The list of EXCELLENT BOOKS WHAT I READ THIS YEAR:
The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire by Chloe Hooper, an investigation into the horrific Black Saturday bushfires of Australia in 2009, which killed 173 people, and a perceptive, disqueiting look at the peculiar man convicted of lighting them.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtZYzvzV4AAD4PB.jpg)
Murmur by Will Eaves: Alan Turing, consciousness, AI, love... It was very nice, if unexpected, of Eaves to write a book just for me; all the rest of you with any taste will love it too. Published by the great @CBeditions; a US edition comes out next year.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtjTno_U0AA0lQJ.jpg)
Other Minds: The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent Life by Peter Godfrey-Smith: one of the most purely interesting books ever written. Hard to do it justice, but if this piece doesn't intrigue you, you must be dead.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtjULzVVAAAXm7x.jpg)
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy: brilliant personal essays, the second volume in a series that doesn't require you to have read the first. Levy's having a renaissance after @andothertweets brought out "Swimming Home", and it's hard to think of a writer who deserves it more.
![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtoQ-_mVYAEskuY.jpg)
I think that's the lot. I just have to make sure I only read crap for the next two-and-a-bit weeks so that I don't have to add to this list.