Click on the title to read the review.

2023

July

June

Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty (Australia) (Fiction)

Whale, Cheon Myeong-Kwan (Korea) tr. Jae Won Chung (Korean) (fiction)

Cold Enough For Snow by Jessica Au (Australia) (Fiction)

May

Of Cattle and Men, Ana Paula Maia (Brazil) tr. Zoe Perry (Portuguese) (fiction/novella)

Grand: Becoming My Mother’s Daughter (NZ/Ireland), Noelle McCarthy (memoir)

River Spirit, Leila Aboulela (Sudan/Scotland) (Fiction)

Pod, Laline Paull (UK) (Natural World Fiction)

April

Still Born, Guadalupe Nettel (Mexico), tr. Rosalind Harvey (Spanish)

The Remains, Margot Glantz (Mexico), tr. Ellen Jones (Spanish)

Dance Move, Wendy Erskine (Ireland) (Short Stories)

March

Trespasses, Louise Kennedy (Northern Ireland) (Fiction)

A World of Love, Elizabeth Bowen (Ireland) (Fiction) (Classic)

The Country Girls Trilogy, Edna O’Brien (Ireland) (Fiction) (Classic)

#1 The Country Girls, Edna O’Brien (1960)

#2 The Lonely Girl, Edna O’Brien (1962)

#3 Girls In Their Married Bliss, Edna O’Brien (1964)

Forbidden Notebook, Alba de Céspedes (Italian/Cuban) tr. Ann Goldstein (Italian) (Fiction)

February

Factory Girls, Michelle Gallen (Ireland) (Fiction)

Birnam Wood, Eleanor Catton (New Zealand) (Fiction)

You Shall Leave Your Land, Renato Cisneros (Argentina) tr. Fionn Petch (Spanish) (Autofiction)

Things They Lost, Okwiri Oduor (Kenya) (Fiction/Magic Realism)

The Art of Losing, Alice Zeniter (French) tr. Frank Wynne (Historical Fiction)

Two Sherpas, Sebastian Martinez Daniell (Argentina) (Literary Fiction) tr. Jennifer Croft (Spanish)

Admiring Silence, Abdulrazak Gurnah (Zanzibar/Tanzania/UK) (Fiction) – Nobel Prize Literature (2021)

January

Seven Steeples, Sara Baume (Ireland) (Fiction)

All My Wild Mothers, Motherhood, Loss and an Apothecary Garden by Victoria Bennett (UK) (Nonfiction/Nature/Memoir)

The Arsonist’s City, Hala Alyan (Palestinian/American) (Fiction)

Dear Senthuran, A Black Spirit Memoir, Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria) (Nonfiction/Epistolary)

Child of Fortune, Yuko Tsushima (Japan) (Fiction) (Novella), tr. Geraldine Harcourt  (Japanese)

Three, Valérie Perrin (France) (Fiction) tr. Hildegarde Serle (French)

Free Love, Tessa Hadley (UK) (Fiction)

2022

December

Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell (UK/Ireland) (Fiction)

The Glass Blowers, Daphne du Maurier (UK) (Historical Fiction)

Man’s Search For Meaning, Victor E. Frankl (Austria) (Nonfiction/Psychology)

August

Towards Another Summer, Janet Frame (NZ) (Fiction)

June

Belle Greene, Alexandra Lapierre (France)  tr. Tina Kover (French) (historical fiction)

My Father’s Daughter, Hanna Azieb Pool (UK/Eritrea) (Adoptee Memoir)

April

Why Woo Woo Works, David Hamilton (Scotland) (Alternative Medicine/Therapy, Well-Being)

Ancestor Trouble, A Reckoning & a Reconciliation, Maud Newton (US) (Memoir/Genealogy)

What My Bones Know,  A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, Stefanie Foo (US) (Memoir)

Nora, A Love Story of Nora Barnacle & James Joyce, Nuala O’Connor (Ireland) (Historical Fiction)

Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems, Warsan Shire (UK) (Poetry)

March

The River Capture, Mary Costello (Ireland) (Fiction)

What Happened To You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing, Bruce Perry, Oprah Winfrey (US) (Psychology)

The Statement, Brian Moore (Northern Ireland) (Political Thriller)

The Passenger – Ireland (Essays, Art, Investigative Journalism)

Thin Places by Kerri ni Dochartaigh (Northern Ireland) (Creative Nonfiction)

I Will Die in a Foreign Land, Kalani Pickhart (US) (Set in Ukraine 2013/14) (Historical Fiction)

Saltwater in the Blood, Easkey Britton (Ireland) (Nonfiction)

The China Factory, Mary Costello (Ireland) (Short Stories)

The Last Resort, Jan Carson (N.Ireland) (Fiction)

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, Olga Tokarczuk(Poland) tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Fiction)

Assembly, Natasha Brown (UK) (Fiction)

February

There There, Tommy Orange (US) (Fiction)

All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks (US) (Nonfiction)

Remote Sympathy, Catherine Chidgey (New Zealand) (Historical Fiction)

Marzhan, mon amour, Katja Oskamp (Germany) tr; Jo Heinrich (German) (Fiction)

A Man’s Place, Annie Ernaux (France) tr. Tanya Leslie (French) (Autofiction)

A Sister’s Story, Donatella Di Pietrantonio (Italy) tr. Ann Goldstein (Italian) (Fiction)

January

Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) (Essay)

2021

December

Real Estate, Deborah Levy (South Africa/UK) (Memoir/Creative Nonfiction)

Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer (US) (Creative Non Fiction)

Postcard Stories, Jan Carson (Northern Ireland) (Short stories)

The Magician’s Wife, Brian Moore (Historical Fiction) (France/Algeria 1856)

The Lost Daughter, Elena Ferrante (Italy) tr. Ann Goldstein (Italian)

Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan, (Ireland) (Fiction)

November

Chouette, Claire Oshetsky (US) (Fiction)

A Line Made by Walking, Sara Baume (Ireland) (Fiction)

Minor Feelings, Cathy Park Hong (US) (Creative Nonfiction/Essays)

Corregidora, Gayl Jones (US) (Fiction)

The Son of the House, Cheluchi Onyemelukwe- Onuobia (Nigeria/Canada) (Fiction)(Giller Prize shortlist)

A Cupboard Full of Coats, Yvvette Edwards (UK) (Literary Fiction)

The Gods of Tango, Caroline de Robertis (Uruguay) (Historical Fiction)

Bewilderment, Richard Powers (US) (Fiction)

October

The Doctor’s Wife, Brian Moore (Northern Ireland) (Literary Fiction)

My Place, Sally Morgan (Australia) (Autobiography)

Voices of the Lost, Hoda Barakat (Lebanon) tr. Marilyn Booth (Arabic) (Literary Fiction) (Winner International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2019)

The Cost of Living, Deborah Levy (South Africa/UK) (Memoir/Essay)

Conjure Women, Akia Atakora (UK/US) (Historical Fiction) (Slavery)

Piranesi, Susanna Clarke (UK) (Fantasy Fiction) (Winner Women’s Prize 2021)

Winter Flowers, Angélique Villeneuve (France) tr. Adriana Hunter (Literary Fiction) (WWI)

Things I Don’t Want to Know, Deborah Levy (South Africa/UK) (Memoir/Essay)

Diary of a Young Naturalist, Dara McAnulty (Northern Ireland) (Non Fiction) (Nature Writing)

Sept

Sugar, Bernice McFadden (US) (Fiction)

The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin (US) (2 Letters/Essays)

How Beautiful We Were, Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon/US) (Fiction)

The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams (Australia) (Historical Fiction)

Cut From the Same Cloth, Muslim Women on Life in Britain, Edited Sabeena Akhtar (UK) (Essays) (Non Fiction)

Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi (US/Ghana) (Literary Fiction)

Islands of Mercy, Rose Tremain (UK) (Historical Fiction)

A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson (Canada) (Literary Fiction) (Booker Prize Longlist)

Waiting for the Waters to Rise, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe) tr. Richard Philcox (French) (Fiction)

Aug

Loop, Brenda Lozano (Mexico) tr. Annie McDermott (Spanish) (Fiction)

July

The Old Drift, Namwali Serpell (Zambia) (Fiction)

June

Aroha, Hinemoa Elder (NZ) (Nonfiction)

Love, Anger, Madness, Marie Vieux-Chauvet (Haiti), tr. Rose Myriam-Rèjouis, Val Vinokur (Fiction Trilogy, Novellas)

The Female Archangels, Claire Stone (UK) (Spiritual Well-Being)

Sea People, Christina Thompson (Australia/US) (History/Nonfiction)

Breath, James Nestor (US) (Nonfiction)

The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey (Trinidadian-British) (Fiction)

Silence is a Sense, Layla AlAmmar (Kuwait) (Fiction)

May

Forced to Grow, Sindiwe Magona (South Africa) (Autobiography 2)

To My Children’s Children, Sindiwe Magona (South Africa) (Autobiography 1)

April

Worth, Bharti Dir (Uganda) (Memoir)

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Brian Moore, (Northern Ireland) (Fiction)

Nurturing Our Humanity, Riane Eisler, Douglas Fry (Austria/US) (Social Science/Cultural History/Anthropology)

Setting Boundaries Will Set You Free, Nancy Levin (US) (Self Help, Psychology)

Sensitive is the New Strong, Anita Moorjani (Spiritual Well-Being) (Hong Kong/India/US)

March

Constellations, Reflections From Life, Sinéad Gleeson (Ireland) (Non Fiction)

Tangleweed and Brine, Deirdre Sullivan (Ireland) (Classic Fairytale Feminist Retellings)

The Fire Starters, Jan Carson (Ireland) (Fiction)

The First Woman, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbui (Uganda/UK) (Fiction)

Infinite Country, Patricia Engel (Colombia/US) (Fiction)

Lies of Silence, Brian Moore (Ireland) (Fiction)

The Soul of a Woman, Isabelle Allende (Chile/US) (Memoir)

February

The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett (US) (Fiction)

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (US) (Fiction)

The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins (UK/Jamaica) (Gothic Fiction)

A Mercy by Toni Morrison (US) (Fiction)

A More Perfect Union by Tammye Huf (US/UK) (Historical Fiction) (inspired by great great grandparents)

Beyond Black There is No Colour: The Story of Forough Farrokhzad by Maryam Diener (Iran) (Fiction)

The Great Fortune, The Balkan Trilogy 1 by Olivia Manning (UK) (Historical Fiction)

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua/America) (Fiction)

January

The Yield, Tara June Winch (Australia) (Fiction)

Gratitude, Delphine de Vigan (France) tr. George Miller (French) (Fiction)

I Am, I Am, I Am, Seventeen Brushes With Death, Maggie O’Farrell (Northern Ireland/British) (Non Fiction) (Memoir)

Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf (US) (Fiction)

