My Top Reads Right Now

With not a lot going on in January, I always find it’s the perfect time to hibernate with a good book. I’ve always been a real bookworm, and there’s nothing I love more than escaping into the pages of another world for a few hours. Here are some of my recent favourites – all completely varying in genre but just as enjoyable as the last.

The Book of Dust – Phillip Pullman

This is currently filling the Harry Potter shaped hole in my life. A completely different plot and theme (so don’t be expecting Hogwarts), but it sits in with that fantasy genre and I absolutely love it. I’d heard someone mention before Christmas that this was pretty amazing and even though it’s not normally one I’d choose, I thought I’d give it a go. I couldn’t. put. it. down. I loved it! Escapism at its best. It’s described as a children’s book – but I have to slightly disagree, young adults perhaps – but there’s a lot going on, and it’s quite a long one too. I never got the impression I was reading a children’s novel – to me, it was just like reading some of the later Harry Potter books; by that I mean suitable for adults and teenagers.

Hanya Yanagihara – A Little Life

I picked this one up on the reviews alone, there are some pretty strongly worded (in a very positive way) reviews on this book. Words such as breathtaking, outstanding and beautiful and even life changing were featured, and many reviewers seemed very passionate about the book. I suppose that intrigued me more than anything and so I picked myself up a copy. Now I’m only part way through this one, so I can’t fully review yet – but I am hooked so far. It’s quite long, and I’ve a feeling at some points it gets very dark – potentially not one for the sun lounger. I’ll update fully once I’ve read it all, but in a nutshell the book is about the friendship of four men and their journey through life, but centres around one character. Gripping stuff.

So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed – Jon Ronson

I ordered a copy of this after immersing myself in the world of Black Mirror – I know, I’m super late to the party. This book delves into the social media era and the way we as human beings use our new found public voices, quite often in a negative way. It’s very relevant right now, and I’ve a feeling many of my blogging friends may enjoy this one.

The Psychopath Test – Jon Ronson

This then compelled me to pick up The Psychopath Test. This one is full of humour, but is pretty intriguing at the same time. It makes us completely question what is defined as normality and makes for a fascinating read.

The Girl Who Climbed Everest – Bonita Norris 

Random fact about me – I’m a huge, huge Everest geek. I have such a fascination with it, and have read countless books on the subject. I suppose I’m a bit of an armchair Everest climber and visiting Everest Base Camp is right at the top of my bucket list. So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Bonita Norris was releasing her first book. In case you’re not familiar with Bonita, she was at the time the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Mt Everest – not only that, but before her huge feat, she was just a normal young girl with no mountaineering / sports experience whatsoever. She’s then gone on to summit many other hugely impressive mountains such as Lhotse and Manaslu, to name a few. Such an incredible and inspiring woman, I’ve followed her on Instagram for quite some time now, and I’m thrilled to bits that she’s finally released a book.

The Haunting of Henry Twist – Rebecca F. John 

Another novel to round things up. The Haunting of Henry Twist. Set in 1920’s London, the plot follows a bereaving man, who has just recently lost his wife. However, he is distracted from his grief by the meeting of a strange man, a man who very much reminds Henry of his wife. This is a real page turner which has lots of twists and turns and will completely engross you from the get-go.