This was my second full year of getting the bus to work and reading lots, and lots – another 45 books in all. That said, I also did a 100-day walking challenge with work during the summer which shortened my bus journies somewhat. I also read some big books this year. It was the year I finally read Jonathon Strange & Mr Norrell and kind of wished I hadn’t. It was also the year that I finally got hooked on Game of Thrones, although the book, whilst good, was a bit of struggle and left me feeling a bit meh. I also caught up with The Hunger Games, and found it to be a good, well-written book (if disturbing) and not just another Twighlight.
Books to recommend from this year? The Miniaturist, The Fire Sermon, The Gracekeepers, The Lie Tree, and Slade House. From the Indie Camp, give The Boy in Winter’s Grasp, and May Queen Killers a go. And when its finished and published, get yourself a copy of Alice Nuttall’s Sigyn.
- A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
- The Boy In Winter’s Grasp by John D. Scotcher
- The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
- The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
- Gullstruck Island by Frances Hardinge
- Nolander (Emanations #1) by Becca Mills
- A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
- A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin
- Truckers: The First Book of the Nomes by Terry Pratchett
- Equal Rites (Discworld, #3) by Terry Pratchett
- The Collectors: His Dark Materials Story by Philip Pullman
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
- Vixen by Rosie Garland
- The Fire Sermon (The Fire Sermon, #1) by Francesca Haig
- The Muse by Lorna Dounaeva
- The Story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and The Secret History of Wonderland by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
- Bekonscot: Model Village and Railway by Bekonscot Model Village
- Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens by Mick Gill
- Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Tale by Marina Warner
- Hedges (Ladybird Books, Conservation, Series 727) by John Leigh-Pemberton
- Framlingham Castle by Nicola Stacey
- Nurse Matilda by Christianna Brand
- Sutton Hoo by Steven J. Plunkett
- Lavenham Guildhall by Leigh Aston
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
- Sigyn by Alice Nuttall
- Mr Mac and Me by Esther Freud
- The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
- The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
- A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
- May Queen Killers by Lorna Dounaeva
- Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) by Suzanne Collins
- The Asylum by John Harwood
- The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer
- The Girl Savage by Katherine Rundell
- The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell
- The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
- A Winter Book by Tove Jansson
- Slade House by David Mitchell
- Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) by Suzanne Collins
- The White Dove by Lindsay Barnard
- Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak
- Old Pakefield and Kirkley by Elizabeth Freeman
- This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
- Sylvia And Bird by Catherine Rayner
Here’s to another year of reading in 2016, and I leave you with my Christmas book-haul from this year.
