Top 10 Tuesday: Best of 2016 so far

Hello! Can you believe we're halfway through the year already? It must be time to review my favourite reads of this year so far.

Top Ten Tuesday is the brainchild of the Broke and the Bookish.

1. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Anyone who was with me on the London Book Crawl in February won't be at all surprised to see this book on my list; it's a wonderful science fiction saga that follows a wonderfully diverse spaceship crew, and not the military or the elite, but the workers in charge of building a wormhole from one part of the galaxy to another. It's a space opera that doesn't revolve around the human race, but one that celebrates difference, empathy and everyone's common person-hood throughout everything, with well-realised characters and species, people I loved spending time with, a very well-built story universe. I've been putting it into everyone's hands and making them read it if they like sci-fi.
2. Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik. This was my first impulse-buy of the year, the story of a Muslim woman commissioned with writing a dating book just after a break-up. Sofia is smart, stubborn, witty and likeable, and I felt as though she was a friend after reading just a few pages. Her family and friends are flawed but good-hearted, and I laughed aloud many times reading about their exploits and misadventures - although I shed a few tears as well. 
3. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. One of the most unusual and imaginiative works of twenty-first century fantasy, set in an alternative Regency England where the world of fairies is just a step away. It is dangerously easy to lose yourself in this tale of two magicians awakening forces that might be more powerful than they anticipate.
4. The Stand by Stephen King. A truly frightening apocalyptic thriller and tale of survival after a killer flu wipes out most of the world's population. Perhaps not one to read while suffering from flu yourself, as I did! King does what he does best: makes us care about his characters before throwing his arsenal of horrible things at them. At it's heart, it's a tale of good versus evil.
5. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells: The original time-travel story; it is funny, scary, and an interesting commentary on contemporary Victorian class divides; without this novella, science fiction as we know it today would be unrecogniseable. Yet it's more than just the prototype; The Time Machine is as fresh as if it were written recently.
6. Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller: Part family drama, part dark fairytale, Our Endless Numbered Days tells the story of a girl smuggled away from civilisation by her father, and brought up as a survivalist in the woods. I found it a little slow to start, but it grew into a twisty tale of secrets and lies at the heart of a family.
7. When I Was Invisible by Dorothy Koomson:  The story of two best friends who have grown apart; their shared experiences leading to very different lives and choices. Not always an easy read, but one with a humanity that softens the blow. The mysteries and the characters make this a "one more chapter" book, and it was unusual to have a main character who had spent many years as a nun.
8. Breakfast At Tiffany's by Truman Capote: We all know the film, but reading the book, a novella of 100 pages, I felt like I was discovering it for the first time. I'm not sure I like Holly Golightly, but she's an interesting character, for the flashes of vulnerability beneath her glamorous, "manic-pixie" persona. It is a friendship story, not a romance. The novella feels sadder than the movie, untidier in plotting - things don't necessarily work out the way that the rules of story dictate - which I appreciated. 
9. The Ghost Hunters by Neil Spring: A creepy gothic novel, a story-within-a-story, somewhat based on real events and people, though told from the perspective of a fictional secretary and assistant to the titular ghost hunter, Harry Spring, who is sceptical about the "supernatural activity" he investigates, and exploits those who turn to him for help. But can he have an answer for everything? 
10. There But For The by Ali Smith: I'm not sure I should include this as I'm only halfway through, but there is a wonderful poetry to Ali Smith's writing. She plays with language seemingly effortlessly, and the narrative flows through the lives and minds touched by one individual. An absolute joy to read.

Sunday Summary: Happy New Year

Wasn't it just last week that I was bemoaning the lack of hoverboards in "the future" of 2015? And now the future is in the past, and there are things that people will insist on calling hoverboards on sale in Maplins, and causing accidents everywhere and being banned from public places but they are not hoverboards! Give us the real thing or go home, will ya?

Anyway, 2015 is over now, for which I think we're all grateful. It was a pretty rubbish year all round I think. Personally, I think I'm in a better place mentally than I was a year ago; I survived turning 30, continued with my writing, and mostly quit whinging about my life and became content with what I've got, the people, the opportunities, the freedom (and the books.) So there's that to be said for 2015, anyway. But for the most part, I'm glad it's behind us and although I know it's just a date, it's good to have a day to say "the future hasn't been written yet, so make it a good one" once a year.

I haven't made any specific new year's resolutions this year, just to be kind and to continue with my writing, but I have started keeping not one but TWO journals: one is for Ali Edwards' "One Little Word" project - you choose a word and ponder and write/scrapbook/create things about how that word will be significant throughout the year. I chose "Peace." And I've also made a variation of the "happy jar" where you write down good things that have happened and put them into a jar - or in my case, onto my page-a-day colouring calendar, which I stick into another notebook. If at the end of the year I find myself thinking again "nothing's happened," I can look back over all the good things I've done or experienced through the year and prove the opposite. (In theory, anyway...)

