1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,980 Hi everyone, I'm here today to talk to you about my favourite books of 2019. 2 00:00:04,980 --> 00:00:10,019 According to Goodreads I read 103 books last year but that's not quite accurate 3 00:00:10,019 --> 00:00:13,019 because it was my last year judging the Somerset Maugham Award 4 00:00:13,019 --> 00:00:18,029 so I think I read about 150 books, there were just some titles I couldn't catalogue 5 00:00:18,029 --> 00:00:22,109 as I was judging the prize but today I've picked my favorite books out of all 6 00:00:22,109 --> 00:00:26,970 of those books, I have 15 here to talk to you about and I've put them in a rough 7 00:00:26,970 --> 00:00:32,129 order. All of the books apart from my favourite book of the year would probably 8 00:00:32,130 --> 00:00:36,719 change places a little bit on any given day but I do have one standout book of 9 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:40,710 2019 that I love love love with all my heart. I will link all of the books in 10 00:00:40,710 --> 00:00:43,379 the description box down below if you would like to go and find out more about 11 00:00:43,379 --> 00:00:46,890 them and I would love to know what your favourite books of last year were in the 12 00:00:46,890 --> 00:00:51,270 comments section down below. So let's go roughly from my least favourite favourite 13 00:00:51,270 --> 00:00:56,190 to my most favourite favourite. Number 15 is this one here called Becoming 14 00:00:56,190 --> 00:01:02,160 Unbecoming by Una and this is a graphic memoir. This book really surprised me and 15 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,090 by that I mean when I was reading it I hadn't realized just how much it had 16 00:01:06,090 --> 00:01:11,189 taken hold of me, how much it got under my skin until towards the end of the 17 00:01:11,189 --> 00:01:16,158 book. I was going to say it's subtle... it's it's not because it's very 18 00:01:16,159 --> 00:01:21,659 unflinching and honest and brutal but the way that it's told is quite subtle 19 00:01:21,659 --> 00:01:26,400 in that it can slowly weave all of these narratives together and it's not until 20 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:30,420 the end that you realise what a magnificent thing she has done. As I said 21 00:01:30,420 --> 00:01:35,369 this is a graphic memoir it's set in 1977, Una is her pen name, she grew up in 22 00:01:35,369 --> 00:01:39,390 Yorkshire at the time of the Yorkshire Ripper. Una had been sexually assaulted 23 00:01:39,390 --> 00:01:43,200 herself though not by the Yorkshire Ripper and she was watching the way that 24 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,460 his crimes were being reported in the press, and there are extracts from those 25 00:01:47,460 --> 00:01:53,460 reports in this book. The narrative surrounding violence against women was 26 00:01:53,460 --> 00:01:58,500 so warped. You think at first that you're getting her personal story but 27 00:01:58,500 --> 00:02:01,770 then as I said it expands into something so much bigger than that — not that her 28 00:02:01,770 --> 00:02:04,560 personal story isn't itself extremely important, 29 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:09,330 it's like she's building her own court case and by the end you can't help but 30 00:02:09,330 --> 00:02:12,310 just stand up and applaud what she's done. If you haven't read this book I would 31 00:02:12,310 --> 00:02:16,150 really recommend it. I have been saying... what I've been saying when I've been recommending it to people is 32 00:02:16,150 --> 00:02:20,190 that I would particularly recommend it to those who enjoyed or wanted to read 33 00:02:20,190 --> 00:02:27,700 the nonfiction book Five about the women who Jack the Ripper murdered, which I 34 00:02:27,700 --> 00:02:32,399 want to get to in 2020, because I think both of these books set out to do a 35 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,049 similar thing, just in a very different way. 36 00:02:35,049 --> 00:02:38,860 The next book on my favourites list is this one here called Lullaby by Leila 37 00:02:38,860 --> 00:02:43,540 Slimani and this is translated from the French by Sam Taylor. This one I'm 38 00:02:43,540 --> 00:02:50,078 including in my favourites because it is very beautifully written, it is a subtle 39 00:02:50,079 --> 00:02:55,629 crime/thriller and you really get inside the head of this nanny. It's more a 40 00:02:55,629 --> 00:03:00,280 character study with very deeply disturbing... I was going to say undertones... 