Wednesday, October 31, 2012

October Reading Roundup

Happiest of Halloweens -- it's freakin' freezing here in Florida, just the right kind of weather for curling up in a blanket and reading, which I plan to do after I finish here.


October was the month for American authors, and I did not get as far as I liked, so I'll be carrying that theme over into November to try to read more of the many books I've pulled off the shelves in this category.  So let's see what I managed to accomplish this month:


american fiction
The Yellow Birds, by Kevin Powers
City of Women, by David R. Gillham


nonfiction
--- (finished in September)
How the French Invented Love, by Marilyn Yalom


  crime fiction
--american writers--
Beast in View, by Margaret Millar (US)
The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett (US)
His Name Was Death, by Fredric Brown (US)

--other--
Lady of the Shades, by Darren Shan  (UK)

odd/weird fiction 
(although not from the US)
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories, by M.R. James, ed. ST Joshi
(discussion soon)
Banquet For the Damned, by Adam LG Nevill


And now, the  other book-related stuff:
1) The book group read Kathleen Cambor's In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden, which produced a lively discussion where we decided that  "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."  I'm delighted to see that others in the group are starting to incorporate outside sources to support and make sense of what they've read; it adds another dimension to the discussion when they bring in their outside materials to share.

 2) Added to the Amazon wishlist this month:
The Secret of Evil, by Roberto Bolano
The Lower River, by Paul Theroux
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
Tycoonery: A Novel, by Roger Smith
The Death and Life of Main Street: Small Towns in American Memory, Space, and Community, by Miles Orvell

 3) Books bought this month (likely going on the tsukundo pile for a while)
Night in the City, by Gerald Kersh
The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir, by Domingo Martinez
The Big Book of Ghost Stories, ed. Otto Penzler (Vintage)
The Heart Broke In, by James Meek
Fobbit, by David Abrams
The Long Walk: The Story of War and the Life That Follows, by Brian Castner
The Forgiven, by Lawrence Osborn
Salvation of a Saint, by Keigo Higashino

4) Currently reading: 
Evel Knievel Days, by Pauls Toutonghi
Shoot the Piano Player, by David Goodis
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner

****5) Books I'm giving away this month (sorry, to US readers only  -- free, I'll pay postage to whoever will give them a home)

1. for a very brave reader, Umbrella, by Will Self
2.  An ARC of Kevin Barry's new short story collection Dark Lies the Island (Barry wrote City of Bohane)
3. The Last Hundred Days, by Patrick McGuinness (last year's Booker Prize longlist)
4. The Folded Earth, by Anuradha Roy (duplicate in my collection)
5. The Garden of Evening Mists, by Tan Twan Eng ( this year's Booker Prize shortlist; a duplicate -- this one is paperback edition)
6. The Reeducation of Cherry Truong, by Aimee Phan


(if you want one, some or even all of these books, be the first to leave a comment with the titles of the book(s) you want.)

 that's it. Later.

2 comments:

  1. Hi there! I saw your post in the Goodreads groups and came right over to look around.
    I have had The Flame Alphabet on my to-read list for nearly a year and would reeeally love that one ... I'd also be interested in City of Women, if no one else asks for it, I don't want to be greedy :)
    not sure how this works, but I'll post a smiley or something on your post at GR and I think you can reach me through the link on my name here.

    thankyou for your generosity!
    ~Lynne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lynne
      You can definitely have both books. I'll send an email to get your address. Thanks so much for giving the books a home!

      Don't worry about being greedy. I need the space!!

      Delete

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