By TARA GLADSTONE

I am a big reader, and I pretty much always have been. I love reading and I manage to squeeze in a lot of it. At the risk of a humble brag, my family always asks me how I squeeze in so much reading, so many TV shows, and also so much time with my friends, so many restaurants etc. I don’t know really, I just do. I think consuming in this way is just in my nature. Is that a thing?! It is now.

When it comes to books, I never - or, rarely - read the back of books. If someone I know and like recommends a book to me, I’ll read it. I really recommend reading in this way. I am part of a gentle book club with some friends, and I use Good Reads to store lists of books that I want to read. Here’s a selection of the books I’ve read this year that I think you might enjoy.

1. Let Go My Hand by Edward Docx

Ever since I ‘got into’ reading, I have loved reading really emotional books. I don’t know why, but I find it particularly special to be moved to tears by a book. I also love a good cry. Anyway, Let Go My Hand is an intensely emotive story of father and son and a life changing journey. I highly recommend this one.

2. The Friend By Sigrid Nunez

I loved this book for many reasons; love, friendship, city living and our connection with dogs.   If that doesn’t sell it, I don’t know what will! My Godfather gave me this book and he has incredibly good taste in literature so that also put it to the top of my list.

3. Half Of A Yellow Sun By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This one took me a long time to get through because I read it during a very busy and (quite honestly) low month this year. But, I love it when a book tells a story, while teaching you something about history, too. That sounds basic, but it’s true. Maybe it’s about learning something from a very human perspective. This is a great book. Give it a go!

4. Spring Cannot Be Cancelled By David Hockney and Martin Gayford

This is a wonderful, transportive book. It is gentle, interesting and beautiful. This book follows Hockney’s journey through Spring as he captures the season on his iPad from France, during Covid-19. I love the way this story is told through conversation with Martin Gayford and how you really get an insight (at least, I like to think so) into their personalities. I love it when a book makes you feel like you know the writer or character really well when you finish. That's how I felt when I finished this book - that me and Hockney are pals. 

5. Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers.

This is a fascinating story, and an unusual one. It has a complicated main character, and is set at a very interesting time in late 50s Britain. It took me a while to settle into this book, and the ending is somewhat…tough. But it’s a great story with a heap of good characters, so I do think the rest of this book makes it well worth reading.

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