#52 Lists - List 7

Great Reads I've Read Lately (... or in the last 12 months)

Pip Lincoln's  list is recent reads... I'm stretching back a bit further as I read a lot of books (but a side-effect from the earthquakes is my concentration levels are lower and if I don't get into a book quickly it goes by the way-side).  I've learned that this is quite common.  I have some friends in a book club and they say most of them have found it challenging in the last two years.  So my hit rate is lower these days, despite my appetite for books and the library.  For this reason I'm looking at books I've read lately... or in the last 12 months.

In no particular order, my best "ahem, recent" reads have been:

Oh Dear Sylvia - Dawn French
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - Jonas Jonasson
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul - Deborah Rodriguez
The Prisoner of Heaven - Carlos Zafron Ruiz
The Drowning Girl - Margaret Leroy
The Legacy - Katherine Webb
The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
The Table Comes First - Adam Gopnik (non-fiction)

Only one non-fiction in that list, but I do read a lot of articles and I've been concentrating on travel books with my non-fiction in preparation for trip to Europe.

I don't have one particular genre that I prefer.  I read the odd historical drama ("Painting Mona Lisa"), a bit of Chick Lit (Celia Ahern), Bloke Lit (Mike Gayle/Nick Hornby),  contemporary (Colm Toibin/Roddy Doyle), and everything in between.  Hey, I've even read all the Harry Potters.  On my bookshelf I have the classics (Victor Hugo, Jane Austen) and the medieval (both french and english literature)... so it's fair to say I have a wide interest.  I'll give anything a go, but I do have a page rule.  If I can't get to page 130 within 3 attempts... it goes.

Erin Morgenstern's book is one of the best I've read and it's a gorgeous book if you get the hard copy (the black pages and red edging are a delight).  I follow Erin's blog too (listed to the right) - where she regular writes a 10 sentence essay based on a photograph.  Definitely worth checking out.

My favourite author though, Maggie O'Farrell, isn't on this list as I'm waiting for her new book out (due  mid year).  "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" is a book that side-swiped me with its twist, and all of her books are stunning.  "After You'd Gone" was the book that introduced me to Maggie and it is a beautiful book.  It was a recommended read by Lisa Jewell, another author I enjoy - she's funny and witty and her books are all different.  I recommend you search both Lisa and Maggie out.