Books read

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December 2020

• The Terrorists – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [The 10th (& last) in the series. Another excellent Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Recommended]
• It Was All a Lie – Stuart Stevens {NF} {e-book} [A US Republican repents. Superb destruction of the Republican Party and of Trump. Highly recommended]
• The Shepherd’s Life – James Rebanks {NF} [A shepherd, his family and his sheep. A very interesting read. Recommended]
• Mayflies – Andrew O’Hagan {e-book} [Gave up. Lads bantering. Not for me]
• Dictators – Frank Dikötter {NF} [Enlightening study of eight 20th Century dictators. Recommended]
• Who They Was – Gabriel Krauze {e-book} [Drugs, violence, London gangs, written in street lingo. Highly recommended, for some]

November 2020

• The End of the Affair – Graham Greene {e-book} [Love, hate, obsession, death, God. A great read. Highly recommended]
• Kitchen Confidential – Anthony Bourdain {NF} [A chef’s life. What a life! Recommended]
• Cop Killer – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [The 9th in the series. Another excellent Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Recommended]
• A Bit of a Stretch (The Diaries of a Prisoner) {NF} [The shocking state of Wandsworth prison. Recommended]
• The Liar – Steve Cavanagh [Superb crime / courtroom tale. Highly recommended]

October 2020

• And When She Was Good – Laura Lippman [Gripping story of a suburban madam.  Fabulous. Highly recommended]
• Humble Pi (A Comedy of Maths Errors) – Matt Parker {NF} [Real life maths errors. Highly recommended]
• The Creak on the Stairs – Eva Björg Ægisdóttir [A child who disappeared, a woman’s death. Excellent Icelandic crime novel. Recommended]
• Property – Valerie Martin [Unpleasant slave owners in 1820s America. Recommended]
• Why Does E=mc²? – Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw {NF} [Aimed at the layman, it was too difficult for this layman and I never made it to halfway]
• Dishonesty is the Second-Best Policy – David Mitchell {NF} [Quite amusing. You can have too much of DM]

September 2020

• Too Much and Never Enough – Mary L Trump {NF} {e-book} [Devastating portrait of Uncle Donald and his family. Highly recommended]
• Nightmare in Pink – John D MacDonald {e-book} [Superb American crime novel from the 1960s. Recommended]
• The Dark Tunnel – Ross Macdonald {e-book} [An early RM novel. Absolutely dreadful!]
• Sunburn – Laura Lippman [Re-read from the shelves. Superb well-plotted thriller set is small town America. Highly recommended]
• So Long, See  You Tomorrow – William Maxwell {e-book} [Recounting a murder from the past. I probably should have enjoyed it more than I did]
• Blue Moon – Lee Child {e-book} [Seriously over-the-top tosh with a ludicrously high body count]
• One Shot – Lee Child {e-book} [Another great piece of holiday reading hokum! Recommended]
• The Salt Path – Raynor Winn {NF} {e-book} [True story of a couple who lost everything and went on a long walk. A decent read]
• Hinton Hollow Death Trip – Will Carver {e-book} [Many small-town killings. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Good Samaritans – Will Carver {e-book} [Some unpleasant killings. Highly recommended]
• Nothing Important Happened Today – Will Carver {e-book} [Group suicides. A very strange thriller. Highly recommended]

August 2020

• Before the Fall – Noah Hawley [A re-read from the shelves. Why did the small plane crash? Terrific suspense novel. Highly recommended]
• The Farm – Tom Rob Smith [A re-read from the shelves which I read in half a day. Is an elderly mum paranoid? Great read. Recommended]
• The Locked Room – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [The 8th in the series. Slightly disappointing Swedish police procedural from the 1960s]
• The Hours Before Dawn – Celia Fremlin [A mother with a difficult infant takes on a lodger. Another intriguing and sometimes funny mystery. Highly recommended]
• The Passage of Love – Alex Miller {e-book} [Autobiographical novel about a writer’s struggles. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• A Thousand Moons – Sebastian Barry {e-book} [A follow on to  ‘Days Without End. A beautiful tale of a native American after the American Civil War. Highly recommended]
• Uncle Paul – Celia Fremlin [The mysterious Uncle Paul. Another gem from my current favourite author. Highly recommended]
• Days Without End – Sebastian Barry [Superb tale of brutality of American Civil War and genocide of native Americans. Highly recommended, for some]
• Full Marks For Trying – Brigid Keenan {NF} [Memoir of the journalist/author during the 1960s. A decent read]
• A Lovely Day to Die – Celia Fremlin {e-book} [Terrific short stories by my current favourite author. Highly recommended]
• The Long Shadow – Celia Fremlin [Intriguing and highly amusing mystery about a husband’s death. An author to read more of. Recommended]

July 2020

• Benediction – Kent Haruf [A dying, old man. Another wonderful tale of sadness set in rural America. Highly recommended]
• The Abominable Man – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [The 7th in the series. Another superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• The Room Where it Happened – John Bolton {e-book} [Fascinating to see an insider’s view of American & international politics, and of the very bizarre Trump. Very detailed – I skipped some of the 600 pages. Recommended, for some]
• The Pyramid – Henning Mankell [5 excellent Swedish crime stories. A re-read from the shelves. Recommended]
• Norwegian By Night – Derek B. Miller [A re-read from the shelves. Nordic thriller with a tense ending. Highly recommended]
• Our Souls At Night – Kent Haruf [Love in old-age. Just wonderful. Highly recommended]
• Murder at the Savoy – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [Another superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• Unbelievable – Katy Tur {e-book} [A reporter on Trump’s first election campaign. Fascinating]
• Shakespeare Saved My Life – Laura Bates {e-book} [Shakespeare lessons in the brutal American prison system. Highly recommended]
• Irène – Pierre Lemaitre [Brutal French crime procedural. I read it over 2 days. Highly recommended]

June 2020

• The Fire Engine That Disappeared – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [Another superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• The Tie That Binds – Kent Haruf [Wonderful tale of unhappiness set in rural America. Highly recommended]
• The Laughing Policeman – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [Another superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• A Dry White Season – André Brink [A white teacher becomes politically active during South Africa’s apartheid period. Superb. Highly recommended]
• The Offing – Benjamin Myers [An old man looks back to 1946 when he was 15, and of his friendship with an eccentric older woman. Set in Robin Hood’s Bay it’s a lovely tale about nature and of growing up. Highly recommended]
• The Man on the Balcony – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [A re-read from the shelves. Another superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• The Man Who Went Up in Smoke – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [A re-read from the shelves. A superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• Roseanna – Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö [A re-read from the shelves. A superb Swedish police procedural from the 1960s. Highly recommended]
• Factfulness – Hans Rosling {NF} [It should have been a useful read, but sadly I skimmed it]

