Thursday, 9 July 2015

JUNE 2015 - READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH

June provided another decent month's reading for me, no major disappointments - only one 3 star read.



3 - 5 stars and a bit of choice for my favourite read of the month.

On balance probably Garret Holms - Grant of Immunity, not because I enjoyed it any more than the two Matt Coyle books I read, probably because I haven't read a legal-set crime book for a while.


Edward Freeland - Adapt (2015) (4)

Garret Holms - Grant of Immunity (2014) (5)

Paul J. Heald - Death in Eden (2014) (4)

Nathanael West - A Cool Million (The Dismantling of Lemuel Pitkin) (1934) (3)

Mark Smith - The Death of the Detective (1973) (4)

Kat Gordon - The Artificial Anatomy of Parks (2015) (4)

Adam Maxwell - Dial M for Monkey (2006) (4)

S. C. Harker - Binnacle Bay (2014) (4)

Col Bury - Manchester 6 (2012) (4)

Matt Coyle - Yesterday's Echo (2013) (5)

Matt Coyle - Night Tremors (2015) (5)


So with a bit of data – 11 reads from 10 different authors.

10 of the 10 were new-to-me authors. 

3 of the 11 here were 5 star reads and 7 of the other 11 were 4's – with only one 3 star.


8 of the 10 authors read were male. 2 were female.  

Cover of the month! Grant of Immunity

6 of the 10 authors hail from the US. 3 are English, 1 is "British."

One book from the 30's, one from the 70’s – 9 from this decade.

6 books were sent to me by the authors (or publicists/publishers on their behalf) – cheers!. 

5 were pre-owned/bought - though it is possible that 2 were maybe acquired when they were Amazon UK FREEBIES! .

6 were paperbacks, 1 was a hardback, 3 were Kindle reads and 1 was a PDF file.

Total page count - 3065
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18 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 July 2015 at 04:31

    You have some solid variety here, Col. And of course, I'm glad you had a good reading month. And it's nice, isn't it, to have a bit of choice as to your top read.

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    1. col29109 July 2015 at 04:44

      Margot thanks. I have been fortunate with my reading choices of late - let's hope my luck holds! :-)

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  2. Clothes In Books9 July 2015 at 13:21

    I do like to read statistics. You had a good month's reading.

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  3. TracyK9 July 2015 at 21:39

    It is hard to pick a favorite when you have lots of very good reads. But you read so many more books than I do, that would make it even harder.

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    1. col29109 July 2015 at 21:57

      It was (and usually is) quite difficult to choose, I sometimes think about which one I would choose to re-read if forced to - that helps decide it! Maybe I shouldn't pick a favourite...

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    2. TracyK12 July 2015 at 12:00

      I have considered not picking a favorite because sometimes it is so arbitrary. And sometimes I go for a combined pick.

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    3. col291014 July 2015 at 08:25

      Yes, I know what you mean - very subjective. Another day, a different mood and I might choose something else.possibly!

      Delete
  4. noirencyclopedia10 July 2015 at 13:03

    Great stuff! That's a lot of pages, even despite the Nathanael West being a shorty.

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    1. col291014 July 2015 at 06:12

      100 a day - probably I'm averaging 20 a day for July!

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  5. Anonymous12 July 2015 at 16:07

    Productive month for you, Col. I'm so jealous. What will be your total at the end of the year? Did you have any reading goals this year?

    I'm finally reading....something after a dry spell. Are you reading the new Ken Bruen book? Green Hell?

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    1. col291014 July 2015 at 06:15

      Keishon aiming for 120, which I should do, 150 would be great, but unlikely!

      I haven't heard great things about Green Hell TBH - I don't have a copy and aren't rushing to get one either. I think I might read MERRICK from him next. I have a review file of it, if it hasn't expired! Have you got GREEN HELL on the go then?

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    2. Anonymous14 July 2015 at 22:01

      Yes, I read it. I know you didn't like his previous book but I thought Green Hell was much better or much improved. He didn't add a lot of the pop culture references that bogged down the story a bit. Honestly, his books have never been big on plots. I know you won't believe me because I'm a fan but I have to say that GREEN HELL was a pretty good read.

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    3. col291014 July 2015 at 22:07

      I had an email telling me your review is up - I'll visit in a minute. I've been away for a few days and am trying to get caught up on my blog visits. Glad to hear it is a return to form from Mr Bruen.

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  6. Prashant C. Trikannad13 July 2015 at 10:26

    Col, I like the contemporariness of your reading list though, of course, I'm not surprised. Good show!

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    1. col291014 July 2015 at 06:16

      Definitely more contemporary than aged, Prashant!

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  7. Jane Risdon Author14 July 2015 at 08:02

    Oh cripes! What a collection. I had to part - screaming and pulling my hair out - with hundreds of books when I moved and I still grieve for their loss. I never listed them though. You are made of stern stuff...good luck with it all. Many names I am unfamiliar with Col. I shall have to go seek....

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    1. col291014 July 2015 at 08:28

      Jane cheers for stopping by. I do love my books - perhaps a bit too much maybe.....I am a tad obsessed. I grieved initially when I first started getting rid of them, but not so much now. Though I do struggle to part with unread books, even if I'm not convinced I'll 100% enjoy them!

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