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Bookish. Publisher at Louise Walters Books. Reader, writer, and editor.

Friday 9 December 2016

Book Bingo - end of year reading round-up

I can't believe it's December again already. This time last year my family and I were preparing to move house. We moved on Friday 18th December (after getting the call that morning!) To be honest, we didn't have much of a Christmas last year, so this one will be our proper first Christmas in our new home. Looking forward to it!

I saw this wonderful "Book Bingo" feature on Cleo Bannister's blog. Many thanks to Cleo for agreeing to me doing something similar on here!




I don't quite have a full house... I haven't read a book with more than 500 pages! Nor did I read a book with a number in the title, or a book from the bottom of my TBR pile. 

Here are some of the books I can tick off  the book bingo reading year...

The second book in a series: Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard (second of The Cazalet chronicles). I also read the first one, The Light Years, and I'm looking forward to completing the series, hopefully in 2017. 




A book written by someone under 30: The Girls by Emma Cline - slick and stark, beautiful and horrifying, The Girls is an impressive (if imperfect) debut novel. 

A book of short stories: The Gingerbread Wife by Sarah Vincent. Chilling, mysterious, atmospheric, with a smattering of magic realism. Fabulous collection, and another amazing cover by the talented Jennie Rawlings





A book with a one word title: Damage by Josephine Hart. Beautifully written, and delightfully short (my favourite kind of novel)! Not one wasted word (including the title) in this chilling, outstanding story. 

A book published this year: Midwinter by Fiona Melrose. Unique and lyrical, a wonderful winter read, and another impressive debut. 

A book set on a different continent: Beneath a Burning Sky by Jenny Ashcroft, which is set in Egypt. I could feel the heat in this tense, engaging and beautifully written novel. 






A funny novel: A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Funny, fresh and fantastic. I loved it. 

A book by a female author: I'm going to invert this to a book by a male author. Only one male-authored novel for me this year: Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household. Another short, quick, smart, exciting story. The opening is well worth re-reading as a perfect lesson in how to plunge your reader straight into the (considerable) action. 


All the 46 or so books I've read this year are on my Goodreads page, if you'd like to see my full reading year. 

I acquired a new-to-me Kindle this year (thanks to my talented friend Isabel Costello) and of course my first read on it was Isabel's wonderful Paris Mon Amour. This is a novel I hope gets the attention it deserves in 2017. 

Last but not least, I had the great pleasure of reading Louise Jensen's debut The Sister. 

(This is the cake version)


Louise was my first mentee via the fabulous WoMentoring Project, and it's wonderful to see her success with The Sister.


Thank you to everybody for reading my blog this year, for chatting with me on Twitter, and for following my self-publishing adventures. I am so looking forward to March, when A Life Between Us will be published.


I hope Father Christmas brings everybody some wonderful bookish presents. 


Merry Christmas! 
















  





2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for my mention in this superb reading bingo full of a wonderful selection of books!

    ReplyDelete