This has not been a vintage reading year for me; I've read fewer books than usual, and of them only a handful stand out, so the number awarded the Cornflower Blue in 2014 is tiny compared to last year, say, but still, the honoured five are up there with the best of them.
Esteemed runners-up in the fiction category are Bodies of Light
The outright winner in non-fiction is Margaret Forster's My Life in Houses
My thanks to all those writers for the pure reading pleasure their work has given me, and for being true 'class acts', worthy of our respect and admiration.
Glad it's not just me, because I haven't had a vintage year either! But I started History of the Rain in bed last night so very glad to see that you recommend it so highly. I haven't read the Mgt Forster but I enjoyed it on the radio.
Posted by: Mary | 08 December 2014 at 03:46 PM
I do enjoy Sarah Moss' writing, at the moment I'm reading Cold Earth. I think Bodies of Light will be rising now to the top of the pile.
Posted by: Claire | 08 December 2014 at 04:31 PM
It is really peculiar how many dedicated readers have said that - I know that I have had a similar experience this year - but there again it hasn't been a great year for me for a lot of reasons so maybe it all ties in.
I am currently reading Bodies of Light and thoroughly enjoying it (as I have all Sarah Moss's books)and suspect that I am going to agree with you on History of the Rain too - I am saving it up until I will (hopefully) be able to sneak a bit of reading time over the Christmas break. I bought my own copy as the first few pages made me feel that I wanted to be able to take my time over reading it rather than rush through the library copy which had a long line of requests.
Currently waiting for the Margaret Forster from the library but could take a while as there are quite a few requests for that too!
Posted by: LizF | 09 December 2014 at 09:50 AM