Seasons End

In my head people are always saying to me, ‘Drew, you read a lot of books. And as we are coming up to this festive season and I don’t know what to buy, what are your top 10 books of the year?’


Actually, between you, me and Minnie Mouse I don’t read that many books. One a week, if that. I’ve got a dead-end badly paid suicidally boring job to do and on top of that I’m trying to write books of my own. Goddam you!


But never being one to let down the tyres on a disabled person’s carriage, here goes.


First off, the David and Victoria Beckham award for the best looking book goes jointly to Scarlett Thomas’s 'The End of Mr Y’, and Steven Hall’s ‘The Raw Shark Texts’.


The former has a gorgeous red and black embossed gothic cover and black page edges, the latter has a word shark flicker book in the centre! Both are fabulous adventure stories, containing books that you read and die, sharks that eat your brain.


The Freddie Ljunberg award for the book you would most like to curl up in bed next to goes to G W Dahlquist’s ‘The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters’. This one was originally published in serial form and it shows. It’s got more thrills than an Arsenal spectacular. Think Victorian London, think those 1930s Flash Gordon serials. There’s a wronged lover, an assassin, the prince’s chaperone, books of glass that suck out your soul and airships all over the shop.


The David James beard award goes this year to Michael Chabon’s ‘The Yiddish Policemen’s Union’. Never have so many beards been described so fully. And what a story!


Following the collapse of Israel in 1948 the Jewish people have been settled in a province of Alaska. That province is about to revert back to Alaskan authority. It is not a good time to be a Jew, especially with all these murders taking place. A police procedural with messianic qualities.


The Jose Mourinho ‘atmosphere’ award goes to Murakami’s ‘After Dark’. The novel is set one night in Tokyo, in jazz bars, late night coffee houses, love hotels. A prostitute is beaten, a woman awakes inside her tv, a girl talks about love with a jazz band member.


The Carlos Tevez ‘short’ story award is jointly shared by Kelly Link’s ‘Magic For Beginners’ and Etger Keret’s ‘Missing Kissinger’. Keret’s stories are short short stories. A guy brings a girl home for the evening to find his best friend has pissed on his doorstep. They are set mostly in his native Israel and rather than me going on you can read one here.


Link’s stories are magical, make you want to gasp for breath and you can read my review here.


The Alan Smith cutest book of the year goes to Dan Rhode’s ‘Gold’. Miyuki Underwood is a lesbian Japanese / Welsh woman who spends 2 weeks away from her lover in a seaside town in Wales. She eats junk food, she drinks in the local pub and mixes with the locals. This year she decides to do something different. She paints the small town gold...


The Juande Ramos translation award goes to Arto Paasilinna’s ‘The Howling Miller’. My review is here so no need for a long speech thank you.


And finally.


This year’s Ronaldo best book of the year award goes to Rupert Thomson’s ‘Death of a Murderer’.


Billy Tyler, a regular policeman, is called to watch over the body of a famous murderer. It is never mentioned but this person is obviously Myra Hindley. On that one night, alone with the body, Tyler comes to question not only the murderer’s life but his own. It is a gripping book that makes us think about all the petty cruelties we are capable of.

So those are my books. What about yours?

Currently still reading - Don Quixote



Currently listening to - Front Row