What I Have Read In 2017

One of my new years resolutions for 2017 was to read 25 books within the year. And, unlike my other promises to myself, such as ‘wear cool clothes’ and ‘get fitter’ (which I have actually regressed from last year), this one I completed and further, reading 36 books! For 2018, I want to try and break the twenty-five minimum again, so if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know. For now, have a little browse of the rainbow I recommend for you!

1. May we be Forgiven by A M Homes

2. The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson

  Sometimes fiction just isn’t enough: we need to know things actually exist to really get into it. Ronson’s humorous and titbit-style writing is so engaging that I would consider this book a moderately easy, pleasant read (even though it is about psychopaths).  If you are interested in the inner workings of people with controversial emotions – or lack of – this is definitely a paperback to pick up. This book was also the reason behind one of my Creative Writing A Level coursework pieces, Apes (which you can read here https://helenaquainton.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/apes-coursework-piece-14.html ). If you find this a fascinating read, and end up reciting snippets of information across the dinner table like I do, I highly recommend Ronson’s other books, such as So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.

 3. Confessions of a Sociopath by E M Thomas

 4. The Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida

 5. The Great Gatsby by Scott F Fitzgerald

 6. Memories of a Porcupine by Alain Mabanckou

 7. The Gathering by Anne Enwright

 8. In Search of the Missing Eyelash by Karen McLeod

 9. Thirteen Ways if Looking by Colum McCann

 10. Notes from a Small Island by the Bill Bryson

 11. Good Bones by Margaret Atwood

 12. The Time Keeper by Mitch Alborn

 13. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

14. This Modern Love by Will Darbyshire
    Discovering Will Darbyshire only a week or so before ordering his book on YouTube, I could already tell this was an artistic individual who fuelled his beautiful cinematographic videos with deep emotion and hours of crafting: just the kind of person I want to be! So, purely on his personality alone, I ordered This Modern Love, and I am so glad I did. It comprises of love letters from people all around the world to their crushes, partners and exes, on five main topics. Well, from stumbling onto my blog for even a minute, it is abundantly evident that I am a hopeless/hopeful romantic and love-letters are something I pray will come back. I feel this is a little collection I will keep flicking through now and again for inspiration, and for a little emotional-charge. Recommended for anyone in love, out of love, just loved and just love.

15. Almost Adulting by Arden Rose

 16. Golden Years by Ali Eskandarian

 17. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
     One of our Creative Writing tasks was based on a section from Middlesex and by the end of the school day, I wanted to order the book. This is the story of a hermaphrodite, but without the ruthless science, or immature description. Eugenides puts such vivid information, as well as a complete and rounded storyline into his novels that when you finish one, it feels like you have read three! I loved his writing so much, I started The Virgin Suicides as soon as I had arrived back into the UK from my holiday. Middlesex is a ‘meaty’ book, so was perfect for bringing on holiday as I did, and interesting for anyone who doesn’t want to scan over the same storylines over and over and over again, which the usual holiday reads entail.

18. The Ice Twins by S K Tremayne 

19. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 

20. Moving by Jenny Eclair
     What impresses and fascinates me about novelists is the way each section of their story fits together, like a laser-cut jigsaw. How do they even begin such a mountain of planning? However it is done, Éclair is clearly the pioneer at the very peak of said mountain, because each character in this story has a purpose, and they all come together to create a stimulating read. Popular with mums, and should be given more spotlight for teens, because it is a ‘grown-up’ book without pointless romance and pedestrian plots.

21. Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill 

22. The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe 

23. Whitsun Weddings by Philip Larkin* 

24. Those we Left Behind by Stuart Neville 

25. The Girls by Emma Cline* 

26. Withnail and I screenplay by Bruce Robinson* 

27. How Not to be a Boy by Robert Webb
    It must have been quite comical for fellow Tube-riders to see a girl reading Robert Webb’s new autobiography right under the poster for said book at the Tube station, but the quiet hype crept up and I know why. Boys and feelings are like chalk and cheese; it’s illegal if a boy cries didn’t you know? I love emotional energy, and to know I am not the only one who is a sloppy soppy mess, so to read of emotions through a repressed boy’s eyes is really exciting. To use up even more clichés than it should say on the tin, I can honestly say I could not put the book down (well, until I had to run off the train for school). I recommend to all who like a biography that isn’t mundane, and actually means something. People laughed, people cried, people loved. I love too. 

28. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood 

29. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

30. Secrets of the Mad by Dodie 

31. 1984 by George Orwell
    After studying Russian history for A Level, as soon as I began to read Orwell’s acclaimed novel, I understood the echo of a past of complete oppression and fear under leaders like Stalin. 1984 imagines what would happen if even our thoughts were controlled by the government, under ‘Big Brother’ (ring a bell?) As soon as you reach the end, you realise how cleverly Orwell structured this book, as well as appreciate that he created a whole language and rules for it! Recommend to history fans, and those who need to read more classics (me). 

32. Duchess of Malfi by John Webster* 

33. The Merchant’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer* 

34. Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

35. The House of Journalists by Tim Finch

36. Dracula by Bram Stoker* (currently reading)

* I read these for English A Level coursework, but they are still books, and I still read them, so they count!