When All is Said, Anne Griffith (Ireland) (Fiction)

Potiki, Patricia Grace (NZ) (Fiction)

Spill Simmer Falter Wither, Sara Baume (Ireland) (Fiction)

December

Fresh Water for Flowers, Valérie Perrin (France) tr. Hildegarde Serle (French) (Fiction)

Love After Love, Ingrid Persaud (Trinidad & Tobago) (Fiction)

The Death of Vivek Oji, Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria) (Fiction)

The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy (Australia) (Fiction)

Everything Inside, Edwidge Danticat (Haiti) (Short Stories)

All You Can Ever Know, Nicole Chung (US) (Memoir)

A Spell in the Wild, A Year & Six Centuries of Magic, Alice Tarbuck (Scotland) (NonFiction)

November

I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe) tr. Richard Philcox (French)

Tituba of Salem Village, A Novel Based on the Witch Trials of 1692 by Ann Petry (Historical Fiction)

The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante (Italy) tr. Ann Goldstein (Italian)

Atlantis, A Journey in Search of Beauty, Carlo & Renzo Piano (Italy), tr. Will Schutt (Italian) (Nonfiction)

Handiwork, Sara Baume (Ireland) (Creative Nonfiction)

You Don’t Look Adopted, Anne Heffron (US) (Nonfiction)

Hadji Murad, Leo Tolstoy (Russia) tr. Maude Aylmer (Auto-fiction) (Classic)

The Kindness of Enemies, Leila Aboulela (Sudan/Scotland) (Historical Fiction)

October

Leonard & Hungry Paul, Ronan Hession (Ireland) (DNF)

Strange Flowers, Donal Ryan (Ireland) (Fiction)

Savage Her Reply, Deidre Sullivan (Ireland) (Irish Fairytale)

A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann Ni Ghriofa (Ireland) (Creative Nonfiction)

A Girl Returned, Donatella Di Pietrantonio (Italy), tr. Ann Goldstein (Italian) (Fiction Novella)

Intimations, Zadie Smith (UK) (Essays)

The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia) (Historical/Literary Fiction)

September

The Death of Bagrat Zakharych and Other Stories, Vazha-Pshavela (Georgia) tr. Ruth Gould (Classic Short Story)

In the Shadow of Death, Rudolf Blaumanis (Latvia) tr. Uldis Balodis (Classic Short Story)

Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zose, Zemaite (Lithuania) tr. Violeta Keletas (Classic Short Story)

The Butterfly Man & Other Stories, Mehis Heinsaar (Estonia) tr. Adam Cullen, Tina Randviir (Classic Short Story)

This Mournable Body, (Nervous Conditions #3) Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) (Fiction)

The Bird Within Me, Sara Lundberg (Sweden), tr. B.J.Epstein (Children’s)

The Rain Heron, Robbie Arnott (Australia) (Fiction)

The Book of Not (Nervous Conditions #2) Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) (Fiction)

Summerwater, Sarah Moss (UK) (Fiction)

August

The Party Wall, Catherine Leroux (Canada) tr. Lazer Lederhendler (French)

Naondel, #2 Maria Turtschaninoff (Finland) tr. Annie Prime (Finnish) (YA Fantasy)

Maresi, #1 Maria Turtschaninoff (Finland) tr. Annie Prime (Finnish) (YA Fantasy)

Sex and Lies, Leila Slimani (Morocco) tr. Sophie Lewis (French) (Nonfiction Essays)

The Red Sofa, Michèle Lesbre (France) tr. David Ball, Nicole Ball (French) (Fiction)

Crossing the Mangrove, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe) tr. Richard Philcox (French) (Fiction)

Stories of the Sahara, Sanmao (Taiwan) tr. Mike Fu (Chinese) (Nonfiction, Memoir)

Troubling Love, Elena Ferrante (Italy) tr. Ann Goldstein(Italian) (Fiction)

The Wind that Lays Waste, Selma Almara (Argentina) tr. (Spanish)(Fiction)

Berji Kristen, Tales from the Garbage Hills, Latife Tekin (Turkey) tr. Kay Hekkinnen (Turkish) (Fiction)

July

The Woman From Tantoura, Radwa Ashour (Egypt) tr. Kay Heikkinen (Arabic) (Fiction)

The Sea Around Us, Rachel Carson (US) (Non-fiction)

The Warmth of Other Suns, Irene Wilkerson (US) (Non-fiction)

Writers & Lovers, Lily King (US) (Fiction)

June

Bird Summons, Leila Aboulela (Sudan/Scotland)(Fiction)

Passing, Nella Larsen (US) (Fiction)

Quicksand, Nella Larsen (US) (Fiction) (semi-autobiographical)

Not Without Laughter, Langston Hughes (US) (Novel – semi-autobiographical)

The Ferryman’s Daughter, Juliet Greenwood (Wales) (Historical Fiction)

Burn, Patrick Ness (US/London) (Fantasy YA)

Recollections of My NonExistence, Rebecca Solnit (US) (Essays)

I Am Dust, Louise Beech (UK)

May

Auē, Becky Manawatu (NZ)

Big Girl, Small Town, Michelle Gallen (Northern Ireland) (Fiction)

Three Ways to Disappear, Katy Yocom (US) (Set in India)

The Resilient Farmer, Doug Avery (NZ) (Memoir)

On Chapel Sands, Laura Cumming (UK) (Memoir)

Circe, Madeline Miller (US)

