It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Once again I've gone from not knowing what to read next, to having five books going at once. Sigh. I finished Mincemeat and Beautiful Ruins last week, and now I'm reading myself silly.

First up is Luke Harding's remarkable work of journalism, A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvenenko and Putin's War with the West. I've found this impossible to put down; it reads like a thriller but it's true. It's great for anyone wanting to learn more about Vladimir Putin's regime, and anyone who enjoys books on espionage. Actually I think everyone should read it.

On my nightstand right now is Trevor Noah's memoir, Born a Crime. You can hear his voice as you read this entertaining, moving and often surprising story about growing up biracial in South Africa. I would read this even if I weren't a fan of Noah's and again I think this is a book everyone should read.

So a while ago, I think in 2015, I was reading Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist but lost my copy at the gym. As a Christmas gift to myself I bought it again the other day and have been happily re-reading it. Now I'm actually past the point I was reading when I lost it. Not all of the essays address feminism but they are all wonderful in one way or another. Not always easy reading, but always good.

My current gym book is A Fifty Year Silence: Love, War and a Ruined House in France, by Miranda Richmond Mouillot. This is an engrossing and often sad memoir about the author's grandparents, their Holocaust experiences and secrets, and how those secrets trickle down into their family's life for years.

Finally I started Aravind Adiga's new book, Selection Day, about two brothers and cricket in modern day India. I'm just in the opening pages but so far, so good.

I'd say my reading year is off to a good start. And yours?