Book of the Month? Blog Tour? Inbetweeny? Yep they are all thrown in to this review. If I have read it this year it counts, no holding back, my opinions only.
I thought about doing a Top 10 but there are hundreds of them around at the minute and when looking back over my reads of 2018 nine books jumped from the page immediately so Top 9 it is! In no particular order here goes:
Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen - Best Scandi
A glorious mish mash of scandi noir and dark comedy slapped with a large does of plastic neon. Set around a holiday resort billed as the hottest beach in Finland it was unlike any scandi book I have read previously and has left every other one slightly lacking in its wake.
The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beach - Best Love Story, Best Inclusion of Lions (OK so it's the only book I have read this year with a lion but STILL)
An intensely beautiful love story, magnificent descriptions, an enriching supporting cast and in need of a tissue or two twists. Fab.
The Stars' Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry- Most Original
I had absolutely no idea where this was going when I read it. Still unfolding during the last paragraph, if ever there was a book that shows just what brilliance you can find if you read outside your reading norm this is it. Part teen love story, part upper class rivalry, part deeply mentally disturbing, part gruesome it was all over the place, yet it worked! It had one of the best descriptions about Fry ever (did you know he has no birth sign?) and I'm not telling you how the stars' tennis balls fit in to the story so you will just have to read it. Then tell me what you made of it.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter- Best Holiday Read
A touch of Hollywood glamour, an Italian backdrop, flawed characters, humour, sadness and really, really strong writing sends this to the top of my list for holiday reading. Although you could read it anywhere, anytime. I loved the book, I loved the cover and now want to watch Cleopatra.
The Tent The Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy - Funniest By Far
It's rare humour does it for me. Books, TV, Comedians. It's just not my thing. But this, this was hilarious. Writer and Television Presenter Kennedy reminisces about her family camping holidays in the 1970s. Ranging from the supernatural to the super stupid with liberal amounts of bodily fluids thrown in for good measure. If you want something to brighten your day, read about why camping if you are a Kennedy really is not a good idea.
How We Remember by J M Monaco - Stayed With Me The Longest
Usually you read a book, and if you are a blogger you review it, and then you move on to another book. But sometimes said book creeps back into your conscious. You find yourself sitting contemplating what X really meant when he said yes to Y. You process a certain chapter more fully, you see a certain point in another light. Suddenly it's so much more than it once was and you want to go back and read it all again, blog about it all again, or discuss it with someone. This is How We Remember, perfect Book Club material.
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - Best Chapter. Ever
I've decided that Stephen King is my favourite writer. I decided this after reading 'Salem's Lot because for all it is a book about Vampires it is the writing that stands out a mile ( I will not say a Green Mile, that would be such a terrible pun.) I can appreciate why King, with his tenancy towards the supernatural, would put some people off. But no one can write a town full of characters like he can. No one.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Best Opening and Closing Lines
Recovering from a Bleak House hangover I found this the perfect Dickens tonic and it has swiftly moved to the top of my favourite Dickens novels. It was witty, it was tense and at 300 or so pages it didn't require a fork lift truck to lift it. If you haven't read a Dickens yet, this could be the one for you.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - Best War Book. Ever
I'll say it quietly (no pun intended) but this may have been the best book I have read all year. It is gut wrenching, heartbreaking and astonishing brilliant. If you read just one book about World War Two make it this one.
So that's it, my Top 9. I've read some complete stonkers this year.
I've read books with wide ranging topic matters (from Crime and Punishment to The Cost of Living.) I've cleared a few off my To Be Read Shelf that have been hanging about for ages (Room, The Little Friend) and I've learnt even more about subjects that interest me (history mostly including reading The War of The World and George III). I've increased the number of classics that I have read including Bleak House and Vanity Fair (my arms are still aching) but more importantly I've really enjoyed reading.
Blog tours and book blogging have introduced me to a whole new community that I'm loving being part of. As a result I am now more on the ball with new releases than ever before. I joined Good Reads, completed my Good Reads Challenge and tinkered away on Social Media. Looking forward I am all set to run a children's book club next year which will greatly increase my YA reading, something I have been wanting to do for a while as I think it's a cracking genre at present. So bring on 2019!
