Reading has always been an escape for me. I’ve always been an avid reader – many of my earliest memories involve me with my head stuck in a book (often sat outside my parents bedroom door on weekend mornings waiting for them to wake up) and I have such fond memories of spending time in libraries… I think I always aspired to be a bit of a real life Matilda! And as an adult, spending a lot of time in hospital both for my mental and physical health, has provided me with a lot of time to get stuck back into books again. I’ll never forget the first book that I was able to read again after a period of being too malnourished to focus on anything – it was such a welcome escape from life on the ward and the difficulties that I was facing.

This year I set myself the goal of reading 50 books – I thought that would be quite a big challenge for me and yet, I managed to surpass that goal and ended up reading 88 books (89 if I finish my latest read today!) According to my Goodreads summary I have read 31,375 pages which is mind boggling! I’ve seen a lot of people summing up their top five books from the year recently which has inspired me to go back over my list and revisit some of my reads from the last 12 months.

Top 5 Books:

1. Verity, Colleen Hoover
   
   I absolutely loved this book! I’d only heard of Colleen Hoover through TikTok (so many of my reads this year have been booktok recommendations) with the rave reviews that came from ‘It Ends with Us’ which was another great read, however, ‘Verity’ hands down beat it for me. In some ways it was an incredibly predictable plot line, that seemed to follow a path that I was roughly expecting. However, in other ways, the ending was so far removed from anything I was expecting that it absolutely blew my mind. The shock of the ending far surpassed any of the more predictable elements for me!
   
   
2. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot, Marianne Cronin
   
   This book made me laugh and cry in equal measure. It followed the experience of a 17 year old on a hospital ward for people with terminal and life limiting illnesses who meets Margot, an 83 year old, in a hospital art class. I think I related a lot to the relationship between the two – because when you are in hospital for a prolonged period of time, it’s only natural that you start to form relationships with other patients. It got me thinking about patients that I’ve met who, sadly, have passed away, and those whom I still speak to on a regular basis. It felt like such a wholesome read and is definitely one of those books that I’d wipe from my memory simply to have the joy of re-reading it again.
   
   
3. How to Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie
   
   I’d heard so much about this book before reading it – again, it was another booktok read that I had seen on a table in Waterstones and was intrigued by the title. There was a lot of character information throughout that did take me a while to get into, but overall I’m glad that I stuck with it! I kind of imagined that it was going to be the kind of book that took me through Grace trying to prove her innocence, however, I soon learned that, whilst she may not have been guilty of the murder she had been sentenced for, she was not quite as innocent as she may have seemed at first. It was a witty, enjoyable read and one that I will continue to recommend.
   
   
4. The Joy of Being Selfish, Michelle Elman
   
   Wow. Just wow. This is a book all about boundaries and why we need them. Michelle is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Boundaries and I can see why. I listened to this on Audible (which has been an amazing way to have a different kind of book experience on days when I can’t focus enough on a physical book) and very quickly ordered myself a paper copy so that I could refer back to ‘must-read’ sections later. I think I’ve always kind of wondered why people have seemed to, at times, walk all over me at various points of my life, and this book opened my eyes to the whole concept of setting boundaries. I don’t think I ever really realised what a boundary was, nor that I was well within my rights to set them for myself. Listening to this book marked a clear turning point in terms of my ability to advocate for myself and set boundaries that I’ve never done before! It’s certainly something that I’ll come back to time and time again as and when I need to.
   
   
5. The Primrose Railway Children, Jacqueline Wilson
   
   I was so excited to read this as ‘The Railway Children’ is one of my childhood faves and it did not disappoint. I needed something that was easy to get stuck into after reading a few too many deep books at once, and it certainly fitted all the boxes. I try to read books that are aimed at children every so often because it still feels satisfying to add them to my Goodreads list. It’s not a story that is too similar to the original that it is replicated exactly as was, but it is similar enough that you can still see the inspiration shine through. And Wilson delicately addresses what Autism is and brings in elements including the importance of speaking about mental health in a way that is perfect for younger readers.

I hope 2023 is full of lots of great books for you!

All my love,

Anna x