Monday 17 June 2019

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 USA1 from Canada1 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.

8 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear you lost your reading mojo, Col. I hope you'll get it back. I am glad you had some good reads, though, even if they weren't all best-evers. Not surprised, to be honest, that the Temple topped your list. He was a highly talented author, and is greatly missed.

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    1. Only temporary, Margot. I'm back in the swing of things again thankfully. A decent month overall and Temple was the tops. Nice that we both have high regard for his work.

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  2. Glad to see the Peter Temple up there in the top spot. I have the first of his Jack Irish novels on (suspended) order from the library, and we've been enjoying some of the TV adaptations.

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    1. Looking forward to seeing what you think of his work. I'll have to look into the TV series, I hadn't known there was one.

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  3. A 5 puts AN IRON ROSE on my list. Thanks for the monthly summary, Col.

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    1. Elgin, that's the one I would push your way most strongly. Anything by him would come recommended though.

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  4. I am glad I came back and found your list of May books, so that I am alerted to the Peter Temple book.

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    1. Me too, I hope you can find it at the book sale, maybe.

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