Thursday, November 29, 2012

November reading roundup


Busy month. Thanksgiving, our 4 year-old dog's glaucoma meds failed so she had to have eye-removal surgery,  and a host of other stuff kept us very busy this November.  Luckily, there's always time to read, even if it's in the middle of the night or very early in the a.m. when it's just quiet.

November continued my American authors reading choice, and although I really didn't get through everything I'd planned, it wasn't so bad.  Add to the list some crime fiction, an incredible book of ghost stories and a  well-written nonfiction book, and it was actually a pretty good month.   Here's how it shakes out:



american fiction
Young Man With a Horn, by Dorothy Baker
Evel Knievel Days, by Pauls Toutonghi

--other--
The Collini Case, by Ferdinand von Schirach

nonfiction
The Boy Kings of Texas, by Domingo Martinez

  crime fiction
--american writers--
From Blood, by Edward Wright
--other--
Entanglement, by Zygmunt Miloszewski  (Poland)
The Dark Winter, by  David Mark  (UK)

odd/weird fiction 
The Big Book of Ghost Stories, ed. Otto Penzler (Vintage/Black Lizard)



And now, the  other book-related stuff:
1) The book group does a mixed November/December meetup so that we don't collide with the holidays. This coming December 11th we'll be reading Mildred Pierce, by James M. Cain. One of my friends accidentally ordered a copy of Mildred Pierced, by Stuart Kaminsky, and read the whole thing before realizing it was the wrong book.

 2) Added to the Amazon wishlist this month (as usual, a lot of obscure titles):
     crime fiction:
Baksheesh, by Esmahan Aykol
A Crack in the Wall, by Claudia Pineiro
David's Revenge, by Hans-Werner Kettenbach
The Public Prosecutor, by Jef Geeraerts

     general fiction:
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (nyrb classics)
Black Heart on the Appalachian Trail, by TJ Forrester

     nonfiction:
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956
The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy

    weird fiction:
The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published (ed. Otto Penzler)
 3) Books bought this month
Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy, by Douglas Smith
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss
The Go-Between, by LP Hartley (nyrb classics)
The Watchers:  A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I, by Stephen Alford

4) Currently reading: 
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy
The Horror at Oakdeene and Others, by Brian Lumley
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal and the Real Count of Monte Cristo, by Tom Reiss


****5) Books I'm giving away this month (sorry, to US readers only  -- absolutely 100% totally free, I'll pay postage to whoever will give them a home)*******
 -- links go through to Amazon, but I receive absolutely no money if you click. It's just an FYI. --

1. The Boy Kings of Texas, by Domingo Martinez
2. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
3. Evel Knievel Days, by Pauls Toutonghi
4. Number 9 Dream, by David Mitchell
5. The Proof of Love, by Catherine Hall
6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple
7. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce


(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 for November -- now on to December and some lovely Aussie beach reads. It is summer there, yeah?

11 comments:

  1. I'd love 'Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore' by Robin Sloan if I could please. Thanks! :)

    Here's my email addy:

    penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for giving it a home. I'll email you and you can reply with an address, if that's okay!

      Delete
  2. Kve heard so many good things about the penumbra book. Im looking forward to reading it myuself

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's very entertaining, actually; a lot of people found it rather flat but I didn't.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for inviting me here from LT. Sorry to see that Penumbra is already spoken for, but I'd gladly accept either Bernadette or Harold Fry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my, you can have both or however many you'd like! Why only take one -- I need the space! You can pm me at LT with an address & I'll get them out to you next week.

      and thanks for coming by!

      Delete
  4. I would like the book Where did you go Bernadette? Either that or the Proof of Love book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Connie
      I'll be happy to send Proof of Love; the other one spoken for! Thanks so much!

      Delete
    2. Connie, can you email me with an address? I can't seem to find an email from your name link. Thanks!

      Delete
  5. Number 9 Dream and Evel Knievel Days if they are still left....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're here -- you caught me just before library donations! I will need an address so if you can please email me with where I should send the books, I'll be mailing them before the week is out.

      Delete

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