I have been at home a bit this month so have had a lot more time to read and I seem to have got through 22 books. They are a fairly eclectic bunch on looking at my Blue Reading Book. Most those I have read this month have been sent to me by independent publishers and I have been delighted to see such a wonderful mixture of books. Since I started my Personal Challenge this year I realise how blinkered I had been in some of my reading and how mainstream I had become. I am being jolted out of my complacency big time so a huge thank you to everyone who has sent me books to read. I still have an interesting pile to explore sitting in the corner of my living room.
I seem to have got through lots of thrillers: Absent Light by Eve Isherwood, courtesy of Accent Press, several Agatha Christies all read before but always worth a re-read as this time around I know who dun it so I can now pick up all the clues that Dame Agatha has dropped in the narrative and which I totally missed first time around (in some cases, second time around); a few of the Dick Frances canon which I picked up in a charity shop (5 for £1 can't be bad and they will now be recycled to another charity shop); a very funny chicklit type story I married a Pirate by Samantha David, courtesy of Myrmidon Books and two Harry Potter - HP and the Half Blood Prince which I re-read prior to last one so I could refresh my memory, and of course the final Harry Potter which I will not talk about as enough has been written about it already.
Then three by Adele Geras, all of which I have blogged about at great length, and all of which I loved and now await the next one (my problem as you all know is that once I find somebody whose writing I love I read everything in sight and then don't know what to do with myself); a historical novel The Other Eden by Sarah Bryant, courtesy of Snow Books and the last two by Lisa Miscione which are terrific American thrillers and rattle along and are hugely enjoyable.
My normal reading home has not been neglected: Cousin Phillis by Mrs Gaskell, not known to me at all and, as always, an absorbing and touching read. Loved it. Then The Watsons by Jane Austen - a fragment. Both of these simply beautiful editions came courtesy of Hesperus Press.
Then three totally differing books which kept me completely absorbed. The Scorsas' Sun by Laurent Gaude which bowled me over. One of my books of the year so far (Hesperus again)
Thirteen by Sebastian Beaumont - disturbing and slightly surreal and scary but brilliantly written and even if I did not know what was going on half the time, and still didn't by the end of it, it has remained in my mind ever since, always a sign of a good book (Myrmidon again)
But the book I am going to rave about the most (apologies to all authors mentioned above, I did enjoy your books, honest but this one really grabbed me by the throat and did not let go) is Needle in the Blood by Sarah Bower (Snowbooks again). I will not rant and rave again about this book, oh damn it yes I will, it is wonderful and terrific and I loved every page and could not put it down and I want everyone who visits my blog to go out and buy it NOW or if you are in the US and it is not yet published order it NOW or, better still, splash out on postage, say to hell with it and get Amazon UK to send it to you NOW.
OK enough ranting. I think I had better shut up NOW.
