From the Heart of Europe
The Eleanor Crosses. (And book by Alice Loxton.)
The Recollections: Fragments from a Life in Writing, by Christopher Priest
Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy, by Christopher R. Hill
Thursday reading
Stone and Sky, by Ben Aaronovitch
Cloud Eight, by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle
The Doors of Midnight, by R.R. Virdi
Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown, by Rory Carroll
Joseph Wright and Victoria Stanley at the National Gallery
The best known books set in each country: Sweden
BSFA Shortlists
Country Christie, by Agatha Christie
Thursday reading
Stung With Love: Poems and Fragments, by Sappho, translated and edited by Aaron Poochigan
The Doctor Who Yearbook 1995, eds Gary Russell and Peri Goodbold
The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi
Elfland, by Freda Warrington
The Rebel and Phoenix Awards
The best known books set in each country: Papua New Guinea
February 2026 books
Beyond the Doctor: Bessie Come Home, London 1965, Sleeper Agents, The Penumbra Affair, all by Paul Magrs
Thursday reading
The Dead Take the A Train, by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Cards on the Table, by Agatha Christie
House of Open Wounds, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Whodle: a Whodunit Adventure Through Time and Space, by Tim Dedopulos, Roland Hall and Dave Knowles
The best known books set in each country: Tajikistan
Must-see Hansche exhibition at the Park Abbey near Leuven
Plur1bus, Death by Lightning and The Lion in Winter
Red Planet, by Robert A. Heinlein
Thursday reading
The Grail Tree, by Jonathan Gash
Looking Glass Sound, by Catriona Ward
Bruxelles 43, by Patrick Weber and Baudouin Deville
Peril at End House, by Agatha Christie
Gallifrey One, the Getty Villa and other California thoughts
The best known books set in each country: Cuba
Some BSFA Award nominees for your consideration
Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep, by Philip Reeve
Thursday reading
Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath, by Sigrid Undset
Katabasis, by R.F. Kuang
The Cuddled Little Vice, by Elizabeth Sandifer – I’m nominating it for the Best Related Work Hugo
Charlie vs Garret: The Rivalry That Shaped Modern Ireland, by Eoin O’Malley
The Ark, by Philip Purser-Hallard (and Paul Erickson, and possibly Lesley Scott) #gally1
Time Trials: A Confusion of Angels, by Richard Dinnick et al
Doctor Who Annual 2026, by Paul Lang
Frankenstein and the Patchwork Man, by Jack Heath
Reckless Engineering, by Nick Walters
The Domino Effect, by David Bishop
Thursday reading
Agent of the Daleks, by Steve Lyons
Counterstrike, by Una McCormack
Time Trials: The Wolves of Winter, by Richard Dinnick et al
House of Plastic, by Mike Tucker
Mawdryn Undead, by Kara Dennison (and Peter Grimwade)
January 2026 books
The Forgotten and the Fantastical: Modern Fables and Ancient Tales: No. 2, ed. Teika Bellamy
Thursday reading
Deep Secret, by Diana Wynne Jones
River Mumma, by Zalika Reid-Benta
The Secret Adversary, by Agatha Christie; and Agatha on Ireland
Renaissance- en barokarchitectuur in België, by Rutger Tijs
The best known books set in each country: Honduras
BSFA Long-list
The Colony, by Audrey Magee
Thursday reading
Collected Folk Tales, by Alan Garner
Presidential and Vice-Presidential Babies
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe; and the TV series
The Mystery of the Blue Train, by Agatha Christie
Friends: Understanding the Power of our Most Important Relationships, by Robin Dunbar
The best known books set in each country: United Arab Emirates
The BSFA Best Novel Award and the Arthur C. Clarke Award: the best of the best
The Best American Comics 2011, ed. Alison Bechdel
Thursday reading
This Way Up: When Maps Go Wrong (And Why It Matters), by Mark Cooper-Jones and Jay Foreman
Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global, by Laura Spinney
Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie; and Bloody Sunday
The Leviathan, by Rosie Andrews
The Moon of Gomrath, by Alan Garner
The best known books set in each country: the Dominican Republic
Books of 1976, 1926, 1876 and 1826; and a look at 1776
Yet More Penguin Science Fiction, ed. Brian Aldiss
Thursday reading
The Enigma Score, by Sherri S. Tepper
Doctor Who: The Adventures After, by Carole Ann Ford et al
Our Wonderful Selves, by Roland Pertwee
A Wrinkle in the Skin, by John Christopher
The best known books set in each country: Jordan
My top book for each of the last 180 years
The Infinity Race, by Simon Messingham
Life in 2026, according to science fiction: Mars, dystopia and devastation
My books of 2025
Wednesday and December 2025 Books
2025: the overnights meme
Elidor, by Alan Garner
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport, by Samit Basu
Reeds in the Wind, by Grazia Deledda
My top Bluesky posts, according to https://www.blueskypulse.io/
The best known books set in each country: Belgium
The restoration of St Nicholas – kerk in Perk
Hallowe’en Party, by Agatha Christie
Time Trials: The Terror Beneath, by George Mann, James Peaty et al
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, by Agatha Christie
Wednesday reading
Adventures in Space, eds. Patrick Parrinder and Yao Haijun
Winning Ugly: NATO’s War to Save Kosovo, by Ivo H. Daalder and Michael E. O’Hanlon
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller, by Italo Calvino
The best known books set in each country: Haiti
Spa 1906, by Patrick Weber and Olivier Wozniak
Vanishing Point, by Michaela Roessner
Top blog posts of the year
