At the beginning of January, I shared 15 non-fiction books I want to read this year and I thought it would be a good idea to also share a list of fiction books that are on my list. My list is a mixture of recently published books I received for Christmas and books that are at least 5 years old. I like to read books that were published at different times – it makes me understand how literature has changed over the course of the years and which topics and themes once used to be popular and how contemporary literature helps to make a change. So here are nine novels I want to read this year.

1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Blurb: “Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Sent by her mother to live with their devout grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother endure the ache of abandonment and prejudice. At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age – and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness for others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned. Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.”
ISBN: 978-0-345-51440-0

2. Howards End by E.M. Forster

Blurb: “On its publication in 1910 Howards End was instantly and widely recognized as a classic. “The word Forsterian is demanded,” wrote one reviewer. Another adjudged its author “likely to be one of our glories”, while a third considered that “if he never writes another line, his niche will be secure”. These forecasts have been amply justified.”
ISBN: 978-0-140-43175-9

3. The Circle by Dave Eggers

Blurb: “The Circle runs everything – all your internet activity in one easy, safe and visible place. No wonder it is now the world’s most powerful and influential company. So when Mae Holland lands a job at its glittering California campus, she knows she’s made it. But the more her ideals and ambitions become aligned with those of the Circle, the closer she comes to discovering a sinister truth at the heart of an organization seeking to remake the world in its image”.
ISBN: 978-0-241-97037-9

4. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Blurb: “1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Claire is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to works as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the “queen of spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. That is until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth … no matter where it leads.”
ISBN: 978-0-06-265419-9

5. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho

Blurb: “A community devoured by greed, cowardice and fear. A man persecuted by the ghosts of his painful past. A young woman searching for happiness. In one eventful week, each of them will face questions of life, death and power, and each of them will have to choose their own path. Will they choose good or evil?”
ISBN: 0-00-711604-7

6. A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman

Blurb: “In a little dive in a small Israeli city, Dov Greenstein, a comedian a bit past his prime, is doing a night of stand-up. In the audience is a district court justice, Avishai Lazar, whom Dov knew as a boy, along with a few others who remember Dov as an awkward, scrawny kid who walked on his hands to confound the neighbourhood bullies. Gradually, as it teeters between hilarity and hysteria, Dov’s patter becomes a kind of memoir, taking us back onto the terrors of his childhood: we meet his beautiful flower of a mother, a Holocaust survivor in need of a constant monitoring, and his punishing father, a striver who had little understanding for his creative son. Finally, recalling his week at a military camp for youth – where Lazar witnessed what would become the central event of Dov’s childhood – Dov describes the indescribable while Lazar wrestles with his own part in the comedian’s story of loss and survival. Continuing his investigations into how people confront life’s capricious battering, and how art may blossom from it, Grossman delivers a stunning performance in this memorable one-night engagement (jokes in questionable taste included).”
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1137-5

7. Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce

Blurb: “London 1941. Amid the falling bombs Emmeline Lake dreams of becoming a fearless Lady War Correspondent. Unfortunately, Emmy instead finds herself employed as a typist for the formidable Henrietta Bird, the renowned agony aunt at Woman’s Friend magazine. Mrs Bird refuses to read, let alone answer, letters containing any form of Unpleasantness, and definitely not those from the lovelorn, grief-stricken or morally conflicted.
But the thought of these desperate women waiting for an answer at this most desperate of times becomes impossible for Emmy to ignore. She decides she simply must help and secretly starts to write back – after all, what harm could that possibly do?”
ISBN: 978-1-5098-5392-2

8. Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Blurb: “Herman Melville’s short stories, somewhat neglected during his lifetime, today are considered to be among the small masterpieces of American fiction. His imagination is inventive, ironic, and extraordinarily attuned to our times. His settings and themes are various: the limits of artistic creation; the opposition of innocence and evil; fear of isolation; the inviolate sanctity of the human heart; the fearfulness of and fascination with the “enchanted isles”; the ferocity of the white whale; Calvinist hell-fire and damnation.”

