A mixed bag this month really; I read 14 books in total so I'm well on course for hitting my year end target of 120 to match last year's reading figure. There were a few more books this month that didn't rock me to be honest, no out and out stinkers but fair to say they were endured rather than enjoyed.
I kept on top of one of my other targets, reading a Scandinavian crime fiction book each month, with Leif G.W. Persson's Another Time, Another Place sneaking in at the bottom of the list when I finished it on the morning of the 31st.
I sort of missed my other target when unable to finish Lawrence Block's Eight Million Ways To Die before the end of the month. This would have been my "Award" winning read as it trousered a Shamus Award in 1983 for best PI Hardcover Novel. Finishing would have kept me up to speed on the 6 different series I am reading concurrently. However, as I got over halfway through it, I won't beat myself up too badly.
Where I do need to give myself a bit of a talking to and maybe a detention with 500 lines or so......
I must read more female authors.
I must read more female authors.
I must read more.........a bit fat ZERO!!!!!!!!
Sue Grafton is definitely on the list for June, one's a start!
Highlights were Max Allan Collins, Bill Pronzini and Elmore Leonard, which was my Goodreads Pulp Fiction Monthly Read, but the 2 standout books were Robert Crais' Voodoo River and Alan Furst's Mission To Paris.
Crais' series just gets better and better, Voodoo River was the 5th so far and my most enjoyable, but my vote for book of the month is Alan Furst's superb pre-war tale Mission To Paris. My first Furst but definitely not my last Furst!
The full list of reads is below with links to my half-baked reviews. Marks from 5 in brackets.
Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise collates together fellow crime fiction aficionados' monthly reads and pick of their month over here. Well worth a visit for some ideas for your TBR pile!
Martin Amis - Lionel Asbo (2012) (2)
Tom Robbins - B Is For Beer (2009) (2)
Stephen King - Dark Tower 1 - The Gunslinger (1982) (3)
Alan Furst - Mission To Paris (2012) (5)
Jack Tunney (AKA Gerard Brennan) - Fightcard: Welcome To The Octagon (2013) (4)
Seeley James - The Geneva Decision (2012) (2)
John D. MacDonald - The Quick Red Fox (1964) (4)
Robert Crais - Voodoo River (1995) (5)
Elmore Leonard - Valdez Is Coming (1969) (4)
Max Allan Collins - Fly Paper (1981) (4)
Randy Wayne White - The Man Who Invented Florida (1993) (2)
Dick Francis - Dead Cert (1962) (4)
Bill Pronzini - Undercurrent (1973) (4)
Leif G. W. Persson - Another Time, Another Life (2011) (4)
Col - Thanks for the summing up. Must agree with you about Crais; such a talented writer. And I'm glad you're planning to read some Sue Grafton. She really is a gifted writer I think.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I'm looking forward to the Grafton book, particularly as a lot of my reading is male PIs.
DeleteHi Col, your post inspired me to do a round up post of my own, so I am getting started. If there are female authors you're looking for I can give you a few: Karin Slaughter (Fractured), PJ Parrish (The Little Death), Asa Larsson (Sun Storm/UK title ?), PJ Tracy (Monkeewrench not sure what the UK title is either) and then there's Karin Fossum (Indian Bride). I don't read a lot of female writers either which I will have to rectify as well. It's not a conscious thing, it's just the titles I am drawn to I suppose. Hope you have some awesome reads in store for you in June.
ReplyDeleteKeishon, thanks. I have the first Asa Larsson book, so will stick with that for my June Scandinavian read. PJ Tracy - I tried before and loved, more fool me for not going back. I'll check out the others.
DeleteIt IS very masculine, but it's a great list. I read an Alan Furst a few years ago, and liked it - maybe it's time to pick up another. And if you read an Agatha Christie (5 little pigs) and a Sue Grafton for next month that would help.(Do I sound like a bossy nagging woman...?)
ReplyDeleteMoira, bossy? nagging? Never! I'll aim for two next/this month and if I fail then you can nag me!
DeleteSo many books, Col. I'm really impressed. Very well done indeed. Sarah
ReplyDeleteSarah, thanks. There are some advantages to not having much of a social life!
DeleteA nice, long list. Again you remind me of some authors I want to get back to. (Pronzini of course, but also MacDondald, Crais, and Furst.) Just ordered the first book in the trilogy by Persson.
ReplyDeleteI'll look forward to your reaction to Persson when you get there.
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