Thursday, 4 July 2013

APRIL - JUNE AUTHORS NEW TO ME


The 2nd quarter of the year saw me read a total of 38 books, of which 13 were from authors that were new to me. (1st quarter figured 18 newbies in my 44 reads, so a bit of a drop, but over 30 and we’re only halfway through the year.)  
The full list is as follows;

Dick Francis – Forfeit (1968) (4)
Leif G. W. Persson – Between Summer's Longing And Winter's End (2010) (4)
Camilla Lackberg – The Stranger (2011) (2)
Tom Robbins – B Is For Beer (2009) (2)
Alan Furst – Mission To Paris (2012) (5)
Seeley James – The Geneva Decision (2012) (2)
Rob Kitchin – Stiffed (2013) (4)
Sue Grafton – A Is For Alibi (1982) (4)
David Corbett – Do They Know I'm Running (2010) (4)
Asa Larsson – The Savage Altar (2006) (4)
Terry Shames – A Killing At Cotton Hill (2013) (5)
Jack Rylance – Copacabana (2012) (3)
Jac Wright – The Closet (2013) (3)
Of the 13 new-timers, 7 of them were encountered during June and of the earlier ones, I have subsequently read further books by both Dick Francis and Leif G.W. Persson.
Highlights were undoubtedly Shames and Furst.
Others of note were Kitchin, Grafton and Corbett.

Francis and Larsson, just behind these in the enjoyment stakes. 


Obviously, from my non-scientific scoring there were a few disappointments, but that's to be expected. I open every new book, hoping I am engaged and interested, but it doesn't always pan out unfortunately.  




Posted by at

14 comments:

  1. Prashant C. Trikannad4 July 2013 at 01:06

    Col, you've had a terrific reading quarter. The Dick Francis novel brought back pleasant memories of one of several popular authors I used to read in the 80s. I'm glad to see his books "jockeying" for space in Indian bookstores. I think he's one of the earliest writers to make a new career (writing) out of his original career (horseracing). Of course, professional lawyers like Gardner have been doing that too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. col29104 July 2013 at 02:20

      Thanks for commenting - I'm surprised you manage to read it, another's dog's dinner of a post, which didn't look like that on my preview!
      I ignored Francis for many years, but am enjoying him now. There a lot to be said for a straightforward thriller-cum-crime novel, populated by a decent hero.

      Delete
    2. Prashant C. Trikannad4 July 2013 at 02:56

      Col, it looked pretty good to me. I'm never satisfied with my previews; there is always something amiss. I might enjoy Franicis' books more now than I did first. Back then, he had to "fight" his contemporaries like Arthur Hailey, Ken Follett, Frederick Forsyth, Wilbur Smith, Jack Higgins, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Robin Cook, Desmond Bagley etc. for my attention. They were (and are) all good writers.

      Delete
    3. col29104 July 2013 at 03:15

      There's a few names there I'm vaguely familiar with. Forsyth I used to read. I have the odd Higgins, Ludlum and Follett book lying around waiting for some attention. The others I have heard of but not read - back in the 80's I think I was still reading Stephen King and Dean Koontz. My tastes have evolved in the past 25 years!

      Delete
  2. Anonymous4 July 2013 at 04:50

    Col - Good to hear that there was more to like than to disappoint in your reading this month. I'm not surprised that you liked Furst, Kitchin, Grafton and Francis - All excellent writers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. col29104 July 2013 at 05:12

      Margot, thanks - hopefully in the coming months I will read more from each of these authors.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous4 July 2013 at 08:53

    Wow! Lots of reading Col. Well done!

    ReplyDelete
  4. TracyK4 July 2013 at 12:41

    Col, I am going to repeat myself and ask... How do you read so many books? Moving on, sounds like a lot of really good new authors. Reminds me I need to get back to reading Alan Furst.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. col29104 July 2013 at 20:49

      Tracy, I think my reading pace is quite quick, but I also prefer reading to TV - so most evening's my head's stuck in a book!

      Delete
    2. TracyK5 July 2013 at 09:08

      Ah, Col, that probably is part of my problem. I spend some of most evenings either watching a movie or TV on DVD with my husband and son, and we do watch a fair amount of TV shows (crime drama mostly).

      Right now we are enjoying the first season of Justified on DVD and it is really good. It is motivating me to read some Elmore Leonard.

      Delete
    3. col29105 July 2013 at 20:17

      Tracy, I like the odd drama as well, but I probably don't get the balance quite right - it can be quite anti-social with your head in a book all the time.
      Justified, I need to watch and catch up on - too busy reading!

      Delete
  5. Clothes In Books5 July 2013 at 00:50

    Really interesting list Col.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)