my top reads of 2019
Going Solo
Roald Dahl
Having decorated our nursery with a subtle ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ theme, and having all of Roald Dahl’s books out on display I thought it was only fitting to familiarise myself with those I hadn’t read growing up as a child. This autobiography which recounts memories for Dahl’s later life living in East Africa and his time as a WWII air pilot was impossible to put down. It’s filled with two hundred pages of (often quite hilarious) short stories from his twenties, all the interesting characters he met and animals he encountered. Unlike some autobiographies I have read in the past, it wasn’t filled with plenty of boring details about the author’s life, but Dahl made a point of being ‘extremely selective, discarding all the inconsequential incidents in one’s life and concentrating upon those that have remained vivid in the memory.’ What follows is a very interesting read regarding such an interesting life… some of which seems so unlikely it is nearly impossible to believe.
For anyone who turns up their nose at this recommendation and dubs it a children’s book… oh how wrong you are! The tales from Roald Dahl’s employment as a RAF fighter pilot are really enlightening and quite frankly fascinating! I hope you pick it up and give it a read!
Raising Archie
Richard Morecroft
This book is no longer in print. I came across it whilst reading Bat by Tessa Laird (one of my top reads of 2018, you can find more about that here). I was interested in the concept of the book. It's the true story of a TV newsreader who fosters an orphaned flying fox for three months before re-releasing him back into the wild with the skills equipped for survival. When I tried to track it down though I couldn’t get my hands on it, and ended up emailing the author directly. (That’s persistence for you!) This wonderful man, sent me a copy of his book, signed with a message all the way from Australia!
I devoured it in no time and found myself laughing out loud at the thought of trying to bath a small, scrabbly flying fox who won’t let go of the towel. It was a charming read, and I love how it demonstrates that all animals (not just dogs and cats) have individual characters and personalities. The author finished the book by emphasising the importance of conservation for this rapidly declining species. Bats unfortunately aren't the most popular animals - but I sure think they are cute.
Fox8
George Saunders
I picked up a signed hardback copy of this in The McNally Jackson Independent bookstore on our trip to New York (which you can read about here). It jumped out at me from the shelf because it was a pretty little book with a fox on the cover. It’s a short story so you can read it in one sitting. Written from the perspective of Fox 8, it tells the tale of a fox who teaches himself to speak “Yuman” and where this newfound talent leads him. It reminded me of ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell – and I felt it carried a similar underlying message. Touching on themes of animal-human interaction, the importance of kindness, curiosity for knowledge and the destructive effects of misunderstanding and cruelty, I found it both humorous and bitterly thought provoking. When I’d finished reading, my interest was peaked to search out more of George Saunders’ works.
Feminists don't wear pink and other lies
Scarlett Curtis
Ryan got this book for my sister one year for Christmas… she passed it onto me and I ended up passing it onto my mum. So all the women in our family have now read it! Great buy. It was a really interesting read, filled with pieces written by a variety of people including activists, journalists, actors, singers, and entrepreneurs.
Some of my favourite pieces included:
The Catastrophizer's alphabet by Kat Dennings. This really made me chuckle. She describes an alphabetised 25 ways in which you could potentially be kidnapped (according to her mother)… you need to read it to understand. KIDNAPPED.
A very honest account in 'My Feminism' by Alison Sudol. She deconstructs the term 'feminism' and how it can bring up images of ‘man-hating’ and 'bra-burning’. She points out that not everybody might be aligned with the terminologies associated with 'feminism' but ultimately it is about treating one another with compassion, kindness and respect and therefore as a movement it is so incredibly important.
‘A brief history of my womanhood’ by Charlie Craggs made me draw my breath in with angst and my heart soar all in just three pages.
Some very helpful pieces to refer back to: 'Things I've learned running my own company' by Zoe Sugg, ‘Feminist Comebacks' by Scarlett Curtis, 'Dismantling and destroying internalised mysogyny: to-do list’ by Dolly Alderton, and finally 'A short history of Feminist theory’ by Claire Horn.
I loved ‘The weaker sex’ by Keira Knightley which is an almost poetic letter dedicated to her daughter.
The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write
Sabrina Mahfouz
This was another book from the ‘Our Shared Shelf’ book club. It compiles poetry, short stories and writings from British Muslim women from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures (some of whom are published for the first time). Like many of my books it is littered with slips of paper so I can quickly flip to my favourite pieces. Some of the writing went over my head, but I enjoyed reading each author. It was educational, absorbing and had me re-reading certain pieces over and over again.
There are too many to recall but some of my favourite pieces were:
- Chimene Suleyman’s ‘Us’ which is a mother’s short story of the hostility faced when trying to fit into British life, and the fear that comes from being considered ‘different’ – an outsider.
- Fadia Faqir’s ‘Under the Cypress Tree’; the opening piece which tells of an unexpected friendship between elderly Doris and her Bedouin neighbour Timam.
- Some wonderful poetry pieces by Imtiaz Dharker.
- Leila Aboulela’s ‘The Insider’; which is a very interesting piece written in response to Albert Camus’ ‘The Outsider’ set in Algeria. Despite having Arab characters central to the plot – they remain unnamed throughout his story. Leila gives them a name and develops each character.