2025 Books Read and Not Read

 As in previous years, here is the list of books read (or DNF) during 2025.  British authors in BLUE, Canadian authors in RED, American authors in GREEN, all others in BLACK.

January

Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson (2nd or 3rd? time of reading, I always enjoy this British author!)

Normal Rules Don't Apply - Kate Atkinson

The Good Thief - Leo Furey

The Taming of the Queen - Philippa Gregory

February

The Last Gift - Abdulrazak Gurnah (loved this book)

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson (2nd time reading this, always find something new in it)

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train - William Khun (DNF)

The Seventh Son - Sebastian Faulks

March

The Last Murder at the End of the World - Stuart Turton (DNF... weird)

Luckenbooth - Jenni Fagan

Barkskins - Annie Proulx (713 pages!)

April

Death at the Sign of the Rook - Kate Atkinson

Small Pleasures - Clare Chambers

These Impossible Things - Salma el-Wardanay

The Quiet Librarian - Allen Eskens

Flesh - David Szalay

Long Island - Colm Toibin

May

The In-Between Book Store - Edward Underhill

Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler

Wild Houses - Colin Barrett

Intimacies - Katie Kitamura

Confessions - Catherine Airey

The Other Story - Tatiana de Rosnay

Reptile Memoirs - Silje Ulstein (DNF, horrible)

French Braid - Anne Tyler

Mania - Lionel Shriver (DNF, horrible)

June

The Flicker Men - Ted Kosmatka

Back When We Were Grownups - Anne Tyler

Miss Morgan's Book Brigade - Janet Skeslien Charles (DNF)

The Chalk Man - C J Tudor

The Burning Girls - C J Tudor

Three Days in June - Anne Tyler

July

The Valley of Amazement - Amy Tan

The Joy Luck Club - Amy Tan

Bear Necessity - James Gould-Bourn

Sourdough - Robin Sloan

Clock Dance - Anne Tyler

August

The ABC Murders - Agatha Christie

Noah's Compass - Anne Tyler

The Keeper of Stories - Sally Page

Leaving Time - Jodi Picoult

Lump - Nathan Whitlock

The Tin Can Tree - Anne Tyler

How to Find Your Way Home - Katy Regan

September

The Grandmother Plot - Caroline B Cooney

Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson

The Vow - Jude Berman

The Fellowship of Puzzle Makers - Samuel Burr (DNF too dopey)

Benjamin Franklin's Bastard - Sally Cabot

October

Redhead by the Side of the Road - Anne Tyler

The Vanishing Point - Paul Theroux

The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo

November

Eat, Poop, Die - Joe Roman

The Rent Collector - Camron Wright

The Lost van Gogh - Jonathan Santlofer

The Ghost Bride - Yangsze Choo

December

Lost and Found - Brooke Davis (DNF, silly)

The Child Finder - Rene Denfeld

The Rent Collector - Camron Wright

The Things We do to our Friends - Heather Darwent

Fair Play - Louise Hagerty (DNF)

Open, Heaven - Sean Hewitt

Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid (liked this book!)

Blackout - Connie Willis (DNF not my style)

The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak (currently reading this for the second.... or is it the third?....  time.) (Loved this book, my grandchildren studied it at school this year.)

Not many Canadian authors on the reading list this year, I shall have to do better.

2024 Books

The list of books read during 2024.... as usual Canadian authors shown in RED, British authors in BLUE, American authors in GREEN.

For previous years' reading lists go here:    

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. 

That's a lot of books, many of them have been enjoyed twice.... Thank goodness for our local library.

