16) Blood on the Page by Thomas Harding I love a bit of true crime - and on this, at least going by Netflix charts, I am not alone. So I've come across my fair share of the bizarre and weird in books and films alike - but this is one of the strangest and… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 16: Blood on the Page
Author: nicktemple1
Year 6 / Book 15: Twilight of Democracy
15) Twilight of Democracy by Anne Applebaum The subtitle to this book is 'The Failure of Politics and the Parting of Friends', which gives a more accurate sense of the territory it covers. Anne Applebaum is a journalist and historian, and this book is her attempt to understand the rise of populist (and far-right) political… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 15: Twilight of Democracy
Year 6 / Book 14: The Cabin
14) The Cabin by Jorn Lier Horst This is the second in the 'Cold Case' quarter to feature the detective William Wisting, with whom Horst fans will already be well familiar (the first is The Katharina Code). This instalment starts with Wisting being called in to meet the Director of Public Prosecutions, as a leading… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 14: The Cabin
Year 6 / Book 13: Three Hours
13) Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton This is not for the faint-hearted or, possibly, for the teacher or parent! It's a compelling thriller in which a school in rural Somerset is under siege - possibly from terrorists or from a Columbine-style attack. It's told from multiple viewpoints, but primarily from those who are in different… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 13: Three Hours
Year 6 / Book 12: Three Fifths
12) Three Fifths by John Vercher Well, this book is a blast - and I don't mean in the normal sense of 'well, wasn't that fun', but more in the sense of explosion or a visceral force. It concerns a young biracial man, Bobby, who's never told anyone his father is black - and who… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 12: Three Fifths
Year 6 / Book 11: The Golden Rule
11) The Golden Rule by Amanda Craig A couple of years back, I read The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig, which I thoroughly enjoyed and heartily recommend. This book shares something with that earlier one, in that it's split between the South West and London, and in that there is an unlikely crime… Continue reading Year 6 / Book 11: The Golden Rule
Year 6 – catch-up; Books 1-10 including Zadie Smith, Max Porter and Abir Mukherjee
As the more eagle-eyed or regular reader will know, Lockdown 1.0 featured of a baby for us which, it is fair to say, has had something of an impact on a) the whole book a week thing and b) keeping up with reviews. I have considered just moving this into a children's book blog, but… Continue reading Year 6 – catch-up; Books 1-10 including Zadie Smith, Max Porter and Abir Mukherjee
Year 5 / Book 23: The Dead Line
23) The Dead Line by Holly Watt I very much enjoyed Holly Watt's debut, To The Lions and had been looking forward to this follow-up. It features the same dynamic duo of investigative female journalists, Casey & Miranda - and this time they are on the track of human trafficking-meets-international surrogacy, having been tipped off… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 23: The Dead Line
Year 5 / Book 22: The A26
22) The A26 by Pascal Garnier With apologies for the enormous break in book reviews (it turns out reading a book a week is incompatible with having a new baby around), I'm catching up a bit on what I have actually managed to read in the last few months. First up is this incredibly dark… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 22: The A26
Year 5 / Book 21: This Is Pleasure
21) This Is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill This is a short novel, indeed it's barely a novella - but it is beautifully written, and has weight beyond the number of its pages. At heart, it is the story of a friendship between two people: Quin, an eccentric Englishman working in publishing, and Margot, an editor. They… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 21: This Is Pleasure
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 