Russ’s Year In Books

Russ’s 2025 Year in Books

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

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Russ Swan

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@russs.bsky.social

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July 2021

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Russ Swan is a journalist, editor, and author. He lives in Nottinghamshire, UK, and consequently has a mild obsession with Robin Hood. He also likes motorbikes and springer spaniels.

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Russ Swan’s books

Average rating: 4.24 · 33 ratings · 8 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Physics Behind: Discover the Physics of Everyday Life 4.24 avg rating — 33 ratings — 4 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
	Lo que la Física Esconde...: Descubre la Física de la Vida Cotidiana by Russ Swan (Goodreads Author), Sandra Marín Aragón (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	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

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lots of sumptuous writing here, but the operative word is lots.

I felt sure there would be an intricate plot twist somewhere along the line, with clues hidden in the endless descriptive passages, and I even convinved myself I'd worked it out (a rather Shakespearean identity-swap malarkey) but I was wrong.

Full credit to Maggie O'F Read more of this blog post »

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Published on February 20, 2026 11:31

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Russ Swan wrote a new blog post Long, sleeves The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Lots of sumptuous writing here, but the operative word is lots. I felt sure there wou Read more of this blog post »
Feb 20, 2026 11:31AM · like
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell (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
Lots of sumptuous writing here, but the operative word is lots. I felt sure there would be an intricate plot twist somewhere along the line, with clues hidden in the endless descriptive passages, and I even convinved myself I'd worked it out (a rathe ...more
Feb 20, 2026 10:54AM · like · see review
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl by Jonathan C. Slaght (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
It is February, and I’m shivering in my draughty underinsulated house reading about the hardships faced by a biologist tracking down rare owls in a remote part of eastern Russia in the depths of winter. Maybe things aren’t really so bad for me. The c ...more
Feb 06, 2026 05:16AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse	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
It's worth persevering through the fairly pedestrian middle section because this book really picks up at the end. While the main character's inner demons are exercised throughout, it is in the last couple of chapters that they are finally exorcised - ...more
Jan 19, 2026 03:32PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Russ Swan rated a book did not like it Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald	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
For a book about the rich and beautiful and their torrid affairs, with doses of murder, incest, and racism thrown in, I surprise myself by saying that I found it boring. There are some elegant turns of phrase, but they are scattered thinly among a po ...more
Nov 18, 2025 08:27AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Russ Swan rated a book it was ok The Therapist's Daughter by Megan Taylor (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 not a genre I usually read, but was this month's book for a reading group I'm in and the whole point of such groups is to broaden experience. I'm told that the author Megan Taylor was once in the same group, which by itself is enough reason t ...more
Sep 30, 2025 06:35AM · like · see review
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it The Big Sleep (Philip Marlowe, #1) 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
I loved this book from the first page, with its snappy dialogue and exquisitely detailed descriptions of everything from the contents of a room to the colour of a woman's eyes. It is film noir librified, and my internal narrator, my companion through ...more
Sep 14, 2025 11:30AM · like · see review
Russ Swan rated a book did not like it Robin Hood: According to Spike Milligan by Spike Milligan	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
Much as I admire(d) Spike Milligan and his comic oeuvre, and as someone with a casual interest in Robin Hood since moving to the bandit's old stomping ground, I have to say this is just dreadful. It is juvenile and incoherent. It could have been writ ...more
Aug 23, 2025 11:23AM · like · see review
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (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 nearly binned this book before finishing the first page, having been triggered by the appearance of persnickety not once but twice. Sheesh. This suggested the following 300 pages would be twee homespun middle-aged middle-class middle-American flims ...more
Aug 15, 2025 03:49AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Russ Swan rated a book really liked it The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle That Saved a Child’s Life by Rachel Clarke	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
[image] The Story of a Heart: Two Families, One Heart, and the Medical Miracle That Saved a Child’s Life by Rachel Clarke My rating: 4 of 5 stars This was that close to winning five stars from me. Rachel Clarke writes brilliantly about the emotional ...more
Aug 05, 2025 07:08AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">