2019 was a whirlwind of a year. It seemed to fly by and now we are already in a new year, and even a new decade. So as we reflect and look back on the previous year I wanted to talk about my favourite books I have read in 2019.
Reading is something relaxes me when I am highly anxious and I love being able to be transported into another world. I mean maybe that is why I am studying an English Degree. Talking about my degree the first book I want to mention is one I actually read because of my degree and writing an essay on it. An essay I am meant to writing right now but instead, I am writing this.
Hotel World by Ali Smith.
Although I had to read this book for university it still holds a worthy mention in my top reading picks purely for the amazing style any of Ali Smiths books are written like. It throws many literacy features and 'rules' out of the window to accommodate the topics of political capitalism and dealing with grief and the grey area between life and death. For some, its a bit more of a heavy read but Ali Smith tackles these type of topics in a very comical basis that makes you forget how heavy the topic is. Even if you don't need to read this for an academic purpose like myself I think you would still very much enjoy it.
Another on my list that I read as more of a pleasure read that also deals with grief theming but in a more of a girly drama book compared to that of Ali Smiths contemporary novel is,
After You by Jojo Moyes.
The second in the well-known book series of 'Me Before You'. After you focus on the life Lou lives after the ending of the first one. I read this during the Christmas period and managed to finish it just after the new year so technically I wouldn't say I read this in 2019 however I felt it was worth the mention. I'm just going to put this out here and say It wasn't my favourite read out of this list and you may be thinking at this point why I've mentioned it in my best picks. But let me explain. If you are to read this as a stand-alone book, I feel it is not for you. The flow of writing and storytelling wouldn't make much sense, as it follows on from the previous book. On the other hand, if you have actually read 'Me Before You' or watched the movie.
Although this is not really a book I feel these are a worthy mention. I recently started a magazine subscription to Breathe.
Breathe Magazine.
Breathe magazine is a magazine that is focused around health and well-being and self-care. Something I find incredibly important as these days there isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done so we always focus on the work we need to do and the tasks that need to be completed as opposed to actually taking care of ourselves. Like most things, a lot of things are easier said than done and we find giving advice to others easier than taking the advice ourselves actually.
We all a love good classic novel, or maybe that's just a thing for me as an English Literature student. But I couldn't write a list about my top collectable reads of the year without one. So this leads us to our next one.
Far From The Madding Crowd By Thomas Hardy.
This one is very different from the others upon our list, so please stick with me as I know classics are not what everyone loves. But because of Far From The Madding Crowd being a realism novel, it has a sense of relative to our everyday life. It's also a rather easy read in regards to the language that is used in the text. Often I find when I have to read a classic book for my degree, a lot of them become a struggle to read as the language choice from the time they were written become almost like a blockage. In all, if an English degree is something you want to pursue or even briefly look into and the type of things you would study, I feel this is a good starting point.
What was your favourite read of 2019?
I hope you enjoyed reading this little blogpost!
