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| May's book of the month. |
May was a peculiar reading month for me insofar as I kind of thought I was going along nicely regarding numbers and I thought I'd hit 10 for the month easily, but then things kind of drifted and meandered away from me.
Quality-wise there were no issues as I had 4 - 5 star reads in the month and the other books all merited 4 stars in my opinion.
All 7 authors were new to me, only 1 was female - I'm assuming that mystery author A.E. Greystone is male, but I could be wrong. 3 were British, 3 were from the US and 1 was French. 4 were debut books and 4 could be classed as self-published.
Only 2 were physical - hold in the hand, turn the pages, dog-ear the corners - books. And maybe therein lies the problem. I spend a large portion of my working day on a PC, so when I want to relax and blog surf and google-stuff, I'm on a laptop and then I try and indulge my favourite pastime on another gadget-gizmo. Maybe if I concentrate on actual books, my mojo will return? I'll try for more paperback reads in June then.
I didn't read anything towards any of my personal challenges, apart from a contribution against the numbers game. To be honest, whilst half tempted to abandon them I think I'll leave them be and let them serve as a reminder not to get carried away with things. I'll finish them when I finish them.
Next year's challenge, apart from targeting 120 books again, will be a challenge for me to not sign up for any challenges. Whilst I genuinely want to read books concerning espionage and from Scotland and Australia, they seem to be a bit restrictive and inhibiting. I'm going to be more of a free spirit and soar like a mighty eagle; an eagle that is a compulsive reader that reads what it wants when it wants.
Spoiled for choice regarding a nominated book of the month, I'll plump for the self-published, non-reviewed, mystery author - A.E. Greystone and the not totally faultless, but still disturbing A Prospect of Death.
The full list of May reads with links is as follows:
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| Legal thriller |
Pascal Garnier - The Front Seat Passenger (5)
Alexander Baron - The Human Kind (5)
Daniel Tremblay - The Harbour Master (4)
Claire Duffy - Identity Part 1 (4)
A.E.Greystone - A Prospect of Death (5)
R.C. O'Leary - Hallways in the Night (5)
Terry Irving - Courier (4)
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| Second World War |
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| French slice of noir. |
Col, I like your image of a mighty eagle which, perched high on its mountain throne, suddenly swoops down to the plains, grabs its unsuspecting prey — authors and their books — and flies off into the clear blue sky.
ReplyDeletePrashant - thanks. There's a poet lurking inside me trying to escape!
DeleteI really enjoyed your description of the difficulties of the challenges, it made me laugh. I haven't read any of your books, but there are some good-sounding ones there.
ReplyDeleteMoira, happy to oblige on an otherwise dreary Monday morning! Let's see if the June reads can provide some definite ammunition for a future CiB post!
DeleteCol - I know what you mean by not signing up for any challenges... But, back to your pick of the month, I"m glad you found some very good reads. I'd rather be spoiled for choice than have a month full of 'Oops...wrong book for me.'
ReplyDeleteAgreed, better 4 or 5 great reads and a couple of others that weren't too shabby either, than 12 only okay books.
DeleteImpressive number of books read, sir. Never been a fan of challenges but I understand the appeal. Challenges always feel like homework to me and reading should be anything but that - work. But it's great to be apart of something or a community that supports you in your goals.
ReplyDeleteI'm coming around to a similar viewpoint - you're just ahead of me again! Ditto the benefits of versus the downside of Net Galley. Kind of makes the reading a chore as opposed to a pleasure.
DeleteI did not do any challenges in 2011, 2012 and 2013. My reading plunged! This year I joined a few challenges. Not that I am reading according to those but yes, I have read 97 novels till date and still going strong. I take a break now and then. After a long reading drought, it sure feels good!
ReplyDeleteI like your list of books!
Here is my Crime Fiction Pick of May 2014.
Gautami, thanks. 97 this year? I'm jealous!
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