Amanda Patterson's Top Five Books of 2014


  1. The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick (Picador). This was my favourite book of 2014. Bartholomew Neil’s mother always loved to celebrate the little things and she had a gift for making the ordinary extraordinary. She believed in the good luck of right now. How will Bartholomew make sense of her death and find meaning again? Read it. It's worth every word.
  2. Saints of the Shadow Bible by Ian Rankin (Orion). John Rebus has come out of retirement. Rankin, my favourite crime novelist, has crafted a brilliant crime novel with interesting topical threads.
  3. The Circle by Dave Eggers (Hamish Hamilton). This is Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World filled with too much information, coupled with George Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ from 1984. This dark satire is thought-provoking, well-written and worth reading. The Circle is probably just around the corner.
  4. Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Penguin/Michael Joseph). This is part suburban mystery, part women’s drama and completely compulsive reading. I loved this witty, clever novel.
  5. Incognito: The Memoirs of Ben Trovato by Mark Verbaan (Macmillan). Reading this memoir felt like drowning – in a good way. I went on a journey to a place I had almost forgotten. My memories of South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s range from black and white snapshots to garish Polaroid blurs. My emotions are varied, bruised and confused, much like the author’s. Highly recommended.

by Amanda Patterson. Amanda is the founder of Writers Write. Follow her on PinterestFacebook,  Google+,  Tumblr  and Twitter.  Read her writing blogs.