Christmas was a good, but quiet one. My sister came home for about ten days, and although I was working all week (the joys of retail!) I still managed to find time in the evenings to relax, watch films, eat lots of food and spend time with family and friends.

My presents:

From my parents:
DVDs of Marvel's Agent Carter (which I have been wanting to see ever since I heard it existed, but circumstances conspired against me) and season two of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. 
Microwavable slippers! These work when nothing else will to banish cold feet forever!
(Not pictured: a new coat, laptop case, Thornton's chocolate Santa.)

From my sister:

Books: The Boy That Never Was by Karen Perry and The Geeky Chef Cookbook which has recipes for Butterbeer, Lembas, Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters and 1-Up mushroom cupcakes, among many other nerd-culture-inspired recipes. A fancy candle, and a Thunderbird 2 t-shirt. (When I was about 7 I really wanted to be Thunderbird 2 when I grew up. Not fly it. Be it.)

From Hanna:

Our little group of bloggers did a Secret Santa again this year, and Hanna sent me some amazing presents: the Tolkien's World colouring book, two YA novels: The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness and Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher, and an absolutely gorgeous infinity scarf/snood/whatever these joined-up scarves are called with a space pattern on it. I've been wearing that nearly every day since Christmas; I love it!

From other friends:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - the illustrated edition, from Judith. I think most of my bookish friends have received copies of that this year. It's beautiful! She also got me some presents from the Literary Gift Company: a red tote bag with a quote about paradise being a library, some "Banned Books" matchbooks, a folding out "Gorjuss" photo box, and some amaretto-soaked sultanas from Hotel Chocolat. (These did not last long.) Sammy and her family bought me lots of bath and shower smellies, and two Funko Pop figures: Zoe Washburn from Firefly (taking on a dragon on my bookcase in the picture above) and a mini Eleventh Doctor on a keyring. From my uni friends I got several small things: a box of bookish pencils, a knitting brooch, some bookmarks and a little leaflet filled with writing prompts for coffee shops, which I've tucked into the back pocket of my handbag-notebook so I've got it with me wherever I go.

Bout of Books

Now that Christmas and New Year are over, the rest of winter is stretching out long and grey before us (at least, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.) So, now that things are quietening down, what better than to snuggle up with a big mug of coffee (tea, hot chocolate or other beverage of choice) and a good book? And the Bout of Books readathon returns just in time for that tomorrow. Hurrah! I don't exactly need an excuse to be a book-dwelling hermit, but it's nice to have company (on the internet, not in the room) while doing it. So I'll be eagerly taking part and making my way through my January to-read pile. 4 books in a week is my usual readathon target, and the rest of the pile should take me through to the end of the month (although as always subject to what I feel like reading at the time.)

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke. I bought this for my dad years ago and have been meaning to borrow it back for ages. I thoroughly enjoyed the BBC adaptation last year, and it was very strange for me to be the only person in the room not to have read the book it was based on - especially when it was a particularly Katie story.
2. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
3. Upstairs at the Party - Linda Grant
4. The Drawing of the Three - Stephen King. I had a mini-splurge in Waterstone's a couple of days after Christmas. I read The Gunslinger, the first book in King's Dark Tower series. I had a bit of trouble with the first book, but enough people (especially Laura and Judith) rave about the series as a whole, and I know just enough about it, that I want to continue and see what all the fuss is about. Apparently it brings together all sorts of elements from King's entire canon, which is odd as it seems to take place in a different world (but with just enough specific details from ours to be confusing, such as "Hey Jude" in a setting reminiscent of America's Old West.)
5. Silence is Goldfish - Annabel Pitcher. I don't know much about this book except that it deals with either elective or selective mutism. I really loved Pitcher's first book, My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece, although I found Ketchup Clouds pretty forgettable. I have high
6. The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness.  What about the kids who aren't the Chosen Ones when Things Start To Happen?
7. Disclaimer - Renee Knight. I found this one in a charity shop and had been pondering it for a while. It was supposed to be "for people who liked The Girl on the Train, but I wasn't madly in love with that one; it was okay but I expected more, considering how massive it's been. (It's been out for a year and no sign of a paperback yet. And there won't be, while people are still prepared to pay for the hardcover.) But Disclaimer has an interesting premise: someone realises that the book she's reading is based upon her own life. But who knows enough about her secrets to turn them into a novel?
8. Career of Evil - "Robert Galbraith." J. K. Rowling's third pseudonymous crime novel about private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin. I had to get that in hardback to match the first two in the series. J. K. Rowling proves herself an expert weaver of plots in every genre she's turned her hand to, and I look forward to being ensnared in her web once more.
9. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen. I am long overdue a Jane Austen reread, and actually, because I know it so well through the many adaptations and variations, Pride and Prejudice is probably the book I've read least. 
10. Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens. My Grandma passed on her complete Dickens set to me a few years ago, when she moved out of her house into a flat, and again, it's been a while since I've read any of his work. (The complete works of Dickens don't really count as part of the to-read pile, as they will probably take decades to get through. But I do intend to get through them all eventually.)