Julia Gillard Instagram – 2021 has been an unusual year for all of us. I have spent some of it in lockdown, and much of it away from home. That should have meant lots of time to read, but somehow there never seems to be enough!
Because I have been stationary for long periods, I have tended to buy and read physical books, whereas I rely much more on my kindle in times of frequent travel. For a number of works I have enjoyed the kindle and audio book combination: this lets me listen when walking, and read on the couch.
For me, once again, the works of women authors have loomed large. I very much enjoyed Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, which won the UK Women’s Prize for Fiction. However, I recognise fantasy novels like this aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. A wonderful book-devouring friend of mine hated it, so consider yourself warned.
I also loved The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.
Kate Mosse, an accomplished author who pushed to create the prize for women’s fiction, came on my podcast this year. In preparation, I read her most recent work, An Extra Pair of Hands, about the experience of being a carer, and two of her historical fiction works, The Burning Chambers and the City of Tears. I enjoyed them all.
Closer to home, but still in the genre of historical fiction, I enjoyed Mirandi Riwoe’s Stone Sky, Gold Mountain and Kate Grenville’s, A Room Made of Leaves.
In this turbulent world, I was also drawn to novels that predict the future and in doing so try to shed some light on contemporary political problems. I would recommend Hillary Clinton’s and Louise Penny’s State of Terror, and 2034, A Novel of the Next World War by Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman.
A new Kazuo Ishiguro novel is a delight to be savoured, Klara and the Sun is a must read.
I would thoroughly recommend Jeremy Farrar’s and Anjana Abuja’s, Spike:The Virus vs The People – The Inside Story, which, as you can tell from the title, is all about the pandemic. For a very different book, which will take you far away from the world of COVID 19, try A Dutiful Boy: A memoir of secrets, lies and family love by Mohsin Zaidi. | Posted on 29/Dec/2021 03:29:26
