Hello everyone,
For today’s post I am returning to my list of the significant characters, books, authors, and settings I came across during my first five years of book blogging, between the start of 2018 and the end of 2022.
This latest instalment takes me on to the letter ‘I’, which is not a very common one for character names, however I have read a lot of books beginning with this letter, which accounts for much of this list.
So without further ado, let’s get straight to it!
I Am Watching You
A thriller by Teresa Driscoll about a missing teenage girl which I read in early 2019. It contains four perspectives, and the writing style and storytelling made a wonderful impression on me despite a couple of obvious faults.
I Found You
One of the many books I have read by Lisa Jewell. This one is typically engrossing and is about a man suffering from amnesia in connection with a traumatic event years earlier.
I Know You Did It
A young adult thriller by Sue Wallman which I read in 2022. An extremely gripping read, it was one of the best books this author has written to date, with a particularly tense and twisty ending.
Ian Graham
A British war correspondent who witnessed a fatal shooting by a woman known only as Die Jagerin, in The Huntress by Kate Quinn. Along with his colleague and ex-wife, he makes it his mission to track her down.
Ibrahim Arif
One of the members of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club. Ibrahim is a methodical deep thinker, approaching everything as if it is a puzzle that needs solving through some logical thinking. He is extremely likeable and brings a sense of aged wisdom to each case.
Iceland
A surprising number of books I have read were set in Iceland, or at least partly. These include The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea and The Creak On The Stairs by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, which brought out the atmosphere of the country so well in historic and present day settings. There was also The One Memory Of Flora Banks, which was much more whimsical.
If I Die Before I Wake
A uniquely written thriller by Emily Koch, about a man lying in a coma, who realises that the accident that left him in that condition was not really an accident.
In The Absence Of Miracles
A book by Michael J. Malone which has a very intriguing title that suggests all kinds of exciting things, but it turned out to be one of my most hard-hitting reads in 2020, dealing with topics such as sexual abuse. It was impactful, but I remember having mixed feelings about it.
In The Dark
The second novel in the DI Adam Fawley series of crime thrillers by Cara Hunter. As the title perhaps suggests, this is the darkest of them so far and features the case of two women locked in a cellar.
Inej Ghafa
One of the main characters in the Six Of Crows duology, and perhaps my personal favourite. Inej is agile and has weapons tucked away all over her person, often proving undetectable. Her ongoing romantic tension with Kaz Brekker is another highlight.
The Inheritance Games
The first book in an eponymous trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, where a teenage girl named Avery is named as the sole beneficiary to the multi-million fortune of Tobias Hawthorne, and has to live in his mansion for a year in order to inherit.
Inspector Han
The chief police offer in The Silence Of Bones by June Hur. A highly enigmatic character, the protagonist Seol notices he is concealing his past and wonders if he might be her long lost brother.
The Invention Of Wings
A very powerful book by Sue Monk Kidd, inspired by the true story of abolitionist campaigners Sarah and Nine Grimke. It tells a fictionalised account of their lives growing up on the plantation owned by their parents, and that of Handful, one of the slaves there.
Invisible Girl
Another book by Lisa Jewell! It is not one of her standout books, but perfectly readable nonetheless. I read this one in the summer of 2020.
Iphigenia
One of the many tragic characters of Greek mythology and the story of the Trojan War. Iphigenia is the unfortunate girl to be sacrificed by her father Agamemnon in order to appease the gods and earn he and his army a favourable wind that will lead them to Troy.
Ireland
A lot of books I have read have been set in Ireland. They include The Guest List by Lucy Foley, The Good People by Hannah Kent, The Living by Leann Cullinan, and all the thrillers by Claire Allan.
Iris
A young seamstress in Victorian London who meets and falls in love with a Pre-Raphaelite painter, in The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal. However, little does she know that someone else has an unhealthy obsession with her.
Iris Ellingham
The wife of the multi-millionaire founder of Ellingham Academy. One night in 1936 she is kidnapped, and it becomes one of the most infamous unsolved cases in history. In the present day, Stevie Bell believes she can solve it.
Isaac
A character from I Know You Did It by Sue Wallman. From what I can remember, he was a bit of a bully and I did not like him!
Isla
Emma and Deli’s adopted daughter in Circle Of Doubt by Tracy Buchanan. They move to an area called Forest Grove, but it turns out that her birth parents are much closer than Emma thinks.
Italy
I can think of three books I have read that were set in Italy. The Woman In The Painting by Kerry Postle took place in Renaissance Rome, while One Year Later by Sanjida Kay and That Night by Gillian McAllister were both present day thrillers which featured incidents that happened while characters were holidaying in Italy.
Ithaca
The kingdom ruled by Odysseus in Greek mythology. Odysseus leaves Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War, but then takes a very long time to return, much to the concern of his wife Penelope.
Ivy
One of the main characters in Your Turn To Die by Sue Wallman. There, a group of friends stay in a house every summer, but this time some sinister things begin to happen.
Ivy Boscawen
The main character in The Key In The Lock by Beth Underdown, which I read in late 2021. Daughter of the local doctor, she finds herself unhappily married to the coroner after a mysterious death some years earlier.
Izzy English
The main character in The Evidence Against You by Gillian McAllister. Her father has just been released from prison and she is never sure if she can truly trust him again.
Let’s Chat
Have you come across any of these books, authors, or characters? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading 🙂
Stephen Reads Books 