Books of the Year

I have read a surprising number of books this year - reading being the only quiet time in that moment when the head hits the pillow and the eyes shut. Here are some of the ones that lingered, making the thoughts turn and ponder before sleep took me.

COCO CHANEL by Justine Picardie - this biography was engrossing because of Picardie taking the subject and unpeeling like an onion all Chanels's fictions - painting Chanel as the ambiguous and tenacious individual she was in a tantalizing read.

THE GHOST WHO BELONGED TO ME by Richard Peck. Yes this is a YA title from the 1970's, filmed by the Disney corp and made into a film that has haunted me ever since I was a child. It tells the story of medium's child Blossom Culp and her neighbour and the mysterious death of Inez, a ghost. This is one of those great books that have the story appealing to both child and adult. I am sure a Blossom Culp television series wouldn't be amiss in this Twilight driven world.

PRODIGAL SUMMER by Barbara Kingsolver. This was loaned to me and it would have never been something I would have picked up by myself, as the blurb on the back reduces the story, when it is actually a sweeping meditation on nature, family and aging written in a style that is completely mesmeric and satisfying.

STAR OF THE SEA by Joseph O'Connor is the tale of the Irish Famine of 1847 and the immigrants who leave behind their homeland. It is a vast and sprawling work dealing with a topic that is not often portrayed in fiction. In between chapters facts and cartoons from the time are laid out and it is frightening. An ambitious work that doesn't always work, however what does is beautifully drawn and thought provoking.

THE QUICKENING MAZE by Adam Foulds tells the story of the mad poet John Clare. This is a book written by a poet, sentences are lean and capture images in perfect frames as we are drawn into all the lives that surround Clare, each conflicted with a madness of their own. It is dazzling how he can portray so much in such a slim book.

So, these are some of my books of the year. What are yours?