Book project 2010: update #17

With my niece's school fete coming up I did a cull on my bookshelves  last weekend, something I always find torturous... Painful as letting any books go was, my bookshelf is now looking much more streamlined and tidy. Why is it though that my "things to read" pile never seems to get any smaller?! Anyway, here's what I've been reading this fortnight:

Faithful Place by Tana French

There are literally dozens (if not hundreds) of authors churning out crime novels every year but French is a real stand out. Like her first two novels, this page-turner is set in modern-day Dublin and is wonderfully atmospheric without resorting to clichés. The combination of a clever and suspenseful plot, complex and multi-dimensional characters and genuinely good writing make it a winner. Can’t wait for her next one.






Tigerlily’s orchids by Ruth Rendell

Is it just me or are all the characters in Ruth Rendell’s more recent work utterly unlikeable? Surely no one is genuinely as narcissistic, selfish and curiously naive as Stuart Font, the main character in this book? If this is what Gen Y is like, I’m glad I’m the “wrong” side of 30...








Cut adrift by Chris Simms

Are all of us capable of cannibalism, under the right (wrong?) circumstances, as one of the detectives in this book about asylum seekers dumped at sea states? It’s hard to imagine sitting here in my comfy lounge room sipping on a glass of Marlborough sauvignon blanc, but certainly there have been well-documented cases of people who have resorted to just that in extreme cirumstances.

Let’s hope none of us ever have to find out.

This novel is an absorbing and genuinely disturbing study of desperation, greed and corruption at the highest levels. I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets picked up for a movie adaption; it has all the elements for a gripping psychological thriller.


Without warning by John Birmingham

A friend recommended this book about the aftermath of an unexplained civilisation-ending disaster in the United States, so when I saw a second-hand copy I grabbed it (now I think about it, I could have just borrowed hers).

I’ve always rather liked the idea of America as we know it disappearing. I once spent an evening with a couple of friends plotting out an entire screenplay which centred on a group of cool-maverick-nerd-types (played by ourselves, of course) plotting to round up all of America’s redneck politicians, Z-grade reality TV starlets, television evangelists and other undesirables in Utah and nuking them. Needless to say it was a terrible screenplay but a highly entertaining evening.

As for what would have happened after my cohorts and I destroyed Uncle Sam, I don’t think I gave it much thought but you can be sure that author John Birmingham has. Without Warning is an intricately plotted, action packed and thought-provoking thriller, and an all round good read.