Charlotte impératrice, Tome 1: La Princesse et l’Archiduc, by Fabien Nury and Matthieu Bonhomme
Wednesday reading
Ness: A Story from the Ulster Cycle, by Patrick Brown
Camp Damascus, by Chuck Tingle
Scotland, Épisode 1, by Rodolphe, Leo and Marchal
The best known books set in each country: South Sudan
Metropolis, by Thea von Harbou and film by Fritz Lang
The Ray Bradbury Chronicles, Volume 3, by Ray Bradbury et al
Amongst Our Weapons, by Ben Aaronovitch
Wednesday reading
An Experiment with Time, by J. W Dunne
How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion, by David DeSteno
Decline of the English Murder, and other essays, by George Orwell
The best known books set in each country: Tunisia
Cetinje
The Year Before Yesterday, by Brian Aldiss
The Great Hunger: Ireland 1845-9, by Cecil Woodham-Smith
Wednesday reading
Gitanjali, by Rabindranath Tagore
Doctor Who: Empire of Death, by Scott Handcock
Salvage, by Emily Tesh
The best known books set in each country: Bolivia
November 2025 books
The Good Wife of Bath, by Karen Brooks
Madame Prosecutor, by Carla del Ponte
Wednesday reading
Time Zero, by Justin Richards
Thief of Time, by Terry Pratchett
Sonic Boom, by Robbie Morrison et al
The best known books set in each country: Burundi
Winning against the Bots as Germany
The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, by Storm Constantine
Soundings, by A. Hamilton Gibbs
The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate, by Ted Chiang, and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, by Michael Chabon
Wednesday reading
Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow
Barracoon: the Story of the Last “Black Cargo”, by Zora Neale Hurston
The best known books set in each country: Rwanda
The Bellwether constituencies of Northern Ireland (or, why there aren’t any)
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Dragon’s Teeth: Tales from North Kosovo, by Ian Bancroft
Wednesday reading
Shroud, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
An Island Called Moreau / Moreau’s Other Island, by Brian Aldiss
The best known books set in each country: Benin
Stone circles of Derbyshire (and failing again with Papyrus P52)
The Mysterious Planet, by Jez Strickley (and Robert Holmes, and Terrance Dicks)
The Man in the Brown Suit, by Agatha Christie
Wednesday reading
Doctor Who: The Well, by Gareth L. Powell
Wag the Dog: The Mobilization and Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army, by Andreas Heinemann-Grüder and Wolf-Christian Paes
The best known books set in each country: Guinea-Conakry
October 2025 books
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded Edition, ed. Humphrey Carpenter with Christopher Tolkien
2021 books finished; on to 2022
Wednesday reading
Paradise Towers: Paradise Found, by Sean Mason and Silvano Beltramo
Our Song, by Anna Carey
The best known books set in each country: Zimbabwe – and a note on my methodology
The Baby in the Park, a consolidated account
Burning Brightly: 50 Years of Novacon, ed. Ian Whates
Mean Streets, by Terrance Dicks
Wednesday reading
The Partition: Ireland Divided, 1885-1925, by Charles Townshend
The Twist, by George Mann et al
The New Machiavelli, by Jonathan Powell
The best known books set in each country: Zambia
The Casuarina Tree, by W. Somerset Maugham, and The House of Doors, by Tan Twan Eng
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Murders that Stunned an Empire, by Julie Kavanagh
Silence: A Christian History, by Diarmaid MacCulloch
Wednesday reading
The Emperor of Portugallia, and Jerusalem, by Selma Lagerlöf
Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy, by Serhii Plokhy
Howul: A Life’s Journey, by David Shannon
The Years, by Annie Ernaux
The best known books set in each country: Cambodia
Oppenheimer; and American Prometheus: the Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
A tale of two chapels
Histoire de Jérusalem, by Vincent Lemire and Christophe Gaultier
Glorious Exploits, by Ferdia Lennon
Het Zoet Water door de eeuwen heen, by Jean Binon and Paul Coeckelbergh
Wednesday reading
The Last Unicorn, and Two Hearts, by Peter S. Beagle
Mother Ross: An Irish Amazon, by G.R. Lloyd
The best known books set in each country: Ecuador
Behind Frenemy Lines, by Zen Cho
Doctor Who: Lux, by James Goss
J.R.R. Tolkien and Dorothy L. Sayers
Final Cut, by Charles Burns
Omega, by Mark Griffiths and John Ridgway
Wednesday reading
Science(ish): The Peculiar Science Behind the Movies, by Rick Edwards & Dr Michael Brooks
’Salem’s Lot, by Stephen King
September 2025 books
Ghost Devices, by Simon Bucher-Jones
Annie Bot, by Sierra Greer
The best known books set in each country: the Netherlands
Prophet Song, by Paul Lynch
Beijing and Chengdu, September 2025
Musings on Mothering, ed. Teika Bellamy
The School of Death, by Robbie Morrison et al
Wednesday reading
Thirst, by Amelie Nothomb
@Wouters Wondere Wereld, by Guy Gilias
The Principle of Moments, by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
The best known books set in each country: Guatemala
Irish Conflict in Comics: Rebellion, Nazi Spies and the Troubles, by James Bacon
Winning online Diplomacy as France, against six AIs
Black Mountain and other stories, by Gerry Adams
Old Babes in the Wood, by Margaret Atwood
A Tall Man In A Low Land: Some Time Among the Belgians, by Harry Pearson
The Five Red Herrings, by Dorothy L. Sayers
Wednesday reading
Somna: a bedtime story, by Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay
London Centric: Tales of Future London, ed. Ian Whates
The Women Could Fly, by Megan Giddings