It has been quite a year.
Husband had an operation on his dodgy heart. My eldest two children purchased houses and moved out of the family home. I turned 60.
I also continued my journey in running. Having achieved some of my goals previously – running 5k in under 30 minutes and a half marathon in under 2 1/4 hours – I managed to complete a 10k race in under an hour earlier this year. I’m only ever running against myself so was pleased with this achievement. Next year, however, I would like to enter some races just for the fun of taking part rather than aiming for a PB. The older I get the more I realise the importance of staying grounded and healthy rather than trying to impress anyone else.
Things that make me happy: family time, short breaks in the UK countryside with my husband, taking part in a weekly parkrun.
I have written about our travel adventures, often through the lens of my teddy bear, Edward. I have written hotel reviews that focus on: food, comfort, service. I have written run reports from races entered or unique parkrun locations visited. And I continue to write book reviews.
I posted reviews for 63 books read in 2024. Although many of these were new releases – thank you to the publishers who continue to send me advance reader copies – I also plucked a significant number from my vast TBR pile. My reaction to these has made me ponder why they lurked for so long – did I know at some level they may not be for me? None made it into my annual recommendations list.
This year’s list of recommendations (don’t worry, I’ll get there soon) does not include any of my rereads which were mostly children’s books from my childhood, read when comfort was needed. Although still excellent, many are now out of print.
Choosing my ‘books of the year’ is an inexact science. I look through my monthly roundups and select the titles I still remember being blown away by – books I recommend regularly to others and, most importantly, that I believe I would find even more to enjoy and admire in a reread. This year I have been particularly picky so the list is shorter than is sometimes the case – just 7 chosen, all amazing in their own way.
And here they are – 6 novels and 1 work on non fiction, all worth reading.
For those who would like to read my reviews, click on the title below.
All of the above are impressive in a plethora of ways including: writing style, thoughts provoked, imaginative rendering, engagement. As a reader I will come to any book with my own emotional baggage. This may be part of the reason why my Book of the Year for 2024 is Soldier Sailor.
