Francesca's Thoughts

Happy solstice!

I am emerging from a deadline bubble and moving almost immediately into a hibernation bubble, but I’m not going to let the year pass without inflicting upon you a list of books I think you should read, whether you’d enjoy them or not.

I set a reading goal on Goodreads to read 70 books this year, in an attempt to spend less time looking at a screen. I think it worked, although in an ideal world I would throw every device with inbuilt AI ‘help’ into a volcano. In August I wrote a post about my favourite books of the year so far and I think I have a few more to add to the list… and some to natter on about again because they were GREAT.

Best classic I finally got round to reading: The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

(Although Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell might be heading towards classic status.) Honourable mention to Giovanni’s Room, which is as far away from the Lord of the Rings as you can get, although they were published within a year or so of one another.

Best prequel: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

I think I liked it even more than The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I love The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Best sequel: The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri

I first came across the Burning Kingdoms trilogy in 2022 and finally finished the series this year. 10/10 for fun high fantasy.

Best Book to Halt Conversation with Someone You Don’t Like: The Red Market by Scott Carney

I read it for research purposes, and it was really helpful. It’s also helpful for when I find myself talking to someone deeply irritating who thinks they’re smarter than me because, like, they voted in Thatcher. There’s nothing like the words ‘market in human tissue’ to indicate to a conversation partner that you are deeply weird and should be left alone immediately.

Conversely, it’s a great bell weather for finding other people who are deeply weird.

Best Unexpected Emotional Impact: Letters from Father Christmas by JRR Tolkien

When Tolkien’s eldest child was three, he began writing and illustrating ‘letters from Father Christmas’ for his children, and only stopped twenty-three years later when his youngest was fourteen. I am not usually sentimental over Christmas, but in a lot of ways they’re not really about Christmas at all.

Best Book I Wasn’t Expecting to Finish in One Sitting: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

I have a disability called ME/CFS plus some other health conditions, and so does Elisabeth Tova Bailey. I did not know this when I opened the book on my Kindle, and I am not one hundred per cent sure who recommended it but I owe them a drink. When Bailey was bedbound, a friend brought round some flowers in a pot and hitching a ride was a small snail who lived with Bailey for a year. The resultant, relatively short and extremely gently-paced memoir, made me more hopeful about a lot of things. Not ME/CFS necessarily, because I think it should also climb into a volcano and stop ruining loads of people’s lives. Also you can’t cure it once it’s dug its talons into your nervous system. But I do think it’s a book you’ll appreciate if you have someone in your life with chronic health conditions, even if that person is you.

Best Rumination on Nature: This Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie

I wanted to use This Enchanted Life for my dissertation on folklore in 2024, as Blackie is something of an expert, but my local library is slower than a hungover tortoise, so I only got it a year after I needed it. Except it turns out everyone needs to read it.

Best Nuance: The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

Moral complexity? Humans being human? Why would I recommend such a thing in this era of social media slop and politically sanctioned bigotry?

Honourable mentions

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (vampiresssss); The Bone Season series (dystopiaaaaa).

Have a wonderful and peaceful new year!