2013 – a year of exceedingly good books

Happy Holidays, lovely readers

I am writing this in between keeping my food levels topped up so they never dip below ‘extremely full.’

If you’re sick of telly, bored of board games and have book tokens or one of those new fangled e-readers, you might be wondering what to read next. So, I thought I’d do a round up of some of my favourite reads of 2013. Luckily, I can type one-handed and hold a mince pie with the other hand.

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

If you’re the last person left in Britain who hasn’t read this equally funny and heartbreaking novel about what happens when you meet up with The One Man You Never Got Enough Of, this is the time to remedy that situation.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I think Life After Life is the most extraordinary book I’ve read and probably in my Top 10 all-time favourite reads. It’s the stop/start/rewind story of Ursula Todd and the many, many lives she lived and the many deaths she suffered. She lives her life again and again but only sometimes does she get it right.

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Pride And Prejudice from the servants’ point of view – this isn’t Jane Austen lite but a 180 degree spin on the book we know so well. LOngbourn shows what life was like below stairs and the tragedy, drudgery and unexpected love experienced by the Bennets’ maid Sarah as the events of Pride And Prejudice play out.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Anyone who has even a passing interest in YA fiction or wants to read a heart-tugging love story should read Eleanor & Park. Rainbow Rowell can write about the simple act of a boy and a girl holding hands and slay you. (She also released the wonderful Fangirl this year too.

Red Ink by Julie Mayhew

Full disclosure, Julie is a good friend of mine, but she’s still written a bloody good coming of age novel.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

I also loved Code Name Verity and I did have plans to write my own novel about a girl flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary during WW2, but, quite frankly, Elizabeth Wein beat me to it and I could never write anything as amazing as Rose Under Fire.

All Change (Cazalet Chronicles) by Elizabeth Jane Howard

The fifth Cazalet Chronicle novel catches up with the Cazalets in the 1950′s after the turbulent effects of WW2 and a changing world of class and tradition. If you’ve never read The Cazalets, the first book in the series, The Light Years, is only 95p on Kindle. I feel like a pusher, because you will binge read all five of them in quick succession.

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

Virago have just reissed four Angela Thirkell novels, all with beautiful covers, and they are reading crack to me. Set in the 1930′s; it’s all bossy girls, timid girls, country house parties, posh types, arty types, faithful family retainers. What’s not to like?

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

I don’t normally read thrillers, but rather than being a crime novel, this an agreeably creepy read that captures all the pain and rage of a woman who feels so sidelined that she’s almost invisible. I way over-identified.

This is just a small selection of the books I loved this year. I’ll be compiling a list of the books that I can’t wait to read in 2014. There are quite a lot of them, so check back in a couple of days.

Now, I have an urgent appointment with a turkey sandwich…

Live on,

Sarra x