Thursday, December 16, 2021

Pick of the Year, by Catriona

It's been another tremendous year in books. I've read 120, what with still living very quietly and also what with there being nothing I'd rather do. And finally what with spending so much less time browsing and grazing.

Let me explain:

Halfway through 2020, when I discovered I had bought the same book twice (again!), I put my TBR shelves into alphabetical order. Then, for reasons I can't really remember - to take away options paralysis? because some of the TBR had been waiting for years? because the first book looked enticing? - I decided to read them from A-Z too.

Actually, it ended up being from B-Y. I started with Alafair Burke and ended with Ovidia Yu. By the time 2021 came around, I was in the Ds. And last month I started again at A, with Stacey Abrams' WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS.

There are only three books on this list that I've closed and laid aside after 50 or 100 pages, because I was still counting the pages. (That's my reading rule.) I'm sure this is fewer than when I would sicken myself swithering instead of just reading what was next.  (Those three books weren't by anyone I know, who's likely to read this, by the way.)

And there's a book that so very much should be on this list and isn't, it looks like a typo from the Empress of Typos. Or maybe Rachel walked over the keyboard and paused on DEL. But here's the thing: I read Lori Rader-Day's totally brill DEATH AT GREENWAY, last December. Modest cough.

But back to this year. What about a book of the year? Ooft. Impossible. I'd still be here this time next year. Instead I did 13 quickfire BsOTM. I looked at each month's reading (+ the holidays) and picked the one that still made my heart leap. Some months were tough, with multiple books that could have ended up on a BOTY list compiled by another method. November was particualrly awful. I only cheated once. See if you can spot it.

By that method, I ended up with seven crime novels, three general fiction (one historical), two memoirs, a science fiction and a middle-grade mystery.as my favourite baker's dozen of 2021.



Dec 2021

 

THE VANISHING HALF, Brit Bennett

 

MAGGIE AND ME, Damian Barr - coming out and coming of age in 1980s Scotland. I didn't have to come out, and I had a less turbulant childhood by and large, but otherwise this is my world.

 

PAYBACK, Margaret Atwood

 

DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE, Deepa Anaparra




Nov 2021

 

WHILE JUSTICE SLEEPS, STACEY ABRAMS

 

THE PAPER BARK TREE, Ovidia Yu

 

STRAIGHT UP, Cathi Stoler

 

IN FOR A POUND, S.G.Wong

 

WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whittaker - a heart-pounding, heart-breaking, heart-healing psychological thriller/police procedural. Rare case of a book being hyped to the heavens and still being better than I expected.

 

HARLEM SHUFFLE, Colson Whitehead

 

THE PROMISE BETWEEN US, Barbara Claypole White

 

THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE, Richard Osman

 

THE WIFE'S SHADOW, Cath Weeks

 

THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET, Catriona Ward (couldn't have guessed this wouldn't be the choice, But then came Chris Whittaker)





Oct 2021

 

WHEN YOU FIND ME, PJ Vernon

 

THE CITY WE BECAME, N K Jemisin - an impulse birthday present from my husband, because I love New York. I'm in for the other two in this sci-fi trilogy (and that's not something I say every day.)

 

THE BANGALORE DETECTIVES CLUB, Harini Nagendra

 

BROTHER OF THE MORE FAMOUS JACK, Barbara Trapido

 

THE QUEEN AND I, Sue Townsend

 

CONCRETE ROSE, Angie Thomas




September 2021

 

WINTER WITNESS, Tina deBellegarde

 

A SPELL FOR TROUBLE, Esme Addison

 

THE PURIFIED, C.F. Peterson

 

JEOFFREY THE POET'S CAT, Oliver Soden

 

BLOOD WILL OUT, Lauren Stoker

 

THE QUIET SIDE OF PASSION, Alexander McCall Smith

 

THE FORTNIGHT IN SEPTEMBER, R.C. Sherriff

 

NESSIE QUEST, Melissa Savage

 

THE WATER'S LOVELY, Ruth Rendell

 

LILIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK, Kathleen Rooney

 

CITIZEN, Claudia Rankine

 

MY SALINGER YEAR,  Joanna Rakoff - NYC again, this time following an intern at JD Salinger's agent's office in the 90s. Gossipy and gorgeous.

