{"id":280,"date":"2016-12-21T12:33:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/21\/in-which-i-attempt-to-pick-favorites\/"},"modified":"2020-10-28T02:19:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T02:19:37","slug":"in-which-i-attempt-to-pick-favorites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/21\/in-which-i-attempt-to-pick-favorites\/","title":{"rendered":"In Which I Attempt To Pick Favorites"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

I am not good at picking favorites and I am especially not good at picking favorite books. \u00a0There are so many variables.\u00a0 A new book or reread? \u00a0Fun fluff or deep and meaningful? \u00a0Fiction or nonfiction? \u00a0I \u00a0frequently sink into a morass of confusion and eventually give up. \u00a0But this time I am persevering and giving you a slightly arbitrary selection of my best reads of 2016. \u00a0Really, it is absolutely amazing that I kept track of what I read this year. I have only done this for a few years in my whole life. \u00a0I am not sure how I feel about keeping track of my reading. \u00a0On the one hand, I like having a list of what I read during the year. \u00a0On the other hand, it is easy to get caught up in how many books you have read and those reading challenges don’t help. \u00a0A Dickens novel is going to take much longer than three Georgette Heyer novels read in a row (yes, I did both this year) but the Dickens novel only counts as one book. \u00a0I have decided that for 2017 I am going to make a simple list and ignore the numbers.<\/p>\n

There are a few things you need to know about this list. \u00a0There are no rereads on it. \u00a0That rule was made out of pure self-preservation. \u00a0I reread a lot of old favorites this year and if I had to put them on the list I would be writing this post till doomsday. Which reminds me, I reread Doomsday Book<\/i> by Connie Willis this year. \u00a0So good. \u00a0Go read it if you haven’t yet. \u00a0That isn’t on the list, it is a bonus recommendation. \u00a0Also, you should be aware that there are no reviews for all these books on my blog. \u00a0I talk about books pretty much constantly but I don’t post a review for everything I read. \u00a0I guess you would say this is a book love blog instead of a book review blog. \u00a0Finally, this list is in no particular order.<\/p>\n

I started this year by reading Bleak House<\/i> by Charles Dicken. \u00a0Dickens was an immensely popular novelist for a reason. \u00a0I hadn’t read Dickens in years and I had forgotten just how immersed in his world it is possible to become. \u00a0I swore I would be reading more Dickens this year and it didn’t happen. \u00a0His books are perfect middle of winter reads so maybe in January I will pick up another one. \u00a0Read my review of Bleak House<\/i> here.<\/a><\/p>\n

This was also the year in which I was introduced to the Lymond Chronicles. \u00a0I read the whole series but they are only counting as one spot on my list. \u00a0Set in Scotland during the 1500s they follow the fortunes of Francis Crawford of Lymond, a “scapegrace nobleman of crooked felicities and murderous talents, possessed of a scholar’s erudition and a tongue as wicked as a rapier.” \u00a0How can you possibly resist that description?<\/p>\n

The Makioka Sisters<\/i> by Junichiro Tanizaki was recommended to me by A Reader of Literature<\/a>. It follows the lives of four sisters in Japan in the years just before WWII. \u00a0It was fascinating to get a look into a world so different from my own. \u00a0It is a quietly written and subtle book. \u00a0I thoroughly enjoyed it. \u00a0Read my review here.<\/a><\/p>\n

I reread Mansfield Park<\/i><\/a> and Pride and Prejudice<\/i> this year but they aren’t allowed on this list because I have read both about five million times. \u00a0However, I am still managing to slip some Jane Austen in with my next two selections. \u00a0Jane Austen–A Life<\/i><\/a> by Claire Tomalin is a fascinating depiction of the woman who wrote some of the absolutely best books in the world (not an exaggeration.) \u00a0I also read Jane Austen’s Letters edited by Deirdre Le Faye. \u00a0I heartily recommend both books. \u00a0They bring Jane Austen to life as a real person and not just the myth and legend she has become.<\/p>\n

I read two nonfiction books by Juliet Nicholson. \u00a0Singled Out<\/i> is the account of “how two million women survived without men after the first world war.” \u00a0Millions Like Us<\/i> is a detailed and fascinating depiction of women’s lives during WWII. \u00a0If you enjoy social history and reading about the time period around either of the wars then these are the books for you. \u00a0I found them both to be absorbing.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Taylor is such a nuanced writer. \u00a0I have enjoyed all the books I have read by her and I am working my way through her books very slowly because I will be sad when I run out of them. \u00a0I read At Mrs Lippincote’s<\/i> this year and loved it. Julia and her husband Roddy, who is in the RAF, rent Mrs Lippincote’s home for a time during WWII. It is not really a war book but instead is more about relationships. \u00a0Elizabeth Taylor always seems to write more under the surface than above which is why I enjoy her.<\/p>\n

The Half-Crown House<\/i> by Helen Ashton is the story of an English country house, and the family that lives in it, over the course of one day. It is a quiet book but I enjoy that. \u00a0It has a lot to say about the changes to society and the big country houses after WWII ended. \u00a0It was an interesting insight into a world that was disappearing.<\/p>\n

My Dear Bessie–A Love Story In Letters<\/i><\/a> edited by Simon Garfield was emotional and touching. \u00a0It is a compilation of the real life letters written by Chris Barker and Bessie Moore while they were apart during WWII. \u00a0I highly recommend it.<\/p>\n

I read several Persephone Books this year which is always a guarantee of wonderful books. \u00a0Two of them made my list of best books. \u00a0Family Roundabout<\/i> by Richmal Crompton is a enthralling depiction of two families and their interactions over the years. \u00a0Read my review here.<\/a>\u00a0I also loved Hostages to Fortune<\/i> by Elizabeth Cambridge. \u00a0It is about the “day-to-day life of a middle-class English family, living in narrow circumstances in an Oxfordshire village.” \u00a0Really though, it is about so much more: about family and marriage and children and ambitions and relationships. \u00a0I want to read it all over again now.<\/p>\n

