My Outstanding Reads of 2019 #Brainfluffbookblogger #2019OutstandingReads

I have had another stormingly good reading year. The highlight being my immediate love affair with audiobooks, once I got hold of a Kindle Fire which could cope with the selection I’d already bought my dyslexic grandson to encourage him to keep reading. Needless to say, I’ve added to that list…

During 2019 I read 168 books and wrote 129 full reviews, with 26 still to be published. In no particular order, these are the books that have stood out for me. It might be that I didn’t originally give a 10 – but something about these books has stayed with me and won’t let go, which is why they have made the cut. And none of this top ten rubbish – I can’t possibly whittle down my list any further.

 

Oracle’s War – Book 2 of The Olympus series by David Hair and Cath Mayo
I loved the layered characterisation of Odysseus and his complex relationships in this intelligent and politically aware retelling of events leading up to the Trojan War. This one has stayed in my memory and I’ve found myself often thinking about it. See my review.

 

AUDIOBOOK The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
I’d read this book before – but listening to the excellent narration by Jonathan Broadbent brought home the darker side of the story. It certainly isn’t a children’s read – as the exploitation of the magic kingdom takes some shocking turns, and while Wynne Jones doesn’t go into graphic detail, they are still there. Riveting and thought provoking. See my review.

 

Atlas Alone – Book 4 of the Planetfall series by Emma Newman
This has been one of the outstanding science fiction series of the last few years for me and this latest slice in the adventure held me to the end. Dee’s driven, edgy character is so compelling – Newman writes these tricky protagonists with amazing skill. See my review.

 

Ascending – Book 1 of the Vardeshi Saga by Meg Pechenick
Alien first contact tales are a staple of science fiction, but rarely have they been covered with such skilled detail, featuring such a self-effacing protagonist as Avery. The second book is also an excellent read. See my review.

 

Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Wildest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer
I picked up this true tale of adventure by accident – and I’m so pleased I did. The author opted to take part on a whim and even at the beginning, was clearly not really prepared for what followed. This fascinating account stayed with me throughout the year. See my review.

 

AUDIOBOOK Mythos: the Greek Myths retold, written and narrated by Stephen Fry
Listening to this offering while decorating the bathroom sweetened hours of tedious work as Fry’s smooth, chatty manner belied the scholarship and rigor that has gone into this retelling. See my review.

 

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
This is probably the most quirky, extraordinary read of this year’s selection. A series of letters between two protagonists on either side of a savage war – think Romeo and Juliet with knobs on – drives the narrative in this beautiful, desperate book. See my review.

 

AUDIOBOOK A Room Full of Bones – Book 4 of the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths
This offering took me completely by surprise. In fact, I’d felt rather fed up with Ruth’s struggles in the previous book – but this story took all the ingredients and ramped up the tension to an unexpectedly heart-rending degree that I still think about… See my review.

 

Novacene: The Coming Age of Hyperintelligence by James Lovelock
The second non-fiction book in this list, I found Lovelock’s take on our future absolutely fascinating and unexpectedly uplifting. Given he is now over a hundred years old and has been working in a variety of scientific fields until very recently, his opinion is worth reading. See my review.

 

AUDIOBOOK The Empty Grave – Book 5 of the Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud
This was an unexpected treat. One of Frankie’s chosen series, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer quality of the characterisation and worldbuilding, although I should have been, after thoroughly enjoying the Bartimaeus Trilogy. This final book brought the outstanding series to a triumphant conclusion. It goes without saying that you MUST read the previous four books first. See my review.

 

Sweep of the Blade – Book 4 of the Innkeeper Chronicles by Ilona Andrews
I find this quirky science fiction/fantasy mash-up just goes on getting better and better. I really suffered a profound book hangover after I finished this one – and that doesn’t happen to me all that often. See my review.

 

Circe by Madeline Miller
I’m conscious there is rather a strong Greek myth theme running through this list – but that just goes to show how well-written these books are. And this one is a total joy. The protagonist isn’t pretty or charismatic, so finetunes her magical skills in an effort to prevail alongside sneering relations. And then it all goes wrong… Fabulous, layered characterisation of a powerful woman who has endured a shedload of suffering without it being bleak or self-pitying. See my mini-review.

 

Akin by Emma Donoghue
In these days of serial monogamy and blended families, this interesting, unsentimental book drills down into what – exactly – makes up family. Brilliantly executed and thought provoking. See my review.

 

Lent by Jo Walton
This author is one of the finest, most talented writers in the SFF genre today, so I was thrilled when this one came out. Settling in to read it, I was happily engrossed in 15th century Florence – until a THING happens that changes the whole dynamic. Brilliantly written and completely engrossing, if you were to force me to choose a single outstanding read this year – you’d be a cruel beast for doing so and I’d probably never speak to you again – it would be this one. See my review.

 

AUDIOBOOK How To Fight a Dragon’s Fury – Book 12 of the How To Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell
While I’d read a number of these books to the grandchildren, for one reason or another, I’d never reached the end, so when I realised we had the complete series on Audible, I started listening to the wonderful David Tennant’s narration. And then came the end… I was listening to this one with tears pouring down my face, unable to complete my chores. Epic fantasy of this calibre, written for reluctant primary school readers, is a rarity. Review to follow.

