282 ratings | 235 reviews | avg rating:3.50

Shane’s Year In Books

Shane’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Shane’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Shane Harrison’s Followers (7)

Shane’s Bookshelves

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Shane’s Friends (12)

Jennifer Krabill

387 books | 567 friends

Carol (§CoverLoverGirl§)

4,886 books | 204 friends

Thomas

7,333 books | 3,564 friends

Bridgette Daly

303 books | 53 friends

Anne Fitzgerald

643 books | 101 friends

Samantha James

50 books | 1,224 friends

Colin

279 books | 25 friends

Mark

329 books | 5 friends

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Shane Harrison has read 12 of 26 books.

46%

Shane Harrison

Goodreads Author

Born

Dublin, Ireland

Genre

Fiction

Member Since

August 2016

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Shane Harrison worked for four years as an electrician and telephone installer before enrolling in the National College of Art and Design. After graduation in the early eighties he worked in advertising and television. His interest in writing led him to contribute articles and reviews to various magazines including Hot Press, Dublin Opinion and local publications such as the Wicklow Times and Bray Arts Journal. By the nineties, Harrison was writing fiction and his first book, a collection of short stories, Blues Before Dawn was published in 1993. A second collection, The Benefits of Tobacco, a novel, The Testimony of Virginia McCabe followed after the turn of the century, and his latest collection, Kings on the Roof, has just been published ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

I am currently reading The Testimony of Virginia Wade. I am a fan of the Western and I'm enjoying it, especially the first person female POV which is unusual. I wondered if your new collection includes anything in the Western vein?

Shane Harrison I'm glad your enjoying Virginia, Aidan. It's my only published novel (so far) and it is a Western, but I'd have to say it's a vein I haven't mined ext…moreI'm glad your enjoying Virginia, Aidan. It's my only published novel (so far) and it is a Western, but I'd have to say it's a vein I haven't mined extensively in my short stories. However, Kings on the Roof actually includes a Western Story: Cloud City. This is something of a time travel tale, or perhaps Slipstream is a better genre description. Cloud City begins in contemporary times, somewhere in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, then tunnels back to post Goldrush days. A western within a western also occurs. The dime western the sheriff reads includes Kit Carson, a real life character, and a couple who feature in Virginia. The other stories in Kings are a varied bunch, but I'm hoping you give it a go. The Western theme, and the American continent, are places I want to return to in prose and in person. (less)

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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

Shane Harrison It’s a scenario that every writer, or would-be writer, must consider. What mystery, or event, in your life could be a plot for a book? Like most write…moreIt’s a scenario that every writer, or would-be writer, must consider. What mystery, or event, in your life could be a plot for a book? Like most writers, I have culled from personal experience. Some do it more than others. There’s always the danger of falling into that less admired genre: a writer writing about a writer writing. But that is just the autobiographical watermark that haunts every page.

Is such writing the equivalent of the self portrait, with the author gazing at their own reflection? Or even a string of reflections stretching back in time. It’s a bit like those infinity mirror set ups. Flann O’Brien’s fictional philosopher, De Selby, proposed that each reflection was like a snapshot in time. He claimed that he could, with a telescope, make out a distant reflection of himself as a child, but couldn’t see further owing to the limitations of the telescope and the curvature of the earth.

I see Sally Rooney, having scored two bestsellers with musings on her own life, writes a third bestseller about a writer who has written two bestsellers. I’m something of the opposite. I may have written two novels but very few have read them. Perhaps that’s the mystery I should write about.

I have been writing non-fiction for most of the last few years. It gives me the chance to complete, or begin the jigsaw, or even glimpse the illustration on the box. But every so often I’m compelled to make something up. Will it be the resolution of some great mystery from my past? Who can tell? I certainly won’t.
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Shane Harrison’s books

Average rating: 4.4 · 10 ratings · 2 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Kings on the Roof 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Testimony of Virginia McCabe 4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2013 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Benefits of Tobacco 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2007 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blues Before Dawn really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1993	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Census: Issue 1 v. 1: The First Seven Towers Anthology by Kevin Higgins Paul Casey, Kevin Higgins, Eamon Carr 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2008	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Shane Harrison's Blog

