End of the Decade – My Favourite Books from the Past Ten Years!

It is so strange to think we are at the end of the 2010s, it’s been a pretty dodgy decade in many respects but I have read some fantastic books! Most of the books weren’t published in the last 10 years but it’s when I discovered them.

1. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

The fullness and complexity of these books and the characters has kept me coming back to it, I’ve read the first three books a few times already. The more you read it the more in depth you see the story. I am so happy I’ve found ASOIAF, even if it does make me cry a lot!

2. Dominion by C.J Sansom

The book is set in the 1950s in Britain except the Nazis have taken over, we never fought them. It is one of the most terrifying and genius books I’ve ever read. It felt so real, I was so distressed! Our main character works for the government and is unhappy with the changes taking place so he joins the freedom movement lead by Winston Churchill. He feeds them important files but then he gets involved with protecting a Jewish scientist who has been locked in an asylum. If the Nazis find out where he is, the world is doomed. I strongly recommend this book, it’s incredible.

3. The Millennium series by Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz

This series is so brilliant and dark, it’s terrifying at moments but it always comes back to the characters and how genius they are. Lisbeth who has had to fight her whole life against truly evil people who are still out to get her and Mikael who thrives on exposing conspiracies, which has got him into trouble a few times.

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zukos

Just genius, narrated by Death as he tells us about his run-ins with Liesel as she discovers her love of reading. Her foster father teaches her to read, soon she is stealing books from Nazi book burnings. Liesel lives in Germany during WWII and her world is made more dangerous when her foster family hide a Jewish man in their cellar. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read, I’d never read a book that centred around the innocent German people during WWII before and this was written superbly.

5. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

These books have so many important themes about corruption and controlling governments and its such a chilling premise, children fighting to the death for the entertainment of the elite. As a reader it made me have a good look at our own media and how toxic it can be. Aside from that the characters are real and flawed and I love them.

6. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is one of my favourites ever! It’s like my dream book with past lives/WWII but it’s better than anything I could have imagined. We follow Ursula through her life from birth to her many different deaths. In each life different choices are made. It’s such a magical book and so different from everything I had read from Kate Atkinson before, I’m so glad I found it!

7. The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Sci-fi heaven, one day on Earth, hundreds of children disappeared at once, they moved to a parallel world with a devise that had gone viral on the internet. Soon adults realised what was happening and humanity was changed forever. Humanity spread out into the connected worlds where we made new homes for ourselves. In my favourite book of the series, scientists found a way to reach Mars and found its own string of parallels.

8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This book is about Esther Greenwood’s struggle with mental health, Esther has moved to New York to try and be a journalist but soon finds herself breaking down. It is so powerful and such an important book, I’m very glad I read it.

9. The Power by Naomi Alderman

Just epic! Through some strange evolution young girls suddenly gain the power to channel electricity through their hands. They can shock others, hurt them and kill them. They can also release the gift in older women. A shift is happening, no longer are men more powerful. The book follows different young women and one young man on their journeys through this fascinating time. But is life better under woman’s rule or are all humans inherently corrupt?

10. The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

I love this book so much! I read it this summer and fell in love with it. It’s a story about time and how precious stories are. How houses can hold memories forever but not always in a bad way, Birchwood Manor is a place of safety and comfort.

There we are, bring on the 2020s and all the books they will bring!

Top Five Tuesday – Alphabet

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week we’ve got to choose five books that start with the first five letters of the alphabet. I thought this was going to be harder than it was, thank goodness I have all my read books on Goodreads!

A – Atonement by Ian McEwan

This was the first A book that came into my head, I adore this book, even though it is quite a sad read. Oddly I like to have a good cry with a book, out of sadness or joy. I love to connect to it that much that it moves me emotionally.

B – The Boleyn King by Laura Andersen

This whole series is fantastic, a historical au where Anne Boleyn bears Henry VIII a son so isn’t executed. Yes please! It’s filled with well written characters, some we know, some who are new to us and it shines a light on the shady goings on in the Tudor courts.

C – Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Again this was the first book I thought of for this letter. It’s set in space in the future, the Earth is dying and humanity needs to find a new home. But an experiment to terraform a planet is sabotaged so that instead of intelligent apes evolving there, the genetic accelerant is absorbed by spiders! So clever and fascinating.

