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Dane’s Year In Books

Dane’s 2025 Year in Books

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

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Dane Cobain’s Followers (322)

Dane’s Bookshelves

to-read (3246)
currently-reading (143)
read (3171)
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Dane’s Friends (741)

Girish Gowda

454 books | 382 friends

Alex (The Bookubus)

2,450 books | 1,090 friends

Jason

2,163 books | 1,295 friends

Jay G

2,719 books | 2,289 friends

Cynthia Austin

1,916 books | 2,241 friends

Alicia Birdie and the books

1,625 books | 341 friends

E. Watson

104 books | 479 friends

Jessica McHugh

278 books | 637 friends

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Dane Cobain

Goodreads Author

Born

in Sutton Coldfield, The United Kingdom

June 11, 1989

Website

http://www.danecobain.com

Twitter

danecobain

Genre

Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction

Influences

Philip Pullman, Charles Bukowski, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie, St ...more

Member Since

April 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/socialbookshelves

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Dane Cobain (High Wycombe, UK) is a published author, freelance writer and (occasional) poet and musician with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not working on his next release, he can be found reading and reviewing books while trying not to be distracted by Wikipedia.

His releases include No Rest for the Wicked (supernatural thriller), Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home (poetry) Former.ly (literary fiction), Social Paranoia (non-fiction), Come On Up to the House (horror), Subject Verb Object (anthology), Driven (crime/detective), The Tower Hill Terror (crime/detective), Meat (horror), Scarlet Sins (short stories), The Lexicologist’s Handbook (non-fiction) and The Leipfold Files (crime/detective).

His short stories ha Dane Cobain (High Wycombe, UK) is a published author, freelance writer and (occasional) poet and musician with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not working on his next release, he can be found reading and reviewing books while trying not to be distracted by Wikipedia.

His releases include No Rest for the Wicked (supernatural thriller), Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home (poetry) Former.ly (literary fiction), Social Paranoia (non-fiction), Come On Up to the House (horror), Subject Verb Object (anthology), Driven (crime/detective), The Tower Hill Terror (crime/detective), Meat (horror), Scarlet Sins (short stories), The Lexicologist’s Handbook (non-fiction) and The Leipfold Files (crime/detective).

His short stories have also been anthologised in Local Haunts (ed. R. Saint Clare), We’re Not Home (ed. Cam Wolfe), Served Cold (ed. R. Saint Clare and Steve Donoghue) and Eccentric Circles (ed. Cynthia Brackett-Vincent).

Cobain’s love of words grew from an early age, whether he was rewriting the lyrics to pop songs or teaching his elder siblings – maths and computer science students at university – how to execute commands in MS-DOS, all before he hit double digits. He started writing at fourteen, and progressed from lyrics and music to journals, short stories and poetry before writing the first draft of an early novel whilst in lectures. He studied creative writing at London’s Roehampton University, earning a 2:1 bachelor’s degree before starting a career as a social media marketer.

It was this career in marketing, combined with his love for reading and writing, which led to the creation of SocialBookshelves.com, his book blog, which was featured on multiple “best book blog” lists and has since been merged with DaneCobain.com. Through SocialBookshelves.com, he met Jesse James Freeman, the former VP of Community Management at Booktrope Publishing. Cobain’s debut novella, a supernatural thriller called No Rest for the Wicked, was released by Booktrope’s Forsaken imprint on June 11th 2015.

His second release, a collection of poetry called Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home, was released by Booktrope Editions in March 2016. Cobain performed his poetry at stand up nights, slams and open mic nights, memorised all 101 poems in the book.

Cobain’s third book, a literary fiction novel called Former.ly, was released on June 11th 2016. It follows the story of the rise and fall of a social networking site for the dead. Users sign up to the site, create a profile that they populate with updates that only they can see, and then when they die, their profile goes live to the public. But there’s something sinister about the site – something that people are willing to kill for.

Former.ly was followed by a non-fiction book called Social Paranoia: How Consumers and Brands Can Stay Safe in a Connected World, which was released in August 2016. The year was rounded off with Come On Up to the House, a horror novella and screenplay, in November.

In 2017, Cobain quit his marketing job to focus on full-time self-employment as an author and freelance writer. He also released Subject Verb Object: An Anthology of New Writing, which features 18 pieces from different authors and which was collected by Cobain and edited by Dane Cobain and Pam Elise Harris. That was followed in 2018 by Driven, a crime/detective novel.

In the following months, Driven was picked up for re-release by Encircle Publications, with its sequel, The Tower Hill Terror, released in 2020. In the same year, he independently released Meat, a horror novel set on a factory farm.

2021 saw the release of short story collection Scarlet Sins and non-fiction book The Lexicologist’s Handbook. The third book in the Leipfold series, The Leipfold Files, was released in 2022.

Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Goodreads, Twitter, LinkedIn and TikTok to stay up-to-date and to hear more about new releases as and when they happen. ...more

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Dane Cobain’s books

Average rating: 4.01 · 570 ratings · 327 reviews · 22 distinct works • Similar authors

	No Rest for the Wicked 3.83 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 2015 — 7 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
	Driven 4.05 avg rating — 60 ratings — 7 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
	Meat 4.22 avg rating — 51 ratings — 5 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
	Former.ly: The Rise and Fall of a Social Network 3.92 avg rating — 53 ratings — 3 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
	Come On Up to the House 4.13 avg rating — 24 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
	The Lexicologist's Handbook: A Dictionary of Unusual Words 4.16 avg rating — 19 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 Tower Hill Terror 4.38 avg rating — 16 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
	Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home 3.47 avg rating — 19 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
	Social Paranoia: How Consumers and Brands Can Stay Safe in a Connected World 4.44 avg rating — 9 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
	The Leipfold Files (Leipfold Mysteries #3) 4.11 avg rating — 9 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

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Dane Cobain's Blog

Three Ghost Stories

I’m a big fan of the That Chapter podcast, which I listen to most days when I’m out on my run, and hosts Mike and Keith regularly record Listener Story episodes where they read out spooky and scary true stories from their listeners. I’ve been meaning to send in a story of my own for a while, but I didn’t think I had anything interesting to tell them about.

Then I realised that I had three different

Dane is Currently Reading

Dane Cobain is currently reading

The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)

by Bernard Cornwell (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Apr 11, 2026 01:33PM

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You'll Be the Death of Me

by Karen M. McManus (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Apr 11, 2026 01:32PM

Dane Cobain is currently reading

Skin and Other Stories

by Roald Dahl

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Apr 11, 2026 01:32PM

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Dane’s Recent Updates

Dane Cobain rated a book it was amazing Holly (Holly Gibney, #3) by Stephen King (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
Holly Gibney is a fan favourite Stephen King character, especially when it comes to his more recent releases, and there are plenty of good reasons why. She stole our hearts in Mr. Mercedes and has continued to develop from there, and she feels much m ...more
Apr 13, 2026 11:19AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Holly by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Holly by Stephen King <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain rated a book liked it Reflections of Alan Turing: A Relative Story by Dermot Turing	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
Dermot Turing is Alan Turing’s nephew, and he’s also known for being something of an authority on the great mathematician’s life. That makes this book an interesting read, and one that’s packed full of information that the casual reader might not hav ...more
Apr 13, 2026 10:50AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Reflections of Alan Turing by Dermot Turing. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Reflections of Alan Turing by Dermot Turing <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain rated a book really liked it Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid (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
Perhaps the first thing to say here is that while this is a novel about tennis, I know next to nothing about the game. But in many ways that doesn’t matter, because Reid teaches you everything you need to know without it feeling like a chore. In fact ...more
Apr 13, 2026 10:46AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain is currently reading The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1) by Bernard Cornwell (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
Apr 11, 2026 01:33PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain started reading You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus (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
Apr 11, 2026 01:32PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — You'll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain started reading Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl	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
Apr 11, 2026 01:32PM · like
Dane Cobain rated a book really liked it The Rebel by Albert Camus	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’ve read a fair few of Camus’ books by this point, and I’d have to say that this one was probably the hardest for me to wrap my head around, though that’s not necessarily a criticism. It’s just that some of the concepts here were pretty tricky, and ...more
Apr 11, 2026 09:23AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Rebel by Albert Camus. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Rebel by Albert Camus <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain rated a book liked it Rhyme Stew by Roald Dahl	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
There were some fun poems in here, with Dahl retelling some classics like the story of Aladdin, and they’re backed with some cracking illustrations from longtime collaborator Quentin Blake. They’re not always particularly child-friendly, though. In f ...more
Apr 11, 2026 09:18AM · like · see review
Dane Cobain rated a book really liked it Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher	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 lough-out-loud piece of genius is more of a memoir than an autobiography, because while it does loosely follow the thread of Carrie Fisher’s life, it skips from one anecdote to another instead of progressing strictly linearly. It’s as manic of a ...more
Mar 27, 2026 01:07PM · 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 Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Dane Cobain rated a book liked it There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar (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
The first thing to mention about this one is that from the title alone, a lot of my friends thought that this book was going to touch on trans rights, which just isn’t the case. With that said, it’s not exactly anti-trans, either. It’s just that for ...more
Mar 27, 2026 12:55PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Dane’s Quotes

“′Classic′ - a book which people praise and don't read.”
― Mark Twain

tags: books, classic, reading

18874 likes

“Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror at all.”
― William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist

18 likes

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”
― Neil Gaiman, Coraline

tags: books, dragons, fairy-tales, inspirational, paraphrasing-g-k-chesterton

45229 likes

“For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can't readily accept the God formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”
― Charles Bukowski

tags: atheism, religion

8903 likes

“It takes the average American four years of doctors' visits to spend as much time with their physician as they spend with their phone in a single day.”
― Emmanuel Fombu, The Future of Healthcare: Humans and Machines Partnering for Better Outcomes

tags: american, doctor, doctors, future, healthcare, physician, physicians

2 likes

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