41 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,799 overtones, I suppose? If you'd like something like 42 00:03:02,799 --> 00:03:06,790 the Dumb House by John Burnside, which if you've been here a while you know I do, 43 00:03:06,790 --> 00:03:11,500 then you'll probably enjoy this, as well. Miriam is a French Moroccan lawyer 44 00:03:11,500 --> 00:03:15,489 and she decides to go back to work after having two children and she and her 45 00:03:15,489 --> 00:03:19,359 husband find this woman, Louise, who will look after their children 46 00:03:19,359 --> 00:03:24,579 and at the beginning we read about Louise murdering these children. This 47 00:03:24,579 --> 00:03:28,840 book is about the lead-up to that, as I said it is a character study, it's about 48 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:35,739 what Louise is thinking and I just basically inhaled this book. There are a 49 00:03:35,739 --> 00:03:40,150 few things that I think made me love this book even more; I have read other 50 00:03:40,150 --> 00:03:45,250 books that Sam Taylor has translated and adored them. I think if you're a 51 00:03:45,250 --> 00:03:50,290 translator you also need to be a fantastic writer as well and Sam Taylor 52 00:03:50,290 --> 00:03:54,760 is definitely that. I think I had also read this at 53 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,980 just after I finished watching Killing Eve which I loved and maybe I transferred some of 54 00:03:59,980 --> 00:04:04,690 my love into this book. It's so hard to work out why we end up loving a certain 55 00:04:04,690 --> 00:04:08,829 thing, sometimes the stars just align and it's a bit of a perfect time 56 00:04:08,829 --> 00:04:12,160 to be picking up a book and I think that's the case of this one. It also 57 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:17,649 started my love of reading crime / thrillers. I read a lot of them after 58 00:04:17,649 --> 00:04:21,548 reading this, and I went out I think it was it was 59 00:04:21,548 --> 00:04:25,840 maybe not the next day but the day after that to buy her next book Adele [and read it that day] because 60 00:04:25,840 --> 00:04:29,138 I needed to read more of her writing. It's not my favourite favourite book of 61 00:04:29,139 --> 00:04:34,030 the year but I think it definitely deserves a space on this list. Next on my 62 00:04:34,030 --> 00:04:36,549 list we have Fleche by Mary Jean Chan, and 63 00:04:36,550 --> 00:04:40,180 this is a poetry collection. Mary Jean Chan grew up in Hong Kong and 64 00:04:40,180 --> 00:04:45,460 now lives in London. The title of this book is a homonym, so in French fleche is 65 00:04:45,460 --> 00:04:49,780 a move that's used in the fencing that is quite aggressive, but obviously it 66 00:04:49,780 --> 00:04:53,198 also sounds exactly like the English word flesh, and a lot of this collection 67 00:04:53,199 --> 00:04:58,870 whilst touching on fencing and also arguing and fighting is to do with the body and 68 00:04:58,870 --> 00:05:06,880 queerness. It is the meeting point of all of these things, and it's also about 69 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,699 being bilingual, as well, and I mean that in two different senses: the literal 70 00:05:12,699 --> 00:05:17,139 sense, so speaking Chinese and also speaking English, and speaking those 71 00:05:17,139 --> 00:05:22,270 languages in different areas of your life, and she uses Chinese letters 72 00:05:22,270 --> 00:05:25,780 throughout this collection to illustrate that in a similar way to Raymond Antrobus 73 00:05:25,780 --> 00:05:30,070 using British Sign Language in his collections The Perseverance but it's 74 00:05:30,070 --> 00:05:34,240 also about speaking and navigating different forms of language with regard 75 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:39,070 to who you are, so being in a space where you can talk about being queer with 76 00:05:39,070 --> 00:05:42,880 people who accept you and then being in a space with people who either don't 77 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:49,330 know you're queer or who do but are not okay with it. So many poems in this stood out 78 00:05:49,330 --> 00:05:53,500 for me and I have made a video where I have dissected one of my favourites so 79 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:56,500 I'll link that in the description box down below. This is a stunning collection 80 00:05:56,500 --> 00:06:02,530 and I urge you to pick it up. Next on my list I have two that kind of go hand in 81 00:06:02,530 --> 00:06:07,359 hand, even though they're very different I just wanted to highlight one 82 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:11,110 Persephone book because I had fallen in love with reading them 83 00:06:11,110 --> 00:06:15,250 again this year. I didn't love every single one that I