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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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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

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Shane Harrison has read 3 of 26 books.

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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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Combine Editions
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 is Currently Reading

Shane Harrison is currently reading

The Unfinished Palazzo Life, Love and Art in Venice

by Judith Mackrell

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Jan 20, 2026 11:46AM

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Shane’s Recent Updates

Jan 24, 2026 01:28AM · like · view books
Shane Harrison is currently reading 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
Jan 20, 2026 11:46AM · like
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it Slow Horses (Slough House, #1) 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
Slough House is the ironic name for a dead end depot for failed spooks, these being the Slow Horses of the title. River Cartwright, a new addition to the staff, smoulders under his shafting. But things will get better, or maybe worse, depending on ho ...more
Jan 20, 2026 11:40AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Slow Horses by Mick Herron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison made a comment on Thomas’s review of Wolf Hour: A Novel " Thought this was a good standalone from Nesbo. Wouldn't consider the violence extreme by his standards. I gave it three stars and would rate it a grit ...more "
Jan 15, 2026 11:46AM · see review
Shane Harrison started reading Slow Horses (Slough House, #1) 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
Jan 14, 2026 09:29AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Slow Horses by Mick Herron. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Slow Horses by Mick Herron <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book liked it A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay (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 comedy murder mystery fires on most levels. Kay has a neat line in caustic social commentary, ladling on the putdowns of human and societal foibles. It’s a medical drama, Kay’s previous being the non fiction account This is Going to Hurt which w ...more
Jan 14, 2026 09:22AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jan 07, 2026 08:59AM · like · view books
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History by Donal Fallon	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 is not a list of must visit, favourite watering holes. Many are here, of course, but gathered beneath the umbrella of Dublin’s pub culture over the last couple of centuries. The telling comes through shifting perspectives; Fallon’s own pinball t ...more
Jan 07, 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 Dublin Pub by Donal Fallon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Dublin Pub by Donal Fallon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book it was ok Twist by Colum McCann (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
I was initially beguiled by McCann’s fluid prose style, his wonderful way with words promising a path to a joyful reading experience. However, this charm waned before the slow reveal of a lack of substance. Okay, I join with any author pondering the ...more
Dec 14, 2025 09:25AM · like · see review
Shane Harrison rated a book liked it Wolf Hour by Jo Nesbø (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
In Norwegian this is titled Minnesota, which is the setting for the novel. An embedded murder thriller, it follows true crime narrator from Norway, tracing murders involving his kin some six years previously. The present day narrative fades far back ...more
Dec 09, 2025 11:01AM · 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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