D – Dominion by C.J. Sansom

Another historical ‘what if’! But this one is completely terrifying. What if Britian didn’t take a stand against Hitler and we made peace instead. There is resistance in Britain, can they overthrow the facists? Can they save a very important scientist?This book is so cleverly written, I was shuddering at parts it felt so real. It’s scary to think how close this was to coming true. Thanks Churchill for not backing down.

E – Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

This is one of the first Discworld books that I read, it’s got the witches and wizards in it and they crack me up! It starts when a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is realised too late. Now the girl must try to make it at the Unseen University where the wizards are completely terrified that a girl has the same powers as them.

Top Five Tuesday – All Time Favourites

A new Top Five Tuesday, the prompts are created by Bionic Book Worm. This week we actually get 10 picks which is definitely needed my favourites! I’ve probably mentioned all of these at least once before because I can’t ever forget about them!

1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Because I grew up reading HP I genuinely think the books have shaped who I am! I could read them forever, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them over the years but the magic is still there whenever I go back to Hogwarts.

2. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

I think I will always be obsessed with these books, the characters, the complex plot. I still don’t know everything and I’ve read all the books at least twice. George has created such a real (and incredibly cruel) world that I can’t possibly tear myself away.

3. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The characters in the Forgotten Garden are the main reason it’s one of my favourites. Eliza Makepeace is a writer herself, she lives in the early 1900s and is adopted by her uncle when her mother dies. Her mother had run away from her privileged life to marry for love, Eliza doesn’t ever feel truly at home in the grand house but she adores the gardens. The story crosses generations going between Eliza’s world to Nell and then Nell’s granddaughter Cassandra who both live in Australia. It’s a magical story that I fell in love with when I first read it.

4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

This book is so incredible it’s kind of my dream book, it’s set in the 1920’s-40’s and it all about the possibilities of life and the decisions we make affecting our lives. We follow the Todd family, specifically Ursuala through their lives. It’s another one of my all time favourites. We follow Ursula down different paths and some of the possible lives she could have led during WWII. I can’t tell you how much I love this book and how beautiful it is.

5. The Book Thief by Markus Zuask

I absolutely love this book from start to finish. Death is the narrator and his passages are so profound and beautiful. The book is set in 1940s Germany. Death tells Liesel’s story, how she found a book by her brother’s grave and found a love of the written word.

6. Atonement by Ian McEwan

It’s set from 1930s-40’s and then jumps to the early 2000s. Briony Tallis is a curious, over-confident child, she likes to write and perform plays and this summer is no different. Except she winesses something and doesn’t understand it’s innocence. An accusation is made and lives are changed forever. This book is so beautiful and the time it’s set is such a scary but fascinating time.

7. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

I will always come back to this series because of the emotional connection I have to it and how brilliant it is. It’s set in a post apocalyptic version of America. Humanity lives in strict districts and under harsh rules imposed by the Capital and it’s repulsive inhabitants. Every year they force children to fight to the death, for their entertainment and to remind the districts what happens when you rebel. But one girl in District Twelve is about to change all of that, unintentionally she gives the people hope and the courage to fight back.

8. Dominion by C.J. Sansom

It’s 1952, Germany won the war. Britain surrendered after Dunkirk. Germany are still at war with Russia but we are under Nazi rule. The press, radio and television are controlled. Resistance is growing though with the leadership of Winston Churchill. This book is truly brilliant and utterly terrifying. I don’t think I’ve read a scarier book. So convincing it made me physically shudder in parts.

9. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

This book is my favourite from the Discworld series so far because of its impact on me. It’s about the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork during a revolution. The Watch make barricades with the people of the city to protect themselves from a serial killer and some of the Watch themselves. The leader in it all is Sam Vines who has somehow travelled back in time so he is now at the revolution twice. Once as a new officer and again as an experienced policeman near to retirement. The book is funny of course but is also filled with so much truth about the nature of humanity.

10. Children In Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

This book is so good. Humanity are branching out into the stars, a project has identified different planets to terraform and make suitable for human life. But it’s also an evolutionary experiment, they send down insects and animals and some of our primate ancestors. But there are people back on Earth who believe this is wrong, we are meant to live and die on Earth. They sabotage one of the spaceships. The captain sends the monkeys off towards the planet along with the evolutionary accelerator. Then she is trapped in a tiny escape pod, orbiting her planet, transmitting a distress signal. 100 years later survivors of Earth find the planet and attempt to make it their home, but something has gone wrong. There are no monkeys here, instead the world is covered in webs. I loved this book, it was so interesting!

So there are my ten favourites! What are some of yours?