The 11 Best Books I Read in 2014

Okay, so these are my favourites of the books I've read this year, and as I normally do I've split it into two separate top 5s, one fiction and one non-fiction, however this year there's a special consideration for a book which fits across both categories. This book is Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark, which while based …

Book Review: Odessa Dreams by Shaun Walker

This is the last book I'll have as part of my Kindle unlimited deal, having cancelled it. On balance it's a good deal if you want lots of quick reads to pass the time, and you get through a few a month. But my reading rate has been slower recently and quite a few of …

Book Review: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson

Continuing to use my Kindle Unlimited deal (due to lapse imminently) I checked this book out, I'd heard of it and knew there'd been a movie adaptation and as titles go it's quite attention grabbing. The plot starts with Allan Karlsson who has just turned 100, and decides he doesn't want to hang around for …

Book Review: Beat the Devil by Mishka Shubaly

I recently signed up for Kindle Unlimited, which lets you rent books for a time on your Kindle device. It's a pretty boss idea, even if the selection is limited, however, one of the side effects is that I'm just diving in and checking out books I may not otherwise have stumbled on, which is …

Book Review: The Mugger by Ed McBain

Halfway through this book I realized I'd read it before a few years back and kinda remembered how it finished, not that it's a massive stretch anyway. That's not a criticism though, because I kept on reading because it was hugely entertaining. McBain's writing is extremely pulpy and this a fantastic page turner. I blazed …

Book Review: The Wander Year by Mike McIntyre

This is the second book by Mike McIntyre I've read, having really enjoyed his story of hitchhiking across America in The Kindness of Strangers, so I was pretty keen to read about his decision to spend an entire year travelling around the world with his partner Andrea. After renting out their house and selling a …

Book Review: The Return of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Having enjoyed the first installment of Burroughs' ape-man's adventures I downloaded this onto my Kindle and added it to my extensive reading list. As with the first it's a rather fun, old school adventure.     Picking up where the first left off we find Tarzan of the Apes, returning to Paris and planning his …

Book Review: An American Nomad: A Road Trip In Search of America by Stephen Braxton Thompson

I continue to torture myself with travel books, and this one was especially masochistic as it deals with a long term US road trip, which is on my bucket list. It's an interesting read, with Thompson, a former foreign correspondent deciding to hit the road as he gets older. The trip is inspired by his …

Book Review: Death and the Penguin by Andrey Kurkov

As a bookaholic, I love charity shops. I get to give to a good cause and load up on random books. Taking advantage of a 3 for £1 offer I picked up this book, which I'd never heard of before. It turned out to be an interesting read, and not the kind of thing I'd …

Book Review: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

Having loved the movie and done a bit more reading about the subject, Christopher McCandless aka Alexander Supertramp, this book went right to the top of my wish list and then sat on my Kindle for a few weeks before I finally dived in. The book details what happened to McCandless, the bright, eager American …