Happy New Year from Rob and Kate, and welcome to 2017!
Recorded on December 31 2016, we look back over the strange twelve months that made up 2016 and pick our books of the year.
With our usual categories, borrowed and adapted from Kate at For Winter Nights, here are our Books of the Year for 2016:
- Best re-read – Rob: TinTin series by Herge / Kate: nothing this year
- Best SFF – Rob: Star Wars/Vader by Marvel Comics / Kate: Morning Star by Pierce Brown
- Best mystery/thriller – Rob: The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker / Kate: The Wells & Wong Detective Series by Robin Stevens
- Best historical – Rob: Any Human Heart by William Boyd / Kate: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
- The Simon Savidge Best Nazi Novel Award – Kate: Crooked Heart by Lisa Evans / Rob: Strike Lightning by Steve Cole
- Best comic novel – Rob: The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie / Kate: The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon
- Most un-put-down-able – Rob: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry / Kate: The Sin Eater’s Daughter *and* The Sleeping Prince by Mel Salisbury
- Best non-fiction – Rob: Happy by Derren Brown / Kate: Another Day In The Death of America by Gary Younge
- Best sense of place – Rob: Mussolini’s Island by Sarah Day / Kate: To The Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
- Most manipulative – Rob: Any Human Heart by William Boyd / Kate: Birdy by Jess Valance
- Most emotional/moving – Rob: A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler / Kate: Ruby by Cynthia Bond
- Best in translation – Rob: A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler / Kate: nothing in translation this year
- Best book-of-the-film – Rob: Carol by Patricia Highsmith / Kate: Same!
- Favourite lead character – Rob: Sherlock Holmes, from The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz / Kate: Wing Jones, from Wing Jones by Katherine Webber
- Best villain – Kate: toxic masculinity, in A Natural by Ross Raisin / Rob: the oppressive state in The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
- Most unusual/surprising – Rob: Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift / Kate: The Comet Seekers by Helen Sedgwick
- Authors who’ve passed away – Richard Adams, author of Watership Down; Carrie Fisher, most recently author of The Princess Diarist but also semi-autobiographical novels Postcards from the Edge, Surrender the Pink and Delusions of Grandma, and the memoir Wishful Drinking, based on her play of the same name.
- Book of the Year… Rob: The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry / Kate: of books published in 2016, Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien, but for books read in 2016 it would be Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Join in the discussion on the podcast! We always love to hear your feedback or questions.
Don’t forget that the easiest way you can listen to the podcast is by subscribing in iTunes and listening on your iPhone, iPad or iPod – then you won’t miss an episode! Links for listening on other platforms are all below.
[ca_audio url_mp3=”http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Adventureswithwordspod/~3/5fpxQC9AVMM/300457489-user-618590012-our-books-of-the-year-2016.mp3″ url_ogg=”” align=”center”]
Subscribe to podcast in iTunes – Subscribe to podcast via RSS – Download MP3 – Listen on Stitcher – Listen on Soundcloud
Our podcast is brought to you by Audible. Try Audible free for 30 days and receive one free audiobook download. Your Audible download can be enjoyed on all iPods, iPhones, Android and mobile devices. Listen anytime, anywhere. Start listening today and discover a great alternative to that same old playlist! Try Audible for 30 days and download any Audible audiobook for free!
Episode 179. An Adventures With Words production. Hosted by Rob Chilver and Kate Neilan.