My 2016 reading list
This page will be updated throughout the year to list all the books I read during 2016.
If you have any suggestions for books to read, just let me know!
I am also part of a book club where we have a set book to read and we meet to discuss it each month.
I love reading! Do you?
January 2016
1. The Red Queen – Isobelle Carmody – Book (a huge book 1108 pages!). This is the 7th and final book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles, a fantasy/science fiction series which mu daughter started reading many years ago the final book has been released and we both enjoyed it immensely. The first half was very slow but the second half raced by. I started reading it in December but it took a fair time to read so got through it in early January.
2. Gentlemen Formerly Dressed – Sulari Gentill – Book. I really enjoyed this fast paced tale from the 1930s. It’s another in the Rowly Sinclair series (written by a friend) and she’s very clever at getting all the historical detail just right. I am now two books behind and will get onto them soon.
3. The Girl in the Spider’s Web – David Lagercrantz – Book. I thoroughly enjoyed this continuation of the Lisbeth Salander story. It was well written and tied in with the previous books despite the change in author. I wondered it it would suffer but the story kept me on the edge of my seat and was a definite page turner.
4. A Murder Unmentioned – Sulari Gentill – kindle. I really enjoyed the continuation of Rowly Sinclair’s story from the 1930s, which is a series written by a friend. I probably enjoyed this one the most so far. I’m now only one book behind in the series.
5. Give the Devil his Due – Sulari Gentill – kindle. This is the latest book in the Rowly Sinclair series and as full of action and intrigue. Sulari always gets the fashion, history and talk just right.
February 2016:
6. Mr Chen’s Emporium – Deborah O’Brien – kindle. I enjoyed A Place of Her Own by this author recently and saw that she had written two other books based loosely on this story. I enjoyed them during the holiday season. This one told the early history of the town where A place of her own was set and was very enjoyable, light reading.
7. The Jade Widow – Deborah O’Brien – kindle. This was the next instalment after Mr Chen’s Emporium and told a great historical tale.
8. The Skeleton Cupboard – Tanya Byron – book. I enjoyed out first book club book for the year and so did everyone else. It’s hard when everyone enjoys the books as the discussion isn’t all that meaty! This book was a collection of stories from a clinical psychologist in her early days of training. She says that the characters are all fictional but her experience and inexperience shows in her honest writing and reflection. There were some great story lines in this book.
9. Throne of Glass – Sarah J Maas – book 1 of the Throne of Glass series. My grown up daughters started reading this fantasy series and I picked up the first one and got hooked too. They are a mix of Hunger Games, Divergent, and other such stories with some added fantasy and super natural powers for good measure. Easy to read and pure escapism.
March 2016:
10. No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy – book. This is the next book club book and was quite bleak. I really enjoyed Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and this was a bit different. He tells a good story in a unpunctuated, sparse fashion. I like this quote from a reviewer:The writing transforms a standard western good-guy-bad-guy plot into serious literature. I look forward to hearing what the others in my book club thought of it.
11. Crown of Midnight – Sarah J Maas – book 2 of the Throne of Glass series.
12. Heir of Fire – Sarah J Maas – book 3 of the Throne of Glass series.
April 2016:
13. Queen of Shadows – Sarah J Maas – book 4 of the Throne of Glass series.
14. Assassin’s Blade – Sarah J Maas – the prequel to the Throne of Glass series.
15. The Year of Living Danishly – Helen Russell – book. This has to be the best book I’ve read in ages! It’s about a journalist/MarieClair editor who moves to Denmark with her husband for a year and essentially, how she coped. She was impressed that Denmark always does so well on the happiness scale and so she about finding out why Danes are so happy. Having connections with Denmark ourselves I loved reading her insights and found myself chuckling along at things I’d also observed during our visits. I continually learnt new things about Denmark and enjoyed her writing style and personal stories from her time living alongside the Danes. I would recommend this most highly and am looking forward to reading her next book.
May 2016
16. Room by Emma Donoghue – Book club book. I read this book in 2014 and I really enjoyed re-reading it. Here’s my comments from back then – This was a very moving novel about a kidnapped 19 year old girl who was kept prisoner in a small room for over 7 years and subjected to constant deprivations and rape. She had a baby boy while locked away and when he was 5 years old they managed to escape. The outside world was difficult for them both to adapt to. It was very compelling and very plausible. Thanks to my sister for the loan and recommendation. I l look forward to discussing this at our next book club gathering.
17. Leaving Time – Jodi Picoult – book. I bought this on a whim as part of a ‘3 for 2’ offer while on holidays recently. It’s been a very interesting read, with a twist that I missed seeing. I really enjoyed it and have passed it onto my daughter who loves elephants.
June 2016
18. We’re all damaged – Matthew Norman – kindle. This was an OK read but also a bit strange.
19. Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton – kindle. I enjoyed this story of a family’s history and the tooing and froing between decades was very interesting. It was easy to read and kept me engrossed.
20. Butterflies – Dot Hutchison – kindle. This was a very spooky story about kidnapped girls kept in a secret garden room. I didn’t enjoy it much especially as I had read The Room recently. It seemed to have a common theme.
