I am a huge fan and user of my local library and, earlier this year, I signed up for Sheila at Book Journey’s Library Challenge. There weren’t any check-ins or requirements other than committing to reading a certain number of library books and supporting your local library as a result. I went for 30 books and, halfway through the year, I’m feeling slightly chuffed to be just over halfway towards my goal. You can find the full list of books here but, as I’m six months in I thought I would pick and share my favourite six books to date…

1. Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood. To be fair, Margaret Atwood can do little, if anything, wrong in my eyes and this collection of stories were no expection. A real mix of dark tales.

2. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I had heard a lot of positive comments on this book before I read it and had half expected to be disappointed as a result because my expectations were high. Thankfully I wasn’t. Instead I got completely lost in a post-apocalyptic future where people still performed Shakespeare and had hope.

3. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. A book I first read 25 years ago and was happy to see has stood the test of time and memories. A dark and compelling tale.

4. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro. This was the first Alice Munro I had read (I’ve just finished my second) and I wish I’d discovered her sooner because I love the way she tells a story and how she writes powerful female characters.

5. Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey. Another I’d heard a lot about and wasn’t disappointed by. A different take on a detective story (if you can call it that) and an insight into what it might be like to have dementia.

6. Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway. I picked this because of the title and the cover – a guitar pick – with no idea what to expect. I loved every minute of it and Claire DeWitt is one of my new favourite characters, a complete one-off.

With a big stack of books from the library still to read, I should make my goal no problems. Hopefully there will be some more great reads in there!  Wish me luck.

Emma