AUGUST 2019 - READING LIST AND PICK OF THE MONTH

Nine books read in the month (ok eight read and one Audiobook consumed). One shy of my usual target of double digit reading.

5 STAR - PICK OF THE MONTH - not this month - but Steven Max Russo and Thieves can have the glory. It came close.

4.5 STAR READS - just scraping the crossbar x - 2 Steven Max Russo - Thieves and George V. Higgins - The Friends of Eddie Coyle - a second or possibly third re-read.

4 STAR READS x 5 - T.S. Hunter's Careless Whisper, Thomas Waugh with Enough is Enough, Lee Goldberg and Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse, A.G. Pasquella and Carve the Heart and Mike Knowles with Darwin's Nightmare


3.5 STARS x 1 - James Sallis - Others of My Kind

3 STAR x 1 - Lawrence Block (as Sheldon Lord) - 21 Gay Street

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

an ex-cop and his flat mate investigating murder

a survivor of years of abuse, helping others

a vigilante/bodyguard sorting out an Albanian drugs gang

an OCD former detective proving murder

some small time villains and a home invasion

a broken-hearted beau trying to get his former partner off the hook

some young New Yorkers seeking sex and love

an off-the-radar independent villain reluctantly involved with a criminal fraternity

some low-lie hustlers, selling guns and settling scores


Settings...... 80s Soho, London; somewhere in the US; London again; San Francisco; New Jersey/New York; Toronto; New York; Hamilton, Ontario; 70s Boston

T.S. Hunter - Careless Whisper (2019) (4)

James Sallis - Others of My Kind (2013) (3.5)

Thomas Waugh - Enough is Enough (2019) (4)

Lee Goldberg - Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse (2006) (4)

Steven Max Russo - Thieves (2018) (4.5)

A.G. Pasquella - Carve the Heart (2019) (4)

Lawrence Block (as Sheldon Lord)  - 21 Gay Street (1962) (3)

Mike Knowles - Darwin's Nightmare (2008) (4)

George V. Higgins - The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1970) (4.5)

Anal analysis time read on if you're an insomniac ......


New to me authors in the month - 3 - A.G. Pasquella, Steven Max Russo and Mike Knowles

I have more on the pile to read from Mike Knowles and A.G. Pasquella

Authors enjoyed before - 6 - Lawrence Block, James Sallis, T.S. Hunter, Lee Goldberg, George V. Higgins and Thomas Waugh

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

9 reads from 9 different authors.

4 were series books .....

Lee Goldberg's Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse is the first in about a dozen from the author

A.G. Pasquella's Carve the Heart is the second Jack Palace book, after Yard Dog

Mike Knowles with Darwin's Nightmare is the first of six or seven featuring his main man, Wilson

T.S. Hunter's Careless Whisper is the third in his Soho Noir series featuring recurring characters

Series maybes....

Thomas Waugh's Enough is Enough could spawn a series.



Gender analysis - 0 female authors, 9 male. No further comment really necessary (copies and pastes last month's comments re gender)

Another poor attempt at diversity in my reading! Deja-vous.
It looks like I'll have to sort out another all-female reading month later in the year to address the imbalance. Blah, blah, blah


Of the 9 different authors read, 6 hailed from the USA, 2 are British (can't be any more specific than that), 1 hails from Canada - as best I can tell.

All 9 of the reads were fiction,

7 of the 9 books read were published this century - 5 from this decade

3 from 2019, 1 from 2018, 1 from 2013

1 from 2008 and 1 from 2006

1 book was from 1970, and 1 was from 1962

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

Mike Knowles, George V. Higgins and Lee Goldberg

Publishers -  Red Dog Press, No Exit Press, Sharpe Books, Signet, Down and Out Books, Dundurn Press, Robinson Publishing, Lawrence Block and ECW Press


4 of the 9 reads were pre-owned,

1 was accessed at Net Galley early reviewer site, cheers to publisher Dundurn Press

1 came via reviewer site Book Sirens

2 were received directly from the publisher - cheers to Red Dog Press and Sharpe Books

1 came from the author - his assistant actually in the form of an Audible download code - cheers to team Lawrence Block



Favourite cover? Steven Max Russo - Thieves

Second favourite cover -  George V. Higgins - The Friends of Eddie Coyle

My reads were this long 126 - 192 - 144 - 304 - 280 - 277 - 184 (or 5hrs 54mins) - 190 - 196

Total page count = 1893 (3816 in July) ....... a decrease of 1923 pages

1 was a Kindle read,  2 were ePub files read on the laptop, 1 was a PDF file read on the laptop, 1 was an Audible listening book, 4 were paperback - 2 of them 3 book Omnibus editions of which the first of each was consumed


0 < 50,
0 between 51 < 100,
6 between 101 < 200,
2 between 201 < 300,
1 between 301 < 400,
0 between 401 < 500
0 over 500 pages

Lee Goldberg - Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse was the longest read at 304 pages

T.S. Hunter and Careless Whisper was the shortest at 126 pages long.


Oh....and I also did my annual August short story challenge.....

AUGUST, 2019 - 31 DAYS, 31 SHORTS!