17. Troop Leader - Bill Bellamy

As recommended by Lindybeige.

16. How to be right - James O'Brien

15. Early Riser - Jasper Fforde

Just published earlier this month (so how can they put on the front cover: "The number one bestseller"?).

Great - this is what I enjoy about Fantasy and Science Fiction - a plausible universe, half familiar but totally weird.

14. Money - Yuval Noah Harari

Should this count as a book?
The Vintage Minis books are samples and this one is a combination of extracts from Sapiens and Homo Deus.

13. Saving Britain - Will Hutton & Andrew Adonis

12. A brief historical and descriptive account of Maidstone and its environs - "S.C.L."

Published in 1834.
I love the language; old spelling; the different view of history; the assumptions of the author about what his readers would find interesting and what general knowledge they would have.

That the given facts differ to other accounts only adds to its charm.

11. The Case Against Sugar - Gary Taubes

He puts a compelling case that sugar is the prime cause of most modern disease.  Interesting how the sugar industry mudded the waters over the years.

10. No more plastic - Martin Dorey

A very easy, quick read.
Perhaps a bit simplistic but probably aimed at being more motivational than factual.
For example, aren't glass, metal and paper packaging more energy intensive than plastic?

9. This is going to hurt - Adam Kay

I had an idea of the horrors of the life of a junior doctor but this made it more real.

8. The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken

My reading list is fast becoming based on what I see on Twitter.

I found this a compelling, if worrying, read.  It dispelled the notion that criminal law didn't affect me.

7. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - Carlo Rovelli

Half way through I was thinking I'm not learning anything new, then came the connection between time and thermodynamics.  Why didn't I know this before?  Or did I and I have forgotten?

Anyway a short book which helped break a period where it seems I haven't read, although in reality, it's more a case of I haven't finished a book recently.  Below a picture of the books I have finished reading this year, and the piles of books under my bed with just the first few chapters read!

6. Sal - Mick Kitson

I heard about this book on Radio 4's Front Row programme and was immediately intrigued as the story was about a pair of girls aged 13 and 10 who are on the run having killed their abusive 'stepfather'.  The wonderful characters made it quite compelling.

5. Women and Power - Mary Beard

I was expecting more of a manifesto.
 (or am I mansplaining?)

2 & 3 & 4 Dragonslayer series - Jasper Fforde

 

I did say that I don't read as much as I should. I actually start reading a large number of books but after a few chapters I lose interest or I slow down and the books join a pile my bed and it gradually becomes increasing obvious that I will never finish them.  Then occasionally a book will grab my attention, I will race through it then I will read other books by that author.  Well, I have done it again.

-The Last Dragonslayer
-The Song of the Quarkbeast
-The Eye of Zoltar

I romped through these three books, perhaps because they are aimed at 'young adults'.  I can well imagine that they would be ideal for teenagers who have read Harry Potter and have yet to go on to Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.  Like the previous Jasper Fforde book they are based in an alternative UK - the unUnited Kingdoms - and the characteristics of the British are again lampooned, perhaps less subtly than in Shades of Grey.

1. Shades of Grey - Jasper Fforde

I am not a great reader and have always felt I should be reading more.  I thought that this new year's resolution should be to read a book a week, perhaps 100 books in 2 years.  My wife thought that this was far too ambitious for me and I should set a more realistic target of one a month.  I had thought I would re-read old favourites as well as catching up on classics I have managed to miss in my sixty-odd years.

As it happens, the first month has slipped past and I have just read one book.  I came across it in a Brexit thread on Twitter when some-one referred to 'the great leaps backwards' as technology was removed from society. I enjoyed the book - I love new worlds and this one describes a dystopian future where people are classified by their colour perception and where social rules are rigid.  I shall be seeking out more of Jasper's work.