A fabulous half year of reading, with very few duds indeed. Only 3 books rated 9/10 (all nonfiction!), but 15 hit ratings of 8/10 and of those, I’ve pulled out 5 to present a first-half list of must reads, 4 novels, 4 nonfiction. It’s an eclectic mix and you’d need to ensure genre/topic are to your liking, but I commend them as must-reads.
“The End of Ice” by Dahr Jamail [9/10] is a stunning travelogue cum journalistic climate change investigation cum ode to climate change sorrow.
“November Road” by Lou Berney lyrically and sparely thrills with a tale of a JFK-era mobster on the run.
“Killing Commendatore” is the latest Haruki Murakami moody, enigmatic spellbinder.
Mick Herron is the new master of the spy novel and “London Rules” thrills and delights.
“The Incomplete Book of Running” by Peter Sagal is the modern paean to jogging.
Sophie Cunningham’s “City of Trees” [9/10] is near perfection, part memoir, part essayistic reflection on the earth we’re scrunching.
Andrew Lowe’s “The Dying Light” is a double shot of caffeine into the police procedural genre.
Genius historian Robert Caro graces us with his craft and ethos in “Working” [9/10].