2021 was another great year for reading, in which I managed to sustain my momentum from the previous year and read over 50 books. Meanwhile, (as you might have figured out from this month-late annual roundup) 2022 has got off to a much busier start, which has so far meant less time for reading or writing...
Better late than never, you can find out my five favourite books that I read in 2021 and what I thought of them below!
1) The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?
What I thought: I read 'The Midnight Library' back at the very beginning of 2021 and it was the first (and only) Matt Haig book I have ever read. I then proceeded to spend the remainder of 2021 recommending it to anyone and everyone that would listen and giving it as a gift to everyone I’ve ever met.
In case it wasn’t clear from that introductory paragraph: I absolutely loved this book. The whole premise is incredibly clever and effectively executed, as well as being so beautifully written. It was very life affirming and, as someone who has been known to spend a lot of time ruminating over the past, also an incredibly comforting read. It puts forward some really important ideas with a refreshing perspective and, at its heart, has a truly beautiful message. If you’re looking for a book that tackles mental health, as well as some more existential topics, through the medium of magical realism, I honestly can’t recommend this book enough.
2) The Binding – Bridget Collins
Emmet Farmer is a binder's apprentice. His job is to hand-craft beautiful books and, within each, to capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory.
If you have something you want to forget, or a secret to hide, he can bind it - and you will never have to remember the pain it caused.
In a vault under his mentor's workshop, row upon row of books - and secrets - are meticulously stored and recorded.
Then one day Emmett makes an astonishing discovery: one of the volumes has his name on it.
What I thought: Staying on the theme of magical realism, 'The Binding' by Bridget Collins also executes a very clever plot idea with beautiful writing and emotional story telling, whilst dealing with difficult topics such as family, identity and sexuality. As a big fan of Victorian literature, I also loved the Victorian gothic landscape that this novel is set against.
However, the thing that secured this book a place in my yearly favourites was the plot twist that comes about half way through! If, like me, you love a good plot twist, Victorian backdrops, fantasy and romance, then I would definitely recommend giving this book a read!
3) Expectation – Anna Hope
What happened to the women we were supposed to become?
Hannah, Cate and Lissa are young, vibrant and inseparable. Living on the edge of a common in East London, their shared world is ablaze with art and activism, romance and revelry - and the promise of everything to come. They are electric. They are the best of friends.
Ten years on, they are not where they hoped to be. Amidst flailing careers and faltering marriages, each hungers for what the others have. And each wrestles with the same question: what does it take to lead a meaningful life?
What I thought: This was a bit different to the type of books I usually read but, after picking it up following the recommendation of a friend, I honestly couldn’t put it down. Told from the perspectives of three friends, it explores growing into womanhood; the unexpected difficulties that life can throw at us, and how adult life can turn out quite differently from the idealised futures we imagine for ourselves as young adults – the liminal difference between expectation and reality.
Having lived in East London throughout university myself, the lifestyle described of the younger girls resonated with me and made the characters feel extremely palpable and familiar. The book felt incredibly human, raw and honest – whilst it wasn’t always a comfortable read, it was a thoroughly enjoyable one.
4) A Book of Secrets – Derren Brown
In 'A Book of Secrets', internationally bestselling author Derren Brown considers the value and benefit of having pain in our lives, asking:
Is it in those moments that we are faced with adversity that we find the most lasting rewards?
Do we spend so much time trying to make sense of our lives that we forget what makes us wonderfully us?
What are the secrets that show us how to meet challenging moments head on?
In thirteen fascinating chapters, Derren takes us back to his own scenes of childhood humiliation, to lonely evenings on tour, to being paralysed by shyness at a dinner party hosted by famous guests, to navigating middle age and to finding love. By sharing his own moments of anger, frustration, loneliness and loss, Derren reveals how it's possible to find consolation and compassion in our most challenging times.
'A Book of Secrets' is a profound and practical guide to finding value in sadness and strength from what life throws at us - it is from the difficulty of life that we find meaning and grow.
