Sunday, December 31, 2017

Reading in 2017

So, the last book I completed in 2017 was Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama, whilst the first was Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari. One of them I enjoyed more than the other. In between those two books I read a few other books.

I'm going to list my Top Ten, which as with all things is utterly arbitrary and might change as books settle in the mind and heart. Actually, I'm going to split them into Top Ten Fiction and Top Ten Non-Fiction. Just because.

TOP TEN FICTION

Autumn, Ali Smith
The Noise of Time, Julian Barnes
The Door, Magda Szabo
A Month in the Country, J. L. Carr
Giovanni's Room, James Baldwin
A General Theory of Oblivion, Jose Eduardo Agualusa
A Whole Life, Robert Seethaler
Exit West, Moshin Hamid
Sally Heathcote Suffragette, Mary M Talbot/Kate Charlesworth/Bryan Talbot
Under The Udala Trees, Chinelo Okparanta
The Monkey's Mask, Dorothy Porter

I actually made a concerted effort to broaden my fiction reading this year, which I did. So I am smugly pleased about that. There were two books I read this year that I actively loathed. I might name them later.

I've been influenced in my reading choices this year by a couple of podcasts. Firstly, Robin Ince and Josie Long's Book Shambles, which I've been listening to for some time. That's where I first heard of The Monkey's Mask. The other is Backlisted Podcast, which is why I ended up reading A Month in the County and The Year of Reading Dangerously. For non-fiction, I blame Dan Snow's History Hit podcast for throwing up lots of books I'd like to read. Too many for my wallet, unfortunately.

The Top Ten isn't in any particular order but I'd probably nominate Autumn, by Ali Smith as my favourite fiction read of 2017. It's a beautiful book. I couldn't put it down and when I finished I felt that little pang of grief that comes with finishing a brilliant book for the first time. I can't recommend it enough.

TOP TEN NON-FICTION

The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Rebellious Daughter, Lucinda Hawksley
Breakdown, The Crisis of Shell Shock on The Somme, Taylor Downing
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, Jenny Uglow
All Behind You Winston: Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940-45, Roger Hermiston
Indian Summer, Alex von Tunzelmann
On Bullfighting, A.L. Kennedy
A Short History of Drunkenness, Scott Murray
The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books Saved My Life, Andy Miller
Little Me, Matt Lucas
Julian of Norwich, Janina Ramirez

That's a mixed set of subjects. There are the usual Tony Cross obsessions there: World War One, World War Two and Churchill. All three are subject areas that are the gift that keeps on giving. Again there in no particular order, but if I had to pick one it would be Taylor Downing's book Breakdown, The Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme, which is a well-researched and well-written book covering a subject capable of raising issues even now. It tries to be fair to the British Army, but there are still moments where I felt genuine anger about the way individuals (or groups) were treated.

The full list of what I read is below. If you've got any questions then feel free to answer. As you'll see from that list I did manage to read some poetry, but not as much as I'd like. I read two different Ted Hughes books. One, Crow: From Life and Songs of the Crow I struggled with. The other Tales From Ovid: Twenty-Four Passages from 'Metamorphoses' was fantastic. Make of that what you will.

FULL LIST OF BOOKS

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
The Owl Service Alan Garner
The Noise Of Time Julian Barnes
Myra Breckenridge Gore Vidal
Blood River: A Journey Through Africa's Broken Heart Tim Butcher
A Perilous Undertaking Deanna Raybourn
The Door Magda Szabó
The Mystery of Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Rebellious Daughter Lucinda Hawksley
Breakdown: The Crisis of Shell Shock on the Somme Taylor Downing
Man On The Run: Paul McCartney in the 1970s Tom Doyle
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
Hope In The Dark Rebecca Solnit
Tales from Ovid: Twenty-four Passages from the "Metamorphoses" Ted Hughes [Trans]
In These Times: Living in Britain Through Napoleon's Wars, 1793-1815 Jenny Uglow
The Pirate Planet James Goss
Running Through Corridors: Volume 2-The 70s Toby Hadoke & Robert Shearman
All Behind You Winston: Churchill's Great Coalition, 1940-1945 Roger Hermiston
After Daybreak: The Liberation of Belsen, 1945 Ben Shephard
King John: Treachery, Tyranny and the Road to Magna Carta Marc Morris
The Vinyl Detective: The Run-Out Groove Andrew Cartmel
The Moonstone's Curse Sam Siciliano
Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone J.K. Rowling
Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition Nasid Hajari
Dynasty: The Rise & Fall of the House of Caesar Tom Holland
The Age of Olympus Gavin Scott
Truths, Half-Truths & Little White Lies Nick Frost
Indian Summer Alex Von Tunzelmann
If This Is A Man Primo Levi
Space Helmet For A Cow: The Mad True Story of Doctor Who, Volume 2: 1990-2013 Paul Kirkley
Go Tell It On The Mountain James Baldwin
On Bullfighting AL Kennedy
Giovanni's Room James Baldwin
Confessions of a Lioness Mia Couto
A General Theory of Oblivion José Eduardo Agualusa
A Whole Life Robert Seethaler
The Sense Of An Ending Julian Barnes
Reel History - The World According to the Movies Alex Von Tunzelmann
Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulu - The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions Lois H. Gresh
Money Martin Amis
Sherlock Holmes: The Labyrinth of Death James Lovegrove
Directed by Douglas Camfield Michael Seeley
Selected Poems Anna Akhmatova
The Underground Rail Road Colson Whitehead
Exit West Moshin Hamid
Stalin Ate My Homework Alexei Sayle
Aeneid VI Seamus Heaney
Autumn Ali Smith
Crow: From the Life and Songs of the Crow Ted Hughes
A Study in Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle
A Kind of Blue: A Political Memoir Kenneth Clarke
Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse James Goss
James Baldwin: The Last Interview & Other Conversations James Baldwin
Hero of the Empire: The Making of Winston Churchill Candice Millard
Solar Bones Mike McCormack
Fear & Loathing on the Oche: A Gonzo Journey Through The World of Championship Darts King Adz
Little Me Matt Lucas
A Short History of Drunkenness Mark Forsyth
Blade of the Immortal - Omnibus I Hiroaki Sumura
Julian of Norwich Janina Ramirez
A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens
The Title: The Story of the First Division Scott Murray
A Month in the Country J L Carr
The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books Saved My Life Andy Miller
Introducing Fascism: A Graphic Guide Stuart Hood/Litza Jansz
Sally Heathcote Suffragette Mary M Talbot/Kate Charlesworth/Bryan Talbot
Penguin's Poems For Love Laura Barber [Editor]
Under The Udala Trees Chinelo Okparanta
The Story of my Teeth Valeria Luiselli
The Monkey's Mask Dorothy Porter
Rendevous With Rama Arthur C Clarke





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