Tuesday 9 May 2017

APRIL 2017 - READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH


Another cracking month's reading with 15 books enjoyed in April! I expect a dip in my reading at some point, but I might as well ride the wave while it's happening.

The 15 were...

David Jackson - Hope to Die (2017) (4.5)

Gareth Spark - Snake Farm (2015) (4.5)

David F. Ross - The Man Who Loved Islands (2017) (4)

Various - Maybe I should Just Shoot You in the Face (2014) (4.5)

Mark Hill - Two O'Clock Boy (2017) (4)

Steve Finbow - Down Among the Dead (2014) (5)

T.R Pearson - East Jesus South (2014) (4.5)

Dave Eggers (ed.) - Sweeney's Quarterly #30 Rejoice (2009) (4)

Pascal Garnier - The Eskimo Solution (2016) (3.5)

Bradley Spinelli - The Painted Gun (2017) (4.5)

Brendan Gisby - The Bookie's Runner (2013) (3.5)

Mark Wilson - Head Boy (2013) (4)

Jonathan Woods - Kiss the Devil Goodnight (2016) (4)

Rob Pierce  - Uncle Dust (2015) (4)

David Putnam - The Vanquished (2017) (3)


Book of the month - Steve Finbow - Down Among the Dead - the month's only 5 STAR READ!

7 of the 11 rated 4.5 STARS, 4 at 4 STARS, 2 a fraction lower at 3.5 STARS, 1 originally a 4 now a 3 after a bit of hindsight applied!

More useless trivia......

13 different authors, it's hard to qualify the 2 short story compilations. Most if not all the authors in both were previously untired.

10 of the 13 were new-to-me authors........Bradley Spinelli. Mark Wilson, Jonathan Woods, Mark Hill, David F. Ross, David Jackson, T. R. Pearson, Rob Pierce, Steve Finbow, Gareth Spark.

3 authors have been enjoyed before....... Brendan Gisby, Pascal Garnier and David Putnam - Gisby the once, the others 3 times previously each.

I still have unread books from 6 of these on the shelf, in the tubs or on the Kindle.
Pascal Garnier, Rob Pierce, Mark Wilson ( aka C. P. Wilson), Jonathan Woods, Brendan Gisby and T. R. Pearson 

Gender analysis - no surprises here - 13 male reads, ZERO female - I ought to have had at least one token Julie in the mix.


I think 5 authors hail from the US, 4 authors are English, 3 from Scotland and 1 from France - with two anthologies unclassified.

12 were fiction reads - 11 novels or novellas, 1 collection of shorts from Gareth Spark and 1 was a short biography Brendan Gisby's homage to his father.

2 were collections of short stories,

14 were published this decade - 5 from this year, 4 from 2016, 2 - 2015, 3 - 2014 and 2 from 2013.
Only 1 book was earlier than this decade - the McSweeney Quarterly from 2009.

8 of the 15 books were pre-owned - 4 came via the publisher, 1 from the author, 2 were from Edelweiss - Above the Treeline - an early review site, similar to Net Galley..

Favourite cover? Jonathan Woods - Kiss the Devil Goodnight



Steve Finbow's Down Among the Dead is my second favourite.


My reads were this long - 416 - 128 - 310 - 116 - 424 - 125 - 201 - 300 - 160 - 224 - 90 - 234 - 324 - 316 - 314

Total page count =  3682 (1682 in March)

0 < 50,
1 between 51 < 100,
4 between 101 < 200,
4 between 201 < 300,
4 between 301 < 400,
2 > 400 pages

Mark Hill's Two O'Clock Boy was the longest @ 424.















10 comments:

  1. Glad you had a good reading month,Col. And the Finbow does sound intriguing...

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    1. Margot thanks - it was a great reading month, not just numbers-wise the quality was there also. The Finbow - the pick of a great bunch.

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  2. I do love the Woods cover -- worth reading the book for! Hm. Wonder if the book has the same cover over here . . .

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    1. I love all the artwork on this publisher's covers - 280 Steps. Unfortunately they have closed their doors now and the book is no longer available in this edition. I think Amazon may have print copies still available, but I believe all the rights have reverted back to the authors. Maybe if Mr Woods republishes the book will have a different cover.

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  3. That is a lot of reading. I read a lot in April, for me, but I don't think I will ever get up to 15 books.

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    1. I don't think I'll hit 15 in May, but am hoping for double figures.

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  4. Looks like a good month's reading. Another vote here for that Woods cover: it's great.

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    Replies
    1. Cheers Moira, I'm hoping it continues into May at least.

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  5. That is quite a reading list for one month, Col. I want to get my hands on the Finbow, the Wilson and the Woods books.

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    Replies
    1. I think you would enjoy them all, especially Finbow's offering. I think the Woods book might be expensive at the minute. In the UK you can only get a printed copy at the minute, because 280 Steps have closed down.

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