November roundup

Another month gone, and it’s time for a look back at the books of November. Eight books read this month, which is a lot for me. Due in no small part to some of them being absolute corkers!

We start with non-fiction, and James O’Brien’s How Not To Be Wrong: The Art of Changing Your Mind. Fascinating stuff – I’m sure you either love James or not, but I found this a thought-provoking read, as he examines what it’s like to turn his forensic disection of opinions on his own beliefs. It’s honest, refreshing and at times funny, but always thought-provoking. Well worth a read.

Next we had one of those corkers I mentioned. At the end of October I read (and loved) Trevor Wood’s CWA Dagger winning The Man on the Street. So when I got my hands on a copy of the sequel, the TBR pile got pushed to one side and I dived right in. Book two, One Way Street, is just as good as the original. I urge you to pick them both up.

Another great read was Leave No Trace, by Sara Driscoll. I love these books, and this is the fifth in her FBI K9 series, following the adventures of FBI handler Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue K-9 partner, Hawk. Great fun, I really enjoyed this one.

Audiobook subscription this month was Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin. You might have heard of him, apparently he’s written quite a lot of books. Alas I’ve been rather remiss and hadn’t read any of them until now. Knots and Crosses, as I’m sure you know, is the first Rebus book, and jolly good it is too. Great narrator too, which made the month’s dog walks fly by.

Next we had Genvieve Cogman’s The Dark Archive, book 7 in her Invisible Library series, and one of the best yet. I love these books so much, and have been raving about them since the very first. An invisible library, librarian spies, dragons, detectives and fae. What more could you want?

Then we had debut author Geoff Major’s Deadline, a Leeds-based thriller from a local author. I’ve got an extract of that for you coming up on the blog soon.

I was at a virtual book event (the fantastic London Calling – featuring Amer Anwar along with Rod Reynolds and Joy Kluver). Amer was there to talk about his new book, Stone Cold Trouble. I suddenly realised that whilst I’d been following Amer on twitter for ages, I hadn’t read his first book. That was quickly rectified, and immediately after the event I sat down to read Brothers In Blood. Utterly brilliant, the dynamic between his lead character Zaqir Khan and his mate Jags just lifts this. Hugely recommended.

And I rounded out the month with another great thriller. A Wanted Man, by Rob Parker. It’s a fast-paced thriller set in and around Manchester, featuring ex-soldier and really fresh ex-con Ben Bracken. Who has just escaped from Strangeways, and has a score to settle. Cracking page turner, and I can’t wait to find out what Bracken gets up to next.

So quite a thrillery/crimey month, November. Anything there take your fancy?

Bookpost:

I bought a few books this month:

• A Wanted Man – Rob Parker
• Brothers In Blood – Amer Anwar
• November Road – Lou Berney
• Waymaking: An Anthology of Women’s Adventure Writing, Poetry and Art (Vertebrate Publishing) – Adventurous Ink subscription for November

And I was fortunate enough to be sent review copies of:

• Slough House – Mick Herron (Michael Joseph)
• The Fires of Vengeance – Evan Winter (Orbit Books)
• The Dark Archive (Pan Macmillan)
• Smokescreen – Jorn Lier Horst & Thomas Enger (Orenda Books)
• Bound – Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)
• Ariadne – Jennifer Saint (Wildfire Books)
• Deity – Matt Wesolowski (Orenda Books)
• Fortune & Glory – Janet Evanovich
• Light Seekers – Femi Kayode (Raven Books)

And I won a copy of Stone Cold Trouble by Amer Anwar from Dialogue Books. Looking forward to diving into the futher adventures of Zaq and Jags!

Phew. Quite a month. What have you been reading? Any of the above tickle your fancy?

Next month we’ll be looking into the books of the year lists – I think I’ve got it narrowed down to about fifteen, but the year’s not quite over yet…