read but I 84 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:18,970 particularly loved these two and I couldn't choose which one to mention as 85 00:06:18,970 --> 00:06:22,610 a representation of all of them so I'm going to mention 86 00:06:22,610 --> 00:06:27,110 both. This is Doreen by Barbara Noble. It is about a young girl called 87 00:06:27,110 --> 00:06:31,280 Doreen who was evacuated during the Second World War and it's about the 88 00:06:31,280 --> 00:06:34,698 relationship she has with her mother who stays behind in London as a cleaner and 89 00:06:34,699 --> 00:06:38,509 the couple that she was sent to in the countryside, who always wanted to have a 90 00:06:38,509 --> 00:06:43,370 child and never had one. It almost becomes a bit like a custody battle and 91 00:06:43,370 --> 00:06:47,180 they're vying for her affections in different ways. I'd never read an 92 00:06:47,180 --> 00:06:50,900 evacuation novel like that and to be honest I don't think I'd ever really 93 00:06:50,900 --> 00:06:54,560 considered what that would feel like: moving to somewhere you loved more than the 94 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:59,000 place that you left behind. I just really enjoyed this, it felt like a 95 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,469 warm hug. The second Persephone book that made my list is this one and if you're 96 00:07:03,469 --> 00:07:06,889 confused by me mentioning Persephone that's the publisher, they publish 97 00:07:06,889 --> 00:07:10,279 forgotten classics mainly written by women, I'll link their website down below, 98 00:07:10,279 --> 00:07:13,789 so the second book of those that made this list was Daddy's Gone A-hunting by 99 00:07:13,789 --> 00:07:19,460 Penelope Mortimer. This was set in and written during the 1950s, it's about a 100 00:07:19,460 --> 00:07:23,120 housewife called Ruth who discovers that her 18 year old daughter Angela has 101 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:28,099 fallen pregnant and (Angela) isn't happy about that. It's one of the only books set 102 00:07:28,099 --> 00:07:33,440 during this time and written during this time (that I've read) that discusses abortion in the way 103 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,879 that it is discussed in this novel, in that it should be a viable option for 104 00:07:37,879 --> 00:07:40,940 women, it should be something that they're able to talk about, and it 105 00:07:40,940 --> 00:07:46,759 shouldn't be illegal, which it is in this book. It also discusses the complex 106 00:07:46,759 --> 00:07:51,620 emotions surrounding abortion, so Ruth, the mother, when she felt pregnant with 107 00:07:51,620 --> 00:07:57,229 Angela when she was 16 17, she wanted to have these conversations with people but 108 00:07:57,229 --> 00:08:01,520 nobody would open up and speak to her about it. She doesn't regret having 109 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:06,529 her daughter but she does lament the lack of options that she had. I found 110 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:10,370 this book so refreshing and I would very much recommend it if you're looking to 111 00:08:10,370 --> 00:08:13,789 pick up a Persephone classic. The next book on my favourites list is 112 00:08:13,789 --> 00:08:17,779 Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and this is translated from the Japanese 113 00:08:17,779 --> 00:08:21,979 by Jenny Tapley Takemori. It is the tenth novel by Sayaka Murata 114 00:08:21,979 --> 00:08:25,339 but the first to be translated into English; we will have more of her work 115 00:08:25,339 --> 00:08:30,289 coming in 2020, which I'm really looking forward to. This even though it is small 116 00:08:30,289 --> 00:08:34,400 it is mighty. It is about a woman called Keiko who works at 117 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:39,289 a convenience store and she enjoys working there because she finds it hard 118 00:08:39,289 --> 00:08:44,540 to understand why people act the way they do, and her job literally gives her 119 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:48,709 a manual on how to communicate with people and she finds that extremely 120 00:08:48,710 --> 00:08:54,140 comforting. To Keiko, society is one ever-changing mass, blurry at the edges. 