 

EAST OF HOUNSLOW, Kurrum Rahman




August 2021

 

RISE AND SHINE, Anna Quindlen

 

I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP, Alan Orloff

 

LAY YOUR SLEEPING HEAD, Michael Nava

 

HOLLY HERNANDEZ & THE DEATH OF DISCO, Richie Narvaez

 

THE HUSBAND'S SECRET, Liane Moriarty

 

HOW TO BE FAMOUS, Caitlin Moran - one of those books you can't believe you haven't read. A barnstorming and hilarious love letter to teenage girls. I wish I'd had this novel when I was one.

 

FOGGED OFF, Wendall Thomas

 

THE KEEPER, Jessica Moor

 

DEVIL'S CHEW TOY, Rob Olson.

 

THE SECRET LIFE OF BOOKS, Tom Mole

 

ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia Manansala

 

ONE OF US IS LYING, Karen M. McManus





July 2021

 

WHAT'S DONE IN DARKNESS, Laura McHugh

 

LITANI, Jess Lourey

 

LITTLE VOICES, Vanessa Lillie

 

RAZORBLADE TEARS, S.A. Cosby - as good as last year's Blacktop Wasteland, with added twists.

 

RUNNER, Tracy Clark - one of my drop everything and read it the day it comes out books. I love Cass Raines, PI.


 

PHANTOM LADY: Hollywood Producer Joan Harrison, the forgotten woman behind Alfred Hitchcock, by Christina Lane

 

ME AND BANKSY, Tanya Lloyd Kyi,

 

QUEERING AGATHA CHRISTIE, JC Bernthal

 

UNSHELTERED, Barbara Kingsolver




 

 June 2021

 

FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, Stephen King

 

CHASER, Dharma Kelleher

 

DERAILED, Mary Keliikoa

 

THE THREE MRS WRIGHTS, Linda Keir

 

SCABBY QUEEN , Kirsten Innes - back in Scotland again. This book is like How To Be Famous x Maggie and Me x Shuggie Bain (from last year). Incidentally one of the few jackets that doesn't look great on my tomato-red kitchen work-top.




(read as a print-out)


May 2021

 

FINDING MY VOICE, Nadiya Hussain

 

THREADS OF LIFE, Claire Hunter

 

THE LONG VIEW, Elizabeth Jane Howard

 

ELINOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE, Gail Honeyman

 

LIKE A SISTER,  Kellye Garrett (Mar 2022)

 

EASY MARK, Shannon Baker - I'm a sucker for Shannon's Kate Fox, Nebraska Sandhills sherrif, and this is one of the best. Good news: Books 8,9, and 10 are coming

 

CIRCLES OF CONFUSION, April Henry

 

SUMMER OF THE BIG BACHI, Naomi Hirahara

 

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED, Mick Herron

 

BITTER RAIN, Shannon Baker

 

PAPER GHOSTS, Julia Heaberlin




  

Apr 2021

 

CHASING JACK Parnell Hall

 

KEEPING LUCY, T. Greenwood

 

THAT AFFAIR NEXT DOOR, Anna Katherine Green - speaking of books I can't believe I haven't read yet. This is the first female sleuth in series fiction, published in 1897.  And it's really really good.

 

BINTI, Nnedi Okorafor

 

MAMBO, MANGO, AND MURDER, Raquel Reyes (Oct, 2021)

 

SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY, MAYBE by Lauren Graham

 

AFTER ALICE FELL, Kim Taylor Blakemore

 

LAST WOMAN STANDING, Amy Gentry

 

NEEDFUL THINGS, Stephen King




  

Mar 2021

 

COTTONMOUTHS, Kelly J. Ford

 

THE HOLLYWOOD SPY, Susan Elia MacNeal

 

WIN, Harlan Coben

 

THE NINJA DAUGHTER, Tori Eldridge

 

THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE, Carolyn Keene

 

THE TREASURE HUNTERS, Enid Blyton.

