Sheli’s favourite reads - 2012

As we have reached the end of the year I thought this was a great opportunity to reflect on my reading year and write a post about my favourite books read in 2012.

I have read a huge variety of books this year and it has been hard to pick out a top ten, but all of the books listed below are books that have stayed with me or affected me during the year, or just sucked me into their world so hard that I didn’t see anything going on around me and had a massive book hangover when I finished!

Have you read any of the below? What were your favourite reads from 2012?

When God was a rabbit – Sarah Winman

Read in January 2012

This was my first read book of 2012 and I loved it! I read it in a few sittings and have sat up for hours this morning finishing it as I just wanted to know more.

The story itself is split into two parts and centres around the life of our narator, Elly and her family.

The story starts in 1968 when Elly is born and takes us through her life until about 2002, taking in major events along the way, both in Elly's life and in the world at large.

Some descriptions in the book I laughed at, and there were some events that made me cry. I really liked Elly and in some ways she reminded me of myself as all through her life she felt an outsider. I was also particularly touched by an event in her life that was a bit close to home for me and gave me an idea of what could have been should the life of another not chosen a different path.

Before I Go to Sleep – S. J. Watson

Read in January 2012

I bought this book from the Kindle store after much deliberating, as although I quite liked the sound of the story from the blurb, I wasn't sure it would be my type of book as I have never read anything like this before.

I am so glad I bought it though as I honestly thought it was fantastic. I was hooked right from the beginning. I liked the style of writing and also the main character, Christine, was really believable and not annoying as I feared she may become as a victim.

I have never been as gripped by a book as I was by this one. I managed to totally block out everything else whilst reading and every twist of the story had me gasping and on the edge of my seat.

A real WOW moment!

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Read in March 2012

I was looking forward to trying this book as I had heard so many good things about it. I was a little apprehensive as it is totally outside of the type of books I normally read and I usually avoid young adult books.

I had a very pleasant surprise with this book.

It is really well written and creates vivid imagery for the reader without being over descriptive. It is fast paced and gripping and accurately portrays the relationships between characters.

I thought that the story itself was really well thought out and I liked that it was a really well rounded story that could be a stand alone as well as part of a trilogy.

The main character Katniss is stuboorn, but very likeable and I think she would appeal to most people in one way or another. Her relationships with other characters are really well described and you can feel her happiness and pain throughout the book.

I definitely recommend this book and have also read the rest of the trilogy this year. This book surpasses the film by miles, so if you like the film, you MUST read the book!

Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh

Read in April 2012

I was recommended this book by a friend as it is one of his favourite books. After hearing that it was written in Scottish, I just had to give it a go.

Trainspotting is one of those books that has gained "cult" status, partly due to the film and I was worried that I would be disappointed. I needn't have worried!

Rather than one story, this book is a collection of short stories about a group of friends living in the less well off areas of Edinburgh in the nineties. It's full of sex, drugs and violence and at some points is quite an uncomfortable read. But despite some of the characters undesirable characteristics, they are all likeable in some way and you want to know more about them.

This is not a book full of gratuitous sex and violence, it addresses a variety of hard topics, including drug and alcohol addictions, rape, HIV, feminism, the IRA situation of the nineties and politics.

This is not a light read and is very dark, but I enjoyed it, despite the bits that made me feel uncomfortable. But, without those uncomfortable bits I'm sure it would not have reached the status it has. I would recommend it if you don't mind reading about harder subjects and how some of the lower working class live. I look forward to reading more of Irvine Welsh's work.

Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters

Read in April 2012

I have read all of Sarah Waters other books, but was hesitant with this one as I was worried that it might be a little bit too risque for me. In hindsight, I wish I had read it sooner.

Tipping the Velvet is just as well written as Waters' other works and the story is a rich tapestry which follows the life of Nancy Astley through many ups and downs in Victorian England. The writing is superb and the imagery from it is great, without being over descriptive. The characters are also very strong and very likeable. I think that characters are a strong point in Waters' books as they are human and you can care about them.

This book is known for it's portrayal of lesbian love in the Victorian era. Most of Waters' other books have a lesbian love theme so I was not put off by this. There are some graphic sex scenes in this book, but I did not feel that they were gratuitous and the writer did not dwell on them. Therefore I feel that this book is just on the right side of the fine line between art and porn!

Tipping the Velvet is beautifully written and shows the seedier side of Victorian England, as well as the hidden side of "forbidden" love that we so very rarely hear about in historical fiction. Sarah Waters is definitely one of my favourite writers and I can't wait to see what she publishes next.

Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch

Read in May 2012

I read this book after I saw that a friend had read it. I quite liked the look of the quirky plot and thought I would give it a go.

