APRIL 2010

APRIL 2010

Warren Ellis - Crooked Little Vein
Jeremiah Healy - Blunt Darts
James Patterson - Along Came A Spider
Greg Williams - Diamond Geezers
Elmore Leonard - Unknown Man No.89
Newton Thornburg - To Die In California
Linwood Barclay - No Time For Goodbye
James Patterson - Kiss The Girls

Monthly total 8, yearly total 32

Highlight of the month - Newton Thornburg.
Hopefully as a parent, I never experience the loss of a child. I've two other books by Thornburg to get to at some point - Cutter And Bone and Dreamland. If they are half as good, I'll be happy.
Published in the 70's, not sure if it's in print or out of print, but if you cross paths with it, check it out.

Elmore Leonard was okay, not outstanding. I'm fairly sure the main dude - Jack Ryan appears in some of his others books.

My wife read the Linwood Barclay and I have a tendency to read her books after her, so we can share some learned discourse over the dinner table, though for the life of me I can't remember what we might have talked about in respect of this.

I'm fairly sure I bought the Warren Ellis book on the basis of some internet blog hype and megablurbs, but even though I've checked it out on Amazon a minute or two ago, it couldn't have made that great an impression on me because I can barely remember it. Nice cover though.

My son read these two Pattersons and passed them on to me. Not a total waste of time, but I don't think he'll be winning any Booker/Nobel/Orange/Edgar prizes, assuming he qualifies.  

Healy and Williams, Williams and Healy....... can't remember, though the Healy book is the first in a series featuring John Francis Cuddy,
 

FEBRUARY 2010

FEBRUARY 2010

Martin Cruz Smith – Gypsy In Amber

Tobias Wolff – In Pharaoh’s Army  

Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – Slaughterhouse Five

George Pelecanos – The Turnaround

Joe Queenan – America

Elmore Leonard – A Coyote In The House

7 this month only!

Highlights, typically any book by Pelecanos has to be a good thing, but this wasn’t particularly stand-out in comparison with some of his previous work. I’ve just read an online review of this book to refresh my memory and that still didn’t set off any alarm bells in my head. 

Sad to say, that a slightly average Pelecanos book was the best of a mediocre bunch.

Cruz Smith’s book was picked up from a charity shop years ago, after enjoying Gorky Park. Fair to say his story-telling abilities improved over time, but I’d stick to Renko if I was you. I have got his other “Gypsy” book somewhere in the loft which doesn’t exactly thrill me.

A couple of the books I read, I’ve subsequently seen on lists of the “best 100 novels” ilk.......books to be read before you die apparently.

Slaughterhouse Five wasn’t too bad I suppose.

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was okay-ish. 

Two boxes ticked on the aforementioned 100 books list, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if either cropped up on the list of “100 Books You Must Read Because You’re A Lemming Who Follows The Crowd.”  Or “100 Most Over-rated Books Of All Time!”   

Usually Elmore Leonard serves up a treat and I’d probably read his shopping lists if they were published. Can’t say this was particularly magnificent but in his defence it wasn’t written for me, it was his first foray into the world of children’s books.

Wolff’s account of his time in Vietnam and post-Vietnam wasn’t too bad, but I’ve read better, either Tim O’Brien or Philip Caputo to mention a couple.

Joe Queenan’s America was a bit of a diatribe on popular American culture, Cats – The Musical, Kenny G, etc etc. (I looked this up because nothing had stuck, I initially thought it had been a bit of a travelogue but I was wrong.)     

March, 2010 had to have been better!