July Reading Roundup

I realize there are still a few days left in the month, but I'm nowhere near to finishing the books I'm currently reading, so this will be it for July.  Continuing from June with books written this year (and really, for the most part, beach reads), and thanks to a) being down with a seriously pulled back muscle and b) insomnia from said seriously pulled back muscle,  I had a really great reading month. 

 

 (* = published 2013)

literature/fiction:

*You Are One of Them, by Elliott Holt

*We Need New Names, by NoViolet Bulawayo (read late June)

odd/weird fiction

*The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes (really, a crossover between scifi and crime fiction)

*NOS4A2, by Joe Hill

purely for escape purposes

*Inferno, by Dan Brown (also read late June)

crime fiction/mystery

The Last Policeman, by Ben H. Winters 

*Countdown City, by Ben H. Winters

Crashed, by Timothy Hallinan

Little Elvises, by Timothy Hallinan

*The Fame Thief, by Timothy Hallinan

Death in Sardinia, by Marco Vichi

Death and the Olive Grove, by Marco Vichi

*Tomorrow City, by Kirk Kjeldsen

*Two Soldiers, by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom 

*The Killing of Emma Gross, by Damien Seaman

*The Ghost Riders of Ordebec, by Fred Vargas

nonfiction  

*Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery, by Robert Kolker

*The Longest Road: Overland in Search of America From Key West to the Arctic Ocean,  by Philip Caputo (read June)

*Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey Through a Country's Descent into Darkness, by Alfredo Corchado (discussion in August)

just stuck my nose into

The Kills, by Richard House (judging by the heft of this thing, I'll probably be here a while)

Holy Orders, by Benjamin Black  

And now, the  other book-related stuff:

1) Books I'm giving away this month -- for US readers only.    -- Unlike many other things in life, for you, it is  absolutely 100% totally free;  I'll even pay postage to get it to its new home.  All you need to do is to be the first to leave a comment here, and then email me at oakesn@gmail.com with contact info INCLUDING A HOME ADDRESS, PLEASE!! 1st come, first served. No address email, no book:


1. You Are One of Them, by Elliott Holt
2. The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes
3. The Daughters of Mars, by Thomas Keneally (ARC)

 2) Added to the  wishlist this month (subtitled: huh? never heard of those!):
     crime fiction:

The Moving Target, by Ross Macdonald

      general fiction:

The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara
The Days of the Rainbow, by Antonio Skarmeta
The File on H., by Ismail Kadare
Chronicle in Stone, by Ismail Kadare
The Palace of Dreams, by Ismail Kadare
The Siege, by Ismail Kadare
Broken April, by Ismail Kadare
Nostalgia, by Jonathan Buckley
Beggar's Feast, by Randy Boyagoda
 
the weird, the strange, supernatural etc:
nothing this month

     nonfiction:
Kansas City Lightning: The Life and Times of Charlie Parker, by Stanley Crouch
I Kiss Your Hands Many Times: Hearts, Souls and Wars in Hungary, by Marianne Szegedy-Maszak
Diary of a Man in Despair, by Friedrich Reck
I Await the Devil's Coming, by Mary MacLane
Boy Detective: A New York Childhood, by Roger Rosenblatt

 3) Books bought this month (subtitled: I read strange books)

• The Friends of Eddie Coyle, by George V. Higgins -- crime 
• The Benson Murder Case, by S.S. Van Dine -- crime
• The Tattooed Soldier, by Hector Tobar -- fiction
• The Daughters of Juarez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border, by Teresa Rodriguez -- nonfiction/reportage
• No Orchids for Miss Blandish, by James Hadley Chase -- crime
• After Dark, My Sweet, by Jim Thompson -- crime
• A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki -- fiction
• The Testament of Mary, by Colm Toibin
• The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri -- fiction, (preorder)
• The Spinning Heart, by Donal Ryan -- fiction
• 419, by Will Ferguson -- fiction (thanks, Jackie at Farm Lane Books!)
• The Twyborn Affair, by Patrick White -- fiction
• Appointment in Samarra, by John O'Hara -- fiction
• Summertime, All the Cats are Bored, by Phillipe Georget -- crime
• Farewell My Lovely and The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler -- crime
• The Green Man, by Kingsley Amis -- fiction
• The Kills, by Richard House -- fiction
• The Luminaries, by Eleanor Catton -- fiction (preorder)
• Death in Florence, by Marco Vichi -- crime (preorder)
• Wreaking, by James Scudamore -- fiction (thanks again, Jackie at Farm Lane Books!)
• The Summer of Dead Toys, by Antonio Hill -- crime
• Five Star Billionaire, by Tash Aw -- fiction

4) Currently reading: 

The Kills, by Richard House
Letters From Skye, by Jessica Brockmole

5) The book group is on hiatus for the summer.



That seems to be all there is to say at the moment -- now I'm going to go lay out by my pool and read!