There you have it, my best books of 2016. \u00a0Now if I can just manage to resist starting 2017 by rereading all of them because they are just so good….<\/p>\n

Tell me, what were your best books of 2016?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not good at picking favorites and I am especially not good at picking favorite books. \u00a0There are so many variables.\u00a0 A new book or reread? \u00a0Fun fluff or deep and meaningful? \u00a0Fiction or nonfiction? \u00a0I \u00a0frequently sink into a morass of confusion and eventually give up. \u00a0But this time I am persevering and giving you a slightly arbitrary selection of my best reads of 2016. \u00a0Really, it is absolutely amazing that I kept track of what I read this year. I have only done this for a few years in my whole life. \u00a0I am not sure how I feel about keeping track of my reading. \u00a0On the one hand, I like having a list of what I read during the year. \u00a0On the other hand, it is easy to get caught up in how many books you have read and those reading challenges don’t help. \u00a0A Dickens novel is going to take much longer than three Georgette Heyer novels read in a row (yes, I did both this year) but the Dickens novel only counts as one book. \u00a0I have decided that for 2017 I am going to make a simple list and ignore the numbers. There are a few things you need to know about this list. \u00a0There are no rereads on it. \u00a0That rule was made out of pure self-preservation. \u00a0I reread a lot of old favorites this year and if I had to put them on the list I would be writing this post till doomsday. Which reminds me, I reread Doomsday Book by Connie Willis this year. \u00a0So good. \u00a0Go read it if you haven’t yet. \u00a0That isn’t on the list, it is a bonus recommendation. \u00a0Also, you should be aware that there are no reviews for all these books on my blog. \u00a0I talk about books pretty much constantly but I don’t post a review for everything I read. \u00a0I guess you would say this is a book love blog instead of a book review blog. \u00a0Finally, this list is in no particular order. I started this year by reading Bleak House by Charles Dicken. \u00a0Dickens was an immensely popular novelist for a reason. \u00a0I hadn’t read Dickens in years and I had forgotten just how immersed in his world it is possible to become. \u00a0I swore I would be reading more Dickens this year and it didn’t happen. \u00a0His books are perfect middle of winter reads so maybe in January I will pick up another one. \u00a0Read my review of Bleak House here. This was also the year in which I was introduced to the Lymond Chronicles. \u00a0I read the whole series but they are only counting as one spot on my list. \u00a0Set in Scotland during the 1500s they follow the fortunes of Francis Crawford of Lymond, a “scapegrace nobleman of crooked felicities and murderous talents, possessed of a scholar’s erudition and a tongue as wicked as a rapier.” \u00a0How can you possibly resist that description? The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki was recommended to me by A Reader of Literature. It follows the lives of four sisters in Japan in the years just before WWII. \u00a0It was fascinating to get a look into a world so different from my own. \u00a0It is a quietly written and subtle book. \u00a0I thoroughly enjoyed it. \u00a0Read my review here. I reread Mansfield Park and Pride and Prejudice this year but they aren’t allowed on this list because I have read both about five million times. \u00a0However, I am still managing to slip some Jane Austen in with my next two selections. \u00a0Jane Austen–A Life by Claire Tomalin is a fascinating depiction of the woman who wrote some of the absolutely best books in the world (not an exaggeration.) \u00a0I also read Jane Austen’s Letters edited by Deirdre Le Faye. \u00a0I heartily recommend both books. \u00a0They bring Jane Austen to life as a real person and not just the myth and legend she has become. I read two nonfiction books by Juliet Nicholson. \u00a0Singled Out is the account of “how two million women survived without men after the first world war.” \u00a0Millions Like Us is a detailed and fascinating depiction of women’s lives during WWII. \u00a0If you enjoy social history and reading about the time period around either of the wars then these are the books for you. \u00a0I found them both to be absorbing. Elizabeth Taylor is such a nuanced writer. \u00a0I have enjoyed all the books I have read by her and I am working my way through her books very slowly because I will be sad when I run out of them. \u00a0I read At Mrs Lippincote’s this year and loved it. Julia and her husband Roddy, who is in the RAF, rent Mrs Lippincote’s home for a time during WWII. It is not really a war book but instead is more about relationships. \u00a0Elizabeth Taylor always seems to write more under the surface than above which is why I enjoy her. The Half-Crown House by Helen Ashton is the story of an English country house, and the family that lives in it, over the course of one day. It is a quiet book but I enjoy that. \u00a0It has a lot to say about the changes to society and the big country houses after WWII ended. \u00a0It was an interesting insight into a world that was disappearing. My Dear Bessie–A Love Story In Letters edited by Simon Garfield was emotional and touching. \u00a0It is a compilation of the real life letters written by Chris Barker and Bessie Moore while they were apart during WWII. \u00a0I highly recommend it. I read several Persephone Books this year which is always a guarantee of wonderful books. \u00a0Two of them made my list of best books. \u00a0Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton is a enthralling depiction of two families and their interactions over the years. \u00a0Read my review here.\u00a0I also loved Hostages to Fortune by Elizabeth Cambridge. \u00a0It is about the “day-to-day life of a middle-class English family, living in narrow circumstances in an Oxfordshire village.” \u00a0Really though, it is about so much more: about family and marriage and children and ambitions and relationships. \u00a0I want to read it all over again now. There you have it, my best books of 2016. \u00a0Now if I can just manage to resist starting 2017 by rereading all of them because they are just so good…. Tell me, what were your best books of 2016?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-year-in-review"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2775,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/2775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.holdsuponhappiness.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}