![\"Types](\"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Genre-2017.jpg\" "\\"Types")
<\/p>\nIt’s not actually the end of the year, but if I don’t post this now, it may not get done at all. I only read 37 new books this year (new to me, that is) \u2013 even fewer than last year. I did immerse myself in blogs and newspapers, trying to make sense of the political turmoil here and abroad, but I also re-read a lot of old favourite novels. This year was not an especially relaxing year for me, so I often felt a need to escape into familiar comforting reads and I don\u2019t count those books in my annual book count.<\/p>\n
So, what type of new (to me) books did I read this year?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"Nationality](\"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Nationality-2017.jpg\" "\\"Nationality")
<\/p>\n
Lots of Australian writers this year.<\/p>\n
![\"Gender](\"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Gender-2017.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Women writers dominate, yet again. And so they should.<\/p>\n
Now for my favourites.<\/p>\n
I really enjoyed Tirra Lirra By The River<\/em><\/a> by Jessica Anderson and How Bright Are All Things Here<\/em><\/a> by Susan Green \u2013 both, as it happens, novels narrated by elderly Australian women who had to escape to London to fulfil their artistic dreams. <\/p>\n But most of my favourite reads this year were non-fiction. These included: <\/p>\n Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead<\/em><\/a> by Paula Byrne I didn\u2019t have time this month to blog about Beyond Veiled Cliches: The Real Lives of Arab Women<\/em><\/a>, but this was a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of the challenges faced by Arab women in the Middle East and in Western countries, by Australian-Palestinian journalist Amal Awad.<\/p>\n I also found myself engrossed in a couple of Australian memoirs, Aunts up the Cross<\/em><\/a> by Robin Dalton and Flesh Wounds<\/em><\/a> by Richard Glover.<\/p>\n My resolution for next year is to blog more about the books I enjoy, or at least to mention these books on Twitter. In the meantime, I have this book on the top of my reading pile for the holidays:<\/p>\n I foresee an Antonia Forest read-along in the near future.<\/p>\n Thank you to everyone who read and contributed to Memoranda in 2017. I hope you\u2019ve all had a good reading year and that 2018 brings you lots of wonderful, interesting books. Happy holidays!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s not actually the end of the year, but if I don’t post this now, it may not get done at all. I only read 37 new books this year (new to me, that is) \u2013 even fewer than last year. I did immerse myself in blogs and newspapers, trying to make sense of the … Continue reading My Favourite Books of 2017<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,18],"tags":[260,249,258,242,252,261,251,259],"class_list":["post-5484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-my-favourite-books","tag-amal-awad","tag-elizabeth-pisani","tag-jessica-anderson","tag-paula-byrne","tag-peter-godfrey-smith","tag-richard-glover","tag-robin-dalton","tag-susan-green"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5484"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5497,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5484\/revisions\/5497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIndonesia, Etc: Exploring the Improbable Nation<\/em><\/a> by Elizabeth Pisani
\nOther Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life<\/em><\/a> by Peter Godfrey-Smith<\/p>\n![\"'End](\"http:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/End-of-Term.jpg\" "\\"'End")
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