Here’s a glimpse into my favourite books that I read in 2017, in no particular order. I tend to read contemporary literature and literary fiction, with the occasional divergence into young adult fiction or romantic fiction. Wander on…

A Gentleman in Moscow

This book is a treasure. The stories within it are magically woven together, and I completely fell in love with the characters. What I loved about it was how often I would sort of lose track of the direction of the plot, only to have it all reveal itself delightfully in front of my eyes.

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil

Melina Marchetta is hands down, forever my favourite author. This book was a topical study into xenophobia and racism, as her previous books have often touched on. And she continues to have the magical power of creating brilliant surges of happiness and love burst inside of me whenever her characters come together.

Exit West

Also topical, in a completely heart-warming way, I loved the way this novel neatly wove magical realism into a modern setting without it feeling forced. The topic of immigration is so gently written, so it never feels preachy, but it’s impossible to come away from this book without having your views of the world interrupted and shifted.

Homegoing

This novel was a twisting generational tale, and the only thing I didn’t like was that I would fall in love with characters only for them to have disappeared into the background by the next chapter. It successfully challenged ideas of slavery and racism, while still creating a warmth and magic.

A Little Life

What a heartbreaking read. This novel took me by storm and spat me back out, bruised and battered and better off for it. It just kept going, and going, but every moment was brilliant, and bittersweet, and tragic. I loved and hated the characters and what they did to each other and themselves. At first I was alarmed at how not-present women were in this novel, and I had a huge issue with it, before realising that the author was in fact a woman (I hadn’t realised it at first), and in her removal of women from the story she was making a vital point about the harms of toxic masculinity. This plotline simply couldn’t have happened if it were about women, and so it makes a strong statement about gender. And I adored it.

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What novels have been your favourite this year?