A Woman Reading by Ivan Olinsky
The decade is almost over and I shall end it as I started: seeking to emulate Simon. His favourite books of the decade post made me want to look over my own from the last ten years.
In those ten years, I have read 1,613 books. Some of those are rereads and I didn’t record the many scintillating textbooks I read over the same period for (during which I completed a dozen courses leading to two professional designations and two different licenses – it’s been a busy decade). But most importantly, the decade is not over yet. I have a couple of good reading weeks left and I intend to make use of them!
I always enjoy looking back at past years on the blog and was so happy when I put this list together to see what excellent judgement I exercised. These all remain favourites that I would be happy to pick up right now and start rereading. And the nicest thing to note is that my 2010 and 2011 favourites, which I struggled to track down at the time, are both back in print and easy to get. A sure sign of progress over the last ten years!
2010: Mrs Tim Flies Home by D.E. Stevenson
What I wrote: “I fell in love with both Mrs Tim and D.E. Stevenson this year. Mrs Tim of the Regiment was an excellent introduction to my new favourite heroine but a weak second half prevented it from being a favourite. Mrs Tim Flies Home, on the other hand, suffers from no such shortcomings and so earned its top place on this list by being simply charming and heart-warming.”
2011: Summer Half by Angela Thirkell
What I wrote: “Anyone who has been following my blog this year could have probably predicted that Thirkell would take the top spot. Since my first encounter with Thirkell last January, I have fallen completely in love with her Barsetshire novels and, of the twelve I’ve now read, I think Summer Half is the most perfectly formed. It centers on the masters and students of Southbridge School and their interactions with some of the local families. As with all good Thirkell novels, romance is in the air and the narrator’s sharp wit is there to comment on both the comically disastrous pairings and the ideal but bumbled ones. Most importantly, Summer Half introduces my favourite Thirkell character, the astounding Lydia Keith. Of all the books I read this year, not only is this the one that I am most eager to return to, it is the one I most wish I owned countless copies of so I could pass it on to everyone I meet.”
2012: The Element of Lavishness edited by Michael Steinman
What I wrote: “I read this in January and, honestly, no other book I read this year came even close to eclipsing it in my affections. I had never read anything by either Warner or Maxwell before and knew very little about either of them but that made no difference. Through their letters, I got to know both of them intimately and to witness the wonderful warmth and depth of their friendship as it evolved over the decades. While both were extraordinary writers, it is Warner’s letters I remember the best now, almost a year after I read them. She wrote beautifully about the domestic details of her life and the letters written between the death of her partner Valentine and her own death are as good a record of aging and loss as I have ever read.”
2013: Speaking of Jane Austen by Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern
What I wrote: “All the other titles on this list were wonderful but not nearly as wonderful as this collection of delightfully eccentric Austen-focused essays. And, of course, it is the only book I have ever come across that spends a sufficient amount of time lavishing praise on the deserving Emma (if you are looking for the fastest way to my heart, look no further).”
2014: The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope
What I wrote: “The penultimate Barsetshire book, I fell in love with The Small House at Allington as soon as I started reading it. This is Trollope at his most masterful, deftly juggling multiple storylines and a handful of equally-compelling central characters. I am fascinated by Lily Dale, anxious for Johnny Eames, and wildly conflicted over the fate of Aldolphus Crosbie, who I liked far more than any reader is supposed to like the man who jilts the heroine. Brilliant and perfectly executed, this was the uncontested highlight of my reading year.”
2015: Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Letters edited by William Maxwell
What I wrote: “An enchanting collection of letters spanning almost fifty years. STW was a wonderful correspondent, filling her letters with richly-detailed annecdotes, self-deprecating humour, and the most delightful flights of whimsy. I’ve yet to read a single one of her novels but, after reading this and the wonderful collection of her letters to William Maxwell (my favourite book of 2012), I can’t help but think of her as a close, dear friend.”
2016: I Was a Stranger by John Hackett
What I wrote: “In a year when the world was doing its best to show how cruel and petty man can be, this memoir of the courage and friendship showed by a Dutch family in occupied Holland to the British officer they hid reminded me that, even in the worst of times, kindness, trust, and love can still flourish. A real gem that I am entirely indebted to Slightly Foxed for reissuing.”
2017: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
What I wrote: “I finally read Lively’s Booker prize winner and it is a masterpiece. Technically dazzling, Lively plays with her favourite themes of love, history, and, above all, memory as septuagenarian Claudia lies on her deathbed and looks back on her life. If I could write, this would be how I’d want to do it. As I can’t, this is exactly what I want to read – again and again and again.”
2018: The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
What I wrote: “Without question, Alexievich’s ground-breaking oral history of Soviet women’s experiences of the Second World War was my book of the year. More than one million Soviet women served in the military during the war (half of them in active combat roles) and Alexievich captures the full and fascinating range of their experiences in their own words. It is a powerful and upsetting book and one I will not soon forget.”
2019: To be determined! Check back on December 31st. (edit: check out my Top Ten Books of 2019 to see my final favourite of the decade)
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We all need good things to look forward to right now. So, in case August 20th is not already circled in your calendars, I give you notice: Virago is finally releasing paperback editions of the three wartime Angela Thirkell novels they had previously only made available as e-books (presuming, of course, no massive delays as a result of the pandemic).
Is it possible that all good literary editors were killed during the war? Or they abandoned literature for higher aims post 1945? Or maybe they just all became secret drinkers and spent their afternoons dozing rather than doing their work?
As I’ve said before, one of the great pleasures of reading P.G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters edited by Sophie Ratcliffe has been learning Plum’s thoughts on books and other authors. I’ve shared how he 
The Captive Reader 