9. The Stars’ Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry

Blurb: “For Ned, 1980 seems a blissful year. Handsome, charming, popular and talented, his life is progressing smoothly, effortlessly, happily. And when he meets the lovely Portia Fendeman his personal jigsaw appears complete. But timing is everything in life, and his life is about to change forever.”
ISBN: 978-0-099-47155-4

My year started with a holiday in Scotland where my boyfriend and I ran a book shop for a week and it was the perfect way to welcome this new year: A year full of adventures and goals I have set to myself. One of these goals is to read 52 books – one per week. So far, this is going very well because I read already 7 books in January and that makes me happy. Not because I think it is great to read so much, but because it shows me that I took the time to do something I love so much: reading. It shows me that I have spent less time behind my laptop watching the 354946th documentary on murderers. (I watched many of these nevertheless, but not every day and for hours).

Learning what others are reading makes me happy for two reasons: First, there is someone who reads – which I find amazing just for itself. Seconds, I love lists. I love making lists, I love crossing things off a list, I love getting inspired by other peoples list. And for that reason, I want to share the books I have read in the last month with you.

Books I read in January

1. Little Hands Clapping by Dan Rhodes

The novel is set in an unnamed town in Germany where a lonely, old and grumpy man is the guard in a very special museum: A suicide museum. The story takes many curious turns and despite the very serious topic, it has many comical and funny moments. It was a great first book for this year and I can really recommend reading it.
You can find a great animation film for the book here.

2. Summertime by J.M. Coetzee

Every since I had a university course on Barbarism, I am a fan of Coetzee’s writing. I didn’t know that Summertime is the last part of three fiction-memoirs about his earlier life. I wrote a short review of the book here. 

3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

I must admit that I am very often a little sceptical when a book is labelled a bestseller and tend to avoid these books. Why? I don’t know really, to be honest. And reading Eleanor Oliphant made me realise that these books are probably bestsellers for a reason. I loved the book, it made me go through all the feelings and I hope there will be many more books by Gail Honeyman to come in the future. You can find my review about the book here.

4. Start with Why by Simon Sinek

My friend Zu and I read this book for our book club. It was the second book I read by Sinek, the other being Leaders Eat Last. I do like that he tells so many stories of companies and leaders who made a change for their employees, however, I find that the two books give very little actual help on how to either find your why or be a better leader. My friend and I had a good discussion about the book and it is always great to talk about books and getting to know your friends and their life better, but for Sinek, I believe he is much better at talking than at writing.

5. Why we Sleep by Matthew Walker

This book is so interesting and I told so many people at my work about it. (Three want to read it!) Matthew Walker gives a very detailed insight into why sleep is so important and what our brain does while we are asleep. I will write a detailed review about it in the next weeks and also include ways to get better sleep. But for now, all I can say is: EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK. Oh, and stop drinking coffee 🙂

6. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J.Jacobs

I am part of three book clubs and I read the book by A.J.Jacobs also for one of them. Years ago, I read the book already in German (I think) and remembered it to be funny and entertaining. Jacobs tries to live by all biblical rules and takes the reader along on his journey. I had no idea how may rules, and also how many absurd rules, the bible states and definitely found it interesting to learn about them. It is also interesting for me to see how much room for interpretation there is. The book is an easy-read and if you are interested in learning more about the bible without reading the bible – this book is perfect for you.

7. Truth in Advertising – John Kenney

This book was a surprise – mostly because I bought it thinking it is actually a non-fiction book about, well, advertising. Maybe reading the header “Winner of the Thurber Prize for Humour” would have been a hint? Surely, but I didn’t read that. Neither did I read the blurb so when I started reading, I laughed out loud. The book was also a surprise because it is funny, heartbreaking, uplifting, hopeless but realistic. It tells the story of Finbar Dolan, an almost 40-year-old man living in New York and working in an advertising agency. His current job is to create a creative, groundbreaking commercial for diapers. We follow him facing ghosts from the past and also the future and see him develop, not too much but yet still SO much. I can only recommend that book and it is my favourite book in January 2019.