MAY 2019 - READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH

Last month's reading was a bit of a disappointment numbers-wise as my reading mojo departed to unknown parts - seven books completed in the month when my minimum aim is double digits. That said the ones I did read were enjoyed.

The 5 STAR stand out and pick of the month was Peter Temple's An Iron Rose. I do need to read more from him.

4.5 STARS - Samuel W. Gailey and The Guilt We Carry

4 STARS - Lee Matthew Goldberg and The Desire Card, T.R. Kenneth's A Room Full of Night and Lawrence Block's The Ehrengraf Fandango

3.5 STARS - Michael J. Clark's Mahoney's Camaro

3 STARS - Eugene Marten and Waste

I spent time in the company of......

an unlikable alcoholic banker, seeking a black market liver transplant

an ex-cop suspicious about the apparent suicide of a close friend

a recovery truck driver with a new car complete with the ghost of the previous owner

a grieving journo investigating some Third Reich secrets

a janitor with a taste for necrophilia

a young women carrying a heavy load and seeking to escape her past with a series of bad choices

a lawyer who always wins for his client without ever visiting a courtroom

Settings..... New York and Mumbai; Victorian outback, Australia; Winnipeg, Canada; small town Wisconsin, Berlin then further afield; NY City; one of the Carolina states and a few other US locations (must make notes in future); Buffalo, USA


Lee Matthew Goldberg - The Desire Card (2019) (4)

Peter Temple - An Iron Rose (1998) (5)

Michael J. Clark - Mahoney's Camaro (2019) (3.5)

T.R. Kenneth - A Room Full of Night (2019) (4)

Eugene Marten - Waste (2008) (3)

Samuel W. Gailey - The Guilt We Carry (2019) (4.5)

Lawrence Block - The Ehrengraf Fandango (2014)  (4)



If you're not asleep yet - anal analysis for my own amusement - read on if you're an insomniac ......

New to me authors in the month - 4 - Michael J. Clark, T.R. Kenneth, Eugene Marten and Samuel W. Gailey

I have more on the pile to read from Eugene Marten, Samuel W. Gailey and Michael J. Clark

Authors enjoyed before - 3 - Lee Matthew Goldberg, Lawrence Block and Peter Temple

There's more on the TBR pile from all 3 of them

7 reads from 7 different authors. 

1 was a series book.....

The Desire Card by Lee Matthew Goldberg. The second in the series appears later this year 

Gender analysis - 1 female author, 6 male.

Another poor attempt at diversity in my reading, and the same as March and April!
It looks like I'll have to sort out another all-female reading month later in the year to address the imbalance.


Of the 7 different authors read, 5 hailed from the USA, 1 from Canada, 1 from Australia

All 7 of the reads were fiction, 

6 of the 7 books read were published this century 
4 from 2019, 1 from 2014 and 1 from 2008

1 book was from 1998, 

2 came from the man-cave blue tub stash in my garage.

Publishers -  Fahrenheit Press x 1, ECW Press x 1, Ellipsis Press x 1, Oceanview Publishing x 2, Harper Collins, Australia x 1, LB Productions x 1


3 of the 7 reads were pre-owned,

1 was accessed at Net Galley early reviewer site, cheers to publisher ECW Press 
2 were accessed at Edelweiss - Above the Treeline, early reviewer site, thanks to Oceanview Publishing

1 was received directly from the author - cheers to Lee Matthew Goldberg


Favourite cover? Mahoney's Camaro - Michael J. Clark

 Second favourite cover - Eugene Marten - Waste

 

My reads were this long 312 - 288 - 314 - 352 - 116 - 304 - 26

Total page count = 1712 (1714 in April) ....... pretty much the same as last month

1 was a Kindle reads, 3 were ePub files read on the laptop,  3 were paperbacks, 

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

T.R. Kenneth and A Room Full of Night was the longest read at 352 pages

Lawrence Block and The Ehrengraf Fandango was the shortest at 26 pages long.