January
Moral Disorder - Margaret Atwood
The Huntress - Kate Quinn

Hotel Silence - Audur Ava Olafsdottir

The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

Forty Autumns - Nina Willner (loved this book)

February

Hag-Seed - Margaret Atwood

The Alice Network - Kate Quinn

Madhouse at the End of the Earth - Julian Sancton (fascinating book, enjoyed it)

Soundings, Journeys in the Company of Whales - Doreen Cunningham

March
Franklin's Lost Ship, The Historic Discovery of HMS Erebus - John Geiger and Alannah Mitchell

Erebus - Michael Palin (very good book)

The Bettencourt Affair - Tom Sancton (DNF, got halfway through)

Breakfasts and Eggs - Mieko Kawakami (DNF, too weird)

The Reckoning - Ken McGoogan

Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror Expedition - Gillian Hutchinson

The Magician - Colm Toibin

The Couple Next Door - Shari Lapena (weak, rubbishy)

April

All Our Shimmering Skies - Trent Dalton (Australian author)

The Social Life of Ink - Ted Bishop

May
The Lost Man - Jane Harper

Exiles - Jane Harper

The Postcard - Anne Berest (a great book)

Old God's Time - Sebastian Barry (wow, great book! I started out doubtful but loved it.)

The Van Gogh Sisters - Willem-Jan Verlinden

June
Days Without End - Sebastian Barry

Klara and the Sun - Kazuo Ishiguro

A Thousand Moons - Sebastian Barry

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie - Marie Benedict

The Final Case - David Guterson

July

Paper Cuts - Colin Bateman

The Princess of Las Vegas - Chris Bohjalian

Looking for Jane - Heather Marshall

The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry (loved this book)

When We Were Young - Richard Roper

August
Where my Heart used to Beat - Sebastian Faulks

The Other Einstein - Marie Benedict

Sweetland - Michael Crummey (great book)

The Clockmaker's Daughter - Kate Morton

The Truth - Michael Palin

September
The Innocents - Michael Crummey (loved this book)

Children of the Stars - Mario Escobar (DNF, very basic)

The Cactus - Sarah Haywood

The Adversary - Michael Crummey (you can't go wrong with this Newfoundland author)

Above the Ether - Eric Barnes (DNF, too chilling)

Behind You is the Sea - Susan Muaddi Darraj

East of the Mountains - David Guterson (liked this book)

The Wreckage - Michael Crummey

October
Galore - Michael Crummey

Caught - Lisa Moore

The Buried Giant - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Boleyn Inheritance - Philippa Gregory

We'll All be Burnt in our Beds Some Night - Joel Thomas Hynes

November
The Paris Library - Janet Skeslien Charles (DNF)

The Taste of Ginger - Mansi Shah

A Slow Fire Burning - Paula Hawkins

The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory

December

Everyone who can Forgive me is Dead - Jenny Hollander (Very strange, not a good read)

Lola in the Mirror - Trent Dalton (great book, love all 3 books by this Australian author)

The Virgin's Lover - Philippa Gregory

Sweet Tooth - Ian McEwan

2023 Books

 The list of books read during 2023.... as usual Canadian authors shown in RED, British authors in BLUE, American authors in GREEN.

JANUARY

The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng

Mothers and Sons - Colm Toibin

Finding Edward - Sheila Murray

Sea of Tranquillity - Emily St.John Mandel

FEBRUARY

Utopia - Heidi Sopinka (DNF - got as far as page 3)

Make Ink, a Forager's Guide to Natural Inkmaking - Jason Logan

Ducks, Two Years in the Oil Sands - Kate Beaton (graphic novel, well worth reading!)

The Glass Hotel - Emily St.John Mandel

MARCH

The Hungry Ghosts - Shyam Selvadurai

Uncertain Kin - Janice Lynn Mather

When We Lost Our Heads - Heather O'Neill (DNF)