Butterfly, From Refugee to Olympian, My Story of Rescue, Hope & Triumph Yusra Mardini (Syria) (Memoir)

The Gustav Sonata, Rose Tremain (UK)

Apr

Good Behaviour, Molly Keane (Ireland) (Anglo-Irish Fiction)

Far Away and Long Ago, William H.Hudson (Argentina) (Childhood Memoir, Naturalist)

Courageous Dreaming, Alberto Villoldo (Cuba) (Shamanic Philosophy)

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Korea) (Historical Fiction)

Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, Elizabeth Taylor (UK)

Dodging Energy Vampires, Christiane Northrup (US) (Well-Being)

Benediction, Kent Haruf (US) #3 (Trilogy)

Eventide, Kent Haruf (US) #2 (Trilogy)

Plainsong, Kent Haruf (US) #1 (Trilogy)

Surfacing Part I, Kathleen Jamie (Scotland) (Nature/Archaeology Essays)

Surfacing Part II, Kathleen Jamie (Scotland) (Nature/Archaeology Essays)

The Adventures of China Iron, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Argentina), tr. Fiona Mackintosh, Iona Macintyre (Spanish)

Mar

The Shackle, Colette tr. Antonia White (France)

The Book of Harlan, Bernice L.McFadden (US) (HIstorical Fiction)

Kindred, Octavia E. Butler (US) (Historical Fiction)

The Situation & The Story, The Art of the Personal Narrative, Vivian Gornick (US) (Nonfiction)

Where The Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens (US)

1968: The Year That Rocked the World, Mark Kurlanksy (US) (History)

Feb

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, Azar Shokoofeh (Iran)(translated from Farsi)

Map of Another Town, M.F.K.Fisher (US)(Essays on Aix en Provence)

Jan

The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa (Japan)

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong (US)

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E.Harrow (US)

Angelic Attendants, What Really Happens As We Transition From This Life to the Next, Julie Ryan

2019

December

Remembering the Future, Colette Baron-Reid

The Grief Recovery Handbook, by John W. James, Russell Friedman

August

Her Mother’s Mother’s Mother & Her Daughters, Maria José Silveira (Brazil) tr. Eric Becker (Portuguese)

Celestial Bodies, Jokha AlHarthi (Oman) tr. Marilyn Booth (Arabic)

This Mortal Boy, Fiona Kidman (NZ)

Mary Magdalene Revealed, The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven’t Tried Yet, Meggan Watterson (US)

July

Transit, Anna Seghers (Germany) tr. Barbara Bray (German)

The Long Song, Andrea Levy (UK)

The Chalice and the Blade, Riane Eisler (US) (Social History)

The Gold Letter, Lena Manta (Greece) tr. Gail Holst-Warhaft (Greek)

Never Stop Walking, A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World, Christina Rickardsson (Brazil), tr.
Tara F. Chace (Swedish)

Without a Map, Meredith Hall (US)

Maria in the Moon, Louise Beech (UK)

June

The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See (US)

Feebleminded, Ariana Harwicz (Argentina), (Reviewed on Goodreads)

Gardens in the Dunes, Leslie Marmon Silko (US)

May

Vintage 1954, Antoine Laurain (France) tr. Jane Aitken, Emily Boyce (French)

La Tresse, Laetitia Colombani (France) (read in French)

Crooked Grow the Trees, Carmel Hanes (US)

The Delicacy and Strength of Lace, Letters, Leslie Marmon Silko & James Wright, Edited by Anne Wright

Ceremony, Leslie Marmon Silko (US)

April

Drawing Lessons, Patricia Sands (Canada)

Becoming, Michelle Obama (US)

If I Had Two Lives, Abbigail Rosewood (Vietnam)

Secret, Philippe Grimbert (France), tr. Polly McLean (French)

Trout, Belly Up, Rodrigo Fuentes (Guatemala), tr. Ellen Jones (Spanish)

Zuleikha, Guzel Yakhina (Russia) tr. Lisa Hayden (Russian)

The Turquoise Ledge, Leslie Marmon Silko (US)

March

Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi (Nigeria)

Hourglass – Time, Memory, Marriage, Dani Shapiro (US)

Dying to Be Me, Anita Moorjani (Hong Kong)

February

Every Light in the House Burnin’ by Andre Levy (UK)

The Atlas of Reds and Blues, Devi S. Laskar (US)

The Joys of Motherhood, Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria)

If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin (US)

Praise Song for the Butterflies, Bernice L. McFadden (US)

An Affair With My Mother, Catriona Palmer (Ireland)

January

Total Chaos, Jean-Claude Izzo (France) tr: Howard Curtis (2005)

House of Stone, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma (Zimbabwe) (2019)

The Baghdad Clock, Shahad Al Rawi (Iraq), tr. Luke Leafgren (Arabic) (2018)

Teethmarks on My Tongue, Eileen Battersby (Ireland) (2016)

Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel, Ruth Hogan (UK) (2019)

Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)  (1998)

Nothing But Dust, Sandrine Collette (France), tr. Alison Anderson (2018)

Sister Outsider, Audre Lorde (US) (1984)

2018

December

One Spirit Medicine by Alfredo Villoldo (US)

A Thousand Mornings, Mary Oliver (US)

Just Like February, Deborah Batterman (US)

Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams (US)

November

Bad Blood, Lorna Sage (Wales)

Farewell, My Orange, Iwaki Kei (Japan/Australia) tr. Merdith McKinney (Japanese)

A Long Way Home (Lion), Saroo Brierley (Australia/India), Larry Buttrose (ghostwriter)

Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness, Betty Jean Lifton (US)

Milkman, Anna Burns (N.Ireland)

October

Little, Edward Carey (UK)

Bitter Orange, Claire Fuller (UK)

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (UK)

August

Hanna’s Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson (Sweden) tr. Joan Tate

The Other Side of the Mountain, Erendiz Atasu (Turkey), Elisabeth Maslen

Smoking Kills, Antoine Laurain (France) Louise Rogers Lalaurie (translator)

The Open Door, Latifa Al-Zayyat (Egypt), Marilyn Booth(Translator)

Disoriental, Négar Djavadi (Iran/France), Tina Kover (translator)

Visitation, Jenny Erpenbeck (Germany), Susan Bernofsky (translator)

Mend the Living, Maylis de Kerangal (France), Jessica Moore (translator)

July

The Four Insights – Wisdom, Power and Grace of the Earthkeepers by Alberto Villoldo

Shaman, Healer, Sage – How to Heal Yourself and Others with the Energy Medicine of The Americas by Alberto Villoldo

The Hope Fault, Tracy Farr (NZ/Australia)

May

Cross Stitch (Outlander #1), Diana Gabaldon (US) (set in Scotland)

The Keeper of Lost Things, Ruth Hogan (UK)

April

Songs From the Violet Cafe by Fiona Kidman (NZ)

A Catalog of Birds by Laura Harrington (US)

The Long Forgotten by David Whitehouse (UK)

The Sealwoman’s Gift, Sally Magnusson (Icelandic/Scottish)

The Stolen Bicycle, Wu Ming-Yi (Taiwan) tr. Darryl Sterk

March

Die, My Love, Ariana Harwicz (Argentina) tr. Caroline Orloff

Kintu, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda)

When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife, Meena Kandasamy (India)

Three Things About Elsie, Joanna Cannon (UK)

Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout (US)

My Name is Lucy Barton, Elizabeth Strout (US)

February

Happiness, Aminatta Forna (Scotland)

Winter Sisters, Robin Oliveira (US)

The Heart’s Invisible Furies, John Boyne (Ireland)

So Long A Letter, Mariama Bâ (Senegal), tr. Modupé Bodé-Thomas (French)

Reservoir 13, Jon McGregor (UK)

Intuition, Osho (India)

Petit Pays by Gaël Faye (France)

January

The Mother of All Questions, Rebecca Solnit (US)

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward (US)

The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry (UK)

Sightlines, Kathleen Jamie (Scotland)

The Hero’s Journey, Joseph Campbell (US)

2017

December

I am Missing, Tim Weaver

November

Autumn by Ali Smith

Light Warrior, Kyle Gray

October

Rise Sister Rise, Rebecca Campbell

Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward (US)

Salt Creek, Lucy Treloar (Australia)

September

Light is the new Black, Rebecca Campbell (UK based Australian)

Nothing Holds Back the Night by Delphine de Vigan (France) tr. George Miller (French)

Eve out of her Ruins, Ananda Devi (Mauritius) tr. Jeffrey Zuckerman (French)

August

The Complete Claudine, Colette (France), tr. Antonia White, An Introduction Judith Thurman

Book 1: Claudine at School

Book 2: Claudine in Paris

Book 3: Claudine Married

Book 4: Claudine and Annie

Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh (India)

All We Shall Know, Donal Ryan (Ireland)

The Story of the Cannibal Woman, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe/France), tr. Richard Philcox

Home Fire, Kamila Shamsie (UK/Pakistan)

The Woman Next Door, Yewande Omotoso (Barbados/UK/Sth Africa)

July

Swing Time, Zadie Smith (UK)

The Power, Naomi Alderman (UK)

The Spiral Staircase, Karen Armstrong (UK)

Two Old Women, An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival, Velma Wallis (Alaska)

Ladivine, Marie NDiaye (France), tr. Jordan Stump (French)

The Mountain in my Shoe, Louise Beech (UK)

June

The Divine Matrix, Gregg Braden (US)

Exit West, Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan)

Sealskin, Su Bristow (UK)

May

Raise Your Vibration, Kyle Gray (UK)

The Map, Colette Baron Reid (Canada)

April

Salt Houses, Hala Alyan (US)

Eva Sleeps, Francesca Melandri (Italy) tr. Katherine Gregor

The Bastards of Pizzofalcone, Maurizio De Giovanni (Italy), tr. Andrew Shugaar

Frantumaglia, A Writer’s Journey, Elena Ferrante (Italy) tr. Ann Goldstein

Ties, Domenico Starnone (Italy), Jhumpha Lahiri (translator)

Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeleine Thien (Canada)

March

The Last Gods of Indochine by Samuel Ferrer (Cambodia)

Stay With Me, Ayobami Adebayo (Nigeria)

Three Daughters of Eve, Elif Shafak (Turkey)

The Outermost House, Henry Beston (US)

February

Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Ghana)

The Good People, Hannah Kent (Australia)

Worthy, Nancy Levin (US)

January

My Story, Jo Malone (UK)

Cereus Blooms at Night, Shani Mootoo (Trinidad)

Island of a Thousand Mirrors, Nayomi Munaweera (Sri Lanka)

Swimming Lessons, Claire Fuller (UK)

Blue Nights, Joan Didion (US)

2016

December

The Dry, Jane Harper (Australia)

The Captive Wife, Fiona Kidman (New Zealand)

A Woman on the Edge of Time, Jeremy Gavron (England)

