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Tuesday, 2 September 2014

AUGUST 2014 READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH

August book of the month!
August proved to be a great month quality-wise, even though I again fell short of my 10 book reading target for the month. All 8 books read were by new-to-me authors and I'd be happy to read more from all of them.

4 books were fantastic in my opinion, so I'm spoiled for choice for a book of the month, 3 were better than good and the only 3 star-rating was good in its own way, but kind of slow. Having finished the last 3 whilst on holiday and the 4th from last the day before we went, I'll be catching up on reviews for them all in the next week.

Book of the month and not just because two of the 5-stars haven't been reviewed was Dietrich Kalteis - Ride the Lightning.

Judged on the basis of, if I had to read 1 of these again, that's what I would reach for, followed by Freemantle, then Fusco.


John Fusco - Dog Beach (5)

Robert Silverberg - Pickup (4)

Alan Jones - The Cabinetmaker (4)

Dietrich Kalteis - Ride the Lightning (5)

John Stonehouse - An American Outlaw (4) - on reflection re-scored to (5)

Brian Freemantle - Charlie M (5)

Allen Eskins - The Life We Bury (5)

Martin Clark - The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living (3)



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14 comments:

  1. Clothes In Books3 September 2014 at 01:20

    A good month's reading there, and high quality too, all those 5-stars. Look forward to the coming reviews of the holiday reading. I actually read the Mobile Home book many years ago, so I'll be interested to know what you thought of it....

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    1. col29103 September 2014 at 22:56

      Moira cheers. Hopefully I can make a full report on them all in the next week. Mobile Home was an unintentional read brought about by circumstances, but I enjoyed it....mostly

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  2. Prashant C. Trikannad3 September 2014 at 04:02

    Col, every one of these is a new writer for me and I'll have to start reading them from scratch. The 5-stars do look good, especially going by the covers of the Freemantle and Eskens novels.

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    1. col29103 September 2014 at 22:57

      Prahsant I think you would like Freemantle especially. It's an old school spy story, shortish but excellent.

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  3. Anonymous3 September 2014 at 04:40

    Col - So good to hear you had a good reading month. It's great to have so many that worked for you. I'm keen to try the Eskens myself...

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    1. col29103 September 2014 at 22:58

      Margot, the Eskens would definitely be a recommendation. Hard to believe its a debut.

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  4. gak3 September 2014 at 10:44

    Hi Col: I got "Ride the Lightning" because you made it sound so good (the cover art didn't hurt). And now it's your book of the month so I must hurry up and get to it. Tracy will no doubt follow because it fits into her Canadian challenge.

    Glen

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    1. col29103 September 2014 at 23:01

      Glen, I hope it doesn't disappoint. I liked it immensely, but I kind of find criminals more interesting people to read about than ordinary Joe's. Not everyone shares that attraction. Look forward to seeing what you think of it though. I thought Black Karma might appeal, as it is a follow on from White Ginger - which was set in San Francisco Chinatown.

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  5. gak4 September 2014 at 15:09

    Oh drat. I liked White Ginger and will now have to look up Black Karma.

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    1. col29105 September 2014 at 01:30

      Sorry Glen! Thought you needed to know though....hehe

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  6. TracyK5 September 2014 at 16:08

    Very nice list. The one I am most interested in here is Charlie M. I have it and would like to read it soon. Looking forward to your review.

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    1. col29107 September 2014 at 20:39

      Tracy, I think you'll love Charlie M - old school cold war spy stuff...and short!

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  7. Sam10 September 2014 at 10:14

    Good choice! Dietrich is the man!

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