A year in which I just surpassed the number of books I read last year. I was well ahead of myself after the summer holidays, but then that all stopped when I had to start reading for the Masters. I could have added a large number of academic articles and books about assessment to this list, but I don't think anybody is going to be superkeen to read about the finer points of validity.
Fiction
The Vanishing Witch - Karen Maitland - I fear I might have run out of Maitland books to read now. They are deliciously creepy.
The Ottoman Secret - Raymond Khoury - love a bit of Ottomans but when I got it home from the library and realised it had a commendation from Lee Childs, I nearly took it back - not my sort of thing. But it was pretty good. I do like a counter-factual.
An Inspector Calls - J.B.Priestley - we dressed as characters from this for World Book Day so I thought I'd better read it. Meh.
Lone Women - Victor LaValle - not at all what I was expecting but very enjoyable. Horror set on the American plains.
Copper Sun - Sharon M Draper - teen fiction about American slavery. Jarring because the ending is not miserable and therefore feels ahistorical. But it is for teens, I guess.
Still Life - Sarah Winman - this took me a while (followers of my weeknotes might recall) but once I got going I loved it. I still think about these characters and it gives me a strong yearning to see 1950s Florence.
Stormbird - Conn Igulden - I enjoyed this more than I expected to. It was given to me by a tutee way back in 2015 and was packed into a crate of books I brought from my last job, that still languish in the garage, 8 years later. I picked it out and thought I'd better read it or get rid. It was a good story of the early reign of Henry VI but it wasn't exactly gripping - I started reading it in May and put it down numerous times to read other things. Still, Igulden has written a lot of historical fiction so it is good to find a new author to work through.
Wild - Cheryl Strayed - a reread of this one, I really like it. I know it's not fiction but it didn't quite fit on the other list. I've visited a fair few of the places on the PCT and the reread just makes me want to pack a bunch of stuff and give it a go. I'm not kidding myself that I'd make it even more than two days, but it is a nice dream.
The Family from One End Street - Eve Garnett - a childhood book I wanted to reread. I remembered a section of it where the oldest daughter irons a green silk petticoat and shrinks it but for the longest time, that was all I could recall. Eventually the internet caught up and I was able to find the name of it through searching the story I remembered.
An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears - this took me a while but I really liked how the story is expanded in each subsequent retelling. In the final section, there's some consideration of how history is told with a strong nod towards Thucydides, that made me think - if I was cleverer, would I recognise that each section is told in a different historical methodology?
Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfield - another childhood book I powered through in a few hours. Then Facebook started serving me ads for Ballet Shoes on stage this autumn. I really do find this level of knowledge about my life pretty creepy.
The Wolf Den - Elodie Harper
The House with the Golden Door - Elodie Harper
The Temple of Fortuna - Elodie Harper - these three make up the Wolf Den trilogy which is set in Pompeii in the years leading up to and immediately following the 79 eruption. It was pretty atmospheric to read them with a view of Vesuvius.
Weyward - Emilia Hart - I read this in a day, on my way home from Amalfi, and I really enjoyed it. Three lives and how they intertwine. I went back to bits of it to reread in the subsequent days.
Act of Oblivion - Robert Harris - Harris never misses for me but it was particularly interesting reading this shortly after the Fingerpost book, because both are set after the Restoration. There was some character overlap. I've struggled a bit with a paucity of 17th century contextual knowledge in my A-level teaching, so these books are really helpful - this one particularly provided some good insight into why the relationship between England and its colonies was already a bit stale even in the 1660s.
House of Odysseus - Claire North - Ithaca was one of my favourite books of 2023 so I was delighted to find it was the first in a trilogy. I haven't got more than two chapters into it yet, though.
Salt to the Sea - Ruta Sepetys - the story of a group involved in a real-life naval disaster in the Baltic, towards the end of WW2, told from four different points of view. I found the jump in narrator a little frustrating at times, as the chapters were sometimes incredibly brief, but it was a good story.
A Little Princess - France Hodgson Burnett - a comfort read when I had toothache. I got through it in one evening. I think it's interesting to return to these books now that I know more about the history of the time in which they're set. A dashing young soldier, a diamond mine, brain fever, exoticism from India, etc.
A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles - there is so much to love about this book. It is taking me a long time to read it but I really dote on the writing, sometimes rereading pages just because I think it's so beautifully phrased. I had it from the library and then had to buy it on my Kindle because I couldn't read it quick enough.
Non-fiction
The Witness Wore Read - Rebecca Musser - started off the year with a religious cult memoir. Mormon ones always make me think of the series Big Love and this makes me want to watch it again.
Fearing the Black Body - Sabrina Strings - quite high brow but an interesting glimpse into the way that what is desirable about someone else's body changed as a result of empire and slavery.
How the Word is Passed - Clint Smith - I think this was the best audiobook I listened to all year. I bought it in hard copy afterwards. If you pick one from my list, make it this one.
Prisoners of Geography - Tim Marshall - I wasn't really a fan. Some good bits, some bits I didn't really agree with. I guess it is quite old now.
Uncultured - Daniella Mestyanek Young - I'm running out of books about women escaping from cults (my favourite genre of audiobook) so was pleased to come across this one. She narrates, too. I love those in particular.
Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain - a bit like listening in to some drunk guy's conversations in a pub. But an interesting drunk man with a lot of good stories to tell.
Ultra-Processed People - Chris van Tulleken - not preachy at all, in my opinion (though a colleague saw this in my email sig and told me she did not agree). Just common sense and a good advice.
Leaders Eat Last - Simon Sinek - I should have known better, really - I can't really be doing with these silicon valley self-congratulatory sermons, but since this stuff has leaked quite heavily into educational leadership, it is probably better to read what your leaders are reading, so you know what to expect. It was OK. It sort of fitted what I thought about leadership anyway.
I will say that I blame Sinek entirely for the current craze, at conferences, for starting keynotes or workshops with an extended explanation of the rationale. Yes, fine, start with why, yes, Sinek is a genius, yes yes yes. But in education, we all know the why already. We are already convinced. That's why we work long hours for meagre pay. Just hurry up and get to the what and how, it's what I came for.
Exam Nation - Sammy Wright - I thought this would be more about exams so I listened to it in the run up to my first uni week. It was a bit broader than that. He was an engaging reader of his own work and there are many good anecdotes in this book.
Our Island Stories - Corinne Fowler - I've been familiar with Corinne's work for a long time as her interests bump up against mine in the teaching world. This is a real treat. She narrates stories about different areas of the country and their connection to empire - she walked around each one with someone of note, so the audiobook contains clips of her voice recordings of those walks, which is a nice touch. Not finished yet, I am savouring it.
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