Category: Reading

What’s your favourite novel about mental health?

8/10/2019

Having spent the bulk of my wage-earning life in mental health care, it’s not surprising that the theme crops up in my writing. But, as a reader, my professional experience can make me more picky. For World Mental Health Day this week, I’m asking for your favourite novels about mental health, sharing some of my own reading recommendations and illustrating how I’ve drawn on the theme in my fiction. Continue reading also for news of how to be in with the chance of winning a signed copy of my next novel, which is set in a psychiatric hospital in the process of closing down.

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Celebrating Women in Translation 2019 #WITMonth #amreading

30/8/2019

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In my post for women in translation month last August, I flagged seven qualifying books I’d read over the previous twelve months. The stories took me around the world to Europe (Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland) and beyond (Iran, Oman and Japan). But I thought I could beat that between September 2018 and August this year. It’s looking like I have!

Read on for bite-sized summaries of these 24 books, roughly in the order I read them, with links to my longer reviews if any take your fancy.

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Do you have a preferred reading pace? #amreading

30/5/2019

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Because I get through so many books – 147 last year – people often assume I’m a fast reader. But I don’t think that’s the case – although admittedly I’ve never measured it – more a matter of devoting a lot of time to reading (and for some of that time I’m asleep). On the odd occasion I’ve read the same book as Mr A, he seems to finish sooner. But neither of us read as some people do, scanning the page as a whole rather than consuming it bit by bit, sentence by sentence.

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Do you fall asleep reading?

28/4/2019

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A lot of people take a book to bed, confident a few pages of text will help them nod off. That’s not me. As a reviewer, I take my reading far too seriously. Yet, settling down after dinner for two to three hours immersed in a book, I often wonder how long it will take for the words to blur, or for that jolt into wakefulness that signals the end of a micro-sleep. Why oh why?

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What do I mean by an undemanding read?

29/3/2019

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In a recent review post, I described a novel as an undemanding read, and when, I did so a second time, I was challenged to define what I meant. Pondering this on a morning walk, it struck me that it’s easier to identify what such a book isn’t than what it is, which feels rather negative or damning with faint praise. Which wasn’t my intention, at least consciously. But don’t you also find that some books – and particularly novels – are just okay, without there being anything special about them? And is that in itself okay?

2019 Reading Challenge

Anne has read 19 books toward their goal of 100 books.

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19 of 100 (19%)

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What should you read when unwell?

27/2/2019

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A virus nabbed me at the end of January, and kept me captive right through this month. Confined to barracks if not to bed, it’s deprived me of walks and singing, and standing at my desk. But I could sit and edit, although I’ve done no new writing, apart from a couple of 99-word stories, and a helluva lot of reviews. February might be the shortest month, but perhaps the greatest in my book-reading tally.

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My reading goals for 2019

30/1/2019

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In January last year, I posted on my goals to ensure that at least 50% of the books I read were from independent publishers and/or by female authors. Convinced that diversity is good for the brain, I aspired to make 20% of my reading choices translations. My analysis, posted earlier this month, showed I achieved on all three, but failed a fourth target of 25% BME authors. So what are the implications, if any, for my reading across the coming year?

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My favourite reads of 2018 Part 4 #amreading

5/1/2019

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Welcome to the fourth and final instalment of my favourite reads of the year. Here I’ll share micro-reviews of my four final favourites (from November and December) along with an overview of all 19. You’ll find links to the full reviews if you’re curious to read more. Plus I’ve got some pretty charts to show how these, and the 147 books I read in total, measured up against the targets I set last year.

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Young women, invisible even to themselves: My Year of Rest and Relaxation & Pretend I’m Dead

31/12/2018

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I’m rounding off my reading year with reviews of American novels about women in their mid-20s who are estranged from everything, even themselves. While the first owns two properties and the second cleans other people’s houses for a living, they are equally desperately homeless inside. While the first namedrops designer labels, and the second cleaning products, both bring a light touch to the tragedy of feeling invisible and being insecurely attached.

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My favourite reads of 2018 Part 3 #amreading

24/12/2018

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Welcome to the penultimate instalment of my favourite reads of the year with reminders of five wonderful novels I reviewed in September, October and November. This is a short post because I know some people are busy, having ignored my advice on saying No to Christmas!

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My favourite reads of 2018 Part 2 #amreading

17/12/2018

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I’ve awarded eighteen books 5-star ratings so far this year, so I’m sharing them in instalments. These five are from my reviews between May and August.

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My favourite reads of 2018 Part 1 #amreading

14/12/2018

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When the bots at Goodreads urged me to tidy my virtual bookshelves, 2018 still had another twenty days left to run. Plenty of time to edge closer to last year’s pinnacle of 150 books. But since I’ve already passed 2017’s 5-star total of 12 books, I’ve decided to share my favourite books of the year in four parts. This instalment covers my reading from January to April this year. Perhaps you’ll choose one of these five to help you say No to Christmas!

