In addition to the #BookOfTheMonths the group have read this year I have also blogged about every book I have read inbetween times (and called them #inbetweenys. See what I did there?) I therefore thought as well as posting a big review of the 2017 book of the months I would also post a big review 2017 of my inbetweenys. I haven't included all of them in this review, only the (for various reasons) standouts.
I'm going to start with a biography - Bess of Hardwick by Mary S Lovell. I don't read many biographys and was slightly daunted by the book at the beginning however Lovell did an excellent job and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.
Of a similar theme (and also really enjoyable) was Scotland the Autobiography edited by Rosemary Goring. A different take on a historical factual book but very readable and covered something for everyone.
I don't think I could review 2017 in general without including a reference to Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran. This slim read was probably one of the most disturbing heartbreaking books I have read and I can't honestly recommend you go read it yet to not mention it at all seems wrong.
The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks was possibly one of my books of the year. I massively enjoyed it, helped by the fact I read it whilst on holiday in the countryside. It was brilliantly informative yet also surprisingly moving. A natural comparison was The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen (also read on holiday in the countryside but not the same holiday). The two were equally similar as they were different and whereas I firmly come down on the side of Rebanks, I do really fancy one of Owen's cream teas.
Exile by Richard North Patterson had been on my bookshelf for literally years. The subject matter was interesting and Patterson went to great lengths to provide background but the book was just TOO LONG and the main story too weak to support the fabulous research Patterson obviously did.
Mount by Jilly Cooper was my most eagerly awaited book of the year. So much so that I lugged the hardback around on the train too and fro each day rather than waiting for the paperback. It delivered with a fabulously named cast list (including a whole section specially devoted to the animals) but not on the story line. Rupert Campbell Black tut, tut, tut.
Book that surprised me the most must go to A Long Finish by Michael Dibdin. Featuring the excellently named Aurelio Zen, it was the first detective novel I had read where the detective didn't actually solve the murder!
My holiday read has to be Coffin Road by Peter May a book based on a man suffering from amnesia but is he a killer? It was set on the Isle of Harris and given that I was tripping around the Outer Hebrides it really was a case of right book at the right time.
Dark horse of the year goes to On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I didn't really fancy it to start off with, having left it on my shelf for so long prior to reading yet I found so much to talk about in it and would love to discuss it with anyone who has read it. Is White Teeth as good?
World War Z by Max Brooks was probably the most unexpected find. Read very recently in sympathy for it being left on the book shelf by my husband I devoured it and found myself commenting that the subzero temperatures were in fact a good thing as it would freeze the zombies. Brooks had me convinced!
To roundup World War Z, On Beauty and The Shepherd's Life have probably been my top three reads with sentimentality placing Coffin Road fourth.
I've only picked out the highlights, there have been others (which I'm sure being faithful followers of the blog, you have read about) and if you have another favourite please let me know.
Possible inbetweenys in 2018 are (if I ever finish Vanity Fair) Salem's Lot by Stephen King, The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell and The Little Friend by Donna Tart. Watch this space!
I'm going to start with a biography - Bess of Hardwick by Mary S Lovell. I don't read many biographys and was slightly daunted by the book at the beginning however Lovell did an excellent job and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it.
Of a similar theme (and also really enjoyable) was Scotland the Autobiography edited by Rosemary Goring. A different take on a historical factual book but very readable and covered something for everyone.
I don't think I could review 2017 in general without including a reference to Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran. This slim read was probably one of the most disturbing heartbreaking books I have read and I can't honestly recommend you go read it yet to not mention it at all seems wrong.
The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks was possibly one of my books of the year. I massively enjoyed it, helped by the fact I read it whilst on holiday in the countryside. It was brilliantly informative yet also surprisingly moving. A natural comparison was The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen (also read on holiday in the countryside but not the same holiday). The two were equally similar as they were different and whereas I firmly come down on the side of Rebanks, I do really fancy one of Owen's cream teas.
Exile by Richard North Patterson had been on my bookshelf for literally years. The subject matter was interesting and Patterson went to great lengths to provide background but the book was just TOO LONG and the main story too weak to support the fabulous research Patterson obviously did.
Mount by Jilly Cooper was my most eagerly awaited book of the year. So much so that I lugged the hardback around on the train too and fro each day rather than waiting for the paperback. It delivered with a fabulously named cast list (including a whole section specially devoted to the animals) but not on the story line. Rupert Campbell Black tut, tut, tut.
Book that surprised me the most must go to A Long Finish by Michael Dibdin. Featuring the excellently named Aurelio Zen, it was the first detective novel I had read where the detective didn't actually solve the murder!
My holiday read has to be Coffin Road by Peter May a book based on a man suffering from amnesia but is he a killer? It was set on the Isle of Harris and given that I was tripping around the Outer Hebrides it really was a case of right book at the right time.
Dark horse of the year goes to On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I didn't really fancy it to start off with, having left it on my shelf for so long prior to reading yet I found so much to talk about in it and would love to discuss it with anyone who has read it. Is White Teeth as good?
World War Z by Max Brooks was probably the most unexpected find. Read very recently in sympathy for it being left on the book shelf by my husband I devoured it and found myself commenting that the subzero temperatures were in fact a good thing as it would freeze the zombies. Brooks had me convinced!
To roundup World War Z, On Beauty and The Shepherd's Life have probably been my top three reads with sentimentality placing Coffin Road fourth.
I've only picked out the highlights, there have been others (which I'm sure being faithful followers of the blog, you have read about) and if you have another favourite please let me know.
Possible inbetweenys in 2018 are (if I ever finish Vanity Fair) Salem's Lot by Stephen King, The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell and The Little Friend by Donna Tart. Watch this space!
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