Book Postscript 2018 meme

Rick keeps putting out memes/tags, and I keep copying ’em! This one came originally from a vlog called Memento Mori, which is a slightly ominous origin for an end-of-year tag – but let’s run with it. And it’s only the 21st December as I write this, so there’s definitely some more books to come – but I’m saving up the last few days of 2018 for my Best Books of the Year list, and the run-down of stats I do every year. (I’ve skipped the last question of this, because it’s reflecting on my year as a blogger, and that might come later.)

1) What’s the longest book I read this year and the book that took me the longest to finish?

I think the longest book I read might be Edward Carey’s Little, at around 550 pages. Some of the other longer books were Dorothy Whipple’s The Priory and Stuart Turton’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – as you know, I don’t read super long books all that often.

As for the one it took me longest to finish – I started When Heaven is Silent by Ron Dunn in around 2010 and finally finished it this year, so I think eight years has got to be my 2018 record.

2) What book did I read in 2018 that was outside of my comfort zone?

The most successful one I read outside my comfort zone was Kamchatka by Marcelo Figueras – for my book group. It’s about the Argentinian civil war and it’s really good – in fact, it might be the only book group book from 2018 that I enjoyed, besides the ones I suggested.

3) How many books did I re-read in 2018?

So far, it’s eleven. And eight of those were for episodes of ‘Tea or Books?’, while my umpteenth re-read of The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks was done in an (ultimately unsuccessful) bid to persuade Rachel to let us do it on the podcast.

4) What’s my favourite re-read of 2018?

I don’t do huge amounts of re-reading, so they were all books that I really like – so it’s a toss up between The L-Shaped Room and Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton.

5) What book did I read for the first time in 2018 that I look forward to re-reading in the future?

I find it hard to predict which books I’m likely to re-read, though it becomes a lot more likely when it’s something delightful and fun. That being the case, I’ll pick perhaps the funniest novel I read this year – Buttercups and Daisies by Compton Mackenzie. But he wrote so much that I’ll probably read a lot of his other books before I turn to that.

6) What’s my favourite short story or novella that I read in 2018?

I read so many novellas this year – particularly for my 25 Books in 25 Days challenge – that I’ll go for short stories. I read very few of those, but I think the one that will stay with me is ‘Flypaper’ by Elizabeth Taylor. (For more on that, check out episode 66 of ‘Tea or Books?’)

7) Mass appeal: which book would I recommend to a wide variety of readers?

Simply because it doesn’t seem from the outset like it would have mass appeal, I’d choose The Little Art by Kate Briggs. And if you’re thinking that a book about translation would only appeal to a niche market, then go grab a copy – it’s wonderfully engaging and compelling, and one of the most unusual and unusually good books I’ve read this year.

8) Specialised appeal: which book did I like but would be hesitant to recommend to just anyone?

Probably my favourite book of the year, pending any last minute replacements, is The Sweet and Twenties by Beverley Nichols – but I probably would only recommend it to other people who were (a) interested in Beverley Nichols, or (b) firmly believed the 1920s to be the greatest ever decade. Or maybe to people interested in cultural history in general, but I think it would only be loved as it deserves by… well, me. (Has that reverse psychology worked well enough for you to go and get a copy??)