Most of the books I read last year were of the historical variety, and that’s exactly how I started this year as well! After reading a Paupa New Guinea travel diary-type book called Of Canoes and Crocodiles, I struggled through a historical book called The Celts: A Sceptical History, which made me realize that there are two main types of historical books: those that approach history as a narrative (a story to be told with some imagination and perhaps a little exaggeration, too!) and those that approach history as a science (presenting information as accurately and carefully as possible). 

The Celts was the later type, and while I appreciate the honesty and fairness of a book like that, it does not make for a very exciting story. Likewise, I made it halfway throughSPQR: A History of Ancient Rome before realizing that I just wasn’t interested in Roman history enough to read through every last little detail. 

Truth is important in science and in history, but moving stories are what truly capture the human imagination, and by the spring of this year, I longed so much for a good story that I turned back to fiction and picked up The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. I wrote briefly about this book back in March, and I think that it still stands out as the most interesting book that I read this year. In short, Poe explored fascinating aspects of science and pseudo-science in fictional stories that grip the reader’s imagination even today, perhaps especially today because his stories paint a picture of the bygone times that we tend to romanticize. 

After that, I went head-first into science fiction, reading several books from the Warhammer 40,000 Universe, which is based on a game that I played when I was younger. It imagines the grim darkness of a distant future in which humanity has lost almost all hope and fights an endless war against innumerable enemies. The stories are dark and rarely have happy endings, but still it is interesting to explore classic literary themes such as “man vs machine,” “man vs himself,” and “man vs fate/god.” 

In the end, though, it is hard to compare with such influential works as Edgar Allan Poe’s, so unless some amazing book comes my way in the last six weeks of this year (yes, there are only six weeks left!), I must declare The Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe to be the best book I’ve read this year!  

“To approach something” means to do or deal with that thing in a certain way. Above, I mentioned two ways that writers approach historical books, but everyone has their own way to approach almost everything in life, from learning a language to raising children.

“To make it halfway through something” means to successfully finish half of a task. I only made it halfway throughSPQR, which means I’ve only read half of the book, but I may go back to it and finish it later! This phrase is especially useful for talking about books, movies, and tasks/projects that we’re working on.

“To turn back to something” means to return to something one has done, used, or depended on in the past, often because it is reliable, comfortable, or familiar. After growing a little tired of historical books, I turned back to fiction, which is a genre that I used to enjoy very much.

“To paint a picture of something” means to depict, represent, show, or explain something, often in a way that makes it easy for someone to imagine it. Edgar Allan Poe’s stories paint a picture of the 1800s, allowing modern readers to imagine what life was like at that time.