Mouth to Mouth - Antoine Wilson

Beyond Black - Hilary Mantel

APRIL

The Mystery of Right and Wrong - Wayne Johnstone

The Maid - Nita Prose

MAY

Fayne - Mary Anne MacDonald

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - Chris Hadfield

Station Eleven - Emily St.John Mandel

JUNE

Spare - Prince Harry

The Finder - Will Ferguson

Miss Benson's Beetle - Rachel Joyce

First Snow, Last Light - Wayne Johnstone

Making Handmade Books - Alisa Godden

JULY

The Lindbergh Nanny - Mariah Fredericks

Custodian of Paradise - Wayne Johnstone

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep - Joanna Cannon

Queen's Gambit - Elizabeth Freemantle

AUGUST

The Art Thief - Noah Charney

A Tidy Ending - Joanna Cannon

Three Things about Elsie - Joanna Cannon

Don't Tell Me You're Afraid - Giuseppe Catozzella

SEPTEMBER

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell 

Shrines of Gaiety - Kate Atkinson

The Juggler's Children - Carolyn Abraham

Big Sky - Kate Atkinson

The Lake House - Kate Morton (DNF - just didn't grab my imagination)

OCTOBER

Cooking for Picasso - Camille Aubray

The Second History - Rebecca Silver Slayter (DNF - not my sort of book)

11/22/63 - Stephen King

Human Croquet - Kate Atkinson

NOVEMBER

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

Diamond Eye - Kate Quinn

DECEMBER

The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter - Hazel Gaynor

The Rose Code - Kate Quinn

After the Bloom - Leslie Shimotakahara

Currently reading: Moral Disorder - Margaret Atwood

2022 books

Canadian Authors in RED, British Authors in BLUE, American Authors in GREEN. 
Books read in 2022, and some I didn't quite finish. 

For previous years' reading lists go here: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. That's a lot of books.... but I'm not going to count them.

January

Bone and Bread - Saleema Nawaz (good)

The Red Lotus - Chris Bohjalian (good)

The Rehearsal - Annette Christie (DNF got halfway through and pffft!)

Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr (loved this book)

Bewilderment - Richard Power 

February

The Fortune Men - Nadifa Mohamed (well worth reading!)

Trees in Canada - John Laird Farrar (super detailed)

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

March

The Queen's Secret - Karen Harper (DNF, boring)

The Vision of Emma Blau - Ursula Hegi (good)

Polar Vortex - Shani Mootoo

Here the Dark - David Bergen 

Ridgerunner - Gil Adamson

April

We'll All be Burnt in Our Beds Some Day - Joel Thomas Hynes (brutal, savage and wonderful)

The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes - Bridget Canning

The Hush Sisters - Gerard Collins (DNF)

The Help Line - Katherine Collette

May

Dark Roads - Chevy Stevens

Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

Great Circle - Maggie Shipstead (good book)

June

The Overstory - Richard Powers

Out of the Sun - Esi Edugyan

The Promise - Damon Galgut (enjoyed this book)

July

Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab - Shani Mootoo

Most Anything You Please - Trudy J Morgan-Cole

The Art Detectives - Philip Mould

Big Sky - Kate Atkinson

Leaving van Gogh - Carole Wallace

The Colour Purple - Alice Walker

The Teacher's Daughter - Richard B Wright

August

Mr. Shakespeare's Bastard - Richard B Wright

The Art of the Con - Anthony M Amore

The Lady of the Rivers - Phillipa Gregory

Arthur and Sherlock - Michael Sims

September

Clara Callan - Richard B Wright

Talking to a Portrait - Tales of an Art Curator - Rosalind M Pepall

Everyone Brave is Forgiven - Chris Cleave (loved this book)

Black Cake - Charmaine Wilkerson

October

The House of Wives - Simon Choa-Johnston

Incendiary - Chris Cleave (second time reading this, I had forgotten many details)

The High Mountains of Portugal - Yann Martel

The Last Train to London - Meg Waite Clayton

The Man Without a Shadow - Joyce Carol Oates

November

Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell (2nd time reading this)

The Ghost Keeper - Natalie Morrill (good book)

State of Terror - Louise Penny and Hilary Rodham Clinton (ho hum)

December

Nora Webster - Colm Toibin

The Parking Lot Attendant - Nafkote Tamirat

The Woman in the Window - A.J.Finn

Brooklyn - Colm Toibin

Happy New Year to all readers, may you find lots and lots of good books to enjoy in 2023. I've already made a long list of books that I will be looking for at the Library. 