May 2020

• The Unknowers – How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World – Linsey McGoey {NF} [A difficult read requiring considerable thinking…]
• Talking to Strangers – Malcolm Gladwell {NF} [How hard it is to read strangers. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Plainsong – Kent Haruf [Linked lives in small town America. A wonderful novel. Highly recommended]
• Who Can You Trust – Rachel Botsman {NF} [How we trust. Recommended]
• Chess – Stefan Zweig [A re-read of one from the shelves. A psychological, 80 page novella themed around chess. Recommended]
• Natural Flights of the Human Mind – Clare Morrall [A re-read of one from the shelves. Centred on a lighthouse, this is a wonderful tale of grief. Highly recommended]
• Risk Savvy – Gerd Gigerenzer {NF} {e-book} [Skimmed this look at risk. Recommended]
• Risk – Colin Harrison {e-book} [A very enjoyable tale around an accidental death. Recommended]
• Nothing But Blue Skies by Thomas McGuane [A re-read of one from the shelves about a man’s decline. Not the best time to be reading this sad tale]
• How to Be a Footballer – Peter Crouch {NF} {e-book} [Skimmed this for a bit of light relief]
• You Belong To Me – Colin Harrison {e-book} [New York thriller set among the well-to-do. Great fun. Recommended]
• Faithless – Karin Slaughter {e-book} [So-so procedural set in small-town America. More violence!]

April 2020

• Manhattan Nocturne – Colin Harrison [A re-read of one from the shelves. Terrific newspaper-themed, erotic thriller. Highly recommended]
• The Good Daughter – Karin Slaughter {e-book} [A brilliant but brutal (excessively so?) thriller + family tensions. Highly recommended, if you’ve the stomach.]
• The Dark Flood Rises – Margaret Drabble {e-book} [Meandering. Gave up third of the way through]
• Tony and Susan – Austin Wright {e-book} [A book within a book. Odd and interesting]
• Knife – Jo Nesbo {e-book} [Terrific, Scandi thriller starring Harry Hole. Highly recommended]
• The Hard Way – Lee Child {e-book} [Two kidnappings – terrific hokum. Highly recommended]
• Other People’s Money – Justin Cartwright [A re-read of one from the shelves. An old family bank becomes a cropper! Recommended]
• The Enemy – Lee Child {e-book} [Of course it’s improbable tosh, but it’s a great, fast-paced read. Recommended]
• Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss – Rajeev Balasubramanyam [Demanding father, mellows. Recommended]
• A Clergyman’s Daughter – George Orwell {e-book} (I last read this 50 years ago! Another tale of miserable lives from GO. Recommended]
• An Error of Judgement – Pamela Hansford Johnson [A re-read of one from the shelves. A decent tale set in the 50s.]
• Sing, Unburied, Sing – Jesmyn Ward [Another poor choice. Not for me. Couldn’t get started]
• The Feud – Thomas Berger [Gave up after 70 pages. I seem to have made some poor choices recently!]
• The Keepers of Truth – Michael Collins [Gave up a third of the way through. Not for me]
• The Book of Revelation – Rupert Thomson [In 2014 I wrote “A highly unusual tale about abuse and subsequent recovery. It’s very erotic, it’s part thriller and it’s unputdownable.”. This time I re-read it in one sitting. Brilliant. Highly recommended, for some]
• Plume – Will Wiles [Not for me – I gave up after 120 pages]

March 2020

• Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell {e-book} [I last read this 50 years ago! A miserable hero forsakes money and suffers the consequences. Highly recommended]
• White Houses – Amy Bloom [President Roosevelt’s wife has a lesbian relationship. A laboured read.]
• The Cyber Effect – Mary Aiken {NF} [“How human behaviour changes online”. I skimmed it. OK]
• The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Kim Edwards [So-so tale around a twin with Downs syndrome]
• The Behaviour Guru – Tom Bennett {NF} [“Behaviour Management Solutions for Teachers”. Gulp – I’d not have made a very good teacher. Recommended ]
• The Girl Who Wasn’t There – Ferdinand von Schirach [An artist and a criminal charge. Oh so dull. Not for me.]
• Humans – Tom Phillips [“A Brief History of How We Fucked It All Up”. Mildly amused as I skimmed it.]
• The Room of Lost Things – Stella Duffy [Fabulous novel of South London life. Highly recommended]
• The Cryotron Files – Iain Dey & Douglas Buck {NF} [Interesting history of the secretive development of computing and of the brief life of the relatively unknown genius Dudley Buck. Recommended]
• Coders – Clive Thompson {NF} [I decided it wasn’t worth reading after all!]
• All the Old Knives – Olen Steinhauer [A love/spy novel. As good as when I first read it. Highly recommended]
• Trial By Battle – David Piper [A short World War 2 novel.  Very decent read. Recommended]
• The Dog of the South – Charles Portis [American road trip. Couldn’t get into it. Quit a third way in]

February 2020

• Where You Once Belonged – Kent Haruf [Life in a small, American town. Beautifully written. Highly recommended]
• French Rhapsody – Antoine Laurain [Couldn’t get into it. Quit third way in. Not added to totals!]
• Mr Foreigner – Matthew Kneale [Quirky, short novel set in Japan. I enjoyed it a lot. Highly recommended]
• The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers – Bobby Seagull {NF} [A gift. Decent ramble through ad-hoc maths topics by a celebrity teacher. I read it in a morning!]
• Eve Green – Susan Fletcher [An 8-year-old loses her mum, moves to Wales, grows up, falls in love. Not a lot happens, but a nice read. Recommended.]
• The Intelligence Trap – David Robson {NF} [Too much for me – I skimmed/skipped through it. Not added to totals!]
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge {NF} [It made me want to try to be more aware. OK]
• The Way Inn – Will Wiles [Life at conferences & hotels turns bizarre. Highly recommended]
• I’m Gone – Jean Echenoz [Gallery owner tale. Odd. Great cover picture.]
• The New Silk Roads – Peter Frankopan {NF} [A terrific look at the changes shaping the world. Highly recommended]
• The Followers – Rebecca Wait [Excellent page-turning tale of life in a cult. Recommended]

