BOTM: C. Townsend, Fifth sun (2019)
S. Alexievich, Last witnesses (1985)
L. Booth (ed.), Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (2023)
R. Guha (ed.), The Picador book of cricket (2001)
C. Isherwood, Goodbye to Berlin (1939)
M. Kosser, How Nashville became Music City USA (2006)
A. Martine, A memory called Empire (2019)
M. O'Farrell, Hamnet (2020)
N. wa Thiong'o, Petals of Blood (1977)
A lot of this was very good. Only a couple were excellent. People should all read Alexievich, but it wasn't as good as her superlative collection of voices from women in the war. It needed a structure. People all have read Hamnet, but I felt that its Shakespearean conceit was pointless, though the writing was supremely moving. Martine has written a space opera heavily influenced by Byzatine cultural asumptions - which I thoroughly enjoyed, but may be niche.
The two best: Guha's collection of cricket writing was superb. The start was slow, but more than made up for it by an outstanding series of essays collected in one place. It was as good as it should have been. Better yet, though, was Townsend's book on the Aztecs, which was revelatory, clear on the what it was telling us (and how to pronounce it - massive surprise). It was a great book and gave me the depth and insight that I wanted in this area. I've always been fascinated by the pre-Columbian American civilisations and I was delighted to discover that there is more source material than I had thought.