2021 Books

Books read in 2021.... finally got to make a list and publish it! But I may have forgotten some in December.

Canadian authors in RED

British authors in BLUE

American authors in GREEN

January 2021
The Lola Quartet - Emily St.John Mandel (unputdownable story)

The Murder of Cleopatra, History's Greatest Cold Case - Pat Brown

Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng (another unputdownable)

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng (I enjoyed this author a lot)

The Glass Hotel - Emily St.John Mandel (loved this book)

February 2021

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman (good book)

All Adults Here - Emma Straub

The Girls - Emma Cline

Akin - Emma Donoghue (loved this book) (just noticed, 3 Emma authors in a row)

More Than a Woman - Caitlin Moran

March 2021

Remarkable Creatures - Tracy Chevalier

The Tobacconist - Robert Seethaler

The Widow - Fiona Barton

Lawn Boy - Jonathan Evison (loved this book)

A Whole Life - Robert Seethaler

At the Edge of the Orchard - Tracy Chevalier

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl - Mona Awad (DNF)

Weather - Jenny Offill (DNF)

April 2021

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout

Olive, Again - Elizabeth Strout

Real Life - Brandon Taylor (DNF, got as far as page 27, not my style)

The Green Road - Anne Enright

The Long Call - Anne Cleeves

This is Your Life, Harriet Chance - Jonathan Evison

May 2021

Astray - Emma Donoghue

Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell (all books by David Mitchell are worth reading, especially this one)

Slade House - David Mitchell (2nd time reading)

The Lager Queen of Minnesota - J. Ryan Stradal

This One Wild Life - Angie Abdou (DNF but may try again)

The Dutch House - Ann Patchett (good book)

Big Sky - Kate Atkinson

Shotgun Lovesongs - Nickolas Butler

The Wangs vs. the World - Jade Chang (DNF)

The Revolution of Marina M - Janet Fitch (DNF, 805 pages, too big too heavy too complicated)

June 2021

Adults - Emma Jane Unsworth (DNF, nope)

The Child - Fiona Barton

The Lady and the Unicorn - Tracy Chevalier

Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens

Piranesi - Susanna Clarke (good book, I read it twice, clever)

Modern Lovers - Emma Straub

Gifted - Nikita Lalwani

July 2021

This is Happiness - Niall Williams (lovely book!)

Legends of the North Cascades - Jonathan Evison

Rainbow Milk - Paul Mendez  (loved this book, surprised myself!)

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan 

Mayflies - Andrew O'Hagan (good book)

August 2021

Instructions for a Heatwave - Maggie O'Farrell

Bad Dreams - Tessa Hadley (short stories)

The Hand that First Held Mine - Maggie O'Farrell

Late in the Day - Tessa Hadley

The Village - Nikita Lalwani

Dual Citizens - Alix Ohlin

September 2021

The Glass House - Beatrice Colin (DNF)

The Paris Dressmaker - Kristy Cambron (DNF, pathetic)

The Wonder - Emma Donoghue

The Secret of the Great Pyramid - Bob Brier and Jean-Pierre Houdin

October 2021

The Return - Joseph Helmreich

A Passage North - Anuk Arudpragasam

The Woman on the Stairs - Bernhard Schlink

The Motion of the Body Through Space - Lionel Shriver

A Boring Wife Settles the Score - Marie Renee Lavoie

November 2021

All I Ask - Eva Crocker

Swimming With Horses - Ross Oakland

One for the Rock - Kevin Major

The Opposite of Fate - Alison McGhee

December 2021

Bone and Bread - Saleema Nawaz

Transcription - Kate Atkinson

Click on "books" at the bottom of this post for my reading list for previous years.

2020 books

Back in March 2020 when I heard a rumour that the local Library was closing due to the Covid pandemic, I rushed with my library card in my hand and took out as many books as I could carry. I didn't even have time to choose titles, I just grabbed from the shelves before the doors closed.  Some of those books are on this list, and helped keep me sane and busy. The Library re-opened in August thankfully, but with reduced capacity and lots of hand sanitizing and mask rules. But now we're back into lockdown again until at least January 23. 

