This month has been busy. And good. And sunny and hot despite the constant ‘it’s going to be heavy rain and thunder’ from the weather reports – they do like to be stereotypical. I learned that you can order macchiatos at Costa even if they aren’t listed on the menu, and wrote lots of emails. I also watched the Carey Mulligan version of Far From The Madding Crowd, which I have to refer to as such because it was her role in it that got me reading the book after so many years of saying it wasn’t going to happen. Watching the film spawned at least two blog posts – two written, one other still in the idea phase. I also watched Disney’s live-action Cinderella for the second time, which in this case means I spent half the time getting all philosophical about the way we’re changing what we focus on in the story, meaning a couple of rewinds were in order for the person watching it with me. Oops. There may be a post in there, too.

The Books

Non-Fiction

Dan Richards: Climbing Days – Discovering his great-great-aunt was a mountaineer, Richards sets out to learn more and follow in her literal footsteps. Utterly superb.

Fiction

Colette Dartford: Learning To Speak American – A few years after the death of their child, Duncan and Lola’s relationship is still in pieces and Duncan hopes that a house in America might make Lola happier again. Okay.

Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland – Alice falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a bizarre world. I don’t think it’s possible to say this is a bad book.

Rachel Elliot: Whispers Through A Megaphone – Miriam hasn’t left the house for three years but she’s finally ready to put a bad experience behind her and conquer the voice of her mother that resides in her head; Ralph has had enough of his home life and decides it’s time to leave. Very good.

Sara Taylor: The Lauras – Ma whisks Alex off for a road trip to track down a series of people who used to be in her life, all the while Alex is struggling through the teenage years and figuring out identity. Amazing.

My favourite this month was Climbing Days, The Lauras very close behind it. I found Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland to be a little different than I expected, though that was in part due to the way I was thinking of the 1950s, forgetting it was written in the Victorian period.

Quotation Report

If you wish for people to not visit, take a leaf from Dan Richards’ relative and wear a hat whilst in the house so you can say you’re off out… though it might not work in our present day so much.

September is likely to be even more busy. I’m not ready to let the summer go, or, rather, I don’t mind that so much as I wish the evenings would remain bright, but I can see myself getting more done without that constant feeling I’m missing out when I’m stuck working indoors.

What was your favourite book this month?

I read a good amount this month. As you’ll know from last week’s post, and perhaps also Twitter, I was quite busy the last several days of the month so I haven’t yet finished Climbing Days but whenever I have had time I’ve been reading many pages, thanks mostly to the engrossing nature of it.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Ashley Stokes (ed.): The End – A collection of short stories inspired by artworks that recreate the old film ‘the end’ frames. Some great fiction here.

Jonathan Ames: You Were Never Really Here – An ex-security agent continues his work for other people and takes on the task of finding the kidnapped daughter of a politician. A novelette; fast-paced, no filler content, couple of hours of reading at most, but the story doesn’t really end.

Louisa Young: The Heroes’ Welcome – Two men who suffered injuries in the war (one mental one physical) return home to their wife and girlfriend who have been affected by proxy. Could’ve been better.

Midge Raymond: My Last Continent – A cruise ship is heading a little too much towards Antarctica and Deb knows that lover Keller may be on board. A good book about a titanic-like shipwreck with lots of information about Antarctica and what we need to do to save it.

Olumide Popoola and Annie