The story is about Peter Grant, a young police constable who is about to be placed in his first real posting off the beat in the Met. After some strange happenings in Central London, Peter becomes an apprentice in the wizarding division of the Met and is mentored by DI Nightingale.

The book is an excellent blend of reality and fantasy and is based around the guardians of the rivers of London and murders in the book are based around an early version of the Punch and Judy story. This book is hugely imaginative and unique in concept, yet is on the right side of fantasy for me in that it is still believable. Despite the wizards, ghosts, vampires et al.

The author must have undertaken a huge amount of research into the geography and topography of the area, I was particularly impressed at the inclusion of aquifers in the list of rivers (but this probably only impresses me!). The book is really well written and exciting. Aaronovitch has written for Doctor Who previously and I think this may be a mark of a fantasy writer that I will enjoy. The book is quick-witted and in some places laugh out loud funny.

I think knowing Central London aids the enjoyment of this book, but needn't be a pre-requisite. It is hailed as "what would have happened if Harry Potter joined the polic force", but I think it is so much more than that.

Highly recommended.

The Land of Decoration – Grace McCleen

Read in June 2012

I spotted this book a little while back and managed to get hold of a copy at a reasonable price. I didn't actually get round to starting it though until I had read a review of it on the We Love This Book website.

The fact that I finished this book in just under two days says it all I think. I really enjoyed it and think that it is brilliant, particularly as it is a debut novel.

The book is told from the point of view of Judith, a ten year old girl being brought up by her very religious widower father in an unknown time and place that feels very much like it could be in the South Wales Valleys in the 80s. Judith is confronted with strikes at the local factory, bullying, vandalism and other major events which she believes are being caused by the model town she has made from old rubbish in her bedroom. I really connected with Judith as she reminded me of myself as a child. Even though I wasn't brought up in a religious household I understood her feelings of being an outsider and I used to love making dolls houses and things out of old bits and pieces too.

I would recommend this book as I really enjoyed it and hope that the writer is recognised for this book. I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

Atonement– Ian McEwan

 

Read in August 2012

I started reading Atonement around the time of the film release and just didn’t get it. Last year I decided to give it another go and managed to get hold of a copy on Read It Swap It. I have been looking at it ever since until I picked it up to read last week.

The book is split into a number of parts, each set in a different time or place and told from the point of view of different characters. The first part is set in 1935 at the home of the Tallis family in Surrey, and it is here that we get introduced to the main characters, Briony, Cecilia and Robbie.

Briony is a precocious 13 year old girl who gets into a rage when things don’t go her way and lives in world that is half fantasy. She has great visions of grandeur about herself and seems to get the things in her imagination confused with the real world. Cecilia is her big sister and a university graduate. She seems glamorous and very comfortable with herself, particularly in the scene by the fountain with Robbie. Robbie is the son of the family cleaner and lives in a cottage on their land. He has become something of a project to the girls’father who has paid for his education and has dreams of going to medical college.

I found the first part of the book a little slow, but wonderfully written. Once I had the time to concentrate on it I couldn’t put it down.

My favourite parts of the book were the parts set in the wartime era. We followed Robbie as he was evacuated from France via Dunkirk in the D-Day landings. This section of the book was heartbreaking and really made you think of the horrors faced by the young men fighting in both of the World Wars. The next part of the book was set in wartime London and gives the reader a different view of the home front and the jobs that women undertook.

Overall, I really loved this book and once I had got into it, couldn’t put it down. It is beautifully written and really pulls you into the world of the characters. I think the story will stay with me for some time and I am extremely glad that I gave it a second chance. A fantastic book.

It’s Kind of a Funny Story – Ned Vizzini

Read in August 2012

This book is a must for anyone who has any interest in mental health issues.

This book is a funny, yet horribly sad insight into the mind of a teenage boy suffering with depression and how he deals with it. I thought that this was really well thought out and sensitive without glamourising the illness in any way. I was also interested to read that the author wrote this book after spending time in a mental health unit himself so I would imagine that this reflected his own experiences.

I would definitely recommend this book. It is written in a very easy going style, yet really gets the tone of the story over, whilst also reflecting the hardships faced by teenage boys (and teenagers in general) without having the added burden of clinical depression.

Sweet Tooth – Ian McEwan

Read in October 2012

I was desperate to read this book when it was published earlier this year and when I finally got my hands on a copy I was not disappointed. It was my second ever McEwan and also the second book of his to make it onto my favourites list!

It is the story of a young girl recruited to the British Security Services and gets sent on a mission, Sweet Tooth. However, although I really enjoyed the secret agent aspects of this book, I think Serena’s relationships with others are captured beautifully and are really the triumph of the book.