January 2020
Leaving Van Gogh - Carol Wallace
The Post Birthday World - Lionel Shriver
The Art Forger - B. A. Shapiro
North Korea Journal - Michael Palin

February 2020

We need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver
The Flight Attendant - Chris Bohjalian
The Mandibles, a Family 2029-2047 - Lionel Shriver (I think everyone should read this after experiencing Covid-19 lockdown)
The Juggler's Children - Carolyn Abraham

March 2020
Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper - Phaedra Patrick
The Mighty Franks - Michael Frank.  (DNF)
Arthur and Sherlock - Michael Sims
The Hotel Neversink - Adam O'Fallon Price
Finders Keepers, A Tale of Archaeological Plunder and Obsession - Craig Childs

April 2020
Waiting for Tom Hanks - Kerry Winfrey (DNF, a bit too silly and juvenile)
A Madness of Sunshine - Nalini Singh
Cover of Snow - Jenny Milchman

May 2020
The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway (great book)
The Beekeeper's Apprentice - Laurie R King
The Truth According to Us - Annie Barrows
Skizzer - A J Kiesling (predictably silly but I finished it)
The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd (loved this book)

June 2020
Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo (absolutely loved this book, I read it twice)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (another book that I loved so much that I read twice!)
Being a Beast, Adventures Across the Species Divide - Charles Foster (very weird)
Salem Falls - Jodi Picoult
The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult

July 2020
Oil and Marble - Stephanie Storey
Bridge of Clay - Markus Zusak
Girl - Edna O'Brien
The Wall - John Lanchester
Liberation - Imogen Kealey (very ho-hum)

August 2020

The Mirror and the Light - Hilary Mantel (third in the trilogy)

Night Boat to Tangier - Kevin Barry (DNF)

If I Had Your Face - Frances Cha

Capital - John Lanchester

September 2020

Reservoir 13 - Jon McGregor

The Other Americans - Laila Lalami
Futureface - Alex Wagner

The Genius Plague - David Walton

October 2020

The Memory Police - Yoko Ogawa

Orhan's Inheritance - Aline Ohanesian

The Walk - Richard Paul Evans

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me - Jennifer Teege

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel (apocalypse after a pandemic.... very timely! Good story too.)

Accordion Crimes - E Annie Proulx (I read this years ago, just as good the 2nd time)

A Day Like Any Other, The Great Hamptons Hurricane of 1938 - Genie Chipps Henderson

November 2020

Seven - Farzana Doctor (terrific book)

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt

Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid

The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes

The Sleepwalker - June Callwood (true story)

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen - Syrie James

December 2020

Between - Angie Abdou

The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert (Liked this book)

The Eavesdroppers - Rosie Chard (rather odd)

The Vacationers - Emma Straub

The Mothers - Brit Bennett

Stutter's Casebook, A Junior Hospital Doctor 1839-1841 - E.E.Cockayne and N.J.Stow (transcription of Dr. Stutters notes regarding his patients, their illnesses and treatments while he was a junior doctor in Suffolk, UK..... fascinating reading, and edited by a dear cousin who sadly passed away earlier this year.)

Currently steadily plodding through The Murder of Cleopatra, History's Greatest Cold Case - Pat Brown. Interesting but it's taking me a long time. I'll finish it in 2021.

For a list of books I read in previous years, click on Books at the end of this post.

Bookbinding

Earlier this year I liberated some coloured papers from the rubbish bin at the gallery (never waste anything that might be useful is my policy), and I was wondering what to do with them. I know.... make them into a simple little paper book.

Well, I did that, then decided that books need stiff covers, so the next little book has a cover made from a discarded watercolour page.  These books were bound using the three hole pamphlet stitch. Very simple to do, I learned it at school 100 years ago.