121 00:08:54,140 --> 00:08:59,120 She says that all babies are like stray cats, all people are like cattle. She 122 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:04,250 feels as though she is a piece of society's software that is being 123 00:09:04,250 --> 00:09:08,840 rewritten all of the time depending on who she happens to be interacting with 124 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:14,390 and she calls this "being infected". It's essentially about feeling foreign in 125 00:09:14,390 --> 00:09:17,870 your own country and when Keiko first came across the convenience store and 126 00:09:17,870 --> 00:09:22,670 she saw it all lit up she said it looked like an aquarium, so taking that 127 00:09:22,670 --> 00:09:27,199 imagery and the way that Sayaka Murata talks about the convenience store, we can 128 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:32,180 see how she's using it to show how stores are microcosms of society and 129 00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:38,060 Keiko is our scientist who is studying the society for us and telling us about 130 00:09:38,060 --> 00:09:43,069 it in her own words. I thought that it was wonderful, I know so many people have 131 00:09:43,070 --> 00:09:46,580 read this but if you haven't picked it up it is well worth your time. Next on my 132 00:09:46,580 --> 00:09:51,320 favourites list is Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters. Like with Lullaby and the 133 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:54,740 Persephone books, this is a representation of more than just Tipping 134 00:09:54,740 --> 00:09:59,120 the Velvet, this being on my list is a representation of Sarah Waters as a 135 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:03,290 whole because 2019 was the year I read her for the first time, which sounds 136 00:10:03,290 --> 00:10:08,660 ridiculous now that I say it as so many people had recommended her to me in the 137 00:10:08,660 --> 00:10:12,949 past, so many people talk about her books, she's one of those authors I almost feel 138 00:10:12,950 --> 00:10:17,570 like I have read via osmosis or something because she's talked about so 139 00:10:17,570 --> 00:10:21,710 much, but obviously I had not. This was the first book of hers, I read 140 00:10:21,710 --> 00:10:25,700 three and a half last year, I read Tipping the Velvet, The Paying Guests, Night 141 00:10:25,700 --> 00:10:29,060 Watch and I am halfway through The Little Stranger at the moment, and this 142 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:33,469 is my favourite out of the four. I listened to all of them on audiobook and I would 143 00:10:33,470 --> 00:10:37,100 highly recommend listening to them on audio because they are character driven 144 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:44,180 and atmospheric and quite slow-paced, therefore I think they work very well on 145 00:10:44,180 --> 00:10:47,489 audiobook. Tipping the Velvet is about Nan who is an oyster 146 00:10:47,490 --> 00:10:51,480 girl, she lives in Whitstable with her family and she falls head-over-heels in 147 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:57,450 love with Kitty who is a masher, so she goes on stage dressed as a man, that is 148 00:10:57,450 --> 00:11:01,470 her act, and then the two of them decide to team up and have an act together, 149 00:11:01,470 --> 00:11:06,390 that's the very beginning of the book, they move to London, the novel goes from 150 00:11:06,390 --> 00:11:11,220 there. It's very Dickensian in style, you can predict a lot of the plot that's 151 00:11:11,220 --> 00:11:17,610 going to happen because it's laid out so beautifully, it does feel like you're 152 00:11:17,610 --> 00:11:24,810 reading serialized novel, which is why I say it's quite Dickensian, however this 153 00:11:24,810 --> 00:11:29,189 is everything but I would love from Dickens that I never seem to get, so if 154 00:11:29,190 --> 00:11:33,329 like me you have felt let down by Dickens but you would like atmospheric 155 00:11:33,329 --> 00:11:39,120 Victorian books with great female characters and queer representation here 156 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:44,160 you go, enjoy this book! I loved it. The next book on my favourites list is 157 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:49,410 remarkable creatures by Tracy Chevalier. I also really enjoyed her latest book 158 00:11:49,410 --> 00:11:53,069 which is called A Single Thread which came out in September, so if you haven't 159 00:11:53,070 --> 00:11:55,350 read that yet I also recommend it but out of the two 160 00:11:55,350 --> 00:12:00,089 this was my favorite that I read in 2019. This is a novel about Mary Anning, who 161 00:12:00,089 --> 00:12:04,769 was a real-life person who was born in 1799, she was struck by lightning when 162 00:12:04,769 --> 00:12:08,339 she was little, the person who was holding her died as did the people 163 00:12:08,339 --> 00:12:13,800 surrounding her but she survived and she grew up to be a budding paleontologist, 164 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,339 she discovered some of the most important fossils on Lyme Regis beach, 165 00:12:17,339 --> 00:12:21,990 including the icthyasaur. She sold her fossils to people such as William 166 00:12:21,990 --> 00:12:25,230 Buckland and she wasn't really given credit for her work at all; 167 00:12:25,230 --> 00:12:29,640 by the time her fossils reached the societies or the museums where they 168 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,870 were being displayed she was mostly forgotten about, so this book seeks to 169 00:12:33,870 --> 00:12:37,350 give back the credit that she deserves. 