Pile by the Bed reviews Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor, impressive debut rural Australian crime fiction set in the early 2000s.

Pile by the Bed reviews Elektra by Jennifer Saint, a retelling of the lead up to, events and aftermath of the Trojan Wars from the perspectives of three female players.

Pile by the Bed reviews City on Fire by Don Wilnslow, first of a new trilogy of historical organised crime novels loosely based on Greek mythology. Recommended.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht a compassionate look at the residents of a quarantine facilitity for people with leprosy in Sydney in the early twentieth century.

Pile by the Bed reviews Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, a historical fantasy set in the golden age of Hollywood with a queer, Asian-American perspective.

Pile by the Bed reviews Booth by Karen Joy Fowler an exploration of the history of the Booth family and the circumstances that led to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Colony by Audrey Magee a lyrical novel exploring the history of Northern Ireland that transcends its allegorical nature.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews, a gothic horror debut set during the English civil war.

Pile by the Bed reviews Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel, second in his shadow history meets science fiction Take Them to the Stars trilogy

Pile byt the Bed reviews The Hood, the second book in Lavie Tidhar’s Anti-matter of Britain Quartet this one deconstructing the legend of Robin Hood and his gang.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Darkest Sin, the second book in DV Bishop’s historical crime series set in renaissance Italy featuring Cesare Aldo.

Pile by the Bed reviews Robert Lukin’s second novel Loveland centring on an Australian woman discovering herself and her past in rural Nebraska

Pile by the Bed reviews The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly – Australian rural crime set in the North Queensland cane fields in the 1970s.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Islands by Emily Brugman an Australian historical fiction debut exploring the lives of Finnish immigrants who were part of the crayfishing industry on remote islands off the coast of northern Western Australia in the 1960s

Pile by the Bed reviews Dust off the Bones by Paul Howarth, sequel to Only Killers and Thieves, an Australian western tale exploring the aftermath of the massacre of an Aboriginal community.

Pile by the Bed reviews Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk’s 2014 magnum opus The Books of Jacob centering around a little known Jewish messianic sect in eighteenth century Eastern Europe.

Pile by the Bed reviews Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa looking at the American inspired political unrest in Guatemala in the 1950s and 60s.

It was a tough choice but here are Pile by the Bed’s top 5 books of 2021 and five honourable mentions.

Pile by the Bed reviews Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, a great American novel rich with character, theme and resonance and shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Promise by Damon Galgut, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize, a vebally inventive novel dealing with the last thirty years of South African history.