A new year, a new reading challenge.
In 2022 I turned 57 so I decided to read fifty-seven books for a fifty-seventh year. That went better than expected and I slipped over the arbitrary line I had drawn for myself (here’s The List from 2022).
In 2023, I randomly picked ‘23’ as my target. A slower reading year so I could ramp up my writing. There were some re-reads, light reads, and a belated celebration of Cormac McCarthy in the year that he died. In total, I read 25 books, finishing with ‘Prophet Song’, a hard-hitting dystopian novel by Paul Lynch winner of the 2023 Booker Prize.
So, what of 2024? I’m on a bit of a roll with the leisurely reading; first up I am joining
and a whole community of readers for a slow read of ‘Wolf Hall’. As an avowed ‘non-joiner-in’ of things, I’m genuinely excited at this new approach for me. But I don’t want to limit myself. In parallel, I will be trying to discover an eclectic selection of titles, genres, and subjects. I am hoping to find writers on so I am delighted to have ‘Slim and the Beast’ by to start the year (I’m cheating slightly as I read the first 5 chapters in 2023. No worries, my list, my rules!)."When I think of all the books still left for me to read, I am certain of further happiness"
Jules Renard
#24Books - The List
(I have no idea what I will read before I reach onto the shelf so this list will be added to as the reading year unfolds)
Slim and the Beast (Samuél Lopez Barrantes) - A really enjoyable start to the reading year with a tale of dark secrets, complex characters, and, ultimately, the redeeming power of friendship. At the heart of this story is the dialogue between two young men, as it explores what they are about, what life is about, and what it means to be a man. Beautifully written with what feels like an insider’s knowledge, which takes the reader to the eye of the storm.
Cacophony of Bone (Kerri ní Dochartaigh) - There’s a risk that predetermined reading targets urge you forward, always reaching for the next book. Is there a word for wanting to slow it down; a word that says ‘I don’t want this to end’? I need that word more than ever. This is a stunning book that defies categorisation. There are nature notes, utterly beguiling observations on flora and fauna and ever-present moths, alongside a new life in rural Ireland at a time when our worlds were locked down into tight localities. It is also a memoir, viscerally raw at times, dreamlike at others. This is a book of hope and love, a story of recovery. As a reader, you cannot fail to be drawn into the emotion of the writing, generously - astonishingly - shared by an author whose soaring prose is like long-hand poetry. I just love the way it is structured. Beautiful words I expected. Brilliantly conceived white spaces, the thoughtful pauses they provide, and the lyricism they offer, are a delightful surprise. I wanted it to unfurl forever.
A Thousand Mornings (Mary Oliver) - I always had a bit of a blocker on poetry. Is that a ‘school thing’? Dusty old English teachers forcing dusty old poetry upon recalcitrant youths. Maybe, Coleridge and Wordsworth defined poetry and so poetry wasn’t for me. But Mary Oliver. Now this is joy—words strung like fairy lights, in beautiful order and cadence. Simple moments are reflected in simple words. Gentle descriptions of life. Perfectly in tune with the author’s Instructions for Living a Life - “Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell About It”.
Landlines (Raynor Winn) - This is the third book by the celebrated author of ‘The Salt Path’. At the heart of Raynor Winn’s storytelling is a tale of hope as she and her husband Moth cling to improvements that appear in his health when they walk long distances. This is a touching story of the healing power of nature and the resolve it takes to (quite literally) put one foot in front of another. What simmers under the surface are the changes in landscapes and people wrought by the climate emergency and the post-pandemic mood. Raynor Winn finds words to reflect the changes they witness but also ideas that fuel hope and optimism.
A Year of Marvellous Ways (Sarah Winman) - This is a book of the stories within the story, a tale of the healing power of storytelling. Gentle, richly written, ‘Marvellous Ways’ intertwines Nature and human nature and the love in both. A book to slowly meander through, like the tidal waters around the Cornish community it celebrates.
