Yeah, that’s kind of a weird list, but I’ve already read so much that I think making a list after the first 3 months of the year kind of makes sense. I don’t know if I will write such an article for every quarter of this year, but if I’m still writing this blog in December I will definitely make a Top 10 of the whole year (and maybe repeat myself there, but if I continue reading that much some really good books won’t make that list and that would be a shame).
You can see this as an extension of my introduceyourself, since I think it might be interesting to people who have read this to know what books I actually like. Or to anyone that is looking for some recommendations or wants to compare their opinions to mine. Don’t worry though, I am already working on a more complex post than just listing books, but I don’t know if I would write it before next week, so you get this one first.
I will exclude the two book series that I’m reading because
a) they would take up to many spaces in this
b) I already talked about the first book in the Wayfarers Series here and
c) I might do a separate post about them someday, who knows.
These are all books that surprised me, either in how good they were or in some other aspect. None of them are from this year and some of them are far from recent, I think I should warn you there.
I have read 40 books from January to March and my top 5 of them are:
#1 Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt
I know it’s unconventional to start with number 1 but I think it’s maybe not the kind of book that you read a full list for.
Probably some of you had to read this in school, since I heard that this is a fairly common school read in English speaking countries, and you might not get my excitement for it. However, I’ve had never heard of it before it was featured in Lost in Adaptation, a youtube format where book and film are compared. The idea sounded interesting (the story of a young girl meeting a family with the secret of being immortal), so I bought a used copy of it and gave it a shot.
Surprisingly, I loved it. Usually, books under 300 pages are too short for me to really get into but with this one it just worked. I was totally surprised that I grew to like the characters as much as I did in such a short time. All of them were so likeable but also interesting and more complex than less than 150 pages usually allow for. The main character Winnie is a believable kid without also being annoying (what rarely happens for me), I cared for the families fate and the little details were very endearing. I never felt like I was reading a book for children because it never handled the topics it discussed in a too simplified way.
The writing was not too poetic, I enjoyed the humorous descriptions and natural sounding dialogs. Babbitt also seems to understand integrating build-up and pay-off without it being obvious to the reader (or at least not to me) that that is even happening. I loved how one small sentence about what Winnie wanted, which I thought was just a side note, came back much later.
If you like the premise and have never read it, please do someday. It is totally lovely and enjoyable and if you don’t happen to like it, at least it’s short. ;)
#2 The Last Unicorn – Peter S. Beagle
I loved the movie adaptation as a child and then kind of forgot about it until recently. It is the story of a unicorn that overhears that it might be the last of it's kind and sets out to find the others.
While the unicorn itself is a fascinating character, being somehow sympathetic but also seeming vain and insensitive at places, what makes the book great are here companions, their personalities and backstories alike. Their relationships and the dynamic between all of them just worked perfectly for me.
Although this book is pretty short, too, my edition having 294 pages, the pages felt filled wisely, providing a lot information, that all seemed relevant, and giving everyone and everything enough space. It also kept a good balance between tragic elements and a good sense of humor.
The various steps on the way to finding the other unicorns were different from each other, what makes for an exiting experience, but also consistent in a way that they didn’t feel disconnected from each other. I especially liked how magic was not only a gimmick in this one but also made the arc for one of the main characters.
If you like fantasy that has also some fairy tale feel to it, then check this one out if you don’t already have.
#3 Little Dorrit – Charles Dickens
Reading some mediocre historical novels made me really want to read some classics again. So, hearing praise for Dickens on the youtube channel Books and Things led to me picking up this book. I was skeptical because of the huge amount of characters that would surely confuse me, and it did, but it was also were worth getting through.
I enjoyed it so much. Dickens not only throws a lot of characters and pages at you but also provides some nice social criticism of his time and subtle humor. The characters, though many, were all very distinct and highly fascinating; by the end I cared for all of them. They were made fun of because of their flaws but still Dickens never encourages the reader to look down on them, which I appreciated a lot.
My favorite thing about this novel, however, is how unpredictable it was. Not because of that many twists, but because it never presented the reader with a strict goal that needs to be fulfilled by the end of it. The characters have goals, yes, but they are small ones that don’t necessarily last throughout the whole book. So I never really knew what would happen next and how things would develope. This was such a breath of fresh air (strange, considering this is the oldest book from this list). In a lot of fiction you can kind of guess how it will play and end straight from the beginning, but not here.
#4 Bird Box – Josh Malerman
I don’t normally read much horror but I heard about this one from so many booktubers, they all seemed to really like it and the premise sounded different and interesting. I expected it to be a pageturner but I did not expect how much I would like it.
It is about Malorie, a single mother of two children stuck in a post-apocalyptic world were you can’t look outside or have your eyes open outside your own house because there is something out there. Everyone who has seen it has gone mad and killed themselves and others.
The book also tells a different part of Malories story that is set when she was pregnant and lived with some other people in the house she lives now alone with her kids.
Both story lines get just enough time dedicated to them. It is great how you know from early on something must have happened but you still are eager to learn how it came to be.
The suspense in this is great, as is the atmosphere, but what really made this stand out for me was the focus on moral. Malorie wondering if she is a good mother even if she trains here children with hard measures to survice, the question about how much more important helping others and improving your own situation is than just being save and not risking that, as well as other interesting thoughts.
For everyone who likes character driven stories, horror stories that work without lots of deaths and gore, and a mystery that has not to be entirely explained at the end, I highly recommend this book.
#5 Radiance – Catherynne M. Valente
Pairing Science Fiction with the old Hollywood, I already knew I would love this book when I heard about it. Being written not as normal prose but in different text forms likes scripts, interviews, diary entries and so much more, reading this was an interesting experience. The plot had elements of a life story / drama, science fiction and small parts of something like a murder mystery, I would probably put it in the genre of new weird (but I’m bad at putting things into genres).
The story of the daughter of a famous Hollywood director, her disappearance and the people around her is told in this alternate universe, where space travel was already far advanced in the beginning of movie making. It is hard to really describe this book. It tells the story in non-chronological order, what can get confusing, but in the end everything can makes sense if you are open to this book.
Valente is often praised for her beautiful way of writing and while in this one is it not allowed to shine as much due to the form, it does show. (I just finished another book of hers, Deathless, and there it is even more apparent).
The way the story is told made me almost believe Severin Unck has been a real person, as the people and there relationships feel genuine and mostly likeable. It also fits well into my view of Hollywood at that time.
If you want to experience something quite different and are open minded considering the strange and unusual, try this book. It’s not for everyone, but I think you can get much out of it and it definitely has a high re-read value.
So...
What books did you enjoy this year so far?
Have you read any of my favourites, if so, what do you think about it? Please let me know.
If you want to know about what else I’ve read you can check out my brief goodreads “reviews” here.