Here’s my round up of the books that I’m loving at the moment. Hopefully, they’ll provide you with something to read as you snuggle up with as you keep warm this autumn.
Cracked Mirror – Chris Brookmyre
At the risk of killing the suspense, let me start with my absolute favourite book of the year. Now, anyone who has suffered through my emails for any length of time will be painfully aware that I’m quite the Chris Brookmyre fanboy – but honestly, when he says a book is the best he’s ever written, then anyone with opposable thumbs should pay attention. The Cracked Mirror is a magnificent, genre-bending, crime book which I absolutely adored. In fact, I’ve already decided I’m going to leave it until next year and then read it again. It’s a book that’ll benefit from multiple reads if you’re a nerd like me, or just one read if you’re just someone who enjoys magnificent fiction
Miniatures – John Scalzi
John Scalzi is a name I’ve seen around, but I’d never actually read one of his books. I was scrolling through my Audible library and realised I’d downloaded a short fiction collection of his called Miniatures that I’d not listened to and with a drive back to Ireland in the offing, I gave it a go. I loved it. The man is a humour writer, par excellence. His stuff is generally in a more fantasy/sci-fi vein but his way with words is a delight. He also writes a mix of other books, and I’ve since tried a couple – Old Man’s War is pretty close to straight sci-fi, and Starter Villain has a much more out there premise, but I enjoyed both greatly. He’s got an impressive back catalogue that I’m excited to delve into more.
Heat 2 – Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner
And finally, seeing as I was such a fan of the film Heat, when I heard that Michael Mann had enlisted Meg Gardiner to help him write the novel Heat 2, I had to give it a whirl. I was very pleasantly surprised. It jumps back and forth along timelines, and it feels at points like you’re reading a couple of different stories, but some killer scenes and the same ice-cold intensity as the film make it a really fun read.
Wonderwife’s recommendations
I’ve been cheating on the crime genre over the last few months and I’ve been reading books with dragons in them.
Guards! Guards! – Sir Terry Pratchett
I have a confession to make. Despite being in a relationship with a massive Kevin/Terry Pratchett Fan for nearly 20 years, I’d never read a Pratchett book. This is quite the achievement seeing as you can pretty much find a Pterry book in every room in our house. So, ahead of us going to DiscworldCon in August, I picked up my first Discworld book. I’m delighted to say that Guards! Guards! is smart, satirical, self-aware, with brilliant turns of phrase, warm wit and characters you can’t help but love. My first foray into Discworld was sheer joy it pulled me out of a reading funk. The best part is I’ve got a gazillion more of his books to read.
Fourth Wing/Iron Flame – Rebecca Yarros
I’ve become a little dragon-obsessed after Guards! Guards! and Rebbecca Yarros’ Emperyean series is full of them. Set in a war college, the story follows a wing of riders as they discover their powers and realise that all in their world is not what it seems. Both brutal and breathtaking, each book in the series unpeels another layer of intrigue as you delve deeper into this universe. I don’t normally read romantasy (it makes the dogs blush, you see), but the world-building in this series is meticulous and I’m hooked.