What I thought: Anyone who knows me will already know of my love for Derren Brown. I think he is absolutely incredible: intelligent, insightful, funny and, just generally, an all round great guy. I’ve seen everything he’s ever produced; read every book he’s ever written (barring those intended for professional magicians) and gone to every single one of his shows since I was old enough to book my own tickets… I even bought his playing cards. I can talk about him and his ideas until I’m blue in the face and, because I surround myself with other like-minded Derren Brown lovers, very often do.
So, as soon as I heard that he was releasing a new book – all about life, humanity, self and navigating the world around us (themes that I had become independently very interested in and already consuming multiple books on around that time), I was the first in line to reserve my signed copy.
The day ‘A Book of Secrets’ was finally released was, incidentally, the same day I passed my driving test. Already brimming with excitement, the first thing I did was ask my instructor to drop me in town so that I could pick up this book. (Best. Day. Ever!) And it did not disappoint.
I found this book so insightful and interesting, both in terms of learning more about Brown’s own personal life, and also in terms of the more philosophical ideas he puts forward. It blew my mind to learn that even Derren Brown gets nervous; sometimes doesn’t know what to say at dinner parties, or how best to handle a social interaction! That even Derren Brown ruminates on past regrets and tortures himself re-living embarrassing moments that everybody else has almost certainly forgotten about. That knowledge made me feel more at peace with my own innate humanness and bumbling imperfections than any amount of hours spent in a therapist’s office could.
I’m also fairly certain that this is the first and only non-fiction book that has ever made me cry. Like, heart-wrenchingly sob – over a chapter that was so beautifully and emotionally written, and that made me look at life, and all the people experiencing it, in such a different; more empathetic way. (I’m referring to chapter 7: ‘These Are the People Who Populate Our Lives’ for those curious. Maybe approach with a box of tissues at the ready.)
Long review short: I enjoyed this book. You should read it too if you want.
5) This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay
Welcome to the life of a junior doctor: 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, a constant tsunami of bodily fluids, and the hospital parking meter earns more than you.
Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights and missed weekends, Adam Kay's 'This is Going to Hurt' provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the NHS front line. Hilarious, horrifying and heartbreaking, this diary is everything you wanted to know – and more than a few things you didn't – about life on and off the hospital ward.
What I thought: ‘This is Going to Hurt’ has been a widely acclaimed success ever since it was first published back in 2017. However, having suffered from hypochondria throughout my life, I tend to steer away from reading anything health-related if I can at all help it, through fear of setting off, at best, a panic attack; at worst, weeks of self-inflicted anxiety and hyperawareness. (Never read ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Never will.) So, despite all the hype and multiple recommendations flying around at that time, I never really considered picking it up.
Cut forward four years: my mental health is in a much better place than it once was; Nick is listening to ‘This is Going to Hurt’ on Audible and absolutely loving it. He leaves it playing whilst we’re getting ready together one day and I find myself laughing along too. After being assured that it mostly only deals with perinatal health (and as someone who is still at least a couple of years away from having to worry about perineal tears or uterine prolapses), I agree that it’s finally time I give it a read. Which I do… whilst I’m stuck in bed with the worst illness I’ve had in years (thankfully not COVID!) Go figure.
And I can’t tell you how unbelievably glad I am that I eventually did give this book a read. I absolutely loved it! It is hilarious and had me actually laughing out loud throughout, which is an impressive feat for a book to achieve. I found myself excitedly telling the stories back to Nick so that we could laugh together, even knowing full well that he’d already read it himself. As well as being funny, it was also a really illuminating insight into life as a junior doctor and the pressure that our NHS is under.
After reading the book, we booked tickets to see Adam Kay tour with his subsequent book, ‘’Twas the Night Shift Before Christmas’, which was really funny and where I was able to get my hands on a signed copy of the same book.
We’re currently really enjoying watching the BBC adaptation and are looking forward to reading Kay’s next book, ‘Undoctored’, when it's released in September this year.
So, those are my five favourites narrowed down from another great year of devouring books! As I mentioned, life’s been pretty busy so far this year (and is only due to get busier!) The down side of this is that I’ve been doing significantly less reading than usual as a result. Having said that, writing this has definitely made me want to find more time for reading again, so let me know if you have any great book recommendations I should be incorporating into my 2022 reading list in the comments below!
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