For my 2016 reading challenge, my most important goal was to just get back into the habit of reading. I love books, but in recent years things I’ve found myself increasingly distracted by things like social media, watching rubbish reality-tv with my flatmate, and mountains of homework (which to be fair also includes plenty of literature). So I set the goal at a modest 12 books, one per month, so no matter how busy things got I’d still be able to do it. My other goal was to read lots of women writers, and while it wasn’t my original intention, my reading list for this year turned out all-female. Since I already got to my goal a month early and thoroughly enjoyed all the books I read, I thought I’d share the books I read. Hopefully this will encourage you to pick up a book or even set yourself a little challenge for next year.
January: Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar
To go with the gloominess of January, I grabbed a classic that bizarrely I’d never read before and that really moved me to my core.
February: Saara Turunen – Rakkaudenhirviö
The only Finnish book on the list, I got this one for Christmas and even though I was a bit sceptical at first, it ended up becoming one of my favourite books of the year, maybe even the favourite.
March: Donna Tartt – The Secret History
This one took me forever to finish, but it was worth it. Beautifully written and fascinating.
April: Lisa Eldridge – Face Paint
I’m a massive fan of make-up artist Lisa Eldridge, so I knew I had to read her book. The history of makeup is inevitably tied to the history of women so this was an interesting and surprisingly educational read.
May: Sarah Knight – The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k
Yeah, I only bought it because of the title and because I needed something to read while travelling. But I do think we all need to learn to let go a bit, and this was a good reminder of that. (I did also read the OG Marie Kondo tidying guide, and let me tell you, tidying up your sock drawer is worth a few of those precious F’s.)
June: Mary Shelley – Frankenstein
It shames me and the University that I was able to get through three years of classes (and almost 23 years of book-loving life) without reading this chilling and profound classic.
July: Paula Hawkins – The Girl on the Train
For some light beach reading (not that I went to a beach all summer), I chose a thriller about murder and alcoholism. If you loved Gone Girl, this is pretty much exactly that but with trains involved.
August: Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice
Again, I can’t explain why I hadn’t read this one before. It was totally charming and witty and beautiful.
September: Zadie Smith – On Beauty
I was sort of vaguely aware that Zadie Smith was a really good writer but just hadn’t got round to reading anything by her. On Beauty was excellent, Smith is definitely on my 2017 book list too.
October: E. Lockhart – We Were Liars / Estée Lalonde – Bloom
We Were Liars was a quick read, not hugely impressive at first but all worth it because of the surprising ending. Estée Lalonde is one of my favourite vloggers and her book was absolutely beautiful and filled my heart with joy.
November: Kamila Shamsie – Burnt Shadows
Shoutout to the person who recommended this to me on my favourite app Jodel. I loved every carefully chosen word of it.
What were your favourite books in 2016? Let us know!