I hope you’re all having a restful bank holiday weekend…
I was tagged to do this book tag on Instagram, and decided to include it as a blog post too. You have to choose 6 books in total comprising of: 3 books you’ve really enjoyed over the past year (definitely the hardest part!), the book you’re currently reading, and two books you’ve got on your ‘to read’ list.
Here’s my picks:
3 books I’ve really enjoyed this past year
Now this was VERY difficult to narrow down to three, so in the end I just had to go for it. I picked:
Akin – Emma Donoghue
Akin is not a fast-paced, action-packed read but it moves along at just the right pace to combine character development with entertainment. It’s such an enjoyable read and it manages to be really sweet without being cloying or over the top, so I’d absolutely 100% recommend this novel.
Read my full review.
Sweet Sorrow – David Nicholls
Nicholls’ writing about this confusing and vital time in a teenager’s life stirred in me a real feeling of nostalgia and, at times, poignancy, all of which carried through to the very last page and left me thinking about this book long after I finished it.
Read my full review.
Reasons to be Cheerful – Nina Stibbe
…There are so many small but absolutely spot on references and observations from Lizzie about everyday life that made me really engage with the story. The novel’s dry wit also elevates it above other books with a similar storyline.
Read my full review.
Currently reading:
Searching for Sylvie Lee – Jean Kwok
It begins with a mystery. Sylvie, the beautiful, brilliant, successful older daughter of the Lee family, flies to the Netherlands for one final visit with her dying grandmother—and then vanishes. Amy, the sheltered baby of the Lee family, is too young to remember a time when her parents were newly immigrated and too poor to keep Sylvie. Seven years older, Sylvie was raised by a distant relative in a faraway, foreign place, and didn’t rejoin her family in America until age nine. Timid and shy, Amy has always looked up to her sister, the fierce and fearless protector who showered her with unconditional love. But what happened to Sylvie?
Amy and her parents are distraught and desperate for answers. Sylvie has always looked out for them. Now, it’s Amy’s turn to help. Terrified yet determined, Amy retraces her sister’s movements, flying to the last place Sylvie was seen.
But instead of simple answers, she discovers something much more valuable: the truth. Sylvie, the golden girl, kept painful secrets . . . secrets that will reveal more about Amy’s complicated family—and herself—than she ever could have imagined.
Two books on my ‘to read’ list
Everything I Never Told You – Celese Ng
Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet.
So begins this exquisite novel about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue. But when Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together is destroyed, tumbling them into chaos.
A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.
Logging Off – Nick Spalding
Andy Bellows is in a right state. Plagued with insomnia, anxiety and neckache, he’s convinced there’s something seriously wrong with him. And the worst thing is that his doctor agrees. The diagnosis: Andy is in the grip of a self-destructive addiction to technology—he just cannot put that bloody mobile phone down.
Texting, tweeting, gaming and online dating—technology rules Andy’s life. His phone even monitors his bowel movements. So how will he cope when he’s forced to follow doctor’s orders and step away from all of his beloved screens?
From having to leave the flat in search of food like some kind of Neanderthal to engaging in conversations with actual people, Andy’s about to discover just how bewildering—and scary—the analogue world can be.
And when his sixty-day detox hits the headlines—making him a hero to suffering technophiles everywhere—Andy is sorely tempted to pack it all in and escape in the nearest Uber.
Can he get himself out of this mess, and work out how to live a better, technologically balanced life…without consulting Google even once?
This is a great idea for a post! Really enjoyed reading your picks:) I wrote a review of Everything I Never Told You on my blog and would love to know what you think of it when you’re done! https://onelliesbookshelf.wordpress.com/2019/12/01/review-everything-i-never-told-you/