reading: 2015

I’ve long admired the currently reading list on the sidebar of the excellent ganching’s blog.

Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I’m totally stealing this idea and putting together a list of books I’ve been reading relatively recently. I figured I’d start with 2015 (which is kind of relatively recent) because I had a whole bunch of blog posts to assist with compilation. And perhaps this will shame me into getting a wriggle on with War & Peace.

53 books! A heck of a lot better than my current five (at 01/06) for 2016!

So, the detail – in rough order (and please indulge my bullet points)

Note that links are to amazon, but definitely not affiliate links or anything of that sort):

January
Marion Coutts: The Iceberg. Loved. This absolutely blew me away.
Karen Joy Fowler: We are all completely beside ourselves. Loved. I so did not expect the twist.
Sarah Waters: The paying guests. I didn’t hate it, but I liked the Night Watch much, much better.
Liane Moriarty: Little Big Lies. I really didn’t expect to like this as much as I did. She really nails the Australian primary school ecosystem. Light, fun read.
Marie Kondo: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying. Actually, I may have read this in late December. Bonkers – but her approach has definitely influenced the current round of decluttering. Is there anyone on the planet who has not read this yet?
India Knight: In your prime. Some of this didn’t apply to me (teenage children, aging parents). I’m never quite sure how I feel about her bossy, all-knowing way of writing. I veer from thinking “fabulous!” to the complete opposite. The content didn’t stay with me.
Liane Moriarty: The husband’s secret. I bought this because I’d loved Little Big Lies. Definitely not as good – characterisation still spot on though.

February
Stuffocation: Living More With Less which seems to have put me off reading for a while.

March
essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less which I found interesting(ish) – premise being that you probably should not say yes to everything.
getting things done, I know – I don’t know who I am anymore either.
⛑ I’m still plodding through wolf in white van. After January with loads of reading, this is quite disappointing.

April
⛑ I am still making my way through getting things done. I read two pages in bed and my kindle falls on my face because I am asleep. That is not to dismiss it because there is some very good stuff in there.

May
⛑ completed getting things done.
wolf in white van finally finished and I can’t say that I loved it.
⛑ I really, really enjoyed the power of habit.

June
Absolutely nothing

July
⛑ The memoir of our new chairman – expected to be the most hands-on chair in SML history. Very accomplished and interesting man and I feel this gave a pretty good insight into what we can expect. I’ve met with him once and he was incredibly astute. Very Interesting times ahead.
Malcolm Knox: supermarket monsters – The Price of Coles and Woolworths’ dominance – This sums up why we’re not shopping at Coles/Woolies. Felt it could have used a bit more
Jennifer L Scott: Lessons from Madame Chic – 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris – pretty fluffy. She ain’t no madame thingy
Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Killed at the whim of a hat – cute! not quite so charming and delightful as Dr Siri, but nonetheless very readable (if you like this sort of thing).
Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Grandad, there’s a head on the beach – also pretty cute! Timely, as we’d only just been discussing the ethics of buying what are probably slave prawns.
Colin Cotterill: Jimm Juree – Axe Factor – (I was on a Jimm Juree roll here!) this one was not quite so good as the previous two.
Colin Cotterill: Dr Siri – six and a half deadly sins – charming and delightful as ever.
Sarah Hepola: Blackout – Remembering the things I drank to forget – bought this after reading an extract in the Guardian. It was very good.

August | September
⛑ stuck on Martin Edwards: the golden age of murder, which I’d had exceptionally high hopes of – sadly I don’t find it terribly well written and not particularly engaging. Maybe time to abandon it and move on to the rest of the virtual stack.

October
Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen: The Rabbit Back Literature Society. Can’t say I was a huge fan of this. I suspect I’m missing a whole lot of Finnish context. Heather and I bought this at the same time. He finished it way before I did because I was persisting with the golden age. Discussing it afterward we found we were both a bit “ummm … what exactly was that?”
Michael Connelly: Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch). I got this ages ago as a kindle deal for $0.98 cents. I’ve been recommended the series by a couple of people and had mostly enjoyed the tv series (it had All The Tropes! some quite terrible acting in parts). But I really didn’t feel the love for the book.
E C Bentley: Trent’s Last Case This was one of the many books I made a note of from Golden Age of Murder. It was very of its time and quite silly. I was particularly pleased by the concept of having to explain rear-view mirrors and finger-prints to the layman. Truly the past is another country.

October | November | December
⛑ The delightful and also silly Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver series:
   ⚬ Grey Mask
   ⚬ The Case is Closed
   ⚬ Lonesome Road
   ⚬ Danger Point
   ⚬ The Chinese Shawl
   ⚬ Miss Silver Intervenes
   ⚬ The Clock Strikes Twelve
   ⚬ The Key
   ⚬ The Traveller Return
   ⚬ Pilgrim’s Rest
   ⚬ Latter End
   ⚬ Spotlight
   ⚬ Eternity Ring
   ⚬ The Case of William Smith
   ⚬ Miss Silver Comes to Stay
   ⚬ The Catherine Wheel
   ⚬ Through the Wall
   ⚬ The Brading Collection
   ⚬ The Ivory Dagger
   ⚬ Anna, Where Are You?
   ⚬ The Watersplash
   ⚬ Ladies’ Bane
   ⚬ Out of the Past
   ⚬ Vanishing Point
   ⚬ The Silent Pool
   ⚬ The Benevent Treasure
   ⚬ The Listening Eye