Much of 2024 has been a flurry of work to deliver my new novel, When There Are Wolves Again, and consequentially my top reads of the year feels a little shorter than usual. Nevertheless, I loved and would very much recommend all of the below. My standout read was Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger. From documenting theContinue reading “Favourite reads in 2024”
Category Archives: Recommendations
Favourite reads in 2023
Each year for the past few years, I’ve hoped to return to my pre-pandemic reading levels. It hasn’t happened this year, and it’s probably time to accept I’m unlikely to do so any time soon. There are many factors, but one contributor is simply that I’m reading substantially more non-fiction for research, and I readContinue reading “Favourite reads in 2023”
Favourite reads in 2022
Reviewing my 2022 reading, I found I’ve read fewer books this year than in almost a decade, in part due to general life events occupying time and headspace, but partly, I suspect, because I’m still struggling to recover my pre-pandemic levels of focus. So many things fractured in 2020, and it feels as though thoseContinue reading “Favourite reads in 2022”
Favourite reads in 2021
Like many others, my reading patterns in 2020 altered considerably, both in terms of the volume (a big drop) and the types of books I found myself drawn to. Whilst I haven’t quite managed to get back to my pre-pandemic reading levels, I discovered some fantastic books in 2021. Here are my favourites: Perhaps myContinue reading “Favourite reads in 2021”
Favourite reads of 2019
My favourite reads in – though as ever, not necessarily from – 2019. Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver Faber & Faber, 2018 Two families across two centuries navigate radically changing times – from the controversial new theories of Darwin to the social change necessary to tackle climate breakdown – and what it really means to beContinue reading “Favourite reads of 2019”
Reading recommendations from 2018
The end of the year is always an opportunity to look back on what I’ve read and see what has really stayed with me. Here are my top twelve picks from the 58 books I read in 2018 – as usual, not everything was published this year. It’s impossible to rank books, so they areContinue reading “Reading recommendations from 2018”
Reading recommendations from 2017
Once again December has crept up, and it’s time to look back on the past twelve months’ reading. For 2017 I set myself a goal of 50 books and at the time of writing I’m up to 46. In the meantime, here are a few recommendations of books I’ve loved this year. The Natural WayContinue reading “Reading recommendations from 2017”
Reading recommendations from 2016
Looking back on the year’s reading, below are a few recommendations from books I’ve loved in 2016. The majority weren’t originally published this year and one which I’ve been lucky enough to read in advance is published in 2017. They’re all brilliant books and as usual it feels impossible to rank, so I’ve listed inContinue reading “Reading recommendations from 2016”
2015 Reading: The Year in Review
I set myself a goal of 40 books for 2015 and I’m at 43 at the time of writing. I’ve read some fantastic books, old and new, this year – here’s a few recommendations: Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven lived up to the hype. I was drawn in by the concept: a post-apocalyptic travellingContinue reading “2015 Reading: The Year in Review”
In conversation with Speculative Fiction Author Anne Charnock
I met Anne Charnock (@annecharnock) last summer when we shared a panel at LonCon 3, with David Hebblethwaite and Adam Roberts, discussing writers who cross the boundary between mainstream fiction and science fiction. Since then, I’ve completed my trilogy, The Osiris Project, and Anne has finished her second novel, Sleeping Embers Of An Ordinary Mind. Anne’s debut novel, AContinue reading “In conversation with Speculative Fiction Author Anne Charnock”
E. J. Swift 