January 2020

• Crash Land – Doug Johnstone [Too similar to The Jump (see below). Silly action stuff at the end but still worth reading. My last DJ book, I think]
• Bitcoin Billionaires – Ben Mezrich {NF} [Bitcoin millionaires. Overlong but OKish]
• The Jump – Doug Johnstone [Excellent thriller set around a son’s suicide. Recommended]
• The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander {NF} [‘Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colourblindness’. Stunning. Highly recommended]
• The Spoons Came From Woolworths – Barbara Comyns [It was tough being a woman in the 1930s. Quirky but recommended]
• Never Split the Difference – Chris Voss {NF} [How to negotiate. OK]
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer [Precocious, 9-year-old Oskar searches for answers following the death of his dad in 9/11. Sometimes confusing but worth a read, perhaps a re-read sometime.]
• The Fifth Risk – Michael Lewis {NF} [“A well-written primer on how the government serves citizens in underappreciated ways.” Highly recommended]
• Stasi Child – David Young [Hmm. Murder in East Berlin. Clunky writing, an interesting read but with some odd bits]

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December 2019

• Waiting for the 5:05 – Lawrence Grow [A pictorial history of early American train stations]
• Black Water – Louise Doughty [So-so political novel set in Indonesia with sometimes confusing flashbacks.]
• The Red Parts – Maggie Nelson {NF} [A memoir / meditation on the murder of her aunt. OK]
• Let’s Kill Uncle – Rohan O’Grady [Thoroughly charming tale of two 10-year-olds on holiday. Highly recommended]
• Confessions of a Ghostwriter – Andrew Crofts {NF} [Rather dull bunch of anecdotes of a renowned ghostwriter]
• Three Days and a Life – Pierre Lemaitre [Set in a small, French town this is a superb tale of guilt of a 12-year-old boy’s crime. Highly recommended]
• The Second Deadly Sin – Åsa Larsson [A very decent Scandi thriller]
• The Girl With Seven Names – Hyeonseo Lee {NF} [Escaping the grimness of life in North Korea. Highly recommended]
• Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures – Vincent Lam [ Gave up after 100 pages]
• The Spy and the Traitor – Ben Macintyre {NF} [“The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War”. Brilliant. Highly recommended]

November 2019

• The Reflection – Hugo Wilcken [I’d already read it and it’s still as confusing!]
• The Contortionist’s Handbook – Craig Clevenger [Interesting tale of headaches, drugs and new identities.]
• Dangerous Hero – Tom Bower {NF} [A controversial, hatchet job on Jeremy Corbyn. Recommended, for some]
• Cinnamon Kiss – Walter Mosley [An OK American thriller.]
• Why We Get the Wrong Politicians – Isabel Hardman {NF} [Earnest but dispiriting examination of how the wrong people make a poor job of being politicians. Recommended.]
• Shut Up And Deal – Jesse May [Gritty, relentless tale of what it’s like to be an addicted, professional, poker player. Recommended]

October 2019

• Skyfaring (A Journey With a Pilot) – Mark Vanhoenacker {NF} [A pilot writes about his job. Fascinating and recommended]
• Cockroaches – Jo Nesbo [A holiday read – I think I’ve outgrown Nesbo]
• The Racketeer – John Grisham [Disappointing. A crazy plot, no pace, and not much in the way of characterisation]
• The Girl in the Green Raincoat – Laura Lippman [Short, gentle, detective story. Didn’t enjoy it]
• Heroic Failure – Fintan O’Toole {NF} [“Brexit and the politics of pain”. Difficult reading.]

September 2019

• The Cryptographer – Tobias Hill [Cryptocurrency themed love story. OK]
• My Brief Career – Harry Mount {NF} [The author’s grim experience at the start of an abortive law career. OKish]
• Siege – Michael Wolff {NF} [Another gobsmacking look at Trump. Highly recommended]
• The Cut Out Girl – Bart van Es {NF} [War bio. Poor library book choice! Gave up after 10 pages]
• Jonathan Unleashed – Meg Rosoff [Romcom with dogs! Poor library book choice! Gave up after 20 pages]
• Eileen – Ottessa Moshfegh [A very readable and odd, psychological story. Recommended]
• The Industries of the Future – Alec Ross {NF} [Excellent look at what’s coming. Highly recommended]
• The Shepherd’s Hut – Tim Winton [A teenager battles with survival in the Australian outback. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Things Can Only Get Worse? – John O’Farrell {NF} [A Labour Party supporter writes. Very funny. Recommended]
• My Absolute Darling – Gabriel Tallent [A brutal tale of love, hate and abuse. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Stories of the Law and How It’s Broken – The Secret Barrister {NF} [What’s wrong with the legal system. Brilliant! Highly recommended]
• The Librarian – Salley Vickers [Charming story of a 1950s librarian, though it took me a while to get into it. Highly recommended]
• The Death of Truth – Michiko Kakutani {NF} [Short and scary polemic on how we got to Trumpism. Highly recommended]
• Under the Sun – Lottie Moggach [Enjoyable tale of life as an expat in not so sunny Spain. Recommended]

August 2019

• The Death of the Fronsac – Neal Ascherson [OKish. I struggled and was glad to get to the end]
• Kiss Me First – Lottie Moggach [An internet tale. A decent read]
• Educated – Tara Westover {NF} [Wonderful memoir of a woman surviving a brutal, Mormon family. Highly recommended]
• Black Box Thinking – Matthew Syed {NF} [Failure is good. Recommended]
• The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim – Jonathan Coe [Enjoyable read but a disappointing ending]
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman [A charming read about an awkward but charming heroine. Highly recommended]

July 2019

• Adventures in Stationery – James Ward {NF} [History of stationery and office gadgets. Skim-read but interesting]
• The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes [‘a meditation on memory and ageing’. This is a re-read and I’ve upped it from recommended to highly recommended]
• The Scheme For Full Employment – Magnus Mills [A novel. I hated this, but completed it!]
• Two Sisters – Åsne Seierstad {NF} [An investigation into why two young Somali girls left Norway to join ISIS in Syria. Stunning. Highly recommended]
• An American Story – Christopher Priest [Well written 9/11 conspiracy novel. Read it in a day but ultimately disappointed]
• While I Was Gone – Sue Miller [The emotional struggles of an American wife as she struggles with her past. Recommended]
• Uncommon Type – Tom Hanks [Very decent short stories from the actor. Recommended]
• Pinpoint (How GPS is Changing Our World)- Greg Milner {NF} [All about GPS. Highly recommended]
• Yuki chan in Brontë Country – Mick Jackson [So-so novel of a daughter retracing her mother’s visit to UK]
• Narconomics (How to Run a Drug Cartel)- Tom Wainwright {NF} [How the drugs business works. Highly recommended]
• An American Marriage – Tayari Jones [This best-seller is a decent read – it just sneaks in as a ‘recommended’]

