286 ratings | 238 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 (8)

Shane’s Bookshelves

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Jennifer Krabill

414 books | 583 friends

Thomas

7,427 books | 3,635 friends

Anne Fitzgerald

649 books | 101 friends

Carol (§CoverLoverGirl§)

4,956 books | 206 friends

Bridgette Daly

310 books | 53 friends

Samantha James

50 books | 1,223 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 16 of 26 books.

62%

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

Last One Out

by Jane Harper (Goodreads Author)

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Jul 18, 2026 09:44AM

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Shane Harrison is currently reading Last One Out by Jane Harper (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
Jul 18, 2026 09:44AM · like
Shane Harrison rated a book it was ok Picador The Riders. by Tim Winton	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
Australian navvy Scully buys ruined house in Ireland with wife Jennifer and seven year old daughter Billie. While they return to Oz to sell off family home, Scully sets to fixing up the ruin with pick, bar and shovel. Local postman Pete lends a hand ...more
Jul 18, 2026 09:42AM · like · see review
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it A Darkness More Than Light (Harry Bosch, #7; Harry Bosch Universe, #10) 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
This is a Harry Bosch book, but for much of it he is the observed protagonist. Terry McCaleb is more the eyes of the novel. The former FBI profiler is drawn out from his idyllic retirement on the island of Catalina, near LA. The ritualistic murder of ...more
Jul 11, 2026 07:24AM · like · see review
Shane Harrison rated a book liked it The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (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 is a detailed account of the misadventures of the Wager and other ships of a squadron sent on a misjudged adventure to the Pacific during the War of Jenking’s Ear in the 1740s. Grann’s meticulous scholarship and research is delivered as a grippi ...more
Jul 03, 2026 11:02AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Wager by David Grann. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Wager by David Grann <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Shane Harrison rated a book really liked it Angels Flight (Harry Bosch, #6; Harry Bosch Universe, #8) 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
Jun 16, 2026 04:57AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Angels Flight by Michael Connelly. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Angels Flight by Michael Connelly <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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">

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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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Shane Harrison’s Followers (8)

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