I launched my book blog 10 years ago, on 18th March 2016. So this month I am celebrating 10 years of book blogging! To mark the occasion, I’ve selected my Top Ten books for Ten years of Book Blogging… and I’m also partnering with local bookshop, Book Space Cardiff, to offer free copies of How to Start a Book Blog: A Step by Step Guide via Instagram (scroll down for more details).

A lot has changed in those ten years. I started the book blog because (after being made redundant from a job I loved) I was fed up, bored, and jealous of a friend who had a blog, and I also had quite a lot of time on my hands…

Little did I know that book blogging would help me develop my writing skills, and build up confidence in my own writing again. It gave me the courage to start attending poetry events and literary festivals on my own. I even joined the Hay Festival stewarding team for a few years, and blogged about my experience.

Not only that, the challenge of reviewing other people’s books helped me to see that my own writing wasn’t too bad, after all. I started writing poems again, and submitting them to magazines, and eventually (after several years of publishing individual poems) I had my first collection published with Seren Books. I also ended up securing funding to do a creative writing PhD, and none of that would have happened if it wasn’t for this blog.

So it is with a thankful heart that I have attempted the almost impossible task of selecting my Top Ten Books for Ten Years of Book Blogging. To make this task easier, I have cheated slightly. I’ve selected ten fiction books (below) and ten poetry books (which I’ll post on my actual blog birthday – 18th March)…

You can click on each book title to read the full review, and Book Space Cardiff have created a Bookshop.org list in case you’d like to buy any of these…

1 – Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

I honestly did not know what to expect from a novel written in verse, but somehow Bernadine Evaristo manages to make this unusual style work in a way that doesn’t distract from the narrative, creating characters that feel incredibly real. What makes this book exceptional is the intricate way in which each individual’s story weaves in and out of the stories and lives of the other women. We get the perspective, for example, of the mother, and then the daughter, the pupil, then the teacher, nearly all of whom are black or mixed-race, women whose voices often go unheard.

2 – The Last Hours by Minette Walters

It’s always a sign of a good book if you find yourself reading it again and again, and I’ve read this book three times now! Set in the summer of 1348, it provides a fascinating glimpse into what life was like for the ordinary folk of Dorset when faced with the horror of the Black Death. It was published in 2018, and took on a new significance two years later, with the onset of a global pandemic. It’s the first of two novels, and well-worth reading if you enjoy historical fiction.

3 – The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R King (Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes)

This book constructs a female version of Sherlock Holmes: Mary Russell is just as observant and curious and fascinated by detail as the famous detective, who she (literally) bumps into while on a walk. Together, they form an unusual friendship, and solve many strange and wonderful mysteries. I now have the entire series taking up room on my bookshelf.

4 – The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer

An exquisitely crafted novel, The Doll Funeral follows the story of Ruby, a girl who can see things that other people can’t, like Shadow (the boy who mysteriously appears out of nowhere) and the Wasp Lady (who swoops at her as she walks up the stairs). At the age of 13 she is delighted to discover that she was adopted as a baby, and decides to track down her real parents… Hamer is adept at portraying uncanny skills and abilities that appear entirely real. I’ve also enjoyed reading her other books, especially The Girl in the Red Coat.

5 – The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami

This was the first book I ever reviewed for the blog. Set during the time of the Spanish conquest of what is now Florida, it follows the story of the conquistadors as they search for the evasive land of gold, embarking on a trek which leads them into numerous confrontations with indigenous tribes and which, ultimately, most of them do not survive. Only four of them make it: three Spanish free men and Mustafa, a slave. The novel is his story – a fascinating tale. 

6 – The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

This is another book that I’ve read more than once. It has the perfect plot for someone who is obsessed with old books, archives, ruined castles and historical mysteries. Just scary enough to keep you up all night reading, as strange and horrible things start happening to those who seek to uncover the truth…

7 – All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I love the style of writing in this book, almost like a series of prose poems, each one carefully crafted to create a certain atmosphere. It follows the stories of Marie-Laure (a blind Parisian girl) and Werner (a German orphan) during the Second World War. It is poetic in style and epic in scope. Beautiful, sorrowful, and intense, this book really gets to the heart of what it means to be human.

8 – The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

Grenville’s novel follows the story of Daniel Rooke, a highly intelligent young man with a passion for astronomy, who has always struggled to fit in with those around him. Rooke eventually finds work in the army, embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New South Wales, where a consignment of convicts are tasked with colonisation. Rooke’s particular role is to accompany the settlers, and to establish an observatory in order to locate and track the path of Halley’s comet, predicted to appear in 1788. Rooke is thrilled to meet the Aboriginal locals, but feels unsettled by the strange mix of courtesy and threat that his superiors use as they attempt to communicate with these men…

9 – Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Kingsolver reimagines Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield in modern America, and the young protagonist’s voice feels exactly right. Demon is a kid for whom the odds are never in his favour. He must forge a path through poverty, abuse, deception, the vagaries of the foster care system, the lure of drugs and young love, and the unsettling but ever-present feeling of always being the outsider. This book really does bring Dickens into the twenty-first-century.

10 – Matrix by Lauren Groff

I was mesmerised by this fictional re-imagining of the life of Marie de France, a 12^th century nun who is sent against her will to an English Abbey, where she must learn to survive in a world that feels extremely strange and restrictive. Groff accurately portrays the harsh realities of life for women at this time, at a ferocious and gripping pace.

Look out for my Top Ten Poetry Books which I’ll reveal on 18th March! And if you’d like to buy copies of any of these ten fiction books, you could do so via this Book Space Cardiff bookshop.org list…

To Win a Free Copy of How to Start a Book Blog: A Step by Step Guide, subscribe to my blog below (unless you’re already a subscriber) and follow the instructions on Instagram.