170 00:12:37,350 --> 00:12:41,130 It also examines her friendship with a woman called Elizabeth Philpott who 171 00:12:41,130 --> 00:12:45,870 also enjoyed searching for fossils, it discusses class as well as friendship 172 00:12:45,870 --> 00:12:50,310 and science. What I love about Tracy Chevalier's novels apart from everything 173 00:12:50,310 --> 00:12:55,890 is that you leave having learned so much, though you learn it in a way 174 00:12:55,890 --> 00:13:01,260 that doesn't feel like you're learning... she weaves fact in fiction together so 175 00:13:01,260 --> 00:13:07,020 beautifully is what I mean [laughs] and I applaud that very very much. Next on my favourites 176 00:13:07,020 --> 00:13:11,850 list is an American Marriage by Tayari Jones. This was my favourite novel from 177 00:13:11,850 --> 00:13:15,960 the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist and it was the winner as well 178 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,800 which I was thrilled about. This is a deliberately chaotic novel that will 179 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:24,420 make you feel all of the things. It's about a married couple called Celestial 180 00:13:24,420 --> 00:13:28,229 and Roy. When the book opens they be married about a year, they love each 181 00:13:28,230 --> 00:13:32,100 other very much but they don't have the best relationship, after an argument 182 00:13:32,100 --> 00:13:35,220 Roy leaves the motel room that they're staying in to go and get some 183 00:13:35,220 --> 00:13:39,450 ice, on the way back he discovers a woman who needs his help so he helps her 184 00:13:39,450 --> 00:13:44,040 because he's a decent guy, then later that night that woman is assaulted and 185 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:48,780 when the police come she identifies her assailant as Roy. We know he did not 186 00:13:48,780 --> 00:13:53,730 commit this crime but the police take him away and later the court system sends 187 00:13:53,730 --> 00:13:57,450 him down. This is about what it's like being at the mercy of the racist 188 00:13:57,450 --> 00:14:02,130 judicial system in the States and whilst this novel is set in the present day it 189 00:14:02,130 --> 00:14:06,480 fantastically mirrors the characters and events of If Beale Street talk which is 190 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:11,430 James Baldwin's 1974 novel. The characters make different decisions but 191 00:14:11,430 --> 00:14:15,030 ultimately find themselves in the same place, to highlight how little has 192 00:14:15,030 --> 00:14:19,890 changed in America when we're talking about race and prison. Because Roy is 193 00:14:19,890 --> 00:14:23,640 sent down most of this novel is set with him in prison and it's an epistolary 194 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:28,170 novel, so most of its letters going back and forth between Celestial and Roy. It 195 00:14:28,170 --> 00:14:32,579 is intentionally messy and heartbreaking, it is the book that stayed with me the 196 00:14:32,580 --> 00:14:37,200 longest and moved me the most out of all of the Women's Prize shortlisted books 197 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:42,300 from last year. Next on my favourites list is a book that refuses to conform to one 198 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:48,270 genre, this is Mrs. Gaskell and Me by Nell Stephens. It is in part about Mrs. 199 00:14:48,270 --> 00:14:51,930 Gaskell who Nell is researching and she's talking about a man that she was 200 00:14:51,930 --> 00:14:56,010 in love with outside of her marriage, and it's also her talking about her 201 00:14:56,010 --> 00:15:00,240 researching Mrs. Gaskell and her life, trying to figure out what she wants to 202 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,560 do with her life after her studies, what she wants to write about in general, and 203 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,010 how to reconcile the fact that she's in love with someone 204 00:15:08,010 --> 00:15:13,770 who lives in another