consequences of the accident. A brilliantly written book by one of my favorite authors

The Pages of the Sea by Anne Hawk. The story is sort of the flip side of the Windrush Generation, a little girl whose mother goes to England and she stays with her sisters on their unnamed Caribbean island. The writing is just beautiful and the point of view of the little girl so well portrayed.

The Marriage Portrait

and

Where the Crawdads Sing

couldn’t put either down!!

Brilliant thread, thank you @HighburyLass

For me it was Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton and Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Both were unputdownable for very different reasons.

All my Borrow Box reserves are gone now, both book and audio. I'm reading Water by John Boyne now, and flying through it so I can reserve another of the recs above. What a time to be alive!

Oh and if you haven't read The Hearts Invisible Furies also by John Boyne, do it. You won't regret it. A sweeping story of many layers and parts. Fabulous.

Two Brothers by Ben Elton, bloody brilliant.

Is the middle section the part where he is taking drugs all the time? I really struggled to get through that bit too.

following for ideas

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix.

Closely followed by The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros.

The Offing - Benjamin Myers. 16 year old young lad from mining village goes off wandering after the end of the WWII.. A beautiful insight into Britain after the war.

He stumbles across a fascinating woman living in a dilapidated property and stays to help her out. She introduces him to authors and food he has never experienced.

I hope I have done this justice as it is really worth a read

I second Raising Hare and Precious Bane

Edited only one person had mentioned Raising Hare when I started posting but I see many more have recommended it

Lori Ostlund....After the parade