I read a lot of books last year. Many were good, some were great and some were horrible. All taught me something about writing and some were a great deal more enjoyable in the process. So here are the three I enjoyed the most and the three I liked the least.

Top Three
1. Black Man by Richard Morgan
2. Matter by Iain M. Banks
3. Boudica, Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott

Bottom Three
x. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
y. A House for Mr Biswas by V. S. Naipaul
z. A Wicked Liaison by Christine Merrill

So, interestingly, two of the books on the least favourite list are highly critically acclaimed. Both Wolf Hall and A House for Mr Biswas (‘thoughts on reading’ forthcoming) were technically brilliant but the experience of reading them was unpleasant. The out and out winner though was A Wicked Liaison. My brain was stained for months after reading it.

The three at the top had a lot of competition; most of the books I read last year were enjoyable. The three that I’ve chosen are my favourites are the ones were I struggled to read as a writer because I was so carried away with the story. Black Man won out because the scope of it was breathtaking and because the plot twists were genius.