country called Max. It is about trying to find yourself, not 205 00:15:13,770 --> 00:15:17,460 just in others, in searching for connections with people who are alive, 206 00:15:17,460 --> 00:15:24,450 but trying to find yourself in history and trying to find the human aspects of 207 00:15:24,450 --> 00:15:31,470 people in an academic way. If you like Sally Rooney I think you'll really like 208 00:15:31,470 --> 00:15:35,250 this and there's something about this that also reminds me of Greta Gerwig, so if 209 00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:39,540 you like those two people then I'm pretty sure that you will love this, I 210 00:15:39,540 --> 00:15:44,040 thought that it was delightful. Another book that was delightful with Elisabeth's 211 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:48,930 Lists by Lulah Ellender and I toyed about where to put this because I read 212 00:15:48,930 --> 00:15:54,750 this very recently and sometimes books either fade away or that you 213 00:15:54,750 --> 00:15:58,530 remember them more vividly after a certain period of time... but I'm going to be 214 00:15:58,530 --> 00:16:02,069 brave and put this in my favorites list because I adored it. This is a nonfiction 215 00:16:02,070 --> 00:16:05,730 book where Lulah is looking at the life of her grandmother who's called 216 00:16:05,730 --> 00:16:11,070 Elisabeth. Lulah was given a book of lists that Elisabeth had written by her mother, 217 00:16:11,070 --> 00:16:15,750 Lulah also had access to Elisabeth's diaries so using both the diaries and 218 00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:19,380 the lists she's written a book about her life, 219 00:16:19,380 --> 00:16:23,820 but like with Mrs. Gaskell and Me it's not just about Elisabeth's life, it's 220 00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:28,290 about Lulah's journey in discovering who Elizabeth was and talking about losing 221 00:16:28,290 --> 00:16:34,110 her mother at the same time that she's discovering her grandmother. Elisabeth 222 00:16:34,110 --> 00:16:39,390 was a fascinating person, she grew up in 1930s China, her father was a British 223 00:16:39,390 --> 00:16:45,390 ambassador, she was shot in the forehead by the Japanese, rescued by a man who 224 00:16:45,390 --> 00:16:49,410 later became her husband, and was a British diplomat, so she later travelled 225 00:16:49,410 --> 00:16:53,459 all around the world, as well. She lived in Rio, she lived in Lebanon, she lived in 226 00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:58,470 Madrid under Franco's regime, she also lived in the UK. It's about her 227 00:16:58,470 --> 00:17:03,810 relationship with her brother which was particularly poignant and devastating 228 00:17:03,810 --> 00:17:09,149 and it's about her mental health, as well; these lists are lists that she made to 229 00:17:09,150 --> 00:17:13,890 try and organize her mind when she felt like she was losing control, as well as 230 00:17:13,890 --> 00:17:17,400 just organizing her life, but it was a coping mechanism for her. 231 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:23,520 This book... I read it in about I think it was just over a day, if I hadn't 232 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,879 desperately needed to go to bed I would have stayed up and finished it, I just 233 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,020 couldn't help but read on and read on, and that doesn't happen so much with me 234 00:17:31,020 --> 00:17:36,930 anymore, often I will read a little bit put it down, during commutes etc, I tend to 235 00:17:36,930 --> 00:17:43,290 read in snippets but this was one book that I couldn't leave for a prolonged 236 00:17:43,290 --> 00:17:47,879 amount of time. Next up was also a book that I read recently and this is Not 237 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,800 Here by Hieu Minh Nguyen and this is the second poetry collection that made my favorites 238 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:58,860 list this year. Not Here is an unearthing and the first poem in its collection 239 00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:04,830 says "I know, I know it sounds strange, climbing inside a boy and crawling out 240 00:18:04,830 --> 00:18:09,449 into yesterday's light" bit that's something that the speaker has to do, he has to go 241 00:18:09,450 --> 00:18:13,890 back and explore all of these painful things in order to, as he says, "become a 242 00:18:13,890 --> 00:18:18,150 braver kind of meet." The main relationship that is discussed in this 243 00:18:18,150 --> 00:18:22,620 book is between the speaker and his mother who is absolutely not okay