June 2019

• Bad Blood (Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup) – John Carreyrou {NF} [Only two things to say – riveting and highly recommended]
• The Crime Writer – Jill Dawson [Terrific novel around the life of Patricia Highsmith. Highly recommended. This is a re-read and the same review as on the first read]
• The Living and the Dead in Winsford – Håkan Nesser [Slow, long and absorbing thriller. Recommended. This is a re-read and the same review as on the first read]
• Chernobyl – Serhii Plokhy {NF} [Magnificent examination of the World’s worst nuclear accident. Highly recommended]
• The Second Coming – John Niven [God sends his son, Jesus, down for a 2nd go. A fabulous, funny read. Highly recommended]
• Nutshell – Ian McEwan [Great tale of life in the womb! Highly recommended]
• How To Be Right – James O’Brien {NF} [Honest broadcaster speaks. What a nice man. Highly recommended]
• Heather, The Totality – Matthew Weiner [A mere 135 pages, a tale of how a child changes a marriage. OK]
• Talking To My Daughter – Yanis Varoufakis {NF} [“A Brief History of Capitalism”. I didn’t get it. Not for me]
• Waterline – Ross Raisin [Terrific tale of a widowed man descending to rock bottom. Grim but highly recommended]

May 2019

• The Tiger – John Vaillant {NF} [Why did the tiger kill the hunter? But so much more. Magnificent and highly recommended]
• Denialism – Michael Specter {NF} [The dangers of ignoring science. Excellent]
• The Monk of Mokha – Dave Eggers {NF} [So-so true tale of coffee from Yemen. Not as good as his others]
• Legend of a Suicide – David Vann [Realised half way through I had read it 4 years ago! Just as puzzled the second time around!!]

April 2019

• The Death of Expertise – Tom Nichols {NF} [‘The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters’. Highly recommended]
• Sheer Blue Bliss – Lesley Glaister [An interesting psychological thriller building to a tense conclusion. Recommended ]
• Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard [I should have enjoyed it more]
• A Life of Crime – Harry Ognall {NF} [Memoirs of a High Court judge. OKish]
• The King is Dead – Jim Lewis [Disappointing. Maybe I took too long reading it.]
• A Gate at the Stairs – Lorrie Moore [Couldn’t wait for it to end! Not for me.]

March 2019

• Fire On All Sides – James Rhodes {NF} [Classical pianist agonises. Brilliant. Highly recommended, for some]
• The Killing of Butterfly Joe – Rhidian Brook [ A great adventure centred on butterfly collectors. Highly recommended]
• All That Remains – Sue Black {NF} [A forensic anthropologist tells all about death. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• The Intrusions – Stav Sherez [So-so Internet-themed crime procedural. Got going in the second half]

February 2019

• The Cook – Wayne Macauley [Young criminal becomes a chef, in an intriguing read. Recommended, for some]
• Affliction – Russell Banks [A violent, childhood-brutalised man fumes in an American, rural town. A great read. Highly recommended]
• In Your Defence – Sarah Langford {NF} [A barrister writes about her cases. Highly recommended
• The Relive Box – T.C.Boyle [Fabulous varied, collection of short stories. Highly recommended]

January 2019

• Last Night in Montreal – Emily St.John Mandel [An estranged father abducts his daughter. A well-written story of linked lives. Highly recommended]
• A Separation – Katie Kitamura [Wife seeks answers for the disappearance of her separated husband. Highly recommended]
• Razor Girl – Carl Hiaasen [Comedy crime caper even crazier than Skinny Dip which I read last year. Overlong but great fun.]
• First Love – Gwendoline Riley [A marriage battleground. I wasn’t getting anything from this short novel until the last quarter. I wish I had worked harder at it.]
• Pyongyang – Guy Delisle [A Journey in North Korea. A comic book. I couldn’t get involved in it. Disappointing.]
• Heading Out to Wonderful – Robert Goolrick [A love story set in the late 1940s that nicely portrays small-town America. I enjoyed it despite the inadequately developed over-the-top tragedy towards the end.]

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December 2018

• Improbable Destinies – Jonathan Losos {NF} [How predictable is evolution? If only I was smart enough to understand]
• Face-Time – Erik Tarloff [Magnificent tale of affairs in the White House. Highly recommended]
• Chocolates for Breakfast – Pamela Moore [1950s, coming-of-age novel. Well-off kids drinking. Pretty good.]

November 2018

• The Secret Life – Andrew O’Hagan {NF} [3 men. Julian Assange, an invented one, the inventor of Bitcoin. Highly recommended]
• The Financial Lives of the Poets – Jess Walter [Man sinks. Well written, funny and serious, American novel. Highly recommended (for some)]
• The Two Pound Tram – William Newton [Charming tale of two boys and a tram]
• Talking to the Dead – Harry Bingham [British police procedural, with a twist. Excellent. Recommended]
• WTF? – Robert Peston {NF} [Provocative thinking on UK politics. Recommended]
• Lost Memory of Skin – Russell Banks [Fantastic novel about a young sex offender in America. Highly recommended]
• The Evenings – Gerard Reve [A novel about boredom. I was bored and gave up after 30 pages]
• The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell {NF} [Running a second-hand bookshop. Amusing and helpful. Raced through it in 2 days. Recommended]

October 2018

• The Harder They Come – T C Boyle [Rage, paranoia, guns. Recommended]
• Hot Milk – Deborah Levy [A mother’s hypochondria. Not for me, though I managed to finish it]
• Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond {NF} [Lengthy (and exhausting) history of mankind. Recommended]

September 2018

• Sunburn – Laura Lippman [Superb well-plotted thriller set is small town America. Highly recommended]
• The Big Short – Michael Lewis {NF} [Sub-prime mortgage crisis. Almost incomprehensible, but highly recommended, for some]
• If Only They Didn’t Speak English – Jon Sopel {NF} [Americans in Trumpland. Fascinating / terrific. Highly recommended]

August 2018

• Skios – Michael Frayn [Fabulous & hilarious farce set on a Greek island. Highly recommended]
• Obliquity – John Kay {NF} [Dull. Gave up after 40 pages]
• Heart Burn – Nora Ephron [The author’s fictionalised marriage breakdown. Witty & funny. For some, highly recommended]
• Donnie Brasco – Joseph D Pistone {NF} [Undercover in the Mafia. Fascinating. Highly recommended]
• All Families Are Psychotic – Douglas Coupland [Bizarre! End couldn’t come soon enough]
• I, Robot – Isaac Asimov [Interesting linked stories around laws of robotics. Recommended]