The Requisitions (Samuél Lopez-Barrantes) - Mighty writing. Powerful thinking and astonishing storytelling. Any book about the Nazi occupation of Poland must explore the depths of human cruelty but the necessarily hard-hitting sections are countered by hope and human kindness, as life is. The way historic and contemporary tales weave in and around one other is compelling; such an imaginative approach. Apart from a short pause at one stage to ‘take stock’, I raced through this outstanding book.
Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel) - A guided read with Simon Haisell. So, for a handful of weeks, I managed to stay disciplined, matching the slow-paced schedule set out by
and then the reality bit. This is a very tricky book to amble through. Thomas Cromwell, in Hilary Mantel’s hands, is a fascinating character, brought to vivid life as he manoeuvres into a position of influence in the Court of Henry VIII. I am no historian and I spent my school years railing against stale history lessons. If only there had been teaching like this; stories, intrigues, and beliefs all adding colour to a period that shaped England’s religious and international relationships for the centuries that followed. A beautifully written book, a compelling page-turner. It is a wonder that it has taken so long for me to give it a go.Auschwitz (Laurence Rees) - Not an easy read, but nor should it be. Inspired by ‘The Requisitions’, I was compelled to learn more about how human cruelty can somehow be woven into administrative normality. Rees weaves intellectual rigour around the toughest of stories. The individual episodes are necessary micro-examinations of the human impact of large-scale macro behaviours. Chilling reminders of a past we must fear becoming our present.
Nemesis (Jo Nesbo) - Hard-drinking police inspector Harry Hole is good at his job and increasingly troubled by life. When he finds himself implicated in a crime, he has to dig deep to try and claw his way out of trouble, using whatever means possible to prove his innocence.
In The Blink of an Eye (Jo Callaghan) - Crime novels often pair up investigators whose approaches differ; the challenges of police work are ramped up by the friction this creates. In this case, as young men begin to disappear and the links between the crimes look flimsy, an experienced police officer and her AI counterpart seek ways to work together. At stake is the future of policing. But right now, this crime is getting too close to home.
Not The End of the World (Christopher Brookmyre) - Brookmyre is a Scottish crime writer whose books lean heavily on dark humour and strong plot lines. This, his third novel, was the first to be set wholly outside Scotland, though a central character, Steff Kennedy, offers some familiarity for the writer and readers to lean on. Los Angeles becomes a melting pot of B-movie pedlars of low-grade filth, Christian fundamentalists, and a world-weary cop trying to solve a series of seemingly unrelated mysteries. A slow burner that gathered pace as the plot unfolded until it became quite the page-turner.
The Other Half (Charlotte Vassell) - there’s always a slight risk that these reading lists can turn into a collection of what the reader feels they should read; worthy tomes, literary classics, books that deal with the great modern dilemmas of the age. But what about curling up in bed at the end of the day with a cast of vacuous souls from the modern age of influencers and the over-wealthy? What about slicing in an interesting collection of police officers and several shady plotlines? This debut novel is a highly readable canter through a world we see as we doom scroll through our chosen social media feed, with a highly plausible ‘whodunnit’ at the heart of it. Great fun.
The Creative Act (Rick Rubin) - currently reading
Solo (Jenny Tough) - planned re-read
Mountains of the Mind (Robert Macfarlane) - planned
Piercing the Veil (Ben Kerschberg) - planned
Oh many titles I’ve never heard of here! I’m currently also on the wolf hall train ✨ on the side I’m trying to read my way through my huge unread pile - it’s kinda of exciting discovering what is on my own shelves
I will never get through all the books I want to read ... I might take a leaf out of your book (see what I did there) and make a list for myself. Right now I'm slow reading Book 2 of War and Peace; from your list, I've read Wolf Hall (and the other books in the trilogy), loved A Year of Marvellous Ways, want to read Mary Oliver's works and I've made a note of a couple of others to read.
Along with the slow read, I'm reading Wintering by Katherine May (wow) and The Way of the Fearless Writer by Beth Kempton. I'm listening to ... and this might sound weird, the audio book of my book Wildflower, because I wanted to hear the audio for myself. The narrator has done a wonderful job and I'm thrilled with it.