10) Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino I have no memory of where I read about this collection of essays, but I know it sat on my book list for a while until it popped up at reduced rate on Kindle. And I'm very glad it did too. Tolentino zips at breakneck pace through… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 10: Trick Mirror
Author: nicktemple1
Year 5 / Book 9: Dark Sacred Night
9) Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly Michael Connelly has been at this game for a long time - with Harry Bosch, Micky Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) and now Reneé Ballard as his well-known leading characters. I haven't read one for a while but this felt like a decent return to form. It brings together… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 9: Dark Sacred Night
Year 5 / Book 8: The Skeleton Road
8) The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid Val McDermid is best known for her Tony Hill & Carol Jordan series, but as I mentioned in my review of A Darker Domain last year, I've always preferred those featuring Karen Pirie - who has always felt to me like a more grounded and rounded protagonist; and… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 8: The Skeleton Road
Year 5 / Book 7: Maid
7) Maid by Stephanie Land The subtitle of this non-fiction memoir is 'Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive', which gives you a pretty strong indication of what this is about. Stephanie Land is a single mother in America with little or no family network to support her, which means she raises… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 7: Maid
Year 5 / Book 6: Uniform Justice
6) Uniform Justice by Donna Leon Here is the requisite Brunetti novel for this year's reading. Without looking back, I think I've almost certainly described how opening a Donna Leon novel on holiday is the literary equivalent of donning some slippers in front of an open fire: comfortable, relaxing and makes you feel completely at ease.… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 6: Uniform Justice
Year 5 / Book 5: I Am, I Am, I Am
5) I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O'Farrell Maggie O'Farrell is best known as a writer of fiction, and I confess to having read none of it, though I know quite a few people who speak highly of her work. I'm not sure why this non-fiction book, about her 'seventeen brushes with death',… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 5: I Am, I Am, I Am
Year 5 / Book 4: Scrublands
4) Scrublands by Chris Hammer This Australian crime thriller has been on my list for a while, after it featured in quite a few different 'recommended' lists and review articles. It is centred round a journalist Martin Scarsden, who is returning to the scene of a shocking serial murder the year after it happened - he… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 4: Scrublands
Year 5 / Book 3: All My Cats
3) All My Cats by Bohumil Hrabal When the team were all putting up what they liked and didn't like ahead of Secret Santa in the office, I put 'Likes: books, cats', and so here we are: a book about cats. Although not quite as fluffy as one might be expecting. The only previous book I'd… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 3: All My Cats
Year 5 / Book 2: Homegrown Hero
2) Homegrown Hero by Khurrum Rahman I read Rahman's first book, East of Hounslow about a year ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as a pacy, up-to-the-minute terrorist thriller (with a nice sideline in humour). Homegrown Hero is the follow-up, and in some senses it is more of the same - we are back with (our hero) Jay Qasim,… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 2: Homegrown Hero
Year 5 / Book 1: Strong Poison
1) Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers One of my work colleagues a) only reads fiction by women and b) preferably only from at least forty years ago. Working with Gen is obviously having an effect, as my first book selection of the year (despite an avalanche of book gifts over Xmas) was this little nugget… Continue reading Year 5 / Book 1: Strong Poison
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 