November

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? Jeanette Winterson (England)

Uncharted, Colette Baron Reid (Canada)

October

Ocean Echoes, Sheila Hirst

How To Be Brave, Louise Beech

One Hundred Shadows, Hwang Jungeun (Korea), Jung Yewon (translator)

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

Making Life Easy, A Simple Guide to a Divinely Inspired Life, Christiane Northrup

The Humans, Matt Haig

The Ballroom, Anna Hope

September

What if this is Heaven? How Our Cultural Myths Prevent Us From Experiencing Heaven on Earth, Anita Moorjani (Hong Kong/US)

Voyage in the Dark, Jean Rhys (Dominca/UK)

August

An Unnecessary Woman, Rabih Alameddine (Lebanon)

The Fox Was Ever the Hunter, Herta Müller (Romania), Philip Boehm(German) – DNF

Woman at Point Zero, Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt), Sherif Hetata (translator)

The Days of Abandonment, Elena Ferrante (Italy), Ann Goldstein (translator)

Affections, Rodrigo Hasbun (Bolivia), tr. Sophie Hughes (Spanish)

Bonjour Tristesse, Françoise Sagan (France), Irene Ash (translator)

Where the River Parts, Radhika Swarup (India)

Masks, Fumiko Enchi (Japan), Juliet Winters Carpenter (translator)

A Season in Rihata, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), Richard Philcox (translated from French)

A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James (Jamaica)

The Bridge of Beyond, Simone Schwarz-(Guadeloupe), Barbara Bray (translated from French)

The Looking-Glass Sisters,  Gøhril Gabrielsen, (Norway) John Irons (translator)

The Blue Satin Nightgown by Karin Crilly

The Door, Magda Szabó (Hungary), tr. Len Rix (translator)

The Bright Edge of the World, Eowyn Ivey (Alaska)

The Vegetarian, Han Kang (South Korea) tr. Deborah Smith (translator)

The Rabbit House, Laura Alcoba (Argentina) tr. Polly McLean (translated from French)

July

The Bones of Grace, Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)

The Good Muslim, Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)

A Golden Age, Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)

A Whole Life, Robert Seethaler (Austria) tr. Charlotte Collins (German)

June

Fever at Dawn, Péter Gárdos (Hungary), tr. Elizabeth Szász (Hungarian)

The Man Who Snapped His Fingers, Fariba Hachtroudi (Iran), tr. Alison Andersen (French)

Barkskins, Annie Proulx

May

April

The Infinite Air, Fiona Kidman (New Zealand)

A Drop in the Ocean, Jenni Ogden (New Zealand)

March

Paint Your Wife, Lloyd Jones (New Zealand)

The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka (US)

ARTE by Kei Ohkubo (Japan)

February

Human Acts, Han Kang (Korea), Deborah Smith (translator)

Into the Magic Shop, A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart, James R. Doty (US)

Georgia, A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe by Dawn Tripp (US)

What Lies Between Us, Nayomi Munaweera (Sri Lanka)

January

Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life, Sylvia Boorstein

Two Serious Ladies, Jane Bowles (US)

February, Lisa Moore (Canada)

Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert (US)

Brother, I’m Dying, Edwidge Danticat (Haiti)

The Gift of Stones, Jim Crace (UK)

The Whispering Muse, Sjón (Iceland), Victoria Cribb (translator)

2015

December

Charming Billy, Alison McDermott (US)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot (US)

The Poisoning Angel, Jean Teulé, (France) Melanie Florence (translator)

Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff (US)

The Secret Chord, Geraldine Brooks (Australia) set in Palestine

The Colour, Rose Tremain (UK) set in NZ

November

God Help the Child, Toni Morrison (America)

The Life and Loves of Lena Gaunt, Tracy Farr (Australia)

All Our Names, Dinaw Mengestu (Ethiopia)

Human Chain, Seamus Heaney (Poetry) Foster, Claire Keegan (Ireland)

The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, Katarina Bivald (Sweden), Alice Menzies (translator)

The Garden of Evening Mists, Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)

October

The Pollen Room, by Zoë Jenny (Switzerland), Elizabeth Gaffney (translator) German

Miss Emily, Nuala O’Connor (Ireland)

Under the Udala Trees,  Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria)

Segu, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), tr.Barbara Bray (French)

September

The Story of the Lost Child, Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (translator) Italian

August

Agaat, Marlene van Niekerk (South Africa), Michiel Heyns (translator) Afrikaans

Purge, Sofi Oksanen (Estonia), Lola Rogers (translator) Finnish

Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina García

July

2666, Roberto Bolano (Chile) tr. Natasha Wimmer (Spanish)

A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua)

Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (Haiti)

Victoire: My Mother’s Mother, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), tr.Richard Philcox (French)

To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface, Olivia Laing (UK)

Under the Sea-Wind, Rachel Carson (US)

From Caucasia, With Love, Danzy Senna (US)

Lotusland, David Joiner (set in Vietnam)

June

The Wall, Marlen Haushofer (Austria), tr. Shaun Whiteside (German)

The Writing Life, Annie Dillard (US)

Ru, Kim Thuy (Vietnamese-Canadian) (Read in French)

Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness, Jennifer Tseng (US)

Enchanted August, Brenda Bowen (US)

The President’s Hat, Antoine Laurain (France), tr. Jane Aitken, Emily Boyce, Louise Lalaurie (French)

Tales From The Heart, True Stories From My Childhood, Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe), tr. Richard Philcox (French)

The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim (set in Italy)