I was a little worried that as this was a book told from a girls point of view, but is written by a man. I really think that McEwan did an amazing job of this though as I did not feel that it felt masculine in any way. Serena was a really likeable character, and I felt something of an affinity with her and her reclusive, bookish ways.

This book is a love story, a thriller and a brilliant book about books. It really captures Serena’s loves in a sensitive, but realistic way, has some great detail about her time in Mi5 and also had some great literary references that laid out the map of her life.

I absolutely loved this book and found it difficult to put down. I will definitely be seeking out more of McEwan’s work.

Elaine's Top Ten Reads of 2012

2012 has been a great year in my reading life.  It's the year I rediscovered my real love of reading.  It's the year I faced down a few book demons and it's also the year I discovered Goodreads and fully accepted my book geek self.

So with all that in mind, it's only natural I've read some pretty impressive books in 2012.  In no particular order, here's my top 10:


Title: North & South
Author:  Elizabeth Gaskell

Despite my love of 'the classics', I'm ashamed to admit that until this I had never picked up anything by Elizabeth Gaskell.  Now I have, I can only regret not doing it sooner.  To have this book in my life is an honour and an honour I intend to revisit many many times.

Set in industrial England, this is ultimately a novel about conflict and rebellion.  It is brimming with religious and social commentary that holds to this day.  

Gaskell's prose is just sublime.  Her writing is thoughtful and in parts, simply beautiful.  Her characters feel very real and very modern.  John Thornton is quite probably one of the best literary heroes ever created.

If you pick only one book from this list of mine to read., I urge you to make it this one.  North & South has easily taken it's place in my top 3 reads of all time.  Shame on me for not finding it sooner.

Title: Atonement

Author: Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan is an author I have ambivalent feelings toward. I have loved his work, hated his work and found it totally average. So, you understand why I picked this up with rather conflicting expectations. Thankfully though, this is one of the good ones. More than that in fact, it's one of the great ones!

Every word in Atonement is right. It's so wonderfully thought through. The narrative flows at exactly the right pace and the characters are fabulously sketched.

One of the most evocative & considered books I have read in many years. Atonement is not only one of my favourite reads in 2012.  It's one of my favourite reads ever.

Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness

This is actually a children's book but I was drawn to it because of the absolutely stunning artwork and I had heard some interesting things about it.

Its young age group aside, this book is harrowing, dark, sad, but most of all, moving. This book actually made me cry (which is very rare if not a first).

It's the story of a young boy who's mother is dying of cancer. A monster begins to visit him nightly in order to force him to acknowledge the truth about his situation.  This really is an excellent, simple and important look into the horrible, complex and very confusing loss of someone close to you.

Title: Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies

Author: Hilary Mantel

Two books for you this time you lucky things. 

Not only are Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies two of my top reads this year, but Bring up the Bodies is also the first book to ever be reviewed on this blog! 

So, why are these books so good? Set in the court of Henry VIII and told from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell (a figure so firmly in the midst of this most fascinating eras, yet so little is actually known about him.  Add to that, that history maintains he's the villain of the piece despite this lack of knowledge),  Mantel manages to offers us a very fresh look at this, a story that is so familiar to many of us. 

  
Having, regrettably, listened to Wolf Hall on audiobook, I was determined to do Bring Up the Bodies justice by holding it in my hands and savouring every word. It didn't let me down.

There really is something truly astonishing about Mantel's version of events. The narrative is just hypnotising and her characterisation so on point that I've rarely (if ever) felt I know a fictional character the way I feel I know Mantel's Thomas Cromwell.

Grab yourself a copy of Wolf Hall and next week you"ll be buying Bring Up the Bodies, I assure you. Enjoy.

I'm rather jealous I can't read it for the first time over & over again. 

Title: The Blind Assassin

Author: Margaret Atwood

The Blind Assassin is a piece of art.

A novel within a novel.  Both fictional auto-biography and pulp science fiction.  There really is no easy way of describing it, apart from, impressive!  Atwood is a genius in my mind.  She manages to weave these two narratives into a tale so brimming with tension and emotion it's unbearable at times. The writing is divine.  Almost every sentence in this novel is quotable. 

Halfway through this (rather large book) I began to regret that it would ever end.  I even considered stopping halfway through and starting it again to prolong the pleasure.  Tantric book reading ladies and gentlemen, give it a go ;-)

Title: The Sisters Brothers

Author:  Patrick deWitt

I will hold my hands up and say that while this is not the type of book I would normally pick up, that magnificent cover and Booker hype caught my eye and boy am I glad they did.

Funny, touching and so sharply narrated I couldn't put it down. Very short, snappy chapters pull you along and the characterisations are spot on.  

