17) Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner One of the best ways to read outside your echo chamber and comfort zone, apart from publicly challenging yourself to read different things, is to be part of a book group. I've found myself part of a work-related book group that is meeting quarterly, and this was… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 17: Superforecasting
Author: nicktemple1
Year 3 / Book 16: Man With A Seagull On His Head
16) Man With A Seagull On His Head by Harriet Paige I can't remember why or where I added this to the 'to-read' list; I think it might have been in the Guardian's round-up of recommendations from small presses. I think the title and the cover didn't hurt either: it's a memorably title and the… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 16: Man With A Seagull On His Head
Year 3 / Book 15: The Party
15) The Party by Elizabeth Day I've never read anything by Elizabeth Day, but this was highly recommended by lots of people in the end-of-year lists that I used to get ideas for reading for the year ahead, and those recommendations tended to use words like 'readable' and 'pacy' which is like catnip to a… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 15: The Party
Year 3 / Book 14: The Lady From Zagreb
14) The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr Philip Kerr has become one of my favourite police and crime writers: you cannot go wrong in picking any of his Bernie Gunther stories, and I've been un-chronologically making my way through the whole series. So I was really saddened to learn about his death at the… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 14: The Lady From Zagreb
Year 3 / Book 13: Suspicion
13) Suspicion by Friedrich Durrenmatt I can't remember why or where I bought this book, although I have a distant memory of adding The Pledge (another Inspector Barlach mystery) to my to-read list a while back. I also didn't know that Durrenmatt is better known as a playwright, but apparently Mrs Temple (being a German… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 13: Suspicion
Year 3 / Book 12: Fever Dream
12) Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin This was recommended in lots of 'best of' lists in 2017, as a compelling piece of fiction by a young, emerging writer: Schweblin has been named one of the best young writers in Spanish (under 35) and this book was shortlisted for the International Man Booker Prize. It is… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 12: Fever Dream
Year 3 / Book 11: Janesville
11) Janesville by Amy Goldstein I seem to have developed something of a liking for non-fiction books examining the decline of middle America, having read Hillbilly Elegy and the masterly The Unwinding last year. Janesville is an excellent addition to the sub-genre, and well worth a read not only if you're interested in America today,… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 11: Janesville
Year 3 / Book 10: Spook Street
10) Spook Street by Mick Herron A bit of frothy light relief from the author widely heralded as a sort of more sarcastic, humorous up-to-speed Le Carré, this is the fourth in the Slough House series, featuring the curmudgeonly wonderful Jackson Lamb. It's pretty undemanding but also undeniably entertaining fare, and this one starts with… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 10: Spook Street
Year 3 / Book 9: No Is Not Enough
9) No is Not Enough by Naomi Klein For left-leaning, progressive, liberal elite types (such as myself - other cliches are available), Brexit & Trump have now settled in as realities, and it can all become fairly dispiriting and difficult to respond to with ideas and constructive responses. That's probably why I enjoyed Utopia for… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 9: No Is Not Enough
Year 3 / Book 8: Blue Light Yokohama
8) Blue Light Yokohama by Nicolas Obregon I got this in paperback for Christmas after reading about it a while back. I'm a sucker for novels set in Japan, and even more so for detective novels set in Japan, so this seemed an obvious choice along those lines. Recent reads that stick in my mind… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 8: Blue Light Yokohama
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 