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Sunday 3 July 2016

My favourite books of the year...so far

Apparently, Friday (1st July) was the halfway point for 2016  - and one can only hope that the second half of 2016 shapes up to be better than the first half. Mind you as the infamous article 50 has yet to be invoked and the US has yet to elect a new president (please God let them learn from the UK and resist the temptation to make a protest vote), there's no guarantee. Well, at least, let's hope the grim reaper is done with beloved celebrities for the time being - actually forget that as well given Caroline "So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" Aherne sadly died yesterday (2nd July).

Anyway, as I've been driving myself nuts (or rather, even more nuts) thinking about the consequences of flipping Brexit, I've decided to focus on something much more positive - books I've really loved this year. So, in chronological order (first to last) here are my six favourite books that I read in the first half of this year*. As I need to get my tea (dinner if not from the North/The Midlands) on, I am going to be lazy and just put a link to the relevant GoodReads review:

1. A Painful Gift: The Journal of a Soul with Autism by Chris Goodchild
Disclaimer: Chris is an elder at my Quaker meeting, so the review is probably biased because I was predisposed to like the book. But, that doesn't mean the book isn't worth reading. 

2.  A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
A "sequel" that's as good as the original

3. All My Friends are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
A totally random, bonkers book that I discovered through the 1book1review BookTube** channel.

4. The Long Way to a Small, Angry, Planet by Becky Chambers
You'd think a self-published Sci-Fi novel would be absolutely dire. It isn't. It really, really isn't. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

5. Sally Heathcote: Suffragette by Mary M Talbot et al
Proof that graphic novels can be so much more than "comic books"

6. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Was enjoying it so much that I delayed finishing it just so I could savour it. Actually, as I've only just finished it today, I am reluctant to start reading something else because I doubt I would love it as much!

Honourable mention:
1. Reader, I married him by Tracy Chevalier (editor)
Although I gave it three stars*** (that means see note below; it's not me demonstrating what three stars look like), this book will always retain a special place in my heart because it was given to me by a friend - who even took the trouble to send it to my hotel when I was working at a conference.


* = Of 20 I've actually read. I am not just listing the books I've read!
** = A BookTube channel is basically a YouTube channel that focuses on books
*** = Three stars, according to GoodReads, means you "liked it" as opposed to four stars ("really liked it") or five stars ("it was amazing"), However, as I tend not to finish books that I rate two stars ("it was OK") or one star ("I did not like it"), three stars is the lowest rating I give.

For more of my GoodRead reviews, click here

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