Francesca's Thoughts

Since we’re halfway through the year, I thought I’d do a little round up of some of my favourite books this year so far. I’ve done a lot of rereads, because I can never take in new texts when I’m knee-deep in editing… and because sometimes you need to spend the entire Easter weekend with Harrow the Ninth.

Best standalone novel

Oh, this is awkward. Almost everything I’ve read this year has been part of a series. Hang on, I’ll consult Goodreads, which I keep using entirely for when I can’t remember what I’ve read.

Apparently the only standalones I’ve read for the first time this year have been The Graveyard Book and The Bloody Chamber. One of those is an excellent gift for children. The other absolutely is not.

Best new (to me) series

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. I was about to say I’m 30 years late to the party, but if we take away the time when I wasn’t born yet/would have been too young for the content, I am only about a decade late. Ish. Look, I started watching Parks and Recreation yesterday and only started Happy Valley the week it finished. If the work is good, I’ll get to it eventually.

Probably.

Best non-fiction book

Excluding the twenty to thirty non-fiction books I’ve been perusing for my dissertation, which I’ve less read and more inhaled with a pencil in one hand and a set of sticky tabs in the other… Caitlin Doughty’s Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? which I talked about here.

What I’m hoping to read during the rest of this year

• My next book (kidding, she’s in such early drafts I’m not even teasing a nickname)
• Shuggie Bain, because I won a copy and I’ll be honest that it’s taking up shelf space that could be filled if I decide it’s a read-it-once-and-gift-to-a-friend novel
• An email confirming I’ve submitted all my assignments for my bachelor’s
• Headlines about a better government

We can but hope one of those happens! What have you been reading? What should I be reading? Will I finally start reading prices in coffee shops so I don’t accidentally go bankrupt over a thimble-sized beverage? (No.)

Look after yourselves,
Francesca

Thanks for reading. If you’d like to read my short stories and see behind-the-scenes work, you can sample? the No. 1 Reader’s Club on Patreon for a month with this link. No pressure to stick around! Think of it as trying a miniature dessert with no requirement to eat the whole menu. You can also find me on Ko-fi. Thank you for your support – you’re helping to fund this space and pay for other costs of running a creative business, like paying editors.

Here are the books I’ve published so far and where you can find them. If you enjoy my book recommendations, browse my Bookshop.org page here.

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