Em's 2019 Reading Roundup: the 48 books read, plus my top recommendations for fiction and non-fiction
Fiction (36)
Literary fiction
Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak
Road Story, Julienne Van Loon
1988, Andrew McGahan
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
Driving into the Sun Marcella Polain*
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead
City of Girls, Elizabeth Gilbert
The Death of Noah Glass, Gail Jones
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen
The Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood
Red Can Origami, Madelaine Dickie*
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood
The Weekend, Charlotte Wood
Frankisstein, Jeanette Winterson
The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
Crime/Mystery
Wimmera, Mark Brandi
The Scholar, Dervla McTiernan*
River of Salt, Dave Warner
The Dry, Jane Harper
March Violets, Phillip Kerr (unfinished)
Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie
Minotaur, Peter Goldsworthy
True West, David Whish-Wilson*
Blue Moon, Lee Child
Thriller
All That is Lost Between Us, Sara Foster*
I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes
Zero Day Code, John Birmingham
YA/Children's
The Wind in the Door, Madeleine L'Engle
Many Waters, Madeleine L'Engle
Emily of New Moon, L. M. Montgomery (re-read)
Invisible Boys, Holden Sheppard
The Starlight Barking, Dodie Smith
Emily Climbs, L. M. Montgomery (re-read)
Emily's Quest, L. M. Montgomery (re-read)
The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton (re-read)
Nonfiction (12)
Shallow, Selfish and Self Absorbed: 16 writers on the choice not to have children
Nora Heysen: a biography, Anne-Louise Willoughby*
Australia Reimagined, Hugh Mackay
In Defence of Food, Michael Pollan
The Pleasures of Leisure, Robert Dessaix
Any Ordinary Day, Leigh Sales
Egyptian Mythology, Simon Goodenough
On Leopard Rock, Wilbur Smith
Egyptology, Emily Sands/Five Mile Press
Egypt, Konemann Press
On Eating Meat, Matthew Evans
The Wooleen Way, David Pollock*
*WA author
Fiction: Top 10
Freedom, Jonathan Franzen - an absorbing American family saga of jawdropping ambition that had me hanging on its every word and lost inside its themes. Not a new book but perhaps even more relevant now than it was in 2010.
Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak - massive, time consuming book, not easy but had me weeping like a baby by the time it closed. Majestic. Read more by clicking here.
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood - old, but I'd never read it before and by golly it's stood the test of time. It fairly crackles with intensity. A must-read.
The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion - the story of an autistic man trying to enter the dating world. I am late to the party on this 2013 bestseller but I fell into this book and didn't look up until two days later when it was finished. Touching, engrossing and funny. I can't really imagine someone who wouldn't enjoy this.
Invisible Boys, Holden Sheppard* - YA novel about growing up gay in Gero. Full of youthful desire, longing and suspense. Immersive, raw, defiant, intense. A must-read. Read more here.
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead - an American novel of young men who grew up in an abusive juvenile prison for wayward boys. Has that powerful simplicity shared by the great American novels. Destined to become a classic.
I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes - a spy thriller that bounces around the Middle East and absolutely must be made into a movie. Convincing, brutal and compulsive. A cracker of a read.
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood - The long awaited sequel to A Handmaid's Tale lacks its hypnotic pull and yet is an absolute page-turner, does not waste a single word and satisfies the longing for more from Gilead. Atwood is a master storyteller and I didn't want it to end.
The Weekend, Charlotte Wood - the story of a group of three ageing women whose friend dies. They are saddled with the grim task of cleaning out her beach house, but realise on the way that this was the friend who glued them together, and without her they struggle to get along. You wouldn't think that a literary novel with such a 'quiet' subject would be a page-turner but I devoured this. Highly recommended.
Frankisstein, Jeanette Winterson - two plot lines, both inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: one an imagining of Shelley's life at the time of writing, the other a futuristic look at a world of artificial intelligence, cryonics and sexbots, in which humans' original bodies will be only a jumping-off point to start negotiations. Classic Winterson in its sheer imagination and reach, and in the beauty of its prose, but once again she reaches an original frontier and pushes your intellectual boundaries while at the same time frequently making you laugh.
Honorable mentions to City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert - a captivating, sweetly humorous and touching tale of exuberant young womanhood in a bygone New York. A fantastic summer read if you're in the market for one - and The Dry by Jane Harper, crackling murder mystery .
Non-fiction: Top 5
Australia Reimagined, Hugh Mackay
- click the title and read the review to see why I was so inspired by this book. Should be required reading for all Australians, yet is not preachy by inspiring. A powerful antidote to the despair that can grip any regular watcher of the news.
In Defence of Food, Michael Pollan
- not a new book but a fascinating look into why diet and nutrition is a subject that continues to confuse, intimidate and utterly do a disservice to human beings, no matter how intelligent they are.
On Leopard Rock, Wilbur Smith
- an autobiography of a writer in the heyday of writing, the story of Africa in the grip of apartheid, a portrait of a remarkable family and full of tales of death-defying encounters from a man who appears to have lived nine adventurous lives. Would make a great gift for a fan, but equally fascinating for me and I have never read a Wilbur Smith (though I now intend to).
On Eating Meat, Matthew Evans
- by a former journalist, now farmer. Examines Australia's intensive meat industries in a way that, far from discouraging anyone from eating meat, shows you how to wield your power as a consumer to encourage better welfare for animals. This book has shown me how to enjoy eating meat again.
The Wooleen Way, David Pollock*
- the inspiring life story of a pastoralist in Western Australia's southern rangelands, a cry for help for a vanishing resource, a rallying call for all Australians to better look after it. I found this book electrifying and I will be writing more about it this year as a drying climate makes the situation facing our rangelands more urgent than ever.
Want a personalised recommendation?
Not all of the books could make it on to the 'top' lists, but the vast majority were excellent reads. Some are linked to separate reviews you can click on or leave a comment if you have a question about whether I think you'd like a particular one of these!