February 23: Top Ten Books I Enjoyed Recently That Weren’t My Typical Read
I really don’t have a “typical read”. I read books of all genres (except Historical Fiction and Horror, because they really don’t appeal to me), but I suppose I’m predisposed to pick up Young Adult fiction (including children’s and middle grade) – 37/57 books I read in 2015 were in one of these categories – so this list omits all those genres, and is in order of most-least recent.
1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (Classic)
The only book on this list that I read in 2016, Jane Eyre surprised me. Although it was required reading for university, I really enjoyed reading about this early feminist protagonist.
2. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (Crime/Thriller)
Anything JKR releases I will devour, but not necessarily love. This was a brilliant, gripping thriller, which adopted a different angle from its predecessors.
3. Antigone by Sophocles (Greek Tragedy)
It came as quite a surprise to me just how much I enjoyed this play: it was entertaining, had an eclectic cast of characters and was unlike anything I’d ever read.
4. Gorsky by Vesna Goldsworthy (General Fiction)
This novel is a re-telling of The Great Gatsby, but with a Russian billionaire living in London. The characterisation was excellent and the finale was mind-blowing.
5. Tripwire by Lee Child (Crime/Thriller)
The third of the Jack Reacher novels was incredibly gripping, and was filled with twists and turns.
6. Life and Laughing by Michael McIntyre (Autobiography)
I rarely read autobiographies, but I listened to this on audiobook, read by Michael himself and it was hilarious.
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (Crime/Thriller)
Whilst this wasn’t quite so good as its predecessor, it was still a hugely detailed piece of fiction, with incredible character development.
8. More Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops by Jen Campbell (Non-Fiction)
This little book was brilliantly amusing, with numerous quotes as said by customers in bookshops.
9. Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling (Non-Fiction)
This is JKR’s Harvard commencement speech which conveys some excellent life lessons, and is really a great little book to keep going back to.
10. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Crime/Thriller)
Featuring quite possibly the best, most shocking conclusion, this thriller lives up to the hype and was so very addictive.
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