As it’s March tomorrow and having a blog post with 2021 in the title signifies being somewhat behind the times, I thought it was time to finish this one which I’ve had sitting in my drafts since…December 2021!
I’m going to switch things up this year and disrupt the structure of previous favourite books of the year posts. I really like how Roxane Gay writes her year-in-reading retrospectives where she writes in depth about a book she really loved, her favourite of the year, and then comes up with pithy one-line summaries for the others she enjoyed.
So, let’s give that a try!
My Favourite Book of The Year
Recipe for a Kinder Life (2021) by Annie Smithers
In what was a less-than-kind year, this book was truly balm for the soul.
In Recipe for a Kinder Life, chef Annie Smithers takes us on a tour of her property in country Victoria where she and her wife Susan are attempting to live as sustainably as they possibly can. They grow food for their own consumption as well as for Annie’s restaurant, and keep a number of animals for their eggs and wool (not to eat). Living this way means having to think about so many things you never need to worry about if you’re a city-dweller who gets all their food from an online supermarket. Things like weather, water, soil health, pest control, to say nothing of the physical labour, planning and daily maintenance that goes into a successful large-scale garden. Annie reminded me of something I too have learned from growing my own food - you have so much respect for the journey a vegetable or fruit takes from seed to table when you’ve grown it yourself, and you’ll never waste anything again.
But this is not just a book about growing your own food, a journey to self sufficiency and how to live the good life. It’s about a kinder, sustainable life in every sense of the word, right down to the hours you work, how you manage your time, how you prioritise, and how you can craft your life around what you value without burning yourself out. Annie shares the lessons she’s learned in this arena, especially after a long career in hospitality and restaurants, which entailed often working unsociable hours. It all comes at a price and Annie encourages you to ask yourself if you’re prepared to pay it.
The book is not instructional or didactic in any way - Annie tells the story of Babbington Park, sharing what she and Susan have done and why, what has worked for them, what hasn’t and what they still have to learn. The reader is free to take from it what they will. But you can’t help but be inspired by Annie’s vision and hard work, and the desires and values she’s designed her life around: to tread gently on the earth, treat resources with reverence, and live in a sustainable and kind way that ripples out beyond your own household.
I have a feeling this book will be a great companion for the next chapter of my own journey to a more self-sufficient, sustainable and kinder life. If you read it, I hope you get as much out of it as I did!
The book everyone was talking about which is 100% worthy of the hype
Sorrow and Bliss (2021) by Meg Mason
A sumptuous, riveting, clever novel with a shock ending that I can’t stop thinking about
From Where I Fell (2021) by Susan Johnston
The book that made me ache with rage and recognition
Dissolve (2021) by Nikki Gemmell
A beautiful and harrowing book set in two places I’ve lived
The Cookbook of Common Prayer (2021) by Francesca Haig
An incredible novel every Australian should read
After Story (2021) by Larissa Behrendt
The book I bought the day it came out and in which I made the most notes and annotations
The Luminous Solution (2021) by Charlotte Wood
A marvellous and moving meditation on nature, politics, art, power and truth
Orwell’s Roses (2021) by Rebecca Solnit
A library book I loved so much I bought my own copy and bought more for friends
The Details (2020) by Tegan Bennett Daylight
The book that changed me
Bowerbird (2018) by Alanna Valentine
A powerful and confronting book I read in one sitting
Misfits: A Personal Manifesto (2021) by Michaela Coel
A gripping, well-crafted tale of domestic bliss gone wrong which I adored from start to finish
Magpie (2021) by Elizabeth Day
A marvellous novel with a bizarre ending set in Tasmania that is also about writing, life, ambition and legacy
Wood Green (2016) by Sean Rabin
A collection of beautifully composed short stories that was arresting and haunting, and surprisingly modern
Tell It To A Stranger (1947, 2000) by Elizabeth Berridge
A book that inspired me to watch a film that has a perfect and moving ending (Big Night)
Taste: My Life Through Food (2021) by Stanley Tucci
A witty and charming romance about identity, language, belonging, and a couple that doesn’t believe in love
A Lover’s Discourse (2020) by Xiaolu Guo