Then I got ambitious. I thought I'd try something more complicated so I investigated numerous youtube tutorials showing Coptic stitch binding. I covered front and back boards with fishy gelli prints from the discard pile, and got started sewing everything together with waxed embroidery threads. Well.... it looks OK but it's not perfect. And the paper that I used inside is sort of textured and hard to write on. The advantage of the Coptic stitch is that when the book is open the pages will lay flat.

My second attempt at bookbinding using the Coptic stitch was better, I had an idea about what I was attempting. The front and back boards are covered with suminagashi paper that we made at art group last year. I wondered what to do with it, and this was the perfect solution. The pages were cut from an unused sketch book that I bought at a thrift shop.

The Japanese art of Suminagashi is the process of floating ink on the surface of the water and creating patterns, and then transferring the ink to paper, transforming plain paper to something unique and attractive.

My Coptic stitch along the spine leaves something to be desired, but I suppose practice makes perfect. In this little book, each page is called a folio, and each signature contains 3 or 4 folios. The signatures are sewn one by one starting with the back cover and ending in the front. Of course I misjudged the length of cord required, and had to make a join in the middle, making a rather untidy knot.
But I'm pretty pleased about the way this one turned out. I'll be making more.

2019 Books

“If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.” – J.K. Rowling

As usual, a list of the books I have read (or tried to read) in 2019.

January 2019
The Truth - Michael Palin
The Mercy Seat - Elizabeth H Winthrop
Still Lives - Maria Hummel
Scribe  - Alyson Hagy
Beautiful Animals - Lawrence Osbourne

February 2019
The Oracle of Stamboul  - Michael David Lucas
The Last Watchman of Old Cairo - Michael David Lucas
The Feral Detective - Jonathan Letham

March 2019
Vincent and Theo - Deborah Heiligman
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen - Hendrik Groen   (DNF far too silly)
Dear Sir, I Intend to Burn Your Book  - Lawrence Hill
The Light Keeper's Daughters - Jean E Pendziwol
The Windfall - Diksha Basu
Fruit of the Drunken Tree - Ingrid Rojas Contreras (I loved this book!)
Florida - Lauren Groff    (DNF all the short stories)
My Absolute Darling - Gabrielle Tallent     (DNF)

April 2019
Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson (2nd time reading this)
Boy Swallows Universe - Trent Dalton (I loved this book!)

May 2019
Girl in Translation - Jean Kwok
Falling for London - Sean Mallen
The Suspect - Fiona Barton
The Gown - Jennifer Robson
Never Coming Back - Alison McGhee (very sad book)

June 2019
Mambo in Chinatown - Jean Kwok
Murder in Matera - Helene Stapinksi
Lives in Ruins - Marilyn Johnson
Becoming - Michelle Obama
Pachinko - Min Jin Lee

July 2019
The Lost Art of Walking - Geoff Nicholson

August 2019
The Perfect Predator - Steffanie Strathdee and Thomas Patterson
The Book Worm - Mitch Silver
Still Mine - Amy Stuart (did not finish)
Lady Macbeth - Susan Fraser King
Truevine - Beth Macy
The Orphan's Tale - Pam Jenoff
Finding Me - Michelle Knight

September 2019
Edward VII - Catharine Arnold
The Casual Vacancy - J K Rowling
The Redeemed - Tim Pears (DNF it was just not interesting at all, sorry Tim)
Welcome to the Goddam Ice Cube - Blair Braverman
At the Wolf's Table - Rosella Postorino

October 2019
The Calligrapher's Daughter - Eugenia Kim
The Storied Life of A J Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin
Down the Nile, Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff - Rosemary Mahoney
Walking the Nile - Levison Wood

November 2019
The Night Before - Wendy Walker
Magic Hour - Kristin Hannah
Secret Son - Laila Lalami

December 2019
Big Brother - Lionel Shriver
Once Upon a Time in England - Helen Walsh  (I could not put this book down!)
North Korea Journal - Michael Palin
Skeletons on the Sahara - Dean King
Currently reading The Post Birthday World - Lionel Shriver. I'm really enjoying this book and I think I'll try to read other books by this American author.

