Half a year’s gone by already. Take a pause to ask yourself ‘where did it go?’ and come back. So instead of questioning how fast it’s gone and all that rubbish, I’m going to review the reading matter I’ve read so far. How’s it been? Not bad at all, some books disappointed me more than I’d care to admit and some have been astounding. I can say with a fair degree of certainty what my book of the year is already, but more on that later. Some have been rereads and the rest have mostly been… OK. Unlike last year, there were a bunch of knockout books I’d reread in a heartbeat such as Halo: The Flood, The Green Mile, and The Humans, Let it Snow, Rivers of London and more. This year… I count three. Anyway, to business.
The Good Stuff
Five books this year were rereads, and the best of the bunch were Bright Lights, Big City (obviously), Agent 6, The Great Gatsby, A Farewell to Arms and Fahrenheit 451. None of these books can count towards a book of the year award because I’ve read the buggers before, but dammit three out of five ain’t bad. I’ll read Bright Lights, Fahrenheit 451 and Agent 6 until the end of time, but I will stay well clear from Farewell and Gatsby. Both of which I can’t understand the praise for, ESPECIALLY Gatsby. Thing is, I quite liked it first time, but second time I hated it. Such a chore to read I thought. New good books though were ones such as Revival, Midnight Express, Trigger Warning and Misery. All of those are more than good, but Misery spun terror I never felt before. Two characters, one with smashed legs and another unpredictable and maniacal. What can go wrong? Revival is also a helluva read, but somewhat slow to get to the point I thought. It’s a slower paced Stevie King, one that sets the scene and all that jazz that all comes together for a great story. Interesting stuff as well.
The really good stuff, though are books I’ve blabbed on for a while, and probably not enough. Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive. If The Humans didn’t set his brilliance in stone (and it did) then Reasons ought to with an undeniable stamp. It’s an honest, real description of depression that is essential to home, a book everybody ought to read, if not because they suffer, but for understanding that mental illness is another part of what makes humans human. Yes, we are flawed, but some are suffering with a dark descent of something quite catastrophic. Something he writes about without apology. I blazed through it in two days, could have been one but I wanted to keep it for another day. It’s a book that I don’t really have to read again, but dip in and out of, which I do. If there was one book I could recommend as essential reading, this is it. Then we’ve got Soulmates. *Long sigh*. Soulmates… utterly, utterly uh-may-zing. There is only so much space on a blog post to say how much I love this book, but the moment I finished it I wanted to read it again. I’ve told friends about it. If I could, I’d buy enough couples for all my friends to read. I’d do the same with Reasons. Soulmates is a book that probably won’t ever leave my head, and those are the best books. One day I’ll make a top 10 book list, and Soulmates has a place.
The really good stuff, though are books I’ve blabbed on for a while, and probably not enough. Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive. If The Humans didn’t set his brilliance in stone (and it did) then Reasons ought to with an undeniable stamp. It’s an honest, real description of depression that is essential to home, a book everybody ought to read, if not because they suffer, but for understanding that mental illness is another part of what makes humans human. Yes, we are flawed, but some are suffering with a dark descent of something quite catastrophic. Something he writes about without apology. I blazed through it in two days, could have been one but I wanted to keep it for another day. It’s a book that I don’t really have to read again, but dip in and out of, which I do. If there was one book I could recommend as essential reading, this is it. Then we’ve got Soulmates. *Long sigh*. Soulmates… utterly, utterly uh-may-zing. There is only so much space on a blog post to say how much I love this book, but the moment I finished it I wanted to read it again. I’ve told friends about it. If I could, I’d buy enough couples for all my friends to read. I’d do the same with Reasons. Soulmates is a book that probably won’t ever leave my head, and those are the best books. One day I’ll make a top 10 book list, and Soulmates has a place.
The Bad Stuff
I’m just going to say it. By far, the worst book I read this year was Foxglove Summer, and you don’t know how sad I am to say that. I slammed the book shut, pissed off about its ending, and not just that, but how needless the entire story felt. Yes, maybe Peter would leave London on a case after Lesley’s betrayal so he can clear his head. And yes, maybe there should be reflection about it, but you can do that in half the number of pages and it would probably be better. This book just felt like a bridge to cross before we get to the showdown which I suspect will be the next book. And not only that, but the case itself didn’t grab me, and I still don’t know who the bad guys were. AND, what the hell point was the wizard? His character is described in such a way that suggests he’s integral to the plot, but he isn’t. He hands over a staff and that’s it. I say all this with slumped shoulders and a shake of the head. Rivers of London is a damn good series, and this book is just… nothing. Forget it. It never happened. The second worst book (discounting rereads) is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and this was obviously not meant for me. I am not the target audience or even close. It was a book club choice, had it not been I wouldn’t have picked it up at a store. Yes, it reads well and there’s bloody good writing to be found, but the story revolves around a character I never cared for on a quest that’s doomed to fail.
Counting a top three books so far is pretty easy because there were only three gigantic successes for me so far. Soulmates, Reasons to Stay Alive and Misery. Trigger Warning comes close, but there were a few short stories there that didn’t work for me. Compared to last year, the quality has subsided way down. But that just makes these said knockouts even more incredible. There’s nothing like reading a series of OK stories before a triumph blasts through the wall screaming ‘I’m here!’ That’s what Soulmates was like, the same goes for Reasons. Misery came after two great books, but damn Misery is excellent. Yeah, those three books are the best so far. And I remain firm in my prediction that Soulmates will be my book of the year. As far as fiction goes, that’s the benchmark. Reasons remains the best nonfiction, but I am reading Frank Turner’s tour memoirs, The Road Beneath My Feet and that’s terrific so far. We’ll see.
Songs of the Week:
Counting a top three books so far is pretty easy because there were only three gigantic successes for me so far. Soulmates, Reasons to Stay Alive and Misery. Trigger Warning comes close, but there were a few short stories there that didn’t work for me. Compared to last year, the quality has subsided way down. But that just makes these said knockouts even more incredible. There’s nothing like reading a series of OK stories before a triumph blasts through the wall screaming ‘I’m here!’ That’s what Soulmates was like, the same goes for Reasons. Misery came after two great books, but damn Misery is excellent. Yeah, those three books are the best so far. And I remain firm in my prediction that Soulmates will be my book of the year. As far as fiction goes, that’s the benchmark. Reasons remains the best nonfiction, but I am reading Frank Turner’s tour memoirs, The Road Beneath My Feet and that’s terrific so far. We’ll see.
Songs of the Week:
- 'Unleash' by Anaal Nathrakh
- 'The Real Damage' by Frank Turner
- 'Father's Day' by Frank Turner
- 'Pass it Along' by Frank Turner
- 'Balthazar Impresario' by Frank Turner
- 'What Only You Know' by Dark Tranquillity
- 'Survive' by Rise Against
- 'People Live Here' by Rise Against