104 Books organised by setting and genre.

Books read 2014   |  Books read 2015 |   Books read 2016   |  Books read 2017  |   Books read 2018 | Books read 2019 | Past reads (pre-2014)

---

Africa

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • Cleopatra’s shadows : a novel (Fall of Egypt #1), Emily Holleman About 50 BC. Egypt.
  • Purple hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1980s. Nigeria.
  • A general theory of oblivion, José Eduardo Agualusa (Translated from the Portuguese) 1960s & 1970s. Angola.
• CONTEMPORARY FICTION
  • Borderlines, Michela Wrong Contemporary. A fictional African state called North Darrar in the Horn of Africa.
• PSYCHOLOGICAL FICTION
  • Tangerine, Christine Mangan 1950s. Tangier, Morocco.   Glance-a-book blog post

Asia

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • An artist of the floating world, Kazuo Ishiguro 1948. Japan.
  • The garden of evening mists : a novel, Tan Twan Eng The aftermath of World War Two. Malaysia. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The naturalist’s daughter, Tea Cooper 1808. Agnes Banks, NSW; 1908. Sydney, NSW. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The Painted Veil, W. Somerset Maugham 1920s, Hong King, mainland China. Glance-a-book blog post
• CONTEMPORARY FICTION
  • The flight attendant : a novel, Chris Bohjalian Contemporary. Dubai.
  • The travelling cat chronicles, Hiro Akanawa Contemporary. Japan. Glance-a-book blog
• MAGIC REALIST FICTION
  • Exit west, Mohsin Hamid Present day/ future. Unnamed country in the Middle East.  Glance-a-book blog post

Australia

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • A long way from home, Peter Carey 1950s. Victoria/around Australia in the Redex Trial.
  • The lucky galah, Tracy Sorensen 1969. An unnamed remote coastal town in Western Australia.
  • The making of Martin Sparrow, Peter Cochrane 1806. Hawkesbury region of New South Wales. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The power game (The Monsarrat Series #3) Meg Keneally 1826. Maria Island Tasmania.
  • Barbed wire and cherry blossoms, Anita Heiss 1944. Cowra, New South Wales.  Glance-a-book blog post
• CONTEMPORARY FICTION
  • Crossing the lines, Sulari  Gentill Contemporary. An unnamed Australian City.
  • Death of a river guide, Richard Flanagan Present day/retrospective to the 19th Century. Franklin River area, Tasmania.
  • Extinctions, Josephine Wilson Contemporary. Perth, Western Australia.
  • Little gods, Jenny Ackland Contemporary. The Mallee region of Victoria.
  • The choke, Sofie Laguna 1970s. Rural Victoria near the Murray River.
  • The natural way of things, Charlotte Wood Present/near future. Fictional outback place  Glance-a-book blog post
  • The world without us, Mireille Juchau Contemporary. Fictional town west of Sydney, New South Wales. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Bridge of Clay, Markus Zusak Contemporary. Sydney. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The Crying Place, Lia Hills Contemporary. Fictional community of Ininyingi in Central Australia. Glance-a-Book blog post
  • The Yellow House, Emily O’Grady. Contemporary. A small community in rural Australia. Glance-a-book blog post
• APOCOLYPTIC FICTION
  • Dyschronia, Jennifer Mills Past/future. A small coastal town somewhere in Australia.
• HORROR
  • Soon, Lois Murphy Contemporary. The almost deserted fictional town of  Nebulah in the middle of nowhere.
• SCIENCE FICTION
  • Terra nullius, Claire Coleman Unnamed time and place in Australia.
• MYSTERY/ CRIME FICTION
  • Scrublands, Chris Hammer Contemporary. Fictional town of Riversend in the Riverina region of New South Wales. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Greenlight, Benjamin Stevenson Contemporary. Fictional town of Birravale in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The Dry, Jane Harper Contemporary. Fictional farming community of Kiewarra, within a day’s drive of Melbourne. Glance-a-Book blog post
• CLASSIC
  • The big fellow (Golconda trilogy #3), Vance Palmer (OUT OF PRINT) 1950s. Brisbane, Queensland.  Find it at Trove (National Library of Australia)
  • To the islands, Randolph Stow 1950s. North-western Australia.
• NON-FICTION
  • The Arsonist, Chloe Hooper. Contemporary. La Trobe Valley, Victoria. Glance-a-Book blog post