An homage to the classic Western, The Sisters Brothers follows the last job of two henchmen in 1850's, gold rush America.  According to it's only writeup, The Sisters Brothers "beautifully captures the humour, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love".  What's not to love?

Title: Finishing the Hat

Author: Stephen Sondheim

The Collected Lyrics, 1954 - 1981, with attendant comments, grudges, whines, and anecdotes of Stephen Sondheim, this is a book for die-hard Sondheim fans, budding lyricists or lyric aficionados only.  

With the lyrics to all his shows between 1954 - 1981 as well as many additional tidbits,  this is a fascinating and poignant insight into the most talented man in musical theatre.
  

Sondheim appraises his own work and dissects his lyrics, as well as those of others, offering an unparallelled insight into songwriting.  

Simply mindblowing.

Title: Ragnarok

Author: A.S. Byatt

It's no secret that A.S. Byatt is one of my favourite authors.  Her writing takes my breath away and Ragnarok is no exception.  Part of the Canongate Myth's series, Byatt takes the ancient Norse legend about the end of the world and makes it current. 

It's no surprise that Byatt would be part of this project.  Almost all Byatt's novels are infused with myths and history.  In fact in her most famous novel, Possession, Byatt's fictional poet, Randolph Henry Ash writes a poem titled "Ragnarok".

Another interesting and rather emotive decision by Byatt was to tell the story from the point of view of herself, as a child, in the Second World War.  A move that makes the tale intensely close to home.  

More fascinating than the tale however is Byatt's afterword.  Byatt seizes this opportunity to draw parallels between the tale and our own battle with climate change.  To steal a line from my friend's blog post: 

"It is an excellent piece of writing, and she drew an interesting exegetical point from it - that the gods knew Ragnarok was coming, but they didn't have the imagination to avoid it. The parallel between our current culture's collision course with catastrophic climate change is thought-provoking."

Also, the hard back version of this book has been very beautifully published.  Canongate really should be given credit for such a fabulous series of books and the care that has been put into them.

Title: The Magic Toyshop

Author: Angela Carter

There's only one thing better than a good book, and that's a good book that introduces you to a brand new author.  Angela Carter may well just be my new obsession.  

Carter's writing is at times, exquisite and at times, harrowing.  This has all the elements of a fairy tale but goes much deeper than that.  Sex, feminism and incest all get a look in.  This book is both claustrophobic and liberating. 

The ending is abrupt and a little jarring because of that.  With hindsight though, what else was there left to say?

I have had many other great reads in 2012 but these's are the ones that have stuck in my mind and that I revisit most often.  I also enjoyed many fabulous re-reads of some of my favourite novels this year but I felt it best not to include them in this list so that this list stands as a recollection of my best NEW discoveries in 2012.  

“The only way you can write the truth is to assume that what you set down will never be read. Not by any other person, and not even by yourself at some later date. Otherwise you begin excusing yourself. You must see the writing as emerging like a long scroll of ink from the index finger of your right hand; you must see your left hand erasing it.” Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

Sweet Tooth

Author: Ian McEwan

Published: 2012

What They Say: Serena Frome, the beautiful daughter of an Anglican bishop, has a brief affair with an older man during her final year at Cambridge, and finds herself being groomed for the intelligence service. The year is 1972. Britain, confronting economic disaster, is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism and faces its fifth state of emergency. The Cold War has entered a moribund phase, but the fight goes on, especially in the cultural sphere. Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is sent on a secret mission codenamed Sweet Tooth, which brings her into the literary world of Tom Healey, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories, then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage - trust no one.

What Sheli Says: I was desperate to read this book when it was published earlier this year and when I finally got my hands on a copy I was not disappointed.

It is the story of a young girl recruited to the British Security Services and gets sent on a mission, Sweet Tooth. However, although I really enjoyed the secret agent aspects of this book, I think Serena’s relationships with others are captured beautifully and are really the triumph of the book.

I was a little worried that as this was a book told from a girls point of view, but is written by a man. I really think that McEwan did an amazing job of this though as I did not feel that it felt masculine in any way. Serena was a really likeable character, and I felt something of an affinity with her and her reclusive, bookish ways.

This book is a love story, a thriller and a brilliant book about books. It really captures Serena’s loves in a sensitive, but realistic way, has some great detail about her time in Mi5 and also had some great literary references that laid out the map of her life. There are also a number of stories within this story, each more weird and wonderful than the last.

I absolutely loved this book and found it difficult to put down. I will definitely be seeking out more of McEwan’s work.

Sheli's Rating: 10/10

Quotes:

 “There was, in my view, an unwritten contract with the reader that the writer must honour. No single element of an imagined world or any of its characters should be allowed to dissolve on an authorial whim. The invented had to be as solid and as self-consistent as the actual. This was a contract founded on mutual trust.”



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