with 244 00:18:22,620 --> 00:18:26,669 the fact that he is gay, and he's trying to reconcile that hurt with the fact 245 00:18:26,670 --> 00:18:31,590 that he loves her deeply and how painful it is for her to reject that part of his 246 00:18:31,590 --> 00:18:37,110 identity and then for him to say, well, I can't cut you out of my life because so 247 00:18:37,110 --> 00:18:43,199 much of my identity is tied up in who you are. It's grieving for relationships 248 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:48,510 of all different kinds and it's also about people that he's lost literally, as 249 00:18:48,510 --> 00:18:53,100 well, there is a devastating line in one poem that says "your funeral was like a 250 00:18:53,100 --> 00:18:59,520 party you forgot to attend, it wasn't the same without you." I found this book so 251 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:03,810 incredibly moving and I would very much recommend it if you haven't read it yet. 252 00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:08,010 The next book on my favourites is actually a series of books and I wasn't 253 00:19:08,010 --> 00:19:13,379 sure where to put them but I'm putting them here because they just have been a 254 00:19:13,380 --> 00:19:18,810 joy to read. They are not the best written books that I read this year but, as 255 00:19:18,810 --> 00:19:24,810 I said they brought me so much joy. This is the Freida Klein series by Nicci 256 00:19:24,810 --> 00:19:29,710 French. Frieda Klein is a psychologist and this is a series of books that 257 00:19:29,710 --> 00:19:33,040 follow... I was going to say a week in her life, they don't, they're named 258 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:36,970 after days of the week but they follow several years of her life. The first one 259 00:19:36,970 --> 00:19:41,020 is called Blue Monday and it's not just about her but it's about her friends and 260 00:19:41,020 --> 00:19:45,040 the people in the police force that she gets to meet. Each book deals with one 261 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:49,810 particular case but there is an overarching storyline to all of these 262 00:19:49,810 --> 00:19:55,450 books that comes to a head right at the end of the series. They kept me gripped. I 263 00:19:55,450 --> 00:20:00,670 guessed a lot of the twists and turns but not all of them, so they also surprised me, 264 00:20:00,670 --> 00:20:04,540 I think that's what you want in a thriller, right? You want to be able to 265 00:20:04,540 --> 00:20:10,930 guess some of it but you also want to be shocked and I love a good reveal or a 266 00:20:10,930 --> 00:20:16,330 good twist and it had plenty of those. I listened to them on audio, narrated by 267 00:20:16,330 --> 00:20:20,110 Beth Chalmers and I think they work particularly well on audio, so if you're 268 00:20:20,110 --> 00:20:23,350 looking for a new crime/thriller series to sink your teeth into 269 00:20:23,350 --> 00:20:29,020 then please do give them a go. We're down to the final two.Number two on my list 270 00:20:29,020 --> 00:20:33,850 is Spring by Ali Smith, this is part of her seasonal quartet where she's writing 271 00:20:33,850 --> 00:20:39,070 novels that are very of the moment, reflecting our current political climate, 272 00:20:39,070 --> 00:20:43,600 they have different characters but they are thematically linked because of the 273 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:47,830 project that she has set out to do. This one is the third one, you don't have to 274 00:20:47,830 --> 00:20:51,220 read them in order but I would recommend all of them because I think that they 275 00:20:51,220 --> 00:20:56,890 are all brilliant.This particular one is about art, it's about a man who has 276 00:20:56,890 --> 00:21:01,420 recently lost his best friend, it's about how much she loved Katherine Mansfield 277 00:21:01,420 --> 00:21:06,430 and looked into her life and how people had fictionalized her life, so it's where 278 00:21:06,430 --> 00:21:13,150 fiction in fact meet. It's also about borders and refugees, it's about wordplay 279 00:21:13,150 --> 00:21:19,060 and propaganda and how people play with narrative and the power that that holds. 