2023 was an incredibly exciting book year for me, but not in the way you might expect… It came in the form of a big life change and career move: landing my dream job at Penguin Random House!
Working for Penguin had been my lifelong dream ever since my chubby little fingers first thumbed the pages of a Ladybird Well-Loved Tale, but (especially after moving to Yorkshire) was not something I thought would ever actually become a reality. Now, almost nine months in, I’m still pinching myself that I actually get to do the thing I love for a job, working with books every day for the world’s largest general-interest publisher. And all the free books lying around the office definitely don’t hurt… (Seriously, it’s saving me a fortune!)
Having said that, with all the excitement going on (both in and out of work), I still managed to only read 34 books in 2023. Not terrible, but definitely not my best. I’m already settling into much better reading habits in 2024, so I’m hoping that this year’s total will be higher as a result!
Of my five favourites, only four of them were published by PRH (showing that I’m not completely biased just yet…)
1) The Girl in the Castle – James Patterson & Emily Raymond
My name is Hannah Dory and I need you to believe me.
NOW: Hannah is brought to Belman Psych, told she is suffering from hallucinations and delusions. Hannah knows the truth: she must return to the past and save her sister. Could Jordan, the abnormal psych student who seems to truly care, be the answer she’s looking for?
1347: Hannah and her village are starving to death in a brutal winter. Hannah seeks out food and salvation in the baron’s castle. If she is caught stealing, she will surely hang. But if she and her friends succeed, she’ll save everyone she holds dear.
NOW: Jordan isn’t sure what to believe, and Hannah has even bigger problems: if she doesn’t make it back, her sister will die, but if she keeps going back, she might never escape.
What I thought: This book was given to me as a Christmas gift by my partner back in 2022. It isn’t one that I probably would have picked up myself, so I’m very grateful that he found and chose it for me. I read it whilst on holiday in Morocco at the start of the year and was immediately hooked by the storyline and the two very different worlds being so intricately interwoven. As a teenager, I went through a phase of being very into mental health fiction (think The Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted kind of vibes…) and this book took me very much back to that setting, which I loved. The juxtaposition of this with the medieval fantasy element worked unexpectedly well, and I loved the way the story flipped so effortlessly back and forth between worlds. I found the combination to be such a compelling read and loved that this allowed you to interpret the story in different ways.
2) Three Hours – Rosamund Lupton
Three hours is 180 minutes or 10,800 seconds.
It is a morning's lessons, a dress rehearsal of Macbeth, a snowy trek through the woods.
It is an eternity waiting for news. Or a countdown to something terrible.
It is 180 minutes to discover who you will die for and what men will kill for.
In rural Somerset in the middle of a blizzard, the unthinkable happens: a school is under siege. Told from the point of view of the people at the heart of it, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, to the 16 year old Syrian refugee trying to rescue his little brother, to the police psychologist who must identify the gunmen, to the students taking refuge in the school theatre, all experience the most intense hours of their lives, where evil and terror are met by courage, love and redemption.
What I thought: This was a very intense thriller that I was very much reading on the edge of my seat. Even though I did guess one of the major plot points very early on, this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book overall, which was largely gained from my investment in the characters themselves. The fear within the pages is palpable, perhaps made even more so from the perspective of someone whose partner was, at that time, still working as a teacher. Amongst the terror of the main plot, the solidarity of the teachers and children was heartwarming to read, and the social commentary on important topics such as extremism, race and refugees also very sensitively tackled and interwoven throughout the story. It was a fast-paced and anxiety-inducing read whilst, overall, managing to leave you with a reassuring sense of the innate goodness in most people.
3) My Mess Is a Bit of a Life – Georgia Pritchett
When Georgia Pritchett found herself lost for words--a bit of a predicament for a comedy writer--she turned to a therapist, who suggested she try writing down some of the things that worried her. But instead of a grocery list of concerns, Georgia wrote this book.