May

Reader for Hire, Raymond Jean, tr. Adriana Hunter (French)

Tiny Beautiful Things, Cheryl Strayed

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan

Moloka’i, Alan Brennert

The Waves, Virginia Woolf

April

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy, Rachel Joyce

March

The Autobiography of My Mother, Jamaica Kincaid (Antigua)

Ladder of Years, Anne Tyler

A Spool of Blue Thread, Anne Tyler

February

The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin Extence

White Hunger, Aki Ollikainen, Emily Jeremiah, Fleur Jeremiah (translators) Finnish

The African Equation, Yasmina Khadra (Algeria), Howard Curtis (translator) French

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, The Life of Rosa Parks, Douglas Brinkley

Unbowed, One Woman’s Story, Wangari Maathai (Kenya)

The Tusk That Did The Damage, Tania James

The Red Notebook, Antoine Laurain, Emily Boyce, Jane Aitken (transators) French

Our Endless Numbered Days, Claire Fuller

Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee

January

Wolf Winter, Cecilia Ekbäck

The Poet Slave of Cuba, A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, Margarita Engle

The Yellow Rain, Julio Llamazares, Margaret Jull Costa (translator) Spanish

Kamchatka, Marcelo Figueras, Frank Wynne (translator) Argentina, Spanish

Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman, Friedrich Christian Delius, Jamie Bulloch (translator) German Stone in a Landslide by Maria Barbal, Laura McGloughlin, Paul Mitchell (translators) Catalan

Beside the Sea, Véronique Olmi, Adriana Hunter (translator) French

Wake by Elizabeth Knox

2014

December

Savage Girl, Jean Zimmerman

Under the Tripoli Sky, Kamal Ben Hameda, Adriana Hunter (translator) French

The Dead Lake, Hamid Ismailov, Andrew Bromfield (translator) Russian

Sidewalks, Valeria Luiselli, Christina MacSweeney (translator) Spanish

The Closet of Savage Mementos, Nuala Ní Chonchúir The Waves, Virginia Woolf

Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson

Migrating Voids, David Walker

November

The Bees, Laline Paull

Ignoring Gravity, Sandra Danby

All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, A.W.Wheen (translator) German

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (translator) Italian

The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Richard Flanagan

October

The Vatican Cellars, Andre Gidé, Julian Evans (translator) French

The Story of a New Name, Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (translator) Italian

Nora Webster, Colm Tóibín

H is For Hawk, Helen McDonald

September

My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (translator) Italian

Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter, Simone De Beauvoir, James Kirkup (translator) French

August

Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain

July

Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom

Mrs. Hemingway, Naomi Wood

Family Heirlooms, Tavares, Zulmira Ribeiro,Daniel Hahn (translator) Portugese (Brazil)

Good Morning, Mr Mandela, Zelda la Grange

Sula, Toni Morrison

The Italian Chapel, Philip Paris

June

Art in Nature, Tove Jansson, Thomas Teal (translator) Swedish

May

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair,  Joël Dicker, Sam Taylor (translator) French

Carrots and Jaffas, Howard Goldenberg

The Blue Room,  Hanne Ørstavik, Deborah Dawkin (translator) Norwegian

Before I Go to Sleep, S.J. Watson

The Toga and The Rose, Sheighle Birdthistle

Prayers for the Stolen, Jennifer Clement

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Celebrating the Joys of Letter Writing,  Nina Sankovitch

The Expedition to the Baobab Tree, Wilma Stockenström, J.M Coetzee (translator) Afrikaans

April

The True Deceiver, Tove Jansson, Thomas Teal (translator) Swedish

Nada, Carmen Laforet, Edith Grossman (translator) Spanish

The Rooms Are Filled, Jessica Null Vealitzek

Nagasaki, Eric Faye, Emily Boyce (translator) French

The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr

March

All the Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld

The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, Fatima Bhutto

We That Are Left, Juliet Greenwood

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, Ann Patchett

 

February

The Museum of Extraordinary Things, Alice Hoffman

The Missing One, Lucy Atkins

The Foundling Boy, Michel Deon, Julian Evans (translator) French

The Crane Wife, Patrick Ness

Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez

The People in the Book (Eux sur la photo), Hélène Gestern, Emily Boyce, Ros Schwartz (translators) French

 

January

I Always Loved You: A  Novel, Robin Oliveira

Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes, Per Petterson, Don Bartlett (translator)  Norwegian

Eugene Onegin, Alexander Pushkin, James E. Falen (translator) Russian

Chapters 1 & 2

Chapters 3 & 4

Chapters 5 & 6

Chapters 7 & 8

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, Anne Fadiman

2013

December

The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert

The Lost Domain (Les Grandes Meaulnes), Alain Fournier

Just Like Tomorrow (Kiffe Kiffe Demain), Faïza Guène

Brodeck’s Report, Phillipe Claudel

Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline

The Hidden Lamp, Florence Caplow

 

November

Excellent Women, Barbara Pym

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, Sun-mi Hwang

The First Rule of Swimming, Courtney Angela Brkic

The Hired Man, Aminatta Forna

The Sea Close By, Albert Camus (2 essays)

Unsettled, Neelima Vinod

 

October

Helium, Jaspreet Singh

Aimless Love, Billy Collins

The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo, F. G. Haghenbeck

The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton

Mr Darwin’s Gardener, Kristina Carlson

A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Therese Anne Fowler

 

September

Death in the Vines, M.L.Longworth

A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness

The Summer Book, Tove Jansson

The Drowning of Arthur Braxton, Caroline Smailes

 