Lots more books to read in 2020. Happy Reading everyone!

2018 Reading List

As usual, the list of books I've read this year of 2018, although I may have missed noting some of them, like the cookbooks and the art books. Have you read any of these? And also as usual.....   Canadian authors in BLUE, British authors in RED, American authors in GREEN, Australian and New Zealand authors in PURPLE.

January
The German Girl - Armando Lucas Correa
The Valley of Amazement - Amy Tan

February
The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - Theodora Goss
Small Admissions - Amy Poeppel
The Good People - Hannah Kent
The Sealed Letter - Emma Donaghue (DNF)
Into the Water - Paula Hawkins
The Wonder - Emma Donaghue

March
Commonwealth - Ann Patchett
Minds of Winter - Ed O'Laughlin

April
Galore - Michael Crummey
Half the World Away - Cath Staincliffe
Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked - Raghavan Iyer
The Almost Mood - Alice Sebold
Men Walking on Water - Emily Schultz
Alphouse - Carl Sever (DNF)

May
Gone Astray - Michelle Davies
The Book of Lies - Mary Horlock (DNF)
Victoria - Daisy Goodwin

June
Boy, 9, Missing - Nic Joseph
The Stowaway - Robert Hough
The Kingmaker's Daughter - Philippa Gregory

July
The Keeper of Secrets - Julie Thomas
Eva Moves the Furniture - Margot Livesey
Small Great Things - Jodi Picault

August
Fifteen Dogs - Andre Alexis (DNF 2nd attempt at reading this but it's horrible.)
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (3rd time reading this)
Slade House - David Mitchell (2nd time reading this)
Life after Life - Kate Atkinson (2nd time reading this)

September
The Ready Made Thief - Augustus Rose
Do Not Become Alarmed - Maile Maloy
That Old Ace in the Hole - Annie Proulx
First Snow, Last Light - Wayne Johnstone
The Italian Wife - Ann Hood
Her Every Fear - Peter Swanson

October
Mr Peanut - Adam Ross
All the Beautiful Lies - Peter Swanson

November
Brave Deeds - David Abrams
A French Wedding - Hannah Tunnecliffe
Perfect - Rachel Joyce

December
Transcription - Kate Atkinson
Erebus - Michael Palin
Home Fire - Kamila Shamsie
A Circle of Wives - Alice LaPlante
The Orenda - Joseph Boyden (second time reading)

And to start the New Year off, The Truth by Sir Michael Palin (recently knighted in the Queen's New Year's Honours List, Congratulations Michael!!) is on my bedside table. Actually I'm already on chapter 4.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! See you in 2019.

Well Read in 2017

My reading list for 2017. I always have a book to read on my bedside table and personally, I love to go to bed early on a cold winter's night with a good book. Sadly, some of my book choices have turned out to be DNF, but our local library has a large selection so I can usually find something good to read.

As usual, Canadian authors in BLUE, British authors in RED, American authors in GREEN, Australian and New Zealand authors in PURPLE.

January
Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova
The Hero's Walk - Anita Rau Badami
The Snow Queen - Michael Cunningham (DNF)

February
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)
Tell it to the Trees - Anita Rau Badami
Toyland - Stephen King
Winter Garden - Kristen Hannah

March
The Other Queen - Philippa Gregory
Room - Emma Donoghue (DNF, too upsetting)

April
Lone Wolf - Jodi Picoult
New York - Edward Rutherfurd

May
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel (2nd time reading)

June
Bring up the Bodies - Hilary Mantel (2nd time reading)
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

July
Three Sisters, Three Queens - Philippa Gregory
The Little Old Lady who Broke all the Rules - Catharina Ingelman Sundberg (DNF, silly)
Sputnik Sweetheart - Haruki Murakami
The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult
Cooking for Picasso - Camille Aubray
The Constant Princess - Philippa Gregory
Orphan Train - Christina Baker Kline
A Piece of the World - Christina Baker Kline
Mata Hari's Last Dance - Michelle Moran