A natural born worrywart, Georgia's life has been defined by her quirky anxiety. During childhood, she was agitated about the monsters under her bed (Were they comfy enough?). Going into labor, she fretted about making a fuss ("Sorry to interrupt, but the baby is coming out of my body," I said politely). Winning a prestigious award, she agonized over receiving free gifts after the ceremony (It was an excruciating experience. Mortifying).
Soul-baring yet lighthearted, poignant yet written with a healthy dose of self-deprecation, My Mess Is a Bit of a Life is a tour through the carnival funhouse of Georgia's life, from her anxiety-ridden early childhood where disaster loomed around every corner (When I was little I used to think that sheep were clouds that had fallen to earth. On cloudy days I used to worry that I would be squashed by a sheep), through the challenges of breaking into an industry dominated by male writers, to the exquisite terror (and incomparable joy) of raising children.
Delightfully offbeat, painfully honest, full of surprising wonders, and delivering plenty of hilarious, laugh-out-loud moments, My Mess Is a Bit of a Life reveals a talented, vulnerable, and strong woman in all her wisecracking weirdness, and makes us love it--and her--too.
What I thought: As somebody who has struggled with anxiety throughout her life, I naturally find myself gravitating towards books (as well as other forms of entertainment) that tackle the subject – especially when done in a humorous way. (Laughter is the best medicine, after all!) I found this book so funny, and the short storytelling structure made it a very easy read to fly through. Pritchett’s humour is very dry, British and self-deprecating, which is why I enjoyed it so much. If you suffer from anxiety, it’s also so nice to read books like this, and be reassured that you’re definitely not alone or the only person in the world who thinks like you do. I have recommended and lent this book to so many people and now I’m recommending it to you too!
4) Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.
Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.
What I thought: If you’re even remotely interested in books, I’d be very surprised if you hadn’t at least heard of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (or T3 as we call it in the business…) by Gabrielle Zevin at this point. The success of this book has been phenomenal but, despite all the hype, I spent a long time thinking that it wouldn't be for me. As you can imagine, the hype I was exposed to only continued to grow after I started working at PRH. There were copies everywhere around the office, and meetings with bottles of prosecco to celebrate its incredible success. The moment I finally realised that I had to read this book came at one of our quarterly meetings with Tom Weldon, the CEO of Penguin Random House UK. At these meetings, Tom always finishes by telling us about the books he’s been reading lately, and at this particular meeting, he mentioned Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. Like me, Tom had been aware of the hype surrounding this book for a long time, but knowing that it’s about video games, had put off reading it, thinking that it wouldn’t be for him. “But,” he clarified after having now read the book, “of course, it’s not about video games. It’s about love and friendship.” What he went on to say next sealed the deal and was the moment I finally decided that I had to read this book that everybody had been telling me to read for so long. “Every book we publish is a great book,” he said, “but it’s very rare to read a book that you know will go on to become a classic. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is one of those books.” I left the office that day with a copy in my bag and have been recommending it to everyone who will listen ever since I closed the final page. I’d tell you what I thought, but I don’t think you can get much higher praise from a more trusted source than that! Suffice it to say that I loved it.
5) Educated – Tara Westover
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.
Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.
What I thought: This book was recommended to me by my manager when I first started my new job. I don’t usually read memoirs, but I very much trust her opinion, and after hearing her glowing praise and finding a copy in the office, I decided to pick it up. “It makes you a bit cross at first but then it gets better,” was the warning she left me with before I started reading, and now I pass that warning on to you. There definitely is a lot in this book to make you cross, but Westover’s story is so unique, interesting and inspiring that it’s one I highly recommend picking up. It’s also so beautifully well written, and its contents often so outrageous, that it reads more like a work of fiction than a memoir. It’s a story that really stays with you after you finish reading, leaving you with a renewed appreciation of the importance of education, as well as the tenacity of the human spirit.
With an ever-growing TBR pile building up as a result of my new job, I’m looking forward to devouring them throughout 2024 and sharing my thoughts with you this time next year!
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