280 00:21:19,060 --> 00:21:22,090 I've done a whole review of this before for TOAST, which I will link in the 281 00:21:22,090 --> 00:21:26,350 description box down below. Because it is a book that's so much about theme 282 00:21:26,350 --> 00:21:30,879 and imagery, I think it's easier to write about it than to speak about it, because 283 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:36,520 plot is not the thing that holds it together. So go and read the review 284 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:42,820 if you would like to understand the book more fully. My favourite book of the is 285 00:21:42,820 --> 00:21:46,090 probably no surprise to any of you and that is Lanny 286 00:21:46,090 --> 00:21:51,459 by Max Porter. I was very nervous to read this because I adored Grief is The Thing 287 00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:56,500 with Feathers so much, which was Max's first book. This is his second and I just 288 00:21:56,500 --> 00:22:02,860 didn't know where he could go from there but it's even better, it's even better 289 00:22:02,860 --> 00:22:05,529 than Grief and that's definitely not something that I 290 00:22:05,529 --> 00:22:09,549 thought I would say going into it because, as I said, I loved Grief so much. 291 00:22:09,549 --> 00:22:13,720 This is about a family that lives in a small town on the commuter belt outside 292 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,669 of London, the dad commutes into London every day, the mother is writing 293 00:22:18,669 --> 00:22:23,830 questionable crime novels that she doesn't want her son Lanny to see, who is 294 00:22:23,830 --> 00:22:28,928 left to run around the village, he loves getting his fingers in the soil, he loves 295 00:22:28,929 --> 00:22:33,490 nature and he's made friends with an artist who lives up the road called Pete 296 00:22:33,490 --> 00:22:38,470 who has started teaching him how to draw ...or actually Pete would say he's not 297 00:22:38,470 --> 00:22:42,850 teaching him how to draw, he's just talking to him about art because he 298 00:22:42,850 --> 00:22:46,928 doesn't think that young boys should be told what to do, he just thinks that they 299 00:22:46,929 --> 00:22:51,730 should be communicated with. Tying all of these threads together is Papa Toothwart 300 00:22:51,730 --> 00:22:56,740 Dead Papa Toothwart, who is a manifestation of everything that he has 301 00:22:56,740 --> 00:23:02,559 ever overheard and everything that he's seen people do, he is the best and the 302 00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:08,260 worst of humanity, this mythical figure that creeps through the village like a 303 00:23:08,260 --> 00:23:12,730 gigantic green man, and he's fallen in love with Lanny, 304 00:23:12,730 --> 00:23:18,549 he loves the way that Lanny talks, he loves his positivity, and as Dead Papa Toothwart 305 00:23:18,549 --> 00:23:24,250 is, as I said, all of the horribleness of humanity, all of its 306 00:23:24,250 --> 00:23:32,320 prejudices all of its pessimism, he is drawn to the innocence of Lanny and wants to 307 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:39,970 feed on it. I read this book in book form first then I listened to it again as an 308 00:23:39,970 --> 00:23:43,390 audiobook, because like with Grief is the Thing with Feathers, this is is set out almost like 309 00:23:43,390 --> 00:23:48,159 a play. The second section of the book is a chorus of voices. I would recommend 310 00:23:48,159 --> 00:23:50,400 reading in book form first but I would recommend 311 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:55,680 revisiting it in audiobook form. I also saw Max and some actors read most 312 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,100 of this book of a South Bank which was a wonderful experience, they had a band, too, 313 00:23:59,100 --> 00:24:02,879 so if that is ever performed again and you can get the chance to go and see it 314 00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,059 then please go and see it. I also reviewed this in full for TOAST 315 00:24:06,059 --> 00:24:08,639 so I'll link my review in the description box down below if you would 316 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,270 like to go and find out... well, basically, if you want to read more about me 317 00:24:12,270 --> 00:24:15,750 gushing about how much I love this book then you can head over to that review 318 00:24:15,750 --> 00:24:21,180 and read more. Those are my 15 favourite books of 2019, as I mentioned they're all 319 00:24:21,180 --> 00:24:23,429 linked down below if you'd like to go and check them out. 320 00:24:23,429 --> 00:24:29,040 Have you read any of these? Would you like to now you've heard me gush about 321 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,580 them in this video? Please let me know in a comment down below and also 322 00:24:32,580 --> 00:24:36,510 let me know what your favourite books of 2019 were as well because I would love 323 00:24:36,510 --> 00:24:39,780 to know. I will be back with another video soon, I hope you're having a great 324 00:24:39,780 --> 00:25:05,500 start to the week, lots of bookish love. Bye!