Finally...
From last year, picking up The Best Book that I read… is very easy. It was the first book I was reading last January: “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara. Absolutely stunning, beautiful book. I cannot remember reading anything that was so… draining, in a way. It was hard to read because it was so moving, emotionally taxing, but it was impossible to put down. Kept me awake quite a few nights. It’s a book that keeps haunting you for long time, and a book that’s virtually impossible to forget. Not just the best book I read this year… this book is now forever on my list of the best books I’ve ever read.
“When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted , sometimes cruel painter pursuing fame in the art world; Malcom, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself; by midlife a terrifyingly talented lawyer yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by a degree of trauma that he fears he will not only be unable to overcome – but that will define his life forever.
In a novel of extraordinary intelligence and heart, Yanagihara has fashioned a masterful depiction of heartbreak, and a dark and haunting examination of the tyranny of experience and memory.”Other favourites:
Carlos Ruiz Zafon: “The Labyrinth of Spirits”. The fourth and the last book of his Library of Forgotten Books –series. I got into these books in a semi-weird way: I was in phone with my mom and we were talking about books and she thanked me for recommending this great book by Zafon. I was like, Zafon who? She was 100% sure that I told her to read the book, me 100% sure that I didn’t. She sent me “The Shadow of the Wind” in a post package and when I started reading it, I was hooked from the first page and a half, no kidding. Starting with “The Shadow of the Wind”, I’ve truly enjoyed each of these to the fullest and Labyrinth of Spirits is a beautiful ending, with as an elaborate plot as ever in his books. You know the feeling when you finish reading a truly remarkable, moving book? The feeling of being somewhat lost for a while, a bit teary-eyed, and missing the characters of the book… I’m definitely missing them, especially Fermin and the Sempere –family. I just checked Carlos Ruiz Zafon from Wikipedia and was profoundly saddened to learn that he died of cancer last summer at the age of 55. Rest in peace :’(
Blake Crouch: “Dark Matter”. Wanna read some mind-bending page-turner with lots of WTF moments? This is it. 😊
Jo Nesbo: “The Kingdom”. Because it’s Jo Nesbo.
Joolz Denby: “Corazon”. First book I read from her, can’t wait to read the rest!
Justin Cronin: “The Passage”. During first lockdown I was desperate to find something new to read so I called my friend if she has any good books… and she was like “Well, I have this, kind of, virus apocalypse book”
It was indeed very addictive read, and then I realized it’s a trilogy…have to get the other two books!
Kurt Vonnegut: “Mother Night”. Probably now my favourite from Vonnegut, alongside with the obvious classic. People seem to never change… Quote from the book:
“I had hoped, as a broadcaster, to be merely ludicrous, but this is a hard world to be ludicrous in, with so many human beings so reluctant to laugh, so incapable of thought, so eager to believe and snarl and hate. So many people wanted to believe me! Say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith, I consider capacity for it terrifying and absolutely vile”.And some interesting non-fiction… :
Dean Burnett: “The Idiot Brain”. Entertainingly written book and a good introduction to neuroscience, “to everyone who’s been wondering why their brain seems to be sabotaging their lives”.
Daniel Levitin: “This Is Your Brain on Music: Understanding a Human Obsession”. Neuroscience and cognitive psychology about one thing that is undoubtedly important for everyone here in this forum.
