Anti-Bucket List: December

My my, we've made it. Twelve gruelling months and accompanying blog posts later and we're in December. I want to be careful here and make sure this lists solely reflects December rather than being a whole year review, but let's just take a minute.

My Favourite Books of 2016

It is a truth universally acknowledged that 2016 has been a bit shit, really. I must admit that I'm getting a little tired of every Tom, Dick and Harry giving their oh-so-original commentaries of the year's events on Twitter but you can't disagree with them (and that's what the internet's for, right?) There's no denying it - we've lost an unprecedented number of stars this year and let's not get onto world politics, I'm trying to keep this light.


But, when all else fails us at least we have books, to teach us, to give us new perspectives, to provide an opportunity to escape from it all for a bit. I have come to terms with the fact that I will not complete my Goodreads Challenge of 30 books in 2016 (I've got six to go and less than three days at time of writing) but I thought this would be a good time to run down my favourite reads of the year. These aren't all 2016 releases but books that I read for the first time this year. We'll start with fiction but be aware that I'm not the best at giving reviews, so hold tight.

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper 

I'm going to be honest gang, I read this right at the beginning of January and I don't remember a lot about it but what I do remember is that I liked it a LOT, so here goes. Etta is 82, she lives in Canada and she's never seen the water so she decides she's going to walk there, on her own, across the country. The novel tells of her journey to the sea, as well as stories from her past and of the two men in her life: Russell and Otto.

It's like nothing I've ever read before - it lacks punctuation with long, whimsical sentences, it muddles lists and letters and recipes in with the narration, and switches from wartime France to contemporary Canada without warning. I loved it. There are elements of magical realism - something I'm not usually into - as well as deeply emotional, poetic storytelling that explores age-old romance, family love, and the battles we encounter with memory as we get older. This book is a treasure.







The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett 


The Versions of Us was recommended to me by a bookseller in Waterstones after we'd got talking about my love for David Nicholls. It's described on the cover as "One Day meets Sliding Doors" and I think that's an excellent summary. The story starts in 1958 with Cambridge students Eva and Jim's first meeting (or not meeting, in one instance). It tells three different versions of their lives alongside each other as Eva and Jim, both together and separately, grow through the decades. It's got a warm nostalgic feel and brings smiles and tears in equal measures. Please read.










Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik 

This. Book. Is. So. Funny. I'm not too keen on "The next Bridget Jones" as a phrase to be chucked at any new womens' fiction heroine (even though I love Bridget 200%) but I think this is as close as we can get. It's certainly the first time you'll hear "the Muslim Bridget Jones" and that's a big deal in this book.

Sofia Khan is a Muslim woman living in London and these are diary entries detailing her adventures and escapades in the Muslim dating scene. It's brilliant. In the climate we're in right now the only representation we get of Muslim communities is from right wing press and xenophobic relatives - we need more Sofia Khans and we certainly need a more positive representation of Muslims. I first heard about this book in a recommendation video from Leena Norms, and her interview with author, Ayisha Malik, is great too. A super insightful and hilarious read - I'm excitedly awaiting the follow up novel in the new year.








Persuasion by Jane Austen

If you've read any of my other book-related posts I think it goes without saying that I'm a bit of a fan of Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is my favourite book of all time, but it occurred to me that I really need to make my way through the rest of her work. I read Sense and Sensibility last year and Emma the year before, and this year I set about Persuasion. It was Austen's last (and I think shortest) novel and I completely loved it.

The story of Anne Elliot, our heroine, demonstrates a bit of a shift from earlier Austen - it's not so full of wit and quips and it's a little more serious and modern in tone overall. Anne is 27 and unmarried (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!) She lost the chance at true love in her youth when the man she wanted was deemed an unsuitable match - classic Austen. Her proud family don't seems too keen on her and she's a bit of an outcast but she has a second chance at love after the Napoleonic wars - dun dun dunnnnn. It's great.

I think what I like most about Persuasion is Anne herself. You're not meant to like Emma Woodhouse and although Lizzie Bennet is my number one girl she's not me. I'll never be as sharp and gutsy as Lizzie but I can really see myself in Anne. She's quiet and modest, unsure of herself but she knows what's right. She's not pretty but she's clever and she knows what she wants. I think people are scared of tackling classics but once you've got your head around Austen's language, I'm sure Persuasion is one you'll really enjoy.



Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner

Everyone knows that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but in this case I'm glad I did. I adore bookshop browsing but it's rare that I'll leave with something I know nothing about. Usually I buy based on recommendations from friends, bloggers and booksellers but cover alone sold me this (LOOK at it, it's gorgeous).

The Hotel du Lac is off the beaten track in Switzerland and is the part time home of a very eclectic group of people outside of the holiday season. Edith Hope, a romantic novelist, has been sent there by friends to stay until things simmer down at home, but the reader is kept wondering about what exactly Edith's done and why she's been exiled until late in the story. There are regular allusions to Virginia Woolf throughout the novel and it does have an air of Mrs Dalloway about it, both in the slightly dreamy writing style and in the mix of oddball characters.

I later found that Hotel du Lac won the Booker Prize in 1984 so take that as a recommendation if you don't trust mine. I'm looking forward to finding more of Brookner's work in 2017.




Non-Fiction

Until a few years ago, I almost exclusively read fiction. Reading (to me) meant made-up stories, but more recently I've found myself loving non-fiction books, be they biographies, essays, memoir or collaborations. Fiction remains my most read genre (is it a genre?) but of the 24 books I read this year, 8 were non-fiction, so that's an interesting shift. As well as my top five fiction reads I wanted to take the opportunity to chat about my two fave non-fic reads of the year: Ctrl Alt Delete and Love, Nina.

Ctrl Alt Delete: How I Grew Up Online by Emma Gannon

I have already expressed my love for Emma's work multiple times and I wrote a whole blog post in response to her book, but I'll do it again for good measure. Ctrl Alt Delete is Emma's memoir of growing up alongside the internet in the 1990s and beyond. It's full of funny anecdotes about the early days of social media and its very #relatable if you grew up in a similar time. She talks about careers, feminism, body image and friendship in the digital age and I can't recommend it enough. Also, listen to her podcast if you're not already, it's fab.

Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe

In Literary London in the 1980s, Nina Stibbe worked as a nanny and wrote home to her sister in Leicester - this book is a collection of those letters and it's so funny. She has such a distinct narrative voice and way of telling stories that I instantly fell in love with. I first watched the BBC adaptation earlier this year which was great but the book gives you so much more. The anecdotes about the children, the neighbours and Alan Bennett coming for dinner almost every night are both ridiculous and perfect.

This year I also fell in love with Bennett's The Lady in the Van (first in film form and later the original book) and I think Love, Nina really compliments it as both lived in the same street at the same time. I find the residents of 1980s Gloucester Crescent fascinating and given my time again I think I could have based my whole third year dissertation on the body of work that came out of it. "Laugh Out Loud Funny" is such an overused description but this book regularly had me in tears..of joy.

Poetry 

And finally, we come to poetry. I've never really been into poetry, and at school and university it was my least favourite to study because I didn't really get it. However, I do think we place too much emphasis on "getting it" and should just try and enjoy the words and rhythms. I don't know. Anyway, this year I have read and enjoyed two collections: Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur and Search Party by George the Poet. I wouldn't say that either were my favourites of the whole year exactly but I have really enjoyed getting into poetry on the whole so here we are.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Milk and Honey is a delicious mix of sparse wording and delicate illustration. It's very ~Instagram~ (I think that's where Kaur made her name) and is in parts painful and uplifting, as it explores themes of abuse, femininity, love and loss. It's nothing like the poems you read in school - try it.

Search Party by George the Poet

I first listened to Search Party as an audio book read by George, the aforementioned poet, and I think I really benefitted from hearing it aloud, as intended. This is a collection of political, socially conscious poems with obvious rap influence, about growing up young and black in Britain. George is wise beyond his years and, if you're not keen on reading poems, the audiobook acts as a great soundtrack to run to. Mmmmm, those rhythms.

-------------

So there we are, my 2016 in books. My shelves are already full with more to read next year and I'm determined to get to my 30 books goals. I'm always up for book chat so send your recommendations my way and take mine on board if you like. May 2017 be a year of good books for you, and may I wish you Happy Reading.

(Also, I've just realised that eight of my nine books featured are by women writers. That was unintentional but pretty damn cool).

Nostalgia

I've been thinking a lot about last December, naturally. Christmas is, and has always been, one of my very favourite things but The Ghost of Christmas Past 2015 wasn't exactly a jolly one. My Grandad had just passed away, I was behind on uni work, tackling horrendous essays and prepping for January exams, and on top of that I was working more than a healthy amount of extra shifts to cover the busiest period on The Good Ship Sainsbury's. It was mad and I honestly don't know how I managed it all. I was on the brink.