July 2018

• The Forever War – Dexter Filkins {NF} [A war reporter in Iraq. Astounding and outstanding. Highly recommended]
• Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann {NF} [Astonishing true story of murders of Osage Native Americans in 1920s. Highly recommended]
• Midwinter Break – Bernard MacLaverty [Retired couple’s marriage is tested in Amsterdam. Highly recommended]
• The Bookshop That Floated Away – Sarah Henshaw [A charming read about the author’s bookshop on a canal boat]
• The October List – Jeffery Deaver [A back-to-front thriller I found too difficult to finish]
• The Human Stain – Philip Roth [I’m ashamed to say I gave up halfway through]

June 2018

• The Association of Small Bombs – Karan Mahajan [After an act of Indian terrorism. Recommended]]
• Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life – Adam Greenfield {NF} [The scary future. Highly recommended]
• The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza – Lawrence Block [A very fine and funny crime story. Recommended]

May 2018

• Flash Boys – Michael Lewis {NF} [Gripping analysis of Wall Street cheating. Highly recommended]
• De Niro’s Game – Rawi Hage [The violent lives of two young men in Lebanon. So-so.]
• The Reykjavik Confessions – Simon Cox {NF} [Devastating investigation of 40-year old, Icelandic miscarriage of justice. Recommended]
• Fire and Fury (Inside the Trump White House) – Michael Wolff {NF} [What a monster. Highly recommended]
• American War – Omar El Akkad [The 2nd American Civil War, set in 2074. Mixed feelings on this. Overlong.]

April 2018

• The Last Shot – Hugo Hamilton [A very fine, short love story set around the end of WW2. Recommended]
• The Dark Net – Jamie Bartlett {NF} [Well researched investigation of the hidden web. Highly recommended]
• The Fall Guy – James Lasdun [So so psychological thriller. Goodish. ]
• American Pastoral – Philip Roth [American family collapses. Goodish/recommended]

March 2018

• In Extremis – Tim Parks [A dying mother, a son’s angst, families, anal massage. Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Chess – Stefan Zweig [Psychological, 80 page novella themed around chess. Recommended]
• The Faithful Couple – A D Miller [Male friendship. Recommended, for males]
• The Abstinence Teacher – Tom Perrotta [Religion, sex education, broken relationships. Not bad]
• Closing Arguments – Frederick Busch [Hmm.. A killing, a court case, lots of sex. Interesting!]
• The Prophet – Michael Koryta [Terrific American football themed thriller. Highly recommended]
• Skinny Dip – Carl Hiaasen [Husband tosses wife off ship. A terrific, fun adventure. Highly recommended]

February 2018

• Heft – Liz Moore [Two people with a connecting third. A so-so read]
• Alice and the Fly – James Rice [Strange tale of obsession and phobia. Not for me]
• Why the Dutch are Different – Ben Coates {NF} [Interesting to read about another country. Recommended]

January 2018

• Life With a Star – Jiří Wei [Surviving as a Jew in Nazi-occupied Prague. OK. Grim.]
• Shame the Devil – George P. Pelecanos [A very decent, hard-boiled, American crime novel]
• The Plot Against America – Philip Roth [Imagined alternative American history. Highly recomended]
• How to Stop Time – Matt Haig [The life of a 400-year-old man. Highly recommended]
• Perfume – Patrick Süskind [A very strange story. Recommended, for some]

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December 2017

• Memoirs of a Dipper – Nell Leyshon [Fictional memoir of a petty criminal. OKish]
• Complicity – Iain Banks [A sometimes gruesome, Scottish thriller. Recommended]
• Dadland – Keggie Carew {NF} [Daughter tells the story of her spy dad. Recommended]

November 2017

• A Brief History Of Everyone Who Ever Lived – Adam Rutherford {NF} [Difficult. Would require a re-read]
• The Fixer – Joseph Finder [Man finds stash of money in father’s old house. Very decent thriller. Recommended]
• Double Fault – Lionel Shriver [Just couldn’t get enthused by it – gave up at p66]
• I Am No One – Patrick Flanery [Privacy and surveillance novel. Slow start – OKish]
• Tomorrow – Graham Swift [Parenthood, artificial insemination. I enjoyed it]
• Adapt – Tim Hartford {NF} [Adapting is good. OKish]

October 2017

• Before the Fall – Noah Hawley [After the plane crash suspense / thriller. Highly recommended]
• Trading Futures – Jim Powell [Man gradually cracks up. Recommended]
• What We Did On Our Holiday – John Harding [A novel about ageing parents. Recommended]
• To Kill the President – Sam Bourne [Magnificent thriller with Trump as the bad guy – LOL! Highly recommended]
• Under the Harrow – Flynn Berry [Very decent psychological thriller. Recommended]
• All Days Are Night – Peter Stamm [So-so novel about life rebuilding after disfigurement]
• The Long and Winding Road – Alan Johnson {NF} [Politician’s memoir part 3. Worthy, sometimes rather dull.]

September 2017

• All the Old Knives – Olen Steinhauer [Fantastic spy novel set mainly across a dinner table. Highly recommended]
• High Dive – Jonathan Lee [So-so fictionalisation of the bombing of Brighton’s Grand Hotel]
• New Crimes Anthology – Maxine Jakubowski (editor) [A mainly mediocre bunch of short, crime stories]
• A Thousand Pardons – Jonathan Dee [Very enjoyable novel on American family life. Recommended]
• In a True Light – John Harvey [So-so American crime novel by UK author. Unnecessarily violent ending]
• It’s What He Would Have Wanted – Sean Hughes [So-so, jokey, blokey novel about a father’s suicide. ]
• The Dishwasher – Dannie M Martin [An ex-convict struggles. A very decent American crime story. Recommended]

August 2017

• What is the What – Dave Eggers [Long,but terrific true story set in Sudan. A book to read again. Highly recommended]
• The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling [Just too many characters! Lost track, gave up.]
• Poor Economics – Banerjee & Duflo {NF} [What it’s like to be poor. Highly recommended, for some]
• Agent Zigzag – Ben Macintyre {NF} [Extraordinary true story of a WW2 double agent. Recommended]

July 2017

• A Sport and a Pastime – James Salter [Couldn’t get into it]
• Deaf Sentence – David Lodge [Funny / serious tale around deafness and ageing. Pretty good, for some]
• Happy – Derren Brown {NF} [How to be happy. Long / over-long, but interesting. Recommended, for some]
• Preparation For The Next Life – Atticus Lish [War veteran and illegal immigrant struggle to love and live. Recommended]

June 2017

• The Circle – Dave Eggers [1984 meets social media. Brilliant! Highly recommended]
• Other People’s Money – Justin Cartwright [An old family bank becomes a cropper! A fabulous tale. Highly recommended]
• This is How – M.J.Hyland [Odd but readable tale of a loner and a killing. Recommended, for some]
• The Brooklyn Follies – Paul Auster [Meandering and unsatisfying. Glad when it ended]
• The Easter Parade – Richard Yates [Unhappy families. OKish]
• A Long Way From Verona – Jane Gardam [Set in the North, during WW2, a young girl’s thoughts. Recommended]
• The Pale Criminal – Philip Kerr [Crime / politics in pre-WW2 Berlin. Mixed feelings on this one.]