 

HAD I KNOWN, Barbara Ehrenreich

 

SQUEEZE ME, Carl Hiassen

 

BURNT SUGAR, Avni Doshi

 

I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN, Joanne Greenberg

 

FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON, Janae Marks - another case of "If there had been books like this when I was a girl". This is a sweet and serious middle-grade mystery that I fell in love with.

 

HOLD ME DOWN, Clea Simon (Oct 2021)




 

Feb 2021

 

THE NIGHT HAWKS, Elly Griffiths

 

DEEP INTO THE DARK, PJ Tracey

 

WINTER COUNTS, David Heska Wanbli Weiden

 

THE POSTSCRIPT MURDERS, Elly Griffiths

 

INHERIT THE SHOES, Jeff Cohen

 

TRICKY, by Josh Stallings - from one of Criminal Minds' own. Tricky is gritty and honest about disability, corruption and poverty. It tackles a tough subject with a clear eye and a heart the size of, well, Josh Stallings. 

 

SKIN DEEP, Sung J Woo

 

A GLIMMER OF DEATH, Valerie Wilson Wesley

 

WHEN WE WERE VIKINGS, by Andrew David MacDonald





Jan 2021

 

WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING, Alyssa Cole - starts with gentrification like Rosemary's Baby started with neighbours through the wall. Clever, funny, unsettling and irresisitible.

 

THE POT THIEF WHO STUDIED PYTHAGORAS, J Michael Orenduff

 

THE GREENLEAF MURDERS, RJ Koreto

 

ENGLISH PASTORAL, James Rebanks

 

BITTERROOT LAKE, Alicia Beckman

 

OLIVE AGAIN, Elizabeth Strout

 

WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST DO WHAT YOU WERE TOLD, Jenny Diski.




  

Xmas Hols

 

BLOODLINE, Jess Lourey

 

THE WILD SILENCE, Raynor Winn

 

SUCH A FUN AGE, Kiley Reid

 

THIS IS SHAKESPEARE, Emma Smith

 

HAMNET, Maggie O'Farrell - utter genius. The story of a family in Stratford in the late sixteenth century. Twins fall ill with plague. Judith survives and her brother Hamnet dies. Their mother's life will never be the same again. Oh and the dad's a playwright.

 

RANDOM COMMENTARY, Dorothy Whipple

 

AN ISLAND CHRISTMAS, Jenny Colgan

 

PIES AND PREJUDICE, Stuart Maconie,

 

PINE, Francine Toon

 

THE MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY, Mo Moulton

 

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY, Truman Capote

 

THE LANTERN MEN, Elly Griffiths

 

THE DARKEST EVENING, Ann Cleeves





This is my TBR shelf today. I'll pluck some out for Christmas couch time, but I'm a convert to the A-Z reading method overall, so it might be a while before I get to Mohsin Zaidi!


Happy reading if you choose to check out any of my top 13. Happy reading if you don't. Happy Christmas if that's your bag and a Happy New Year when it rolls round,


Cx

4 comments:

  1. I've just ordered from your BOTM list the books I haven't read yet. And I found the first two were already in my stack anyway. I really must sort out that stack soon. Or not.

    BTW, THE HOUSE ON THE END OF NEEDLESS STREET is my BOTY choice, period. And a friend sent me a note about this book last week, saying she had never read anything like it and to congratulate my friend Catriona! I told her it was another Catriona.

    Thanks for this list, C. xo

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  2. I not only buy books twice, I buy classical music CDs twice, and would like to promise myself that I'll do the alpha thing in 2022. This is interesting: We both used the word and concept of "heart" describing what we loved about Josh's TRICKY.

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  3. Thank you for growing my already groaning TBR stack. So much great here, We Begin at the End is on my list too. And to find Tricky on this list makes me swell with pride. I love the people in Tricky, and to have other amazing writers embrace them is sweeter than sweet.

    ReplyDelete

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