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
Category: Year 3
Year 3 reviews
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
Year 3 / Book 7: Option B
7) Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant For the uninitiated, Sheryl Sandberg is the COO of Facebook, one of the world's most powerful and richest women, and also wrote the influential book Lean In, a sort of pragmatic, work-oriented feminist text (which originated from a TED talk). This isn't a follow-up to Lean… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 7: Option B
Year 3 / Book 6: Things Fall Apart
6) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe This was recommended to me by our good friend Nina, and although it's taken a while for me to get to it, I"m really glad she did, and mea culpa on my part for having not got to a novel that has sold over 20 million copies and… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 6: Things Fall Apart
Year 3 / Book 5: The Lie of the Land
5) The Lie of the Land by Amanda Craig What a thoroughly enjoyable read this was: another one pulled from the 'Best Of' Lists, Amanda Craig's novel follows a family who move to Devon because they can no longer afford to live in London (and can't afford their divorce). So they move to the slightly… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 5: The Lie of the Land
Year 3 / Book 4: A Horse Walks Into A Bar
4) A Horse Walks Into A Bar by David Grossman This was so heavily recommended in the end-of-year books of 2017 round-ups that I put it on the Christmas list; Santa delivered, and here we are. It's a novel about an Israeli stand-up comedian, and is set over the hour and a half or so… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 4: A Horse Walks Into A Bar
Year 3 / Book 3: Splinter the Silence
3) Splinter the Silence by Val McDermid My resolution to read fewer crime novels made it to the third week, and then I've lapsed. Val McDermid is a safe bet, and the bet gets no safer than a Carol Jordan and Tony Hill novel. If you've read anything involving the duo before, you'll know that… Continue reading Year 3 / Book 3: Splinter the Silence
Dog-eared Man: a book a week 