May 2017

• Fortune Smiles – Adam Johnson [Six short stories. Imaginative and interesting. Recommended]
• Spring – David Szalay [Modern relationships. I completed it!]
• Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout [Short stories masquerading as a novel. Quickly lost interest]
• Breathless – Dean Koontz [Tosh. Read it in a day!]
• The Reflection – Hugo Wilcken [“An experimental novel disguised as a thriller”. Thoroughly confusing]
• A Very English Scandal – John Preston {NF} [The story of the downfall of MP Jeremy Thorpe. Highly recommended]
• The Crossing – Andrew Miller [A book of two halves. I enjoyed the second half, on the boat]

April 2017

• Even the Dogs – Jon McGregor [Drugs and grimness, in a stream of words. Gave up]
• The World Without Us – Mireille Juchau [Australian eco-saga. Tiresome – gave up half-way]
• Strangeland – Tracy Emin [A birthday present! Frank, crude confessions. Interesting]
• Who Runs Britain? – Robert Peston {NF} [Good stuff, but published 2008, so somewhat dated. Recommended]
• In Cold Blood – Truman Capote [Capote’s classic, a brilliantly written,  but shocking, true story.  Highly recommended]
• Strangers on a Train – Patricia Highsmith [Tense, claustrophobic and brilliant. Highly recommended]

March 2017

• Memoirs of an Infantry Sergeant – William Bourne {NF} [Self published WW2 memoir. Excellent.]
• The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes [‘a meditation on memory and ageing’. Recommended]
• The Living and the Dead in Winsford – Håkan Nesser [Slow, long and absorbing thriller. Recommended]
• Two Wheels – Matt Seaton {NF} [Varied and interesting Guardian articles on biking]
• The Escape Artist – Matt Seaton {NF} [A man’s passion for cycling. Recommended]
• An Honorable Man – Paul Vidich [An OK’ish spy novel.]
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson [Family weirdness from 1950s. Not for me.]
• The Crime Writer – Jill Dawson [Terrific novel around the life of Patricia Highsmith. Highly recommended]

February 2017

• Bullet Points – Mark Watson [Enjoyable novel about a psychiatrist/psychiatry. Recommended]
• Copenhagen Noir – anthology [Can’t say I enjoyed this motley collection!]
• Natural Flights of the Human Mind – Clare Morrall [Dealing with grief. A wonderful story. Highly recommended]
• Prayers For The Stolen – Jennifer Clement [Terrific novel about trafficking of young girls in Mexico. Highly recommended]
• All My Friends are Superheroes – Andrew Kaufman [Just 110 pages long. No idea what it was about]
• The First Bad Man – Miranda July [I’m struggling. Update – I’ve given up!]
• All Day Long – Joanna Biggs [Interviews with Britons at work. Interesting]

January 2017

• The Good Liar – Nicholas Searle [Excellent tale of deception and intrigue. Recommended]
• The Last Act of Love – Cathy Rentzenbrink [Well-written true story of loss. Highly recommended]
• Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman – Stefan Zweig [Emotional early 20th century novella. Highly recommended]
• The Signal and the Noise – Nate Silver [The art of prediction. Difficult. Highly recommended]
• I Saw A Man – Owen Sheers [Tense story of loss and guilt. Highly recommended]

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December 2016

• Shopgirl – Steve Martin [Charming and witty novella about love. Recommended]
• Dodgers – Bill Beverly [Well-written, gritty, American crime novel. Crap typesetting! Recommended]
• Cyberphobia – Edward Lucas [The internet is really, really scary. Recommended]
• Trump & Me – Mark Singer [President-elect Trump in 100 pages. Good last chapter]
• Whoops – John Lanchester [What the bankers did with our money. Recommended]
• The Fetish Room – Redmond O’Hanlon & Rudi Rotthier [Rather dull bio of the former. Quit halfway]
• American Rhapsody – Joe Eszterhas [Sex, Bill Clinton and others. Gobsmacking!]

November 2016

• The End of the Story – Lydia Davis [A love story I couldn’t get into.]
• Shakespeare – Bill Bryson [Bio of Shakespeare and of how little is known! Highly recommended]
• Gang of One – Gary Mulgrew [Grim but absorbing account of a Scot in a US prison. Highly recommended]
• The Chalk Circle Man – Fred Vargas [A slow, quirky, but very pleasing, French whodunit]
• The File – Timothy Garton Ash [Historian explores his East German Stasi file]
• The Second Plane – Martin Amis [Difficult essays around 9/11]
• The Long Firm – Jake Arnott [Enjoyable gangster tale set in sixties London. Recommended]

October 2016

• Academy Street – Mary Costello [Cheerless. Similar to, but not as good as, Colm Tóibín’s Mary Webster. OKish]
• A Landing On The Sun – Michael Frayn [Unfinished. Lost interest at half-way point]
• The Pie at Night – Stuart Maconie [What the North does for fun. Goodish]
• Family Life – Akhil Sharma [Indian family move to America. OK but dull]
• Pyres – Derek Nikitas [Pretty good American crime novel. Exciting.]
• Ordinary Thunderstorms – William Boyd [Terrific adventure/thriller set in London. Highly recommended]

September 2016

• The Story of My Father – Sue Miller [Author details her father’s decline due to Alzheimer’s. Highly recommended]
• Black Money – Ross MacDonald [Complex American crime novel. Recommended]
• Girls – Nic Helman [Man in mid-life crisis talks sex. Shocking, erotic. Hmm. Most will probably hate it.]
• Restless – William Boyd [Pacy spy thriller. Not my usual fare, but very enjoyable. Recommended]
• Dancing in the Dark – Karl Ove Knausgaard [Adolescent torment in remote Norway. Long, but addictive]
• An Error of Judgement – Pamela Hansford Johnson [Great 1960s tale of marriage and morality. Recommended]
• August and Then Some – David Prete [Well written, gritty tale of New York family strife. Recommended]

August 2016

• Christie Malry’s Own Double-Entry – B.S. Johnson [Confusing mess. Not for me, and unfinished]
• How to Watch TV News – Postman & Powers [An OK analysis of how TV news is put together]
• A Price To Pay – David Bermingham [Three UK bankers face the US justice system. Stupendous!]
• Victor Grayson – David Clark [Fascinating bio of a 1900s Labour MP who disappeared. Recommended]
• Stone Cowboy – Mark Jacobs [Drugs and misery in Bolivia. I got to the end, just!]

