60. Dry Store Room No 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard ForteyI should have loved this - I love museums, academics, and popular science ( Read more... )

57. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

A collection of five linked short stories (technically two novellas and three very short stories) touching, directly or indirectly on the Vietnam War.

The first two stories, the long ones, are amazing. The first, Low Men in Yellow Coats, is set in 1960 and is about a young boy who lives with his miserable, ( Read more... )

37. The Fifth Woman by Henning Mankell

38. The Killing Room by Richard MontanariI'm writing these two up together because I ended up reading them at the same time and although both are compelling reading, they're incredibly different, and it was an interesting contrast ( Read more... )

12. Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole and Reed by Robert SellersI came to this as a dedicated Peter O'Toole fan girl, but there really wasn't much in here I didn't know about him already. The parts about Richard Burton were interesting, though. Or rather, I had no idea Liz Taylor was as big (and mean) a drunk ( Read more... )

1. Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason

Yet another Icelandic thriller. Just as grim as the last one. This one explores immigration into Iceland, as the crime being investigated is the murder of a young half-Thai boy.

I think I need to take a break from all this Nordic Noir.

2. Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman RushdieThe only one of Rushdie's ( Read more... )

72. The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason

Another Icelandic detective story from the same series as Jar CityA real page-turner, but my all the characters are miserable! Erlendur's relationships with his children make Wallander and Linda look like father and daughter of the year ( Read more... )

71. Sidetracked by Henning MankellAnother book in the Wallander series. This was one of the first, if not the first, of the ones that Kenneth Branagh dramatised in English. I've also seen the Swedish TV adaptation ( Read more... )

22. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell

The first Wallander book, but the third that I've read.

I loved this a lot more than the other two[1]; whether because it's shorter and more tightly plotted, or because it's a different translator (I checked - the Wallander books have been translated by different people in random order at random dates), I'm not ( Read more... )