32) Involuntary Witness by Gianrico Carofiglio Generally, whenever we travel to a particular place, I like to try and read a novel that is set in and around there. This killed two birds with one stone, as Carofiglio had been on my radar for a while - and this legal / crime thriller is set… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 32: Involuntary Witness
Category: Year 3
Year 3 reviews
Year 3 / Book 31: The Girls’ Guide to Hunting & Fishing
31) The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank I will be honest with you reader, normally I wouldn't go near a book with this title, particularly when it is coupled with a chick-lit-ish cover: in short, it looks from the outside like it is specifically designed to not make me read it.… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 31: The Girls’ Guide to Hunting & Fishing
Year 3 / Book 30: Out of Bounds
30) Out of Bounds by Val McDermid There are few better crime writers around than Val McDermid, and this is solidly in the top middle of her novels that I've read. Normally that wouldn't be much of a recommendation, but in her case that just means 'pretty bloody good'. In this story, Karen Pirie is… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 30: Out of Bounds
Year 3 / Book 29: The Adversary
29) The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrere This is a curious and affecting short book, which opens with a powerful hook and never really lets go. It's about a man, Jean-Claude Romand, who has lived his life (as the subtitle has it) as a 'monstrous deception'. A deception that unravels as this book opens - his… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 29: The Adversary
Year 3 / Book 28: Evicted
28) Evicted by Matthew Desmond Bit of a backlog on updating the reviews, but thought I would get this one in first. It's a painstaking and detailed book about America's housing crisis and its role in he widening inequality in that country. It is, by turns, enlightening and insightful but also bleak, unremitting and depressing.… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 28: Evicted
Year 3 / Book 27: Work Rules!
27) Work Rules! by Laszlo Bock I got given this book when starting my new job (hat tip Jeremy R), and I've been gradually going through it in my first few months, folding down corners of pages and taking notes when coming across a little nugget or two. It's written by Google's Head of HR… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 27: Work Rules!
Year 3 / Book 26: Be More Pirate
26) Be More Pirate by Sam Conniff Allende It's rare for me to be reading a book by someone I know - I've known Sam from working in social enterprise for many years, first getting to know him well as one of a selected number of 'ambassadors' for the social enterprise movement a good few… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 26: Be More Pirate
Year 3 / Book 25: The Silo Effect
25) The Silo Effect by Gillian Tett The premise of this book is really fascinating. Gillian Tett is a financial journalist, but also a trained anthropologist, and in her writings about the financial crash from 2008 onwards (notably Fool's Gold), she became interested in how internal organisational cultures (and people's behaviours) had led to some… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 25: The Silo Effect
Year 3 / Book 24: Two Kinds of Truth
24) Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly When times are tough, I always reach for a comfort read - and a Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly feels like the reading equivalent of lighting a fire, making a cup of tea and putting on some velvet slippers. From the off here, we are in… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 24: Two Kinds of Truth
Year 3 / Book 23: Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race
23) Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge This book originated with a polemical blog post of the same title, which was so widely shared that it got extended and transformed into this book. And the book has gone on to be a best-seller, giving rise to the irony,… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 23: Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 