July 2016

• Death of His Uncle – C.H.B.Kitchin [An old-fashioned (1930s) mystery. Excellent!]
• Inheritance – Nicholas Shakespeare [A book of 2 halves that didn’t quite gel. OK]
• Nothing But Blue Skies by Thomas McGuane [Montana man disintegrates following marriage break-up. Highly recommended]
• How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff [Coming of age novel set during a future war. Recommended]
• Nick’s Trip – George P. Pelecanos [Gritty and pretty good American crime novel]
• Where I’m Reading From – Tim Parks [Interesting essays on book things]

June 2016

• The Innocent Man – John Grisham [Absorbing true story of injustice in US legal system. Highly recommended]
• This House of Grief – Helen Garner [Australian murder trial. Magnificent]
• The Dinner – Herman Koch [Dutch morality tale centred on a meal and a violent act. Interesting]
• The A to Z of You and Me – James Hannah [Dying 40 year-old reflects. Cheerier than it sounds. Recommended]
• The Calling – Neil Cross [A cracking but gruesome crime novel. Highly recommended – for some]
• Luxury Amnesia – David Huggins [British thriller-ish. Easy, light reading. OK]
• Epitaph For A Spy – Eric Ambler [Old-fashioned spy story written & set in 1930s. Recommended]
• The Children Act – Ian McEwan [High Court judge makes difficult decisions. Recommended]
• Layover – Lisa Zeidner [Woman in crisis roams hotels. An oddity]
• Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned – Wells Tower [A fine set of short stories]

May 2016

• The Age Of Absurdity – Michael Foley [Philosophy of happiness and modern life. Highly recommended, for some]
• The Slap – Christos Tsiolkas [Relationships in Australian society. Recommended, for some]
• Finders Keepers – Stephen King [A terrific thriller. Highly recommended]
• Starter For Ten – David Nicholls [Starting life at university. Very funny. Have I read this before?]
• The Report – Jessica Francis Kane [Novel based on a wartime tragedy. Recommended]
• Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel [When you start skipping, it’s time to give up (at halfway)]
• Alex Through the Looking Glass – Alex Bellos [Skimmed over some difficult maths!]

April 2016

• A Death in Belmont – Sebastian Junger [True crime in the shadow of the Boston Strangler. Recommended]
• Mice – Gordon Reece [Easy-read thriller. Recommended holiday read]
• Wish Her Safe at Home – Stephen Benatar [An oddity about a woman going mad. OK]
• Marilyn – Norman Mailer [Terrific fictional biography of Marilyn Monroe. Recommended (for some)]
• Always the Sun – Neil Cross [Widowed father & son coping. Accurate dialogue. Curious violent ending. Good read]
• Jack – A.M. Holmes [Growing up & families. Charming, if you’re younger than me]
• Cocaine Nights – J.G.Ballard [A mystery, of sorts. Not for me]
• Nora Webster – Colm Tóibín [Dealing with grief in 1960s Ireland. Highly recommended]

March 2016

• Jeremy Hutchinson’s Case Histories – Thomas Grant [Highly recommended]
• Prefab Homes – Elisabeth Blanchet [History or Prefabs. Recommended]
• The Innocent – Ian McEwan [Love story & spy thriller set in 1950s Berlin. Recommended]
• Please, Mister Postman – Alan Johnson [Politician’s memoir part 2. Highly recommended]
• Bringing Down the House – Ben Mezrich [How they beat the casinos. Recommended]
• The Power of the Dog – Thomas Savage [Brothers at odds on a 1920s ranch. Recommended]
• Blood on Snow – Jo Nesbo [Short, slight novel about a hired killer]

February 2016

• Uncommon Entrance – Edward Blishen [Funny account of teaching in a 1950s prep school]
• The Tortilla Curtain – T C Boyle [Mexican immigrants meet middle-class America. Magnificent]
• The Soul of a New Machine- Tracy Kidder [Building a new computer in late 70s. Interesting]
• When I Forgot – Elina Hirvonen [Not for me. Gave up at page 75]
• So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed – Jon Ronson [Highly recommended]
• My Criminal World – Henry Sutton [Crime novelist writes novel. OK. Got to the end, just]
• The Letter Bearer – Robert Allison [Word War II desert adventure. Mixed feelings on this!]

January 2016

• A Wild Ride Up the Cupboards – Ann Bauer [Wearing. Gave up after 120 pages]
• Brooklyn – Colm Tóibín [Wonderful novel set in Ireland & Brooklyn. Highly recommended]
• Our Endless Numbered Days – Claire Fuller [I eventually came to enjoy it!]
• Lucas – Kevin Brooks [Young-adults novel for older adults! Highly recommended]
• The Cutting Room – Louise Welsh [Lost interest after 100 pages..]

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December 2015

• Dirty Work – Gabriel Weston [Thought-provoking novel about being a surgeon. Highly recommended]
• A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson [Science history. Highly recommended]
• Summer House With Swimming Pool – Herman Koch [Dutch family life. Funny & serious. Recommended]
• The Assault – Harry Mulisch [Dutch mystery about a killing at the end of WW2. Recommended]
• The Long Tomorrow – Leigh Brackett [Sci-Fi lite. Recommended]
• What’s Going On? – Mark Steel [Mid-life crisis for a socialist comedian. Highly recommended]

November 2015

• I.D. Crimes of Identity – Editor Martin Edwards [ID themed short stories – OK]
• Carry Me Down – M.J.Hyland [A troubled 11 year old and has family – recommended]
• Audition – Ryu Murakami [OK, short novel builds up to a bloody ending]
• Edith’s Diary – Patricia Highsmith [OK. Not the usual PH novel]
• Our Game – John le Carré [OK but sometimes boring spy novel]

October 2015

• I Can Make You Hate – Charlie Brooker [Very funny rants. Highly recommended]
• Two Years, No Rain – Shawn Klomparens [Man struggles with love and work – recommended]
• Rogue Male – Geoffrey Household [An old-fashioned thriller – recommended]
• Four Days in November, The Assassination of JFK – Vincent Bugliosi [Magnificent!]

