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