Jennifer Morag Henderson

Here are some of the good books I read last year:

I don’t always keep a record of the books I read, but sometimes I do. The books I’m sharing here are the ones I’m happy to discuss: have you read any of them? What did you think?

Last year I also read a lot of books connected with my current writing (which I don’t like discussing until it reaches a certain stage) and quite a few books which are my own private favourites: the latter are not up for discussion because they are perfect and make me happy and I don’t want to hear any criticism of them!

In 2023 I read more fiction than non-fiction. I loved Rune Christiansen’s book “Fanny and the Mystery in the Grieving Forest” so much that I couldn’t wait for more of his work to be translated into English, and ordered the French translation (by Céline Romand-Monnier) of his newest book “L’affair des lubies du temps perdu”. I read a little slower in French, but I loved this. I was glad that “The Loneliness of Lydia Erneman’s Life” was translated into English (by Kari Dickson) and available from Canadian publisher Book*hug Press.

I re-read books a lot, and a little less than half of the books I read were books I’d read before. I love books that I can return to and get more from. “Madame” by Antoni Libera is a book I have re-read multiple times: the way the story is set up, it almost has a couple of endings – on my first read, I liked one, on the second read, another – each time I re-read it I get something new. It is a fantastic novel.

Since I write biographies, it should be no surprise that I also love reading biographies and autobiographies. Flora Fraser’s “Pretty Young Rebel”, a life of the great Jacobite heroine Flora MacDonald is highly recommended. I particularly enjoy a good music memoir too; you can see some in the picture.
I sometimes post books I’m reading on my Instagram (@jennifer_morag); I haven’t really repeated anything here that I’ve already talked about, except to mention again Kate Beaton’s graphic novel “Ducks”, which will definitely be one I’ll re-read in the future.

Poetry is another genre I read a fair amount of, and Ross Wilson’s “Vital Signs” was one new poetry collection I enjoyed last year. I also enjoyed Christopher Whyte’s new book, and was lucky enough to hear the Faroese poet Sissal Kampmann read from her newest collection – and the first translated into English – “Myrking”. This was part of an excellent evening organised by the wonderful Francis Boutle Publishers, where we also heard from the translator Marita Thomsen, as well as some of the other authors they publish. One of the reasons I enjoy reading is that it can take you to new places in your imagination: this is why I enjoy books in translation and books about different cultures or places I have never been – or books set in the past and looking at history.

I’ve picked out some themes in what I read in what I’ve written here, but generally I think it’s an eclectic selection. The graphic above is a sample of some of the titles I read in 2023; I’ve mainly highlighted the books that were new to me, or that I’d particularly want to recommend or talk about.

Here is an interesting link about the ‘gameification’ of reading: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/reading-challenges-books-1.7077257

And here is a nice new review of my own book “Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon & Mary, Queen of Scots”: “I adored this book…” https://adventuresofatudornerd.com/2024/01/10/book-review-daughters-of-the-north-jean-gordon-and-mary-queen-of-scots-by-jennifer-morag-henderson/