2015: The Year That Was

It's currently late afternoon on New Years Eve and I've been sitting here thinking about the year that was. I didn't have a good year, I'm not going to pretend I did, but I got through it and I'm finally feeling optimistic for the year ahead. Without getting into too much detail I had a lot of health issues, was hospitalised a few times and just generally had a bad time. I completely lost my love for reading, or to be more accurate I stopped loving a lot of things I used to love. I felt extremely bitter and negative and cynical all year. Whenever I have gone through difficult times before I could always turn to literature but not this time. I was alone. If it wasn't for a few friends I would have completely lost my mind. I was just not in a good place at all for a majority of this year.  I'm still not entirely sure how I got through it. But I did and I'm here and stronger than I was and ready to look ahead.

I didn't read much this year outside of assigned readings for University but my favourites out of the ones that I did read were:

• On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev: I really loved this one. I had read Fathers and Sons the year before and I found On the Eve in a secondhand bookstore and it seemed like my type of book. And it was. Turgenev writes the most beautiful prose it just astounds me. He is also incredibly skilled at characterisation and I just sit in awe of him. This is a novel I'd rec everyone. 
• The Bacchae and Other Plays by Euripides: These plays include the Bacchae, Ion, Helen and the Women of Troy. Hands down the best book I've read this year. These are the plays that made me fall in love with Euripides and I went on to read seven of his plays this year. He's one of my favourite writers and I cannot wait to discover more of his work next year. 
• The Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert: This is a short story but it sure as hell packed a punch. It's the story of a simple woman who leads a simple life but is one of the most beautiful humans I've come across in literature. It just goes to show that a good heart of a simple woman is worth more than any number of aristocrats with 900 year old names. 

All the other works I read were great but those three were my absolute favourites. I am finally excited about reading again and I can't wait to begin 2016 with a bang. 

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I'll be spending New Years Eve night reading the Devils by Leo Tolstoy and maybe starting the Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (it's calling to me). Couldn't imagine a better way to spend the evening. See you all next year!