I opened my calendar to wrap my head around this week and—goshdarnit—WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR!!! WHAT?! HOW?! WHY?! Errrrgggg, there are things I thought I’d have polished off in January that are still languishing on my To Do list. BUT, according to Goodreads, I have managed to read thirty-seven books so far this year, and there have been some cracking titles in the mix. So, while we’re all having a minor crisis over where the hell the last six months have gone, I thought I’d share a few of my favourite reads from the first half of 2016. Also, if you’re looking at the calendar and thinking ‘why haven’t I read more?’ Take a peek at my Ten Tips for Making More Time to Read and The Dreaded Reading Slump: What to do when reading stops being fun.

I’d love to hear about your favourite reads for 2016 so far and what you’re excited to read in the second half of the year. Let me know in the comments!

	Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave Simon & Schuster Genre: Literary fiction By turns heartwarming and harrowing, Everyone Brave is Forgiven is a tale of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances. I’m not normally big on WWII narratives, but this is a good story well told that combines Big Themes and a fancy prose style with memorable characters and a damn good plot. Read the full review ⇒
	The Bricks That Built the Houses Kate Tempest Bloomsbury Genre: Literary fiction The story of a city on the brink of change: bold and brave and bursting with small moments of joy, love and vulnerability. This one is rough and real and bittersweet. Read the full review ⇒
	All Things Cease to Appear Elizabeth Brundage Riverrun Genre: Literary fiction / thriller Exploring the deaths of two women in the same New York farmhouse several years apart, All Things Cease to Appear is immersive and sinister: a Gothic tale of domestic oppression and family breakdown. Read the full review ⇒
	The Long Room Francesca Kay Faber & Faber Genre: Literary fiction / thriller A lonely, low-ranking British intelligence worker becomes increasingly obsessed with a target’s wife. The Long Room is an unsettling novel of yearning, desire, disillusionment and obsession. Read the full review ⇒
	Keep You Close Lucie Whitehouse Bloomsbury Genre: Thriller A famous artist is found dead in her family’s Oxford residence. The police rule her  death a suicide, but her childhood best friend believes it’s something more sinister. Keep You Close is a taut and twisting tale of obsession, buried secrets and the burning desire to belong. Read the full review ⇒
	Maestra L. S. Hilton Allen & Unwin Genre: Thriller Judith Rashleigh has worked hard to be taken seriously in the art world, but when it becomes clear that her male colleagues will only ever recognise her more superficial talents, she decides to teach them a lesson about making face value judgements. Maestra is smart and sexy and sinister. A taut and sassy thriller with a wicked sense of humour. Read the full review ⇒
	The Passenger Lisa Lutz Simon & Schuster Genre: Thriller When Tania Dubois finds her husband dead at the bottom of their staircase, she goes into hiding afraid a police investigation will find her guilty of far more than her husband’s death. The Passenger is a fast-paced thrill ride across America, in which the stakes are high and the unexpected lurks beyond every corner. Read the full review ⇒
	Summer Skin Kirsty Eagar Allen & Unwin Genre: YA/NA Jess Gordon and her friends at Unity College have it in for the boys at the all-male, uber elite Knights College. In fact, Jess is leading the Unity girls in a revenge mission against the Knights. Which makes it awkward when she finds herself attracted to Mitch. Who just so happens to be a knight. Feminists, rejoice! Finally, a love story that’s smart, steamy and damn good fun. Read the full review ⇒
	The Leaving Tara Altebrando Bloomsbury Genre: YA In the wake of a terrible tragedy, six young children disappear from a seaside town. Eleven years later, five of the children return but none cane explain where they’ve been. The Leaving is a chilling, twisting thriller. Review coming soon!
	The Haters Jesse Andrews Allen & Unwin Genre: YA Three friends escape jazz camp in the dead of night to form a band and begin an epic tour across America. The Haters is a compelling, fun-filled romp about having the courage to set your own course and own what you love, even if everyone else thinks it’s lame. Read the full review ⇒
	Take Six Girls: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters Laura Thompson Head of Zeus Genre: Non-fiction A charming, compelling and thoroughly researched biography of Britain’s most notorious siblings. Read the full review ⇒

Finally, an honorary mention to The Girls by Emma Cline (Random House, Jun. 2016). I’ve only read a tiny bit so far but I am LOVING it!

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