21. Glass Castle – Jeannette Walls – book club book. This an interesting memoir of a very dysfunctional family and how the children bring themselves up. Their parents are creative, passionate, the father is an alcoholic and they end up living on the streets while their children overcome their upbringing and make their lives want they want.
July 2016
22. The shifting fog – Kate Morton – kindle. I enjoyed this story and the different perspectives that were shown. It covered a variety of issues and it was an easy read.
23. The Passage – Justin Cronin – kindle. Book 1 in the trilogy. I love this book. My daughter recommended it to me and so I thought I’d give it a go. It’s a large read but on the kindle it didn’t appear too big and bulky. The premise of the story is about a government experiment that goes wrong but has a strong main character Amy who walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair. Amy is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world. It’s a great story of survival, darkness, a real comment on our society and was unputdownable.
24. The Twelve – .Justin Cronin – kindle. Book 2 in the trilogy. I really enjoyed this and went straight onto the third book in the series.
August 2016
25. City of Mirrors – Justin Cronin – kindle. Book 3 in the trilogy. This was a fantastic read and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole three books. They were all huge books but great to read and get caught up in.
26. All the light we cannot see – Anthony Doerr – book. This was a delightful story set in WW2 about a blind girl in Paris and a young German soldier. It was beautifully written and a bittersweet story.
27. In sickness, in health…and in jail – Mel Jacob – book. This was an interesting story about a wife and mother whose husband goes to jail. It has significant connections to me given my job and where I work. I’m not a fan of her writing style but it was readable.
28. Book of Lost Threads – Tess Evans – book. This was an interesting read set in a small Australian town with a group of 4 main characters who all grew on me throughout the book. The issues raised were mainly about loss and grief and were handled really well. The discussion at book club was interesting and all of us enjoyed the read.
September 2016
29. Rivers of London – Ben Aaronovitch – book. This was a fun read completely different to what I was expecting! It was part police drama, part magic and part history. I’ll be looking at other books in this series.
30. Salvation Creek – Susan Duncan – book. This was our book club book for the month and although I wouldn’t have chosen to read it, I did end up enjoying it. That’s the good thing about book club, you end up reading books you wouldn’t normally look at. It was a memoir of Susan’s life and she was very honest throughout it. She had more than her fair share of bad luck and health issues but managed to get through them with friends t help out.
31. Truly Madly Deeply – Liane Moriarty – kindle. This book would appeal to mainly women readers, it’s a good read but not her best work in my humble opinion. I have read most of her books and she is one of my favourite Australian authors. It had intrigue and suspense but for some reason I just couldn’t get into the characters.
October 2016
32. Empire of Storms – Throne of Glass book 5 – Sara J Maas – kindle. This was action packed and full of intrigue and clever planning. I enjoyed it but think there will have to be another book to finish the tale. It’s not over yet.
33. Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J Maas – kindle. This was the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses and was excellent. I tend to like supernatural powers and strong characters so this held me entranced throughout.
34. Moon over Soho – Ben Aaronovitch – kindle. I enjoyed this second book by Ben A. It features Peter Grant again and continues on with the magical element of policing in London.
35. The Good People – Hannah Kent – kindle. This was a great read – all about superstitions and fairies in 19th century Ireland. I enjoyed her previous book Burial Rites and thought this one was another great tale.
November 2016
36. Embrace – Taryn Brumfitt – book.
37. Dark Places – Gillian Flynn – book
December 2016
38. Glimpses – Hugh W. Roberts – kindle.
39. The Distant Hours – Kate Morton – kindle.
40. The Prodigal Son – Sulari Gentill – printed copy.
41. The Light between Oceans – M.L. Stedman – book
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Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here
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Another connection: Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors too!
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I totally love Denmark, been visiting off and on for years and have a good friend who live right in the centre of Copenhagen! My favourite is cycling around the parks, water front, the music, the people, etc. Great place to be.
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I agree, it’s a great place. We love all the bikes, cycling lanes and infrastructure for cyclists too. Must visit again soon. Thanks for the visit.
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Two book club books we enjoyed that have just popped out of my head – The Red Tent by Anita Diamond and The Seventeenth Wife – can’t remember the author. Bookclub all enjoyed these. Oh and Geraldine Brooks we have read a few of hers The People of the Book was probably my favourite. We are reading the Mists of Avalon at the moment1,000 pages and it looks like an 8 point font. My eyes! We struggle to read 300 pages some months.
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I really enjoyed all the Geraldine Brooks books. Thanks for your suggestions Louise. I liked the red tent too. Not sure if I’ve read the others you mention but will keep an eye out now that you’ve mentioned them.
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I’m not familiar with most of these, but I would like to read The Girl in the Spiders Web, as I really loved the other three books in this series.
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I enjoyed this one but it was a lot tamer than some of the others i the series (not a bad thing!) I just love reading and keeping a track of what I’ve read is fun. Thanks for looking through my posts, I’m glad you are enjoying them.
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