Well, having trashed the idea yesterday of a Christmas book roll founded entirely on the ramblings of chefs and former inmates of the Celebrity Big Brother house, it is clearly now incumbent upon me to come a list with a list that shines with quality, or I'll be targeted for well-deserved abuse from the adherents to the read-what-Richard-and-Judy-tell-you-to approach to literature.
I'm going to divide my list into three sections: crime and genre fiction, other books and older books that I have discovered this year. In the first two sections I'm going to stick to new stuff, and in the others go to some back catalogue stuff that I have only found in 2007. Tomorrow, my own Christmas wish list. Just in case my Mum reads this.
Crime/genre fiction
1 - A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory. This is an outstandingly-crafted novel, covering several decades in the tramatised life of a young man whose already less-than-idyllic life in small town America was shattered by the serial murders of 10 young girls. It is a haunting, mesmerising tale, and I defy anyone who reads it not to trawl immediately for Ellory's impressive back catalogue.
2 - The 50/50 Killer by Steve Mosby. This is not one for the faint-hearted. A bloody, brutal and occasionally terrifying psychological thriller. This book follows the investigation into a serial killer who kidnaps couples and tortures them with the dark secrets of their relationship before making one of the subjects choose which of them is to be killed.
3 - Last Light by Alex Scarrow. What would happend to our comfortable, safe lives if the oil supply was suddenly turned off and basic staples such as food and water became scarce? Would we pull together in an apocalyptic spirit of the blitz or fall back into a Hobbesian every man for himself state of nature. This thought-provoking novel provides one man's vision of the answer.
4 - Damnation Falls by Edward Wright. A Civil War secret unearthed in rural Tennessee and the violent death of the mother of a former Governor are the starting point for a rich complex novel covering politics, business and the strangeness of families. Wright deserves to be a lot better known than he is.
5 - Dead Connection by Alafair Burke. In moving her novels from Portland to New York City, Burke recovers the freshness that was first attractive in her story-telling with an excellent police procedural in which a female NY detective hunts down a killer using internet dating to find his victims. An excellent modern thriller.
6 - Not Dead Enough by Peter James. Out in paperback just in time for Christmas, James's third Roy Grace novel confirms his place in the top tier of British police procedural writing. Grace investigates the death of a Brighton socialite, for which her husband is the prime suspect but also has the perfect alibi. Skilful, tight plotting and great writing again from James.
(And for those who get book vouchers for Christmas, I suggest you wait a week or two an pick up a copy of Deanna Raybourn's terrific debut, Silent in the Grave, in which an amateur, aristocratic Victorian sleuth teams up with a dark, mysterious man to hunt down her husband's killer.)
Other books
1 - Boomsday by Christopher Buckley. Question: How to deal with the great American debt problem and a looming social security crisis? Answer: Incentivise the Baby Boomer generation to commit suicide on retirement. Biting and hilarious political satire.
2 - The Ghost by Robert Harris. More political shenanigans, this time focusing on a former UK prime minister of the more-style-than-substance variety who is investigated by the international war crimes court, as seen through the eyes of the man charged with ghosting his autobiography.
3 - On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. A beautiful tale of innocence, love and loss, which starts with the opening night nerves of a married couple contemplating their first physical encounter. McEwan at his best.
4 - The Discovery of France by Graham Robb. Many of us spend a great deal of time in France marvelling at her beauty, gastronomy, wine, rich history and enviable way of life. For anyone interested in France, Robb's excellent alternative biography reveals another France altogether.
5 - The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. A small confession: I haven't read this book yet, having just picked it up a week or so ago on a trip to New England. But I know I'll love it, because Bohjalian hasn't let me down in any of the previous six books of his I've read. Bohjalian is a poetic, sensitive writer touched by story-telling brilliance.
Older stuff
1 - The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. This is by the far the best sports book I have read in 2007. It chronicles the tale of Michael Oher, a 350-giant from the worst side of Memphis who is thrown a lifeline by a rich Christian school that allows him to attend and a wealthy white family who take him in and make him one of their own. Oher, it turns out, is an incredibly gifted athlete whose size hides an astonishing agility and speed. Eventually he finds his feet on the football field and is given a scholarship to Ole Miss to play left tackle, from where he is expected to go on to riches and greatness in the NFL either next year or in 2009. Part of the book deals deals with the change in the game of football that has made left tackle one of the most important and highly paid positions on the field. This is fascinating and football people will love it. But it is the cultural and social progress of Oher that is most fascinating and this story of an uneducated poor black man making his way in the world of white privilege in the south is incredibly compelling and has appeal way beyond the field of play.
2 - The Broken Shore by Peter Temple. This story of the investigation into the violent death of an old rich man in rural Australia is the best crime novel I read in 2007 and one of the best three ever. It is simply brilliant in every aspect: a classic plot; convincing, rich characterisation; beautifully written employing authentic Aussia vernacular (for which, read swearing); and Temple really brings his setting alive.
3 - Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason. If The Broken Shore is top 3, this is probably top 10. When archeologists discover a decades old corpse during a dig, Inspector Erlendur is tasked with investigating what looks like a murder. A story that moves seamlessly back and forth between the present day and wartime, and deals with the horror of domestic violence, is atmospheric crime writing at its best.
4 - The Killing Jar by Nicola Monaghan. This is a seriously good book. One that I have passed around to numerous friends and relatives, all of whom have been as mesmerised by it as I was. It tells the sad story of the young life of Kerrie-Ann, a child born to the worst excesses of the most hopeless housing estate in Nottingham. Told in her own distinctive voice it pulls no punches in its description of how tough life can be in the corner of society that civilisation has either forgotten or ignored, and leaves the question: do kids born to such circumstances really have any chance in life?