 

AUDIOBOOK To Say Nothing of the Dog – Book 2 of the Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis
This quirky, humorous homage to Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat is funny and completely engrossing – a thumping good listen. I loved it and though it isn’t quite as spectacular as her classic, Doomsday Book, that doesn’t prevent it making this list. See my review.

Have you read any of these offerings? What did you think of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts on these books! Wishing everyone a very happy, book-filled 2020…

Review of After You – Book 2 of Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

In July, I finally got around to reading JoJo Moyes bestselling book Me Before You – see my review here. It was a wonderful read, managing to deal with some hefty issues while avoiding any kind of sentimentality. As luck would have it, Himself had ordered this from the library, so I was able to immediately pick up this offering to find out what happens next…

When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started. Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future.

I’ve tweaked the blurb somewhat, as I’m reluctant to lurch into spoiler territory for those of you who haven’t yet read the first book. Again, Lou sprang off the page as a wonderfully vibrant character, quirky and vulnerable without being overly irritating or victimised. And given she is at a very low ebb at the start of this book, this is harder to pull off than Moyes makes it look. I wondered if she could continue to depict the general messiness of family life, or if she would somehow tidy everyone up, as often happens in fiction.

Lou is certainly taken on an amazing journey – to the extent that I wished that maybe some of the events that seemed to mushroom out of the ether whenever she was around would just calm down a tad. However, I felt one of the huge strengths of this story, was Moyes very accurate depiction of blended families – where a second marriage brings in children from first relationships, and they have to acclimatise to a new parent and often, new half-siblings. But what if they find that adjustment really hard? What if they had bonded with the parent who is now no longer in their lives? What happens to them, then? It’s a scenario that Moyes brings to the fore with chilling clarity as Lily bounces into Louisa’s life.

Once more this book gripped me and wouldn’t let go – and while it doesn’t quite have the emotional intensity or the pitch-perfect storyline and balance of characters that makes Me Before You Moyes’ strongest book to date, in my opinion – this book tucks in to be a very close second. If you’re a Moyes fan and were blown away by Lou and Will’s heartwrenching story and haven’t yet picked up this one, reluctant to venture back into this world just in case it simply isn’t good enough – don’t worry. After You is a well crafted, thoroughly enjoyable and funny read with some sharply observed and very pertinent things to say about modern family life.
9/10

Review of The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

One of my students recommended this author, knowing that I am allergic to plain romance – and I absolutely loved The Girl You Left Behind – see my review here. So when I saw this offering on the library shelves, it was a no-brainer that I’d add it to the teetering piles of books by the bed.

One single mum with two jobs and two children, Jess Thomas does her best day after day. But it’s hard on your own. And sometimes you take risks you shouldn’t. Because you have to… One chaotic family – Jess’s gifted, quirky daughter Tanzie is brilliant with numbers, but without a helping hand she’ll never get the chance to shine. And Nicky, Jess’s teenage stepson, can’t fight the bullies alone. Sometimes Jess feels like they’re sinking… Into their lives comes Ed Nicholls, a man whose life is in chaos, and who is running from a deeply uncertain future. But he has time on his hands. He knows what it’s like to be lonely. And he wants to help…

That’s the blurb, more or less – and yes – I know it reads like a bit of romantic fluff. But it really isn’t. Jess cleans other people’s houses and lives on a rough estate, so her children go to the local sink school. And the first chunk of this book is a grim insight into modern Britain where, no matter how determined and hard-working you are – if you happen to live in the wrong place, your children are doomed to a sub-standard education. Heartbreaking enough, anyway. But if they are particularly gifted, or stand out in any way, it’s worse – given that our State education system isn’t geared up to assist clever children fulfil their potential. I particularly felt that that Moyes captured the feelings of sheer bewilderment when a parent is confronted with a brilliant child – especially when said brilliant child has a very bad wobble.

Ed has his own problems and initially it is a testament to Moyes’ writing talent that I didn’t dismiss him as a maladjusted geek who deserved everything he got. Offering to pay off a gold-digging girlfriend isn’t particularly admirable – neither is making constant excuses not to see his terminally ill father. However Moyes managed to make me care about him and his problems sufficiently that I really didn’t want to see him receive a hefty prison sentence.

Never work with children or animals is the advice given to actors – but I also happen to think both of these additions to a book should come with a health warning, as it is easy to write both badly. Does Moyes manage to avoid being sentimental over the soppy, over-sized dog and the children? Yep. You wouldn’t wish that dog on anyone with a working sense of smell – and travelling for several days in car with him is a feat of endurance. No wonder Tanzie suffers so badly from travel sickness…

I’m conscious my description of the book manages to give the impression that it is some worthy, if miserable exposé of being poor in modern Britain. But despite there being times when I had a lump in my throat, there is also a lot of humour – I was grinning through much of the journey to Scotland and more than once laughed out loud. Any book that manages to make me both laugh and come near to weeping clearly has fully engaged my feelings.

Does it all come right in the end? After all, that is the classical definition of a comedy – not a story that is humorous, but one that ends happily. Well, I think it probably does. But this isn’t some unqualified fairy tale ending – I personally would welcome revisiting this particular family some ten years down the line because I have my doubts as to just how well it all works out. But whether you believe they ultimately manage to prevail or not – I recommend you give the book a go.
10/10