Edinburgh - The Writers' City - 4

At the end of Grassmarket the road divides. Straight on and you pass under the bridges that buttress the Old Town. Candlemaker Row slopes upward to join George IV Bridge with the wall of Greyfriars Churchyard along one side. The Grey Friars themselves were Franciscans whose monastery was dissolved in 1560 as Scotland was gripped by the Reformation. It was a place of free assembly and The Covenante Read more of this blog post »

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Published on July 30, 2023 05:22 • Tags: edinburgh, greyfriars-bobby, ian-rankin, james-hogg, muriel-spark, rebus-pub-crawl

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Shane’s Recent Updates

Shane Harrison rated a book liked it All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Intricate plot in posh Dublin suburbia. Marissa Irvine’s four year old Milo disappears after a bogus play date. Guilt and recriminations abound amongst the cast of mothers, fathers and nannies. So starts a mystery thriller in the civilian mode. Even ...more
May 29, 2026 09:28AM · like · see review
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch, #3; Harry Bosch Universe, #3) by Michael Connelly (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Harry Bosch faces a civil suit for his killing of The Dollmaker, a case from his pre-novel life. Norman Church’s widow is suing, claiming Bosch killed an innocent man. No sooner has the case begun than a body shows up with all the traits of the suppo ...more
May 22, 2026 09:32AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison is currently reading All Her Fault by Andrea Mara (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 21, 2026 07:25AM · like
Shane Harrison started reading The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch, #3; Harry Bosch Universe, #3) by Michael Connelly (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 21, 2026 07:23AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book it was ok The Dutch House by Ann Patchett	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Siblings Maeve and Danny Conroy are raised in priviledged circumstances in a large house, the Dutch House, outside Phiiladelphia. When their father diies, their inheritance is usurped by stepmother, Audrey. The story is narrated by the younger siblin ...more
May 12, 2026 08:53AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Dutch House by Ann Patchett <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it The Black Echo (Harry Bosch, #1; Harry Bosch Universe, #1) by Michael Connelly (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Harry Bosch made his debut in this 1990s novel. The Hollywood Homicide detective is called out to the death of Vietnam veteran and junkie Meadows. Bosch had known him in Vietnam when they had worked as tunnel rats, clearing Vietcong’ underground netw ...more
May 09, 2026 03:48AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Black Echo by Michael Connelly. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Black Echo by Michael Connelly <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it The Long Goodbye (Philip Marlowe, #6) by Raymond Chandler	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Philip Marlowe is the epitome of the hard bitten detective. Down at heel but quick on the draw, his espoused cynicism is grounded by a human heart. Marlowe is first drawn into the world of Terry Lennox, a cultured drunk and occasional drinking buddy. ...more
Apr 29, 2026 07:39AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it Nobody Walks by Mick Herron	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
British spy thriller set in London. It’s not part of the Slough House series, though set in the same world with some common characters. Tom Bettany is a retired agent who’s gone off grid. He returns to London on the death of his son, Liam. Bettany’s ...more
Apr 08, 2026 08:11AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Nobody Walks by Mick Herron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Nobody Walks by Mick Herron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book liked it Burn After Reading by Catherine Ryan Howard (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This has nothing to do with the film of the same name. The opening scenario is a house fire in which the protagonist, a ghost writer, is trapped. Flashback then to the events leading to this, begun also by a fire. First thought a tragic accident, the ...more
Mar 25, 2026 08:53AM · like · see review
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it The Unfinished Palazzo Life, Love and Art in Venice by Judith Mackrell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on Venice’s Grand Canal was supposed to be a statement of wealth and grandeur but went pear shaped after the completion of just one floor. Deformed and dejected, it then became a magnet for the rich, arty set of the twent ...more
Mar 10, 2026 12:22PM · like · see review

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Shane’s Quotes

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing.”
― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

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“There is no bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.”
― Ranulph Fiennes

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“Styles may change, details may come and go, but the broad demands of aesthetic judgement are permanent.”
― Roger Scruton

tags: aesthetics, beauty, classic, style

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Preview — The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

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