I could explain why I haven’t posted much this year. But that would be pretty boring. So, let me just do the usual post of books read in the last year. All things (two babies) considered, I think I got a fair bit done (33), and a good variety of topics. I think my favourite would be ‘The Pike’. Special mention to Simon Fulton – a British author who wrote about his experiences setting up a hotel in southern Senegal, and sadly died in the Spring in a road accident south of Dakar.

1. Tenth of December, by George Saunders
2. Persuasion, by Jane Austen
3. Like a mule bringing ice cream to the sun, by S. L. Manyika
4. Around the world in 15 friends, by Tynan
5. At War with Waugh, by W. E. Deedes
6. The Pike: Gabriele d’Innunzio, by Lucy Hughes-Hallett
7. Open City, by Teju Cole
8. The Jesus Candidate, by James Paul Lusk
9. Shooting milk at chameleons, by Simon Fulton
10. Chasing hornbills, by Simon Fulton
11. The Portrait of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde
12. Ties, by Domenica Starnone
13. Tram 83, by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
14. Love, Africa, by Jeffrey Gettleman
15. Letters of John Newton, by John Newton
16. Deep work, by Cal Newport
17. True Friendship, by Vaughan Roberts
18. Making sense of God, by Timothy Keller
19. Status Anxiety, by Alain de Botton
20. The Handmaiden’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
21. The Church, by David Zac Niringiye
22.  Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari
23. The Culture Map, by Erin Meyer
24. The Africa House, by Christina Lamb
25. Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
26. The Oxford History of the French Revolution, by William Doyle
27. Le Printemps des Pyromanes, by Abel Doualy
28. Cote d’Ivoire – 128 jours de souffrance et douleur, by Brahima Ouattara
29. Radio Okapi Kindu, by Jennifer Bakody
30. Out of Africa, by Karin Blixen
31. A Mighty Purpose: How Jim Grant sold the world on saving children, by Adam Fifield
32. Living in the Light, by John Piper
33. What happens when a man falls from the sky, by Lesley Nneka Arimah