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I’ve now chosen the charity to support through my online book launch

30/10/2018

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I was thrilled with the response to my request for recommendations of reading charities for me to support through my forthcoming book launch both the blog comments and Twitter. So many worthwhile causes, I could happily have gone with them all. Before revealing my final choice, let’s have a drum roll for the nominations that didn’t make it. Who knows, perhaps I’ll work my way through them with future books?

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Is there a new trend for fiction with footnotes?

29/9/2018

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I might have mentioned before that I’m something of a traditionalist in my reading. Print suits me better than ebooks and, while I’ve enjoyed novels narrated on the radio, I don’t think I’ve ever chosen an audiobook in preference to text. Regarding the content, while I relish originality, novelty for its own sake can be a turnoff. Post-modernism gives me the shivers. So I was surprised to read three novels in as many months with footnotes. Is this a new trend?

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Reading the world

21/9/2018

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A recent comment from Norah Colvin got me wondering (as they often do): how many countries had I visited recently in the pages of a book? Perhaps I’d set myself a reading goal for next year: around the world in eighty books! As a comparison (or perhaps as a way of avoiding knuckling down to some real work), I thought I’d check where I’d travelled so far this year. Omitting mainland UK and the USA, where I find myself all too often, I’m not even halfway to eighty, but it’s nevertheless a spread.

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Could do better? Three novels for Women in Translation month

30/8/2018

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I failed last month to meet my modest target of at least 50% of my reviews being of books by women. Speculating on the possible reasons, I noticed a preponderance of male authors among the novels in translation coming my way. If I were better orientated to time, you’d be forgiven for suspecting my lousy support of female authors was no accident, providing the perfect teaser for today’s post for women in translation month, revisiting the qualifying novels I’ve reviewed since August last year.

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Women’s work identity: Convenience Store Woman & The Librarian

21/8/2018

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Too few novels recreate the reality of the working environment, so hurrah for another two about women at work. From a contemporary Japanese supermarket to a library in a late 50s English country town, these depict women who take their work identity very seriously indeed. But the arrival of a man, alongside their own passion for the work, brings complications. Can Keiko and Sylvia hold onto their jobs?

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Why aren’t I reading more books by women?

31/7/2018

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I’m a woman. I enjoy novels written by women. Indeed, some of my favourite authors are women, such as Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Ann Patchett, Alison Moore. Six of my favourite reads from last year were written by women. So I don’t need to check whether female authors are fairly represented in my reading and reviewing, do I? It’ll just happen, in the natural way of things.

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Have your reading preferences changed over time? #amreading

29/6/2018

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Book groups are great because you get to read stuff you wouldn’t ordinarily choose. But groups are a pain because you feel obliged to read stuff you wouldn’t ordinarily choose. Sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise. Sometimes it confirms your prejudices. But best of all is when it takes you back to a book you thought you knew only to find you’ve completely changed your mind about it.

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Balancing the light and dark #amreading

31/5/2018

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A couple of years ago I blogged about the reasons I’d give up on a novel. Near the top of my list of eleven reasons, I wrote:

4. While I believe there’s room for a touch of humour in almost any topic, I don’t like comedic takes on tragic situations unless, like The First Bad Man, it’s really dark and over the top. Apparent denial of desperation and devastation can really freak me out.

3. Yet, much as I’m drawn to the dark side, I don’t want my reading to be totally bleak. There are ways of writing about trauma that allow for a sliver of light.

While these two points still hold for me as a reader, I’m not sure I can identify exactly where the balance lies for me between dark and light, either in relation to what I want from a novel or in how to find it.

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<<Previous

What’s your favourite novel about mental health?

Celebrating Women in Translation 2019 #WITMonth #amreading

Do you have a preferred reading pace? #amreading

Do you fall asleep reading?

What do I mean by an undemanding read?

2019 Reading Challenge

What should you read when unwell?

My reading goals for 2019

My favourite reads of 2018 Part 4 #amreading

Young women, invisible even to themselves: My Year of Rest and Relaxation & Pretend I’m Dead

My favourite reads of 2018 Part 3 #amreading

My favourite reads of 2018 Part 2 #amreading

My favourite reads of 2018 Part 1 #amreading

I’ve now chosen the charity to support through my online book launch

Is there a new trend for fiction with footnotes?

Reading the world

Could do better? Three novels for Women in Translation month

Women’s work identity: Convenience Store Woman & The Librarian

Why aren’t I reading more books by women?

Have your reading preferences changed over time? #amreading

Balancing the light and dark #amreading

2019 Reading Challenge

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