All Booked Out: A year-end reading list

Editor’s note: Here at splainer, we’re all big fans of Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan’s writing. In this list of holiday books you can read as the year draws to a close—at home or away on vacation—she recommends horror novels, memoirs, poetry and essay collections, meditations on grief, and much more besides.

Written by: Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan

*****

I considered the Reader—you, that is—on holiday, taking one of two shapes: the Reader Abroad, which is to say, not at home, and the Reader At Rest, napping on a beloved sofa, perhaps an animal familiar close by, curtains thrown open to let in the winter sunshine. And to that end, I wrote two different lists of reading recommendations, one absorbing, which I imagine you’ll need for a flight or a train or a beach chair somewhere, and one reflective, which suits all of our moods at the end of the year. I did think of them in terms of “vacation books” and “reflective books”, but why not reflective books to read on the beach and absorbing books that you don’t put down even as you trod the familiar path from living room to kitchen and back again? Either way, here are two strands of book suggestions, one set for doing, the other for thinking, and you can mix and match as you see fit. 

Immersive Books

The Shining by Stephen King 

Sure, you might know the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of this (which King famously hated), but the book is a whole other beast. The reason, some speculate, that King didn’t care for the film is that Jack Torrance, the main character, was based on many of King’s darkest moments in his own life. In the book, which is more of a traditional horror story, there’s the creepy child, Danny Torrance, who has what is called “the shining,” an ability to sense the supernatural, and his father, who may or may not be having a breakdown. Add a creaky old hotel and not another living soul around for miles, and you’ll probably be sleeping with the lights on all night. 

The House Trilogy by Norah Lofts

I love series for the promise they have, and I love this one especially. Lofts has gone slightly out of fashion, but bestselling historical fiction writer Alison Weir has been a long time champion and, thanks to her advocacy, these books are now available widely in print and in ebook format. The Town House is the first of the books, a masterful look at serfdom in the 1300s in England. And as the series grows, you look at it through the history of this one house built by Martin Reed, former serf, and how his ancestors inhabit it over the centuries. Perhaps the best historical fiction I’ve read, ignore the lurid covers if you get them second hand; these’ll go by in a flash, and you’ll have also learned something, since Lofts was exhaustive about her research. 

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

A funny and moving novel about marriage and what it means to choose someone, Heiny’s book is so clever and smart that you’ll forget you’re reading about fictional people, they seem to almost leap off the page and into your life. At the heart of it is Graham, married to his second wife, Audra. They live with their young son, who has Aspergers and enjoys origami. Into this steps his first wife, the opposite of Audra in every way, making Graham rethink his life choices. I had a massive book hangover when this was done, it spoiled me for everything else. 

The Secret Self: Short Stories by Women edited by Hermione Lee 

I think you can tell from this list that I prefer to read female authors, I just find myself more drawn to them as writers. I’m also a big advocate of reading short stories during a busy trip, it’s so easy to read one, put the book down, and then read another when I have my next lot of free time, instead of having to follow a narrative. This one stands out to me particularly because of the breadth and range of authors offered: Gertrude Stein! Nadine Gordimer! Alice Walker! Margaret Atwood! Willa Cather! And the list goes on, practically a who’s who of women authors you must read. Perfect for a re-read as well, this one has a treasured spot on my bookshelves. 

Reflective Books

Sailing Alone Around The Room by Billy Collins

I’m starting with some poetry, because I truly believe this is a form that lends itself to reflection like no piece of prose will ever do. I came to Collins via another novel which quoted him and I was so excited to find this volume in a tiny second hand shop. He’s perhaps not very well known outside America, but this slim book is hefty with incredible verse. Take this one, one of my favourites and tell me you have a better companion to see you through the last days of this year: 

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House 

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. 

He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark 

that he barks every time they leave the house. 

They must switch him on on their way out. 

The neighbors' dog will not stop barking. 

I close all the windows in the house 

and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast 

but I can still hear him muffled under the music, 

barking, barking, barking, 

and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra, 

his head raised confidently as if Beethoven 

had included a part for barking dog. 

Just delightful. I have it near me a lot so I can escape into his world—often wintery and musical—whenever I like. 

The Book Of Delights by Ross Gay 

Another work by a poet, but not a volume of poetry. Instead, The Book of Delights is tiny essays—microessays?—by Gay, an exercise in finding a different delight every day. Air quotes are a delight, as are found things, and a Lisa Loeb song, so many varied ways to find joy in this world. Another book that’s good to have close at hand, perhaps on your bedside table, take one every morning and reflect on this strange world, so full of sorrow and anger but also, yes, many joys. 

H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald

For some of us, the end of the year is a time to grieve as well for those we have lost. Into this void, I offer one of the best books about grief I’ve read, as well as a meditation on nature. Macdonald is still poleaxed by the loss of her father when she decides on an impulse to learn how to become a falconer. To this end, she buys Mabel, a goshawk, and practically drops out of human society, deciding to spend all her time training Mabel. You may not have any particular interest in falconry, nor yet have any animals with whom you share your life, but that’s beside the point. It’s a pacey book despite its heavy themes, and you’ll emerge, perhaps not inspired, but ready, maybe, to do the next thing you have to do. 

One Foot On The Ground: A Life Told Through The Body by Shanta Gokhale

I had to put a memoir on this list, the most reflective form of all, but in going through my choices, I kept returning to Gokhale’s 2019 book, which I enjoyed enormously. An unusual memoir, it does what it says in the subtitle, charting Gokhale’s life through her body, starting with her birth when the doctor slaps her buttocks to startle her into crying through menstruation, to adenoids, childbirth, and cancer. It’s funnier than the rest of the books on this list, also extremely candid, you feel the need to call her up the instant you finish it, even if you’ve never met her in your life, just to tell her how much you enjoyed it and how much you feel like you know her now. 

*****

Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is the author of eight books, across genres: literary fiction, mythological reinterpretations, young adult and short stories. Her latest book is ‘Soft Animal’, published by Penguin Random House in 2023. She lives in Berlin and writes about it in her newsletter The Internet: Personified.