Looking back at my reading stats from 2018, it wasn't a particularly overwhelming year in terms of star ratings. However, those reads that did manage to make an impression were mostly from authors I was reading for the first time. In no particular order:
1. Helen Fields
I usually find police procedurals a bit boring and samey, but the D.I. Luc Callanach series brought something new and interesting to my crime reading life that took my by surprise and kept me hooked. I really like the detectives and the plots are clever, gruesome, and particularly in the case of Perfect Remains, really creepy (which is a good thing, in this case).
2. Leïla Slimani
Lullaby was a book with all the buzz at the beginning of the year. I knew the first line before I'd even picked it up: 'The baby is dead.' What I was expecting was a fairly standard psychological thriller that worked backwards from the murder to reveal the whodunnit. What I got though, was an intricate analysis of the role of women, class and race within French society, and a fascinating character study. The characters and their situation stuck with me long after I put the book down, and now I'm waiting with bated breath for the rest of Slimani's works to be translated into French.
3. Anaïs Nin
2018 saw the release of the 50 Penguin Modern shorts. I, along with every other book blogger and bookstagrammer, immediately set out to the nearest bookshop to pick up 1 or 2 (or 50). These little books are fantastic for discovering authors, and one that came as a bit of a surprise was Anaïs Nin. It wasn't so much the stories in this collection I enjoyed, but the research into Nin's personality and history I did once I'd read her writing. She sounds a fascinating person, and I look forward to finding out more about her and enjoying more of her writing soon!
4. Italo Calvino
Another Penguin Modern discovery was Italo Calvino. The Distance of the Moon is a set of short stories by the Italian author, though it's only the title story that has really stuck with me. It was beautifully written but I also remember feeling like it was just so bizarre. I've since read the first few pages of If on a Winter's Night a Traveller on the recommendation of a colleague which I really enjoyed, and once I've read a serious chunk of my TBR it will be one of the first books I pick up.
5. Albert Camus
I wrote off Camus as a pretentious philosopher who I'd never be able to keep up with. I bought The Outsider (more commonly translated as The Stranger) after seeing it featured on a list of books to read in your 20s in The Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkind. It was such a slim novel I figured I might as well give it a go, and actually I was pleasantly surprised. The ending fell a bit flat for me and left me wanting, but it was a push I needed into uncharted reading territory.
6. Meena Kandasamy
One of the reasons I love the Women's Prize for Fiction is because, every year without fail, I find a new author who I would never have found out about were it not for the longlists and shortlists of the prize. The night the longlist was announced, When I Hit You was on Kindle for 99p, so I downloaded it immediately and started reading it there and then. I couldn't put it down despite it's brutal and raw descriptions. It's a book I backed to win, and though I think Home Fire was a worthy winner, I'm sad When I Hit You has consequently seemed to drop off the radar for many.
7. Roland Barthes
I never thought the things I read for my dissertation would ever be things I'd want to return to after submitting, but Mythologies is one such book. It was the first book my supervisor gave to me, and at the time I thought she had completely misunderstood my dissertation intentions. It turns out, she knew better (who'd have thought?) and when I actually engaged with Barthes' writing, I was surprised. Whilst I don't agree with everything Barthes argues, I like interacting with his essays and thoughts.
8. Madeline Miller
Continuing the theme of things I thought were too pretentious and highbrow for me to ever get my head around: classical civilisation and mythology. I'm as much of a fan as Hercules as the next girl, but the idea of reading epics like The Odyssey and The Iliad never crossed my mind until I read Circe, and then Song of Achilles. Suddenly, this area I had deemed inaccessible became incredibly readable when retold in Miller's fantastic writing and has made me want to pick up other retellings such as Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and The Odyssey by Emily Wilson.
9. Jessie Greengrass
Another Women's Prize discovery! Sight is one of the books on my shelves with the most sticky tabs in it, and looking back at the quotes I've highlighted I can see why. This book weaved the history of medicine with a literary-ness I don't usually enjoy, but I found it rewarding and it stuck with me.
10. Sally Rooney
SALLY ROONEY. Whilst the rest of the list is in no particular order, I've certainly saved the best until last. I have very distinct memories of reading Conversations With Friends in Waterstones TCR Cafe, and chatting to one of the booksellers about how I was finding it. At the time, I said I wasn't sure and was thinking about DNFing, but on the train home I continued reading and by the evening I had finished it and spent the evening pondering what I had read. Something about Rooney's writing really resonates with me, even though (or perhaps because) her characters are so unlikely at times. I snapped up the proof of Normal People as soon as it came in at work and devoured it accordingly, and knew then that I would buy and read anything Sally Rooney ever writes. Ever. I love her.
So there we have it, 10 new-to-me authors I read in 2018. I'd love to hear which authors you discovered in 2018, and also whether you have any crossover with my list! Comment below with any thoughts, feelings, and responses to the above!
Happy reading,
Zoe