September 2015

• Electric – Chad Taylor [An OK, slow-burning thriller]
• Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? – Dave Eggers [Brilliant. Highly recommended]
• Confessions of a Sociopath – M.E. Thomas [OK, but overlong. Bit of an eye-opener]
• The Aftermath – Rhidian Brook [Recommended. Looks set to become a movie!]

August 2015

• Stoner – John Williams [Highly recommended]
• Compartment No. 6 – Rosa Liksom [I couldn’t get into it]
• The Betrayers – David Bezmozgis [It was a struggle]
• Personal – Lee Child [More hokum from Lee Child. Recommended]
• A Different Class of Murder; The Story of Lord Lucan – Laura Thompson [Highly recommended]

July 2015

• Mystery Man – Colin Bateman [Odd, quirky, very funny. Not everyone’s cup of tea!]
• Hidden River – Adrian McKinty [Terrific thriller set in NI & America. Recommended]
• The Widow’s Tale – Mick Jackson [A widow’s near-breakdown – pretty good, read it in a day]
• On Chesil Beach – Ian McEwan [Interesting exploration of sexual hangups – Recommended]
• Rendezvous in Black – Cornell Woolrich [Highly recommended]
• A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman [Highly recommended]
• The Affair – Lee Child [More hokum from Lee Child. Recommended]

June 2015

• Pieces for the Left Hand – J. Robert Lennon [100 very short stories – OK]
• Confessions – Kanae Minato [Recommended Japanese novel about kids, murder and revenge]
• Loss – Tony Black [Enjoyable, violent crime novel set in Edinburgh]
• The Blue Tango – Eoin McNamee [Highly recommended]
• The Blunders of our Governments – Anthony King & Ivor Crewe [Recommended]
• The Story of My Disappearance – Paul Watkins [Recommended]
• The Sins of the Fathers – Lawrence Block [Recommended]

May 2015

• Nothing More Than Murder – Jim Thompson [Recommended]
• Hack Attack – Nick Davies [Highly recommended]
• Elizabeth is Missing – Emma Healey [OK, but I began to lose interest]

April 2015

• The Little Friend – Donna Tartt [Gave up after 65 of 550 pages]
• Your Blue-Eyed Boy – Helen Dunmore [Recommended]
• The Establishment – Owen Jones [Highly recommended]

March 2015

• Stuff matters – Mark Miodownik [Recommended]
• The Farm – Tom Rob Smith [Highly recommended]
• Case Histories – Kate Atkinson [Recommended]
• Saturday – Ian McEwan [Recommended]
• Vaclav & Lena – Haley Tanner [Recommended]

February 2015

• The Jook – Gary Phillips [So so]
• Never Go Back – Lee Child [So so]
• Nothing – Edited by Jeremy Webb [Recommended]
• The Man Who Forgot His Wife – John O’Farrell [OK]
• World War Two, A Short History – Norman Stone [Recommended]

January 2015

• Tripwire – Lee Child [an OK holiday read]
• Exposure – Michael Woodford [not bad]
• Legend of a Suicide – David Vann [not for me]
• Alan Turing: The Enigma – Andrew Hodges [Highly recommended]
• A Rip in Heaven: A Memoir of Murder and its Aftermath – Jeanine Cummins [Highly recommended]

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December 2014

• My Dark Places – James Ellroy [Highly recommended]
• The Card – Arnold Bennett [Highly recommended]

>November 2014

• The Complete MAUS – Art Spiegelman [Highly recommended]
• The Heretics – Will Storr [Highly recommended]
• Gone Tomorrow – Lee Child [Recommended fast-paced and easy-read thriller]
• The John Franklin Bardin Omnibus [Recommended psychological thrillers (3) from the 1940s]

October 2014

• Spoiled Brats – Simon Rich [Disappointing short stories]
• The Seven Days of Peter Crumb – Jonny Glynn [Unpleasant – quit after 50 pages]
• King of the Badgers – Philip Hensher [Two-thirds in and I started to enjoy it!]
• An Unfinished Season – Ward Just [Not for me]

September 2014

• The Sportswriter – Richard Ford [unfinished]
• All That Follows – Jim Crace [nothing special]
• The Silent Wife – A.S.A. Harrison [Highly recommended]
• Silent Witnesses – Nigel McCrery [Not for me]

August 2014

• The Mysteries – Robert McGill [unfinished – life’s too short]
• Young Hearts Crying – Richard Yates [Recommended]
• Growing up in Wartime Southampton – James Marsh [Highly recommended]
• Post Office – Charles Bukowski [Highly recommended]

July 2014

• Novel About my Wife – Emily Perkins [OK]
• A Fraction of the Whole – Steve Toltz [It’s long!]
• The Book of Revelation – Rupert Thomson [Highly recommended]
• Unusual Suspects – an Anthology of Crime Stories from Black Lizard [Highly recommended]

June 2014

• The Man Who Never Returned – Peter Quinn [OK]
• Carry the One – Carol Anshaw [unfinished – I struggled]
• This Boy – Alan Johnson [Highly recommended]
• Fresh Kills – Reggie Nadelson [OK]

May 2014

• Never Mind – Edward St Aubyn
• The Erotic Potential of My Wife – David Foenkinos [so so]
• The Neon Rain – James Lee Burke [recommended]
• The Country of Marriage – Anthony Giardina [Highly recommended]
• Driven – James Sallis
• Last Friends – Jane Gardam [recommended]

April 2014

• The Man in the Wooden Hat – Jane Gardam [recommended]
• Old Filth – Jane Gardam [recommended]
• Code (The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software) – Charles Petzold [Highly recommended]
• Demian – Herman Hesse [unfinished]
• How the Dead Live – Derek Raymond [recommended]
• Terrorist – John Updike

March 2014

• Mr Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore – Robin Sloan [recommended]
• Norwegian By Night – Derek B. Miller [Highly recommended]
• The Special Prisoner – Jim Lehrer [unfinished – avoid]
• Being Dead – Jim Crace [Highly recommended]
• The Man in My Basement – Walter Mosley
• A Quiet Belief in Angels – R.J. Ellory [recommended]

February 2014

• The Snowden Files – Luke Harding [recommended]
• About the Author – John Colapinto [recommended]
• Enemy Combatant – Moazzam Begg [Highly recommended]
• 1974 – David Peace
• The Dispatcher – Ryan David Jahn [recommended]
• Netherland – Joseph O’Neill

January 2014

• Thumbprint – Friedrich Glauser
• Canada – Richard Ford [recommended]
• The Collini Case – Ferdinand von Schirach
• 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense – Michael Brooks [Highly recommended]
• Vinegar Hill – A. Manette Ansay [Highly recommended]

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