Stephen Hanrahan

A big goal for me this year was to read 40 books. I smashed that target having read over 60 pooks. Which is a huge source of pride for me and has helped me join a book club getting me out of the house. So here are the 10 books that I think had the most impact on me over this year.

1.What to say when you talk to yourself- Shad Helmstetter

Probably the best and most dry Self-help book I have ever read.  It is a slow read but its basic principle is curate what you say to yourself.  I have for years had problems with self-esteem and Anxiety. which for years interfered with me doing things like passing exams. This book was helpful to me. I read it about 2 weeks before my cello exam and followed the exercises in it. i got an hour in that exam and i have generally felt more confident and capeable since reading it. 

2.The Humans -Matt Haig

This book is about an alien who inhabits the body of a mathematician as he discovers a breakthrough which the alien races believe we would not be able to handle.  What this book is is a celebration of humans for their stupidity and foibles. it is genuinely funny as George(the now alien) learns and explores what it means to be human. towards the end there is a list of the best things in life which i loved

3.The hearts invisible furies -John Boyne

This book follows the life of a gay man(Cyril Avery) born in 1945 in Ireland. it is a massvily powerful piece of fiction for me. it inhabits a world i know and describes a life i would have had to deal with if I was born only few years earlir.  following Cyril you watch him deal with the intense loneliness hit home because it easily could have been me.  It is also the first book(Audiobook in this case) to make me happy cry in the park.

4.The Power- Naomi Alderman

The power is a cool book. all the women in the world suddenly gain the ability to shoot electricity. the book deals with the reversal in power and gender roles that happens overnight.  It has a lot of influences from handmaids tale.  It is a gripping read that

5.Children of blood and bone-Tomi Adeyemi

You know what i haven’t seen much of? People of colour in fantasy. the next book and Children of blood and bone Features this. Children of blood and bone is a fun fantasy world with a strong message around race. it deals with a society that singles out a particular group of people because they used to have magic and discriminates against them. even though the only real difference is that they have white hair.

This is a book set in another world with its own world but you feel the influence of whats happening in the world at the moment very keenly.

6.The rage of Dragons -Evan Winter

The rage of dragons was the first Fantasy novel I read this year. and got my year off to a great start. it is a compelling and exciting book that has left me eagerly awaiting the followup. The story follows a boy training to be a warrior si he can be good enough for the girl he loves a girl who gains the power to call a dragon. but when dragons are called. one of the summoners who call it will die horribly. he has to become a great warrior and rescue her from that fate. all while their society of refugees battle for control of the slice of their new land and something dark lurks in their homeland.

7.It starts with food

I credit this book with the little weightloss I have actually managed this year. This book goes through the Whole 30 plan which is probably the diet I have tried that has had most people say this is nuts. I write about the diet here.

This is an interesting and science heavy book covering the how and why the diet works and whats it is actually aiming for.  There is an easier book that stickes to the how but being able to explain the reason i was cutting out beans and dairy from my diet really helped me sell it to my husband

8. Pet Semetary 

This one I have read before, this time I listened to on audible. it’s read by Michal C Hall (Dexter, six feet under). and it was so good.  Very enjoyable. it is what Stephen King calls his scariest book and it is completely justified.  

The book deals with what could happen if you could resurrect the dead. and begs the question are the cases where ‘dead is better’. its also getting a movie remake in 2019 because everything Stephen King touches turns into movies.

9.The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

I hated this book the first time I tried to read it. To the point I stopped reading it. something I very rarely do. this book will be a reminder of why I won’t negatively review a book online in future(without extremely good reason. like I found it problematic or outright racist).  I wasn’t in the right place to enjoy this book.  this time it is a funny old man Forest Gumping his way through recent history. The book is a lot of fun and I will be reading the sequel. 

10. Frankenstein 

There are a few charicters in the world that are truely iconic. Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster stand tallest amoung them for me. I read Dracula when i was about 13 and a few times since. but Frankinstein was always on my list. 

I now realise I did not really know Frankenstein’s story. it has a few points that made it through to popular culture but the story is bigger and more complex. Frankenstein himself is a tragic figure brought down by his own hubris and the monster is tragic as well. It could be reading it with modern eyes but I would call it tragedy more than horror.

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