I'd love to know your thoughts on my Top 9. How many have you read?
I thought about doing a Top 10 but there are hundreds of them around at the minute and when looking back over my reads of 2018 nine books jumped from the page immediately so Top 9 it is! In no particular order here goes:
Palm Beach Finland by Antti Tuomainen - Best Scandi
A glorious mish mash of scandi noir and dark comedy slapped with a large does of plastic neon. Set around a holiday resort billed as the hottest beach in Finland it was unlike any scandi book I have read previously and has left every other one slightly lacking in its wake.
The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beach - Best Love Story, Best Inclusion of Lions (OK so it's the only book I have read this year with a lion but STILL)
An intensely beautiful love story, magnificent descriptions, an enriching supporting cast and in need of a tissue or two twists. Fab.
The Stars' Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry- Most Original
I had absolutely no idea where this was going when I read it. Still unfolding during the last paragraph, if ever there was a book that shows just what brilliance you can find if you read outside your reading norm this is it. Part teen love story, part upper class rivalry, part deeply mentally disturbing, part gruesome it was all over the place, yet it worked! It had one of the best descriptions about Fry ever (did you know he has no birth sign?) and I'm not telling you how the stars' tennis balls fit in to the story so you will just have to read it. Then tell me what you made of it.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter- Best Holiday Read
A touch of Hollywood glamour, an Italian backdrop, flawed characters, humour, sadness and really, really strong writing sends this to the top of my list for holiday reading. Although you could read it anywhere, anytime. I loved the book, I loved the cover and now want to watch Cleopatra.
The Tent The Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy - Funniest By Far
It's rare humour does it for me. Books, TV, Comedians. It's just not my thing. But this, this was hilarious. Writer and Television Presenter Kennedy reminisces about her family camping holidays in the 1970s. Ranging from the supernatural to the super stupid with liberal amounts of bodily fluids thrown in for good measure. If you want something to brighten your day, read about why camping if you are a Kennedy really is not a good idea.
How We Remember by J M Monaco - Stayed With Me The Longest
Usually you read a book, and if you are a blogger you review it, and then you move on to another book. But sometimes said book creeps back into your conscious. You find yourself sitting contemplating what X really meant when he said yes to Y. You process a certain chapter more fully, you see a certain point in another light. Suddenly it's so much more than it once was and you want to go back and read it all again, blog about it all again, or discuss it with someone. This is How We Remember, perfect Book Club material.
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King - Best Chapter. Ever
I've decided that Stephen King is my favourite writer. I decided this after reading 'Salem's Lot because for all it is a book about Vampires it is the writing that stands out a mile ( I will not say a Green Mile, that would be such a terrible pun.) I can appreciate why King, with his tenancy towards the supernatural, would put some people off. But no one can write a town full of characters like he can. No one.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Best Opening and Closing Lines
Recovering from a Bleak House hangover I found this the perfect Dickens tonic and it has swiftly moved to the top of my favourite Dickens novels. It was witty, it was tense and at 300 or so pages it didn't require a fork lift truck to lift it. If you haven't read a Dickens yet, this could be the one for you.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - Best War Book. Ever
I'll say it quietly (no pun intended) but this may have been the best book I have read all year. It is gut wrenching, heartbreaking and astonishing brilliant. If you read just one book about World War Two make it this one.
So that's it, my Top 9. I've read some complete stonkers this year.
I've read books with wide ranging topic matters (from Crime and Punishment to The Cost of Living.) I've cleared a few off my To Be Read Shelf that have been hanging about for ages (Room, The Little Friend) and I've learnt even more about subjects that interest me (history mostly including reading The War of The World and George III). I've increased the number of classics that I have read including Bleak House and Vanity Fair (my arms are still aching) but more importantly I've really enjoyed reading.
Blog tours and book blogging have introduced me to a whole new community that I'm loving being part of. As a result I am now more on the ball with new releases than ever before. I joined Good Reads, completed my Good Reads Challenge and tinkered away on Social Media. Looking forward I am all set to run a children's book club next year which will greatly increase my YA reading, something I have been wanting to do for a while as I think it's a cracking genre at present. So bring on 2019!
I'd love to know your thoughts on my Top 9. How many have you read?
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