I’m a writer. And writers read. A lot.
I’d like to have read more over the last 10 years, but the arrival of child number one 3 years in, and child number two 3 and a half years after that kind of scuppered the ability to open a book without falling asleep. Although Audible has been revelatory and this past year has also marked quite a significant milestone from picture books to chapter books for my eldest so I’m loving having an excuse to re-visit stories like The Worst Witch and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with her.
But anyway, this is about my grown up reading list. Because whether I’m looking for escape, guidance, reassurance, a laugh, answers or just some kind of confirmation that there is more love and magic in the world than I can currently see, books are always where I turn to.
In fact, I’m a firm believer that you are what you read. And what I’ve read over the last 10 years has completely changed my outlook on life.
I’ve always had a very eclectic taste in my reading -I read broadly, I love picking up classics as much as whatever’s currently at the top of the best-seller charts. I’m not a literary snob, and I’m not particularly intellectual, I’m afraid.
But I am a very loyal reader. Which means once I fall in love with a story or book or author I’ll read them over and over again. My favourite books have become like comfort blankets to me. Anyone who knows me well will know that Harry Potter is one of those stories – particularly the audio versions that I’ve had on CD since the early 2000s. But other books that fall in this category are The Time Traveller’s Wife, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice and The Great Gatsby.
None of those (apart from Harry) feature on this list though.
Because this decade has really been about pulp fiction, YA (because fun fact:I have written a YA novel that one day I’ll rewrite and publish), page turners, poetry (which is quick when you want to get to sleep in the next 10 minutes because you’re scared the kids will be up soon), self help and personal development.
This is possibly to counter the previous decade which was filled with a lot of heavy classics, literature, history and philosophy thanks to my University degree and writing studies (Ironically I think I’d have a lot more more sympathy with Friedrich Nietzsche today than I did at 23, unfortunately I think I’ve been scarred for life).
Anyway, without any further rambling and in no particular order, here are the books that have shaped my decade:
The Harry Potter books 1-6, J.K Rowling
Haiku for Lovers, Manu Bazzano
The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
You are a Badass, Jen Sincero
Looking for Alaska, John Green
The Shortness of Life, Seneca
The Flame, Leonard Cohen
The Baby Book, Rachel Waddilove
Becoming Supernatural, Dr Joe Dispenza
Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman
The Song of Achilles, Madeleine Miller
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Super Attractor, Gabrielle Bernstein
Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting, Noel Janis-Norton
Daring Greatly, Brene Brown
Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
Flourish, Martin Seligman
Every Day, David Leviathan
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
The Book of Longing, Leonard Cohen
The Desire Map, Danielle LaPorte
The Silver Linings Playbook, Matthew Quick
Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel
The Rules of Magic, Alice Hoffman
May Cause Miracles, Gabrielle Bernstein
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
The Cormoran Strike books, Robert Galbraith
Bring up The Bodies, Hilary Mantel
Witch, Lisa Lister
Lucky Bitch, Denise Duffield-Thomas
The Universe has got your back, Gabrielle Bernstein
The Firestarter Sessions, Danielle LaPorte
The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton
Chillpreneur, Denise Duffield-Thomas
Into the Water, Paula Hawkins
The Prosperous Coach, Steve Chandler, Rich Litvin
Witches of Lychford, Paul Cornell
You Are a Badass at Making Money, Jen Sincero
Lunar Abundance, Dr Ezzie Spencer
The Advertising Solution, Simpson with Kurtz
The Big Leap, Gay Hendricks
La Belle Sauvage, Philip Pullman
Mindfulness, Prof Mark Williams
The Processes, Ester Hicks, Jerry Hicks
The Law of Attraction, Esther and Jerry Hicks
She Means Business, Carrie Green
The Witches of Eastwick, John Updike
Writing Down the Bones, Nathalie Goldberg
Story, Robert McKee
Made to Stick, Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Becoming a Writer, Dorothea Brande
The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
Storybrand, Donald Miller
Polpo, Russell Norman
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
How to Talk So Little Kids will Listen, Joanna Faber, Julie King
The Rivers of London books, Ben Aranovoitch
Stardust, Neil Gaiman
Simple and Plenty, both by Ottolenghi
The Ocean at the end of the Lane, Neil Gaiman
All Marketers tell Stories, Seth Godin
The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey,
Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert
Rules of Civility, Amor Towles
Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
Ogilvy on Advertising
Storydriven, Bernadette Jiwa
The Copywriter’s Handbook, Bob Bly
Writing Tools, Roy Peter Clark
Deliciously Ella, Ella Woodward
Deliciously Ella Everyday, Ella Woodward
The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
Conscious Communications, Mary Shores
The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo
Reading Like a Writer, Roy Peter Clark
The Flavia Albia books, Lindsey Davis
Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty
Delia’s How To Cook, Delia Smith
Ernest Hemingway on Writing
On Writing, Stephen King
The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins
Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books, Steig Larson
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