My Year In Books, part one

Last September I set myself a challenge, to see how many books I could read in a year. Most of the books came from the Little Free Library book exchange that I run in our village, and as a result, I read a greater variety of books than I would have otherwise chosen.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to laboriously list all the 45 books I read; although that could be fun for some people, in a systematic library sort of way. Instead, here’s a brief summary of the first six months. Bonus points if you can figure out the titles!

*books that I may or may not have read during this past year*

September

I followed a murderer’s delicate sense of smell as he journeyed through 18th century France, killing people and finding different jobs. Then I climbed through a magic portal in Oxford to join an adventure in a parallel universe, spread across a trilogy of books, which explored danger, dust and daemons. Word of the month: adventure.

Total so far: 4

October

I joined a boy and his father as they poached their way through local woods, to wreak havoc on an aristocratic landowner. The next book I read took me on another journey, also with a boy and his father, across post-apocalyptic America. This was followed by a trip to Africa with a writer during the second world war, and then a journey of survival and Shakespeare through the American Great Lakes after a catastrophic flu epidemic. If those books weren’t cheerful enough, I next read a story about a teenage girl who has to compete in a life-or-death competition, set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic North America. Next up was a tale of parish council dramas and class inequalities, then an exciting teenage adventure, about young time travelers trying to protect historical events. My final book of the month told the tale of a young soldier who was shot in France during WWI, for failing to follow orders. Word of the month: doom.

Total so far: 12

November

This month was no less dramatic, with extremely cold climate change in Scotland as experienced by a transgender teenager, more post-apocalyptic shenanigans in Panem, and a young boy’s lonely voyage to Australia as an orphan in search of a new family. Word of the month: challenges.

Total so far: 16

December

I time-traveled to Ireland in 1846, 1919 and 1998 (all in just one book) followed by a trip to a plantation, in Virginia in 1790. Next was a visit to modern day Japan with a father and his son as they explored Japanese culture, and finally, I went to a mysterious Welsh island with a portal to a strange children’s home. Word of the month: time.

Total so far: 20

January

This month saw me delving into the Hollywood memoirs of a space princess, and navigating the muddled memories of an ageing woman, trying to solve the mystery of the whereabouts of her missing sister. Word of the month: memories.

Total so far: 23

February

I didn’t read anything this month; how did that happen? I was probably recovering from all the dystopian death and destruction.

Total so far: stalling at 23

Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, all by Philip Pullman, Danny The Champion of The World by Roald Dahl, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Going Solo by Roald Dahl, Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling, Timeriders by Alex Scarrow, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan, Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpuro, TransAtlantic by Colum McCann, The Longest Memory by Fred D’Aguiar, Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, The Princess Diarist and Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher, and Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey.