It's mid-way through January, and I suspect many a resolution has already been broken if not actually forgotten. At the beginning of the year, I like to think on the books I will read, anticipate the oodles of time I will have to indulge in the delight of losing myself between the pages of books. And reflect back on the books I read last year, often with some haziness because I tend not to have a very good memory -- perhaps because I prefer to read for the sheer pleasure of it, than to analyze.
About a year and a half ago, though, frustrated with my inability to remember which books I'd read -- or what they were about if I had read them -- I began to compile lists of books I'd read. I put them in two categories: ones I'd recommend and the ones I wouldn't. I wrote a brief description of each book, along with what I found particularly compelling (or not) -- which is a useful thing for a writer to do because it serves as a source of reference if I want to study a book to see how a particular situation, say point of view, or multiple narratives, was handled in a book that I deemed to be a success.
I won't go into the books I wouldn't recommend -- I don't see the point of it. I know how writers pour their hearts out into their work and it doesn't serve any purpose to include here a list of books that I thought were not well written (enough), or books that, although fairly well written, didn't delight me enough to be included in my list of recommendations.
Every writer I know reads a lot. One of the more delightful things about being a writer is that you learn through the sheer joy of reading, even when you don't know you are learning. It serves both the art and the craft of writing to simply read, read, read.
It helps, though, to read the best of writing so the subconscious mind isn't filled with reams of mediocrity. I think the mind tends to burp it up, if that is all you read.
So here is a list of just a few of the books I read recently that I'd recommend. This isn't a comprehensive list of all the books I read, let alone all of the ones on my recommended list; nor are they all recent publications. But these are books I enjoyed for a number of reasons -- some because of the brilliance of the writing, some because of the inventiveness of the plot, or striking voice, but all because they satisfied at a certain level. I haven't included the books I've already mentioned in previous blog postings. Most of these are children's books -- I read all over the place, adult fiction as well as children's fiction -- but I won't indicate which is which, because a good children's book is ageless. So, in no particular order:
Counting Stars by
David AlmondJackdaw Summer by David Almond
The Mistress of Nothing by
Kate PullingerHarriet the Spy by
Louise FitzhughAlice, I Think by
Susan JubyNation by
Terry PratchettThe Knife of Never Letting Go by
Patrick NessThe Hunger Games Trilogy by
Suzanne CollinsA Thousand Shades of Blue by
Robin StevensonCockroach by
Rawi HageBog Child by
Siobhan DowdBones of Faerie by
Janni Lee SimnerSomething to Hang Onto by
Beverley BrennaThe Gathering by
Anne EnrightI, Coriander by
Sally GardnerSaffy's AngelIndigo's StarPermanent Rose by
Hilary McKayCaddy Ever AfterForever Rose The Peppermint Pig by
Nina BawdenGranny The PagCarrie's War
