A Year in Books

Before I start posting reviews on the books that I read monthly etc. I wanted to give an overview of what I read in 2018.

I set myself a modest Reading Challenge on Goodreads, mainly with the intention of properly getting back into reading as a hobby, but also reading beyond the fantasy genre. It seems strange that a former English graduate would struggle to read regularly, but here we are… Nevertheless, I successfully completed my challenge, reading 20 books in 2018 and they are as follows:

1. A Clash of Kings – George R.R. Martin
2. Tower of Dawn – Sarah J. Maas
3. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi
4. Why We Sleep – Matthew Walker
5. Runemarks –  Joanne Harris
6. Runelight – Joanne Harris
7. Reasons to Stay Alive – Matt Haig
8. The Gospel of Loki – Joanne Harris
9. Storm Front – Jim Butcher
10. Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman
11. Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
12. The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
13. A Darker Shade of Magic – V.E. Schwab
14. Becoming – Michelle Obama
15. Mythos – Stephen Fry
16. The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters – Adam Nicolson
17. A Gathering of Shadows V.E. Schwab
18. Heroes – Stephen Fry
19. The Tales of Beedle the Bard – J.K. Rowling
20. The Buried Giant – Kazuo Ishiguro

Judging by this list, my preferences are still very much fantasy-oriented, but this list was also compiled based upon my wish to clear out my TBR pile which happens to contain a lot of fantasy works. It is slowly depleting, mostly because I received a fair few books for Christmas, and I have a bad habit of buying more, but I’m sure I’ll get there at some point.

The Goodreads Reading Challenge was highly useful; one of my new year’s resolutions for the last three or four years has been ‘to read more’ but it was more of a vague desire than an actual goal. By setting the challenge, I was able to test and encourage myself into working through the stacks of books on my shelves, and in turn, it reminded me of why I enjoy reading in the first place. My degree was filled with loads of books, some more interesting than others, but that requirement of analysing literature in great depth had really put me off reading for a while. I wanted to be able to pick up a book and not have to worry about hidden meanings, and just enjoy it. Using Goodreads not only helped me do that, but it also gave me a place where I could track my challenge, find new books to read and socialise with other readers.

From last year’s reads I do have a few favourites, those being: Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Stephen Fry’s Mythos, Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology and Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive.

Becoming: Michelle Obama gives an earnest account of her journey from growing up in Chicago, to her life as a lawyer, mother, wife, and most notably her time as FLOTUS. I’d really recommend listening to Becoming as an audiobook if you can. I’ve read very few memoirs but listening to her narrate it made it that much more personal.

Mythos: Another one best enjoyed as an audiobook. I grew up listening to Stephen Fry’s narrations of the Harry Potter books (still do), and this was very much a throwback to that. He employs various voices and accents, making it a very amusing read/listen. Also, if you’re like me and enjoy etymology every so often, you’ll find a good few examples of this throughout the stories. Fry very aptly articulates the capricious nature of the gods and satirises brilliantly their petty and vengeful antics, and this is probably my favourite take on the Greek myths. Plus, there was more mythology in this than in three years of studying Classics at university, and that was a bonus.

Norse Mythology: Until last year, bar a few vague explorations, I was mostly unfamiliar with Norse mythology. As you’ll see above, I delved into Joanne Harris’ Runes series and The Gospel of Loki, and truthfully, by the time I picked up Neil Gaiman’s take on the myths, I was relatively Norsed-out. That said, this didn’t stop me thoroughly enjoying the stories. Gaiman’s writing is phenomenal, and I’m looking forward to reading more of his work.

Reasons to Stay Alive: This was a really important read, especially in an era where we as a society are properly starting to examine and unlearn the harmful discourse surrounding men’s mental health. Matt Haig gives a detailed account of his struggles with depression, his consideration of suicide, and his coping mechanisms for his mental illness. I cannot stress enough how important it is to let men express their feelings, and to dismantle society’s pervasive ‘man up’ attitude. Haig’s book challenges this notion and I can’t recommend it enough.

Needless to say, I have set another reading challenge, this year’s number being 25 books. I hope to surpass it, but if not, 25 seems like a good number to me, with the intention of increasing the number of non-fiction titles on my list.