Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For the rules see her blog. The topic this week is Books with One-Word Titles. I last did a Top Ten post on this topic in March 2020, so the books I’ve chosen are all books I’ve read since then.

Nucleus by Rory Clements – the second book in his Tom Wilde spy thriller series. This one is set in 1939 on the eve of the Second World War. It is a fast-paced and gripping book, involving murder, IRA bombers, and espionage, with many twists and turns.

Undercurrent by Barney Norris, a novel telling the story of a family’s grief and loss as well as love. This is a quiet thoughtful book that explores the nature of our relationships and emotions.

Foster by Claire Keegan, a novella about a young girl who is sent to live with foster parents on a farm in rural Ireland, without knowing when she will return home. Claire Keegan’s style of writing is precise, focused, and beautifully written bringing her characters to life – these are real, ordinary people, living ordinary lives.

Exit by Belinda Bauer – what initially looks like a novel considering the ethics of assisted suicide this turns into crime fiction and becomes a borderline ‘cosy’ murder mystery, verging on farce in places. The ending is bitter sweet. I began not sure I really wanted to read Exit and ended it feeling I’m glad I did. It’s unlike anything else I’ve read!

Orlando by Virginia Woolf is a fictionalised biography of Vita Sackville-West, based on her life. It tells the tale of an extraordinary individual who lives through centuries of English history, first as a man, then as a woman; and his/her struggle to find fame and immortality not through actions, but through the written word. 

Prophecy by S J Parris is the second book in her Giordano Bruno series of historical thrillers. Giordano Bruno was a 16th century heretic philosopher and spy. It begins in the autumn of 1583, when Elizabeth the First’s throne is in peril, threatened by Mary Stuart’s supporters scheme to usurp the rightful monarch.

Breathtaking by Rachel Clarke. She is a palliative care doctor and her book recounts her experiences during the first four months of 2020, when she worked on the Covid-19 wards in the Oxford University Hospitals system. It records the compassion and kindness of numerous people, and pays tribute to both NHS staff and volunteers in dealing with such a distressing and immensely horrific situation.

Fludd by Hilary Mantel, a fantasy, a fairy tale, told with wit and humour with brilliant characterisation. It is 1956, set in the north of England in the fictional village of Fetherhoughton, which is loosely based on the village where Mantel grew up. She was brought up as a Catholic and the idea for the story came from a conversation with her mother about her childhood.

Inland by Téa Obreht is a book of two halves, alternating between two storylines. The first story about Lurie is slow and meandering as he makes an expedition across the American West. The second story of Nora Lark and her family, which is more interesting. They are living in Arizona in a homestead. There’s been no rain for months and their water supply is nearly exhausted.

Sword by Bogdan Teodorescu – set in Romania where a serial killer is on the loose. This is a complex novel, a political thriller focusing on the political and social dimensions of the racial conflict between the Romanians and the Roma or ‘gypsies’.