August

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

The Cleaner of Chartres, Salley Vickers

A Hundred Thousand White Stones: An Ordinary Tibetan’s Extraordinary Journey, Kunsung Dolma

Look Again, Lisa Scottoline

We Need New Names, NoViolet Bulawayo

Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

July

The Spinning Heart, Donal Ryan

The Mussel Feast, Birgit Vanderbeke

Stet, An Editor’s Life, Diana Athill

The Son, Philipp Meyer (DNF)

Manolo Blahnik Drawings

Shoes Hair Nails, by Deborah Batterman

The Honey Thief, Najaf Mazari

The Rain Before it Falls, Jonathan Coe

Transatlantic, Colum McCann

 

June

The Examined Life, Stephen Grosz

Magda, Meike Ziervogel

The Exiles Return, Elisabeth De Waal

The Faraway Nearby, Rebecca Solnit

She Left Me the Gun, Emma Brockes

Portrait of a Turkish Family, Irfan Orga

 

May

The Dervish, Frances Kazan

Patasana, Ahmet Ümit

Istanbul: Memories of a City, Orhan Pamuk

Tender is the Night, F.Scott Fitzgerald (DNF)

The Burgess Boys, Elizabeth Strout

 

April

Me Before You, Jojo Moyes

Shadows & Wings, Niki Tulk

Flight Behaviour, Barbara Kingsolver

The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald

Lost Cat, Caroline Paul

Mom & Me & Mom, Maya Angelou

Ignorance, Michéle Roberts

NW, Zadie Smith

 

March

Howard’s End is on the Landing, Susan Hill

Canada, Richard Ford

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, Edmund De Waal

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce

The Romantics: A Novel, Pankaj Mishra

 

February

Elizabeth and her German Garden, Elizabeth von Armin

A Winter Book, Selected Stories by Tove Jansson

There Once Lived A Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, And He Hanged Himself: Love Stories by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

Life after Life, Kate Atkinson

Revenge, Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa

January

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan

Honour, Elif Shafak

The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity, Elif Shafak

Findings, Kathleen Jamie

Le Testament Français, Andreï Makine (DNF)

The Zenith, Dương Thu Hương

The Industry of Souls, Martin Booth

2012

A Month in the Country, J.L. Carr

The Bridge Club, Patricia Sands

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

The Light Between Oceans, M.L.Stedman

Book 3, 1Q84, Haruki Murakami

A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel (DNF)

Rebecca, Daphne de Maurier

La Petite Fille de Monsieur Linh, Philippe Claudel

The Gift of Rain, Tan Twan Eng

The Black Count – Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, Tom Reiss

The White Forest, Adam McOmber

Swimming Home, Deborah Levy

When Women Were Birds – 54 Variations on Voice, Terry Tempest Williams

The Lifeboat, Charlotte Rogan

Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace, Kate Summerscale

1Q84, Haruki Murakami

In the Shadow of the Banyan, Vaddey Ratner

The Memory of Love, Aminatta Forna

The Red Tent, Anita Diamant

Thomas Jefferson – Lessons from a Secret Buddha, Suneel Dhand

The Coward’s Tale, Vanessa Gebbie

A Lady Cyclists Guide to Kashgar, Suzanne Joinson

Lucretia and the Kroons, Victor Lavalle

Red Dust Road, Jackie Kay

Wild, Cheryl Strayed

And the Band Played On, Christopher Ward

A Night to Remember, Walter Lord

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri

The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy

The Pearl, John Steinbeck

The Smile, Ray Bradbury

The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller

If This is a Man : The Truce, Primo Levi

Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri

Death at Château Bremont, M.L. Longworth

Sister, Rosamund Lupton

The Maid and the Queen – The Secret History of Joan of Arc, Nancy Goldstone

State of Wonder, Ann Patchett

In the Springtime of the Year, Susan Hill

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford

Summer, Edith Wharton

Shantaram, Gregory David Roberts

Third Culture Kids, David Pollock & Ruth Van Reken

Second Person Singular, Sayed Kashua

Eden’s Garden, Juliet Greenwood

Lives other than my own, Emmanuel Carrère

The Book of Lost Fragrances, M.J.Rose

The Château, William Maxwell

The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey ***Top Read***

The Wild Book, Margarita Engle

A Week in December, Sebastian Faulks

The Woman in Black, Susan Hill

That Deadman Dance, Kim Scott

All Our Worldly Goods, Irène Némirovsky

Fire in the Blood, Irène Némirovsky

Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton

Caleb’s Crossing, Geraldine Brooks

La Seduction – How the French play the game of life, Elaine Sciolino

The Tiger’s Wife, Téa Obreht

Ragnörak, A.S. Byatt

Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

2011

‘Perfect Hostage’ Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma and the Generals, Justin Wintle

The Housekeeper + The Professor,  Yoko Ogawa

A Visit from the Goon Squad , Jennifer Egan

If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italo Calvino

The Pyschopath Test, Jonathan Ronson

Island Beneath the Sea, Isabelle Allende

The Forest for the Trees, Betsy Lerner

The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain

In Her Wake, Nancy Rappaport

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Lacuna, Barbara Kingsolver

Seven Days to Tell You, Ruby Soames

These is My Words +Sarah’s Quilt + A Star Garden, Nancy E Turner

The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B, Sandra Gulland

Tales of Passion- Tales of Woe, Sandra Gulland

The Last Great Dance on Earth,  Sandra Gulland