Books read and enjoyed in 2024

As in previous years, reading books has given me enormous pleasure. Let’s be honest, I’ve been a voracious reader since I was five. This year, I published a new historical novel, EXSILIUM, the sequel to JULIA PRIMA in the late 4th century plus spent a lot of the year participating in events and drafting the next Mel/Mélisende story in the ‘Doubles’ series

Enough of me, the writer; here I’m writing as a reader.

This is not a beauty contest nor a selection. I chose the books in the image totally at random. The list below contains books I’ve read this year and enjoyed. Some made me catch my breath, others made me weep with joy or sorrow and others appalled me. But I loved the experience of reading them all.

I’m not mentioning those I didn’t enjoy or part-read – that’s not fair to the authors concerned as I’m probably not their ideal reader.

I’m a fussy reader. I use Amazon’s ‘Send a free sample’ service mercilessly, especially if it’s an author new to me. But I have discovered some real gems that way.

Oh, and I’ve read a few non-fiction for research, ‘professional development’ and for fun…

Fiction

Rubicon (Gordianus the Finder 7), Steven Saylor
When We Were Gods, Colin Falconer
Shadows in the Ashes, Christina Courtenay
Britannia’s Interests, Antoine Vanner
Prophecy (Giordano Bruno 2), S J Parris
The English Spy (Gabriel Allon 15), Daniel Silva
Dying for Rome: Lucretia’s Tale, Elisabeth Storrs
Among Sea Wolves, Jean Gill
The Ides of April, Lindsey Davis (Flavia Albia 1) re-read
Shadow of the Eagle (Borderlands 1), Damion Hunter
The Ashes of London, Andrew Taylor
The Bookseller’s Wife, Jane Davis
Semper Fidelis (Ruso 5), Ruth Downie
The Shadow Network, Deborah Swift
Legionary, Gordon Doherty
Time’s Prisoner, Linda Gillard
Yellowface, Rebecca F Kuang
While I Was Waiting, Georgia Hill
Tabula Rasa (Ruso 6), Ruth Downie
The Other Gwyn Girl, Nicola Cornick
The Three Graces, Amanda Craig
Driven to Murder (Sophie Sayers 9), Debbie Young
Empire’s Edge (Borderlands 2), Damion Hunter
Babylon Berlin (Gereon Rath 1), Volker Kutscher
The Orchid Hour, Nancy Bilyeau
The Quantum Curators and the Fabergé Egg, Eva St.John
The Darkest Sin (Cesare Aldo 2), D V Bishop
Stasi State (Oberleutnant Karin Müller 3), David Young
Sanctus, Simon Toyne
Blood and Sand (Run and Hide 5), J J Marsh
Their Castilian Orphan, Anna Belfrage
The Quantum Curators and the Enemy Within, Eva St.John
Caesar’s General (Mark Antony 2), Alex Gough
Ostler (Cambridge Hardiman 1), Susan Grossey
Birds of Prey (Borderlands 3), Damion Hunter
Avalon, Anya Seton (re-read)
The King’s Intelligencer, Elizabeth St.John
Bonjour Sophie, Elizabeth Buchan
Belshazzar’s Daughter (Inspector Ikmen 1), Barbara Nadel
The Quantum Curators and the Missing Codex, Eva St.John
The Sword of Jupiter, Travis Starnes
The Ottoman Secret, Raymond Khoury
Blackshirt Rebellion, Jason Monaghan
The Chase, Ava Glass
Memory of Murder, Helen Hollick
Legacy of the Runes, Christina Courtenay
Stasi 77 (Oberleutnant Karin Müller 4), David Young
Doing Time (Time Police 1), Jodi Taylor
Courage for the Cabinet Girl, Molly Green
A Spy Alone (Oxford Spy Ring 1), Charles Beaumont
Death at the Old Curiosity Shop (Curiosity Shop 1), Debbie Young
Death on the Tiber (Flavia Albia 12), Lindsey Davis
The Fugitive’s Sword (Lord’s Learning 1), Eleanor Swift-Hook
Stasi Winter (Oberleutnant Karin Müller 5), David Young
Lake of Widows, Liza Perrat
The Collector (Gabriel Allon 23), Daniel Silva
Katherine, Anya Seaton (re-read)
Guards, Guards! (Discworld 8), Terry Pratchett
Queen High, C J Carey
The Stasi Game (Oberleutnant Karin Müller 6), David Young
Venator, A M Swink
The Velvet Cloak of Moonlight, Christina Courtenay
Traitor’s Game, Rosemary Hayes

Non-fiction

The Roads to Rome, Catherine Fletcher
Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, Peter Attia MD, Bill Gifford
The Indie Author Game Plan, J T Lawrence
The Accidental Apostrophe, Caroline Taggart
The Later Roman Empire: AD 354-378, Ammianus Marcellinus, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill
Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman

 

Alison Morton is the author of Roma Nova thrillers –  INCEPTIO, CARINA (novella), PERFIDITAS, SUCCESSIO,  AURELIA, NEXUS (novella), INSURRECTIO  and RETALIO,  and ROMA NOVA EXTRA, a collection of short stories.  Audiobooks are available for four of the series. Double Identity, a contemporary conspiracy, starts a new series of thrillers. JULIA PRIMA,  Roma Nova story set in the late 4th century, starts the Foundation stories. The sequel, EXSILIUM, is now out.

Find out more about Roma Nova, its origins, stories and heroines and taste world the latest contemporary thriller Double Identity… Download ‘Welcome to Alison Morton’s Thriller Worlds’, a FREE eBook, as a thank you gift when you sign up to Alison’s monthly email update. As a result, you’ll be among the first to know about news and book progress before everybody else, and take part in giveaways.

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