Europe

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • Birds without wings, Louis De Bernières Early 20th Century. a small village in southwestern Anatolia (present-day Turkey).
  • Fish have no feet : a family history, Jon Kalman Stefansson The span of 20th Century. Iceland.
  • The last painting of Sara De Vos : a novel, Dominic Smith 17th Century Holland. 1950s Manhattan, New York City.
  • The mercury visions of Louis Daguerre, Dominic Smith 19th Century. France.
  • The noise of time, Julian Barnes 1937. Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia
  • The little stranger, Sarah Waters 1950s. Warwickshire, England.
  • Book of colours, Robyn Cadwallader 1320. London.
  • Warlight, Michael Ondaatje 1945. London.
  • In the month of the midnight sun (Svartasan#2), Cecilia Ekback 1856. Sweden.
  • So much life left over, Louis De Bernieres 1920s. Britain and Ceylon.
  • Estoril : a war novel, Dejan Tiago-Stanković (Translated from the Serbo-Croatian) World War Two. Estoril, Portugal.
  • The birdman’s wife, Melissa Ashley 1840s. England Glance-a-book blog post
  • The remains of the day, Ishiguro Kazuo The years before and after World War Two. Devon and Cornwall, England.  Glance-a-book blog post
  • The clockmaker’s daughter, Kate Morton 1800s 1900s 2017. England. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Transcription, Kate Atkinson 1940 1950. England. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Birdcage Walk, Helen Dunmore 1780 1790. Bristol, England. Glance-a-book post
• CONTEMPORARY FICTION
  • Beartown (Beartown #1) Fredrick Backman Contemporary. Sweden.
  • Us against you : a novel (Beartown #2), Fredrick Backman Present day. Sweden.
  • Britt-Marie was here, Fredrick Backman Contemporary. Sweden.
  • Home fire, Kamila Shamsie Contemporary. London, England.
  • Travelling in a strange land, David Park Contemporary. Belfast & England.
  • Melmoth, Sarah Perry Contemporary. Prague, Czechoslovakia. Glance-a-book blog post
• SPY THRILLER
  • A legacy of spies, John Le Carre Contemporary. England.
• MYSTERY/ CRIME FICTION
  • Crooked house, Agatha Christie 1940s. England.
  • Into the water, Paula Hawkins Present day & memory. Beckford, England.
  • The accident on the A35 (George’s Gorski #2), Graeme Macrae Burnett 1970s. France.
  • The rúin, Dervla McTiernan Contemporary. Galway, Ireland.
  • Holding, Graham Norton Contemporary. Dunedin, Cork, Ireland.
  • The darkness (Hidden Iceland #1), Ragnar Jónasson Contemporary. Iceland.
  • Bryant & May and the invisible code (Bryant & May #10), Christopher Fowler Contemporary. London.
  • I let you go, Clare Mackintosh Contemporary. Bristol & Wales, UK. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Snap, Belinda Bauer Contemporary. Somerset, England. Glance-a-Book blog
  • The western wind, Samantha Harvey. 1491. Oakham, Somerset, England. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The death of Mrs Westaway, Ruth Ware. 1994. Brighton and Cornwall, England. Glance-a-book post
• APOCOLYPTIC FICTION
  • When the floods came, Clare Morrall Future. Britain.
• MAGIC REALIST FICTION
  • The ocean at the end of the lane, Neil Gaiman Contemporary. Sussex.
• CLASSIC
  • Perfume : the story of a murderer, Patrick Suskind (Translated from German) 18th Century. France. Glance-a-book blog post

Extraterrestrial

• SCIENCE FICTION
  • One way, Simon Morden Future. Mars.

International waters

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • The midnight watch: a novel of the Titanic and the Californian, David Dyer 1912. North Atlantic Ocean.

Multi-continent

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • Washington Black, Esi Edugyan 1830-1836. West Indies, America, Canada, London, Morocco. Glance-a-book post
• THRILLER
  • The Fox, Frederick Forsyth 2019. UK, USA, China, North Korea, South Korea, Iran. Glance-a-book post
• CONTEMPORARY
  • Two Old Men Dying, Thomas Keneally. Contemporary/Palaeolithic Age. Australia; Eritrea, Africa. Glance-a-Book blog post

North America

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • All the pretty horses (Border Trilogy #1), Cormac McCarthy 1949. Texas, Mexico.
  • Days without end : a novel, Sebastian Barry 1850s. “The West”, Tennessee.
  • To the bright edge of the world, Eowyn Ivey  885. Alaska.
  • News of the world : a novel, Paulette Jiles 1860s. Texas.
  • The overstory, Richard Powers 19th-21st Century. Multiple locations in the USA.
  • Before we were yours : a novel, Lisa Wingate Present day and retrospective to 1939. Memphis, Tennessee.
  • Washington Black, Esi Edugyan 1830. Barbados and Canada. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Manhattan Beach, Jennifer Egan 1934 to about 1945. Brooklyn, New York. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver 1871 and 2016. Vineland, New Jersey, USA. Glance-a-book blog post
  • Sister noon, Karen Joy Fowler. 1894. San Francisco, California, USA. Glance-a-book blog post
• CONTEMPORARY FICTION
  • Cat’s eye, Margaret Atwood Present day & memory. Canada.
  • Little fires everywhere, Celeste Ng Contemporary. Shaker Heights, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
  • No one is coming to save us, Stephanie Powell Watts Contemporary. Pinewood, North Carolina, USA.
  • Undiscovered country, Lin Enger Contemporary. Minnesota, USA.
  • White tears, Hari Kungzru Contemporary. New York City, USA.
  • Heroes of the frontier : a novel, Dave Eggers Contemporary. Alaska.
  • The woman in the window, A.J. Finn Contemporary. New York City, USA.
  • The outsider, Stephen King Contemporary. Ohio & Texas.
  • Hag-seed : The tempest retold, Margaret Atwood Contemporary. Toronto, Canada. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The beautiful miscellaneous, Domonic Smith Contemporary. Iowa, USA.  Glance-a-book blog post
  • The Break, Katherena Vermette Contemporary. Winnipeg, Canada. Glance-a-book blog post
  • The Incendiaries, R. O. Kwon Contemporary. Fictional town of Noxhurst somewhere on the east coast of USA. Glance-a-book blog post

Oceania

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones 1980s. Bougainville.

South America

• HISTORICAL FICTION
  • The secret history of Costaguana, Juan Gabriel Vásquez  (Translated from Spanish) Early 20th century. Panama.
• CONTEMPORARY
  • Reputations, Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Translated from Spanish) Contemporary. Bogotá, Colombia.

Unstated

• CONTEMPORARY
  • Beatrice and Virgil, Yann Martel. Contemporary. Begins in Canada, but moves to an unnamed city somewhere in the world. Glance-a-Book blog post

---