August
The Dog Who Knew Too Much - Spencer Quinn
The Clay Girl - Heather Tucker (DNF)
Barkskins - Annie Proulx (loved this book so much!)
A House Without Windows - Nadia Hashimi
Those Girls - Chevy Stevens
The Second Mrs Hockaday - Susan Rivers
The Silent Sister - Diane Chamberlain

September
The Keeper of Lost Things - Ruth Hogan (DNF)
My Cat Jugoslavia - Pajtim Statovci
Golden Hill - Francis Spufford
Incendiary - Chris Cleave (2nd time reading)
The Golden Legend - Nadeem Aslam
Woman With a Heart - Sophie Hannah (DNF, stupid, sorry Sophie)
The Sleepwalker - Chris Bohjalian

October
Crying for the Moon - Mary Walsh
Everyone Brave is Forgiven - Chris Cleave
In the Name of the Family - Sarah Dunant (DNF, may try again later)

November
Swimming Lessons - Claire Fuller
A History of Bees - Maja Lunde
A Newfoundlander in Canada - Alan Doyle
The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley - Hannah Tinti
Less - Andrew Sean Greer (DNF)

December
We're All in This Together - Amy Jones (DNF, couldn't get into this)
Good Me, Bad Me - Ali Land
Van Gogh's Ear - Bernadette Murphy
The Last Tudor - Philippa Gregory

Bedtime Reading 2016

There's no better way to relax for an hour or two than sinking into a comfy chair with a cuppa tea and a good book. Or spending 20 minutes reading myself to sleep on a cold winter night.

Our Public Library has started a building expansion adding an extra 16,000 sq.ft. Ground was broken in November, and completion planned in late 2017, so the books are being relocated to a building the other side of town for a while.... quite a task! I'll have to drive a little further each time I need new books.

As usual Canadian authors in BLUE, British authors in RED, American authors in GREEN, Australian and New Zealand authors in PURPLE..

January
The Rehearsal - Eleanor Catton (very odd book)
Buzz Aldrin - What Happened to You in all the Confusion? - Johan Harstad

February
Mad River Road - Joy Fielding
Eleanor - Jason Gurley (weird book)
The Grownup - Gillian Flynn

March
The Illegal - Lawrence Hill
Did You Ever Have a Family - Bill Clegg
Slade House - David Mitchell (great book!)
The Last Runaway - Tracy Chevalier
The Spymistress - Jennifer Chiaverini (did not finish)
The Guest Room - Chris Bohjalian

April
Circling the Sun - Paula McClain
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands - Chris Bohjalian
Minister without Portfolio - Michael Winter
A Mind of her Own - Diana Lesire Brandmeyer (what an awful book, don't waste your time)

May
The Light in the Ruins - Chris Bohjalian
The Night Strangers - Chris Bohjalian
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob deZoet - David Mitchell (2nd time reading this book)
The Sandcastle Girls - Chris Bohjalian

June
The Gathering - Anne Enright (did not finish, too depressing)
The Paris Wife - Paula McClain
At the Edge of the Orchard - Tracy Chevalier
Before You Know Kindness - Chris Bohjalian

July
The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
Half Blood Blues - Esi Edugyan

August
The Muse - Jessie Burton
The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

September
All the Light we Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
The Green Road - Anne Enright
The View from Penthouse B - Elinor Lipman
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things - Bryn Greenwood
Runaway - Alice Munro
The Ladies Man - Elinor Lipman

October
House Rules - Jodi Picault
Bone and Bread - Saleema Narwaz
Birdie - Tracey Lindberg (did not finish)

November
The Law of Similars - Chris Bohjalian
Banksy - Will Ellsworth-Jones
Mary Pratt - various contributors
The Blind Astronomer's Daughter - John Pipkin

December
The Distant Hours - Kate Morton
Left Neglected - Lisa Genova
.....and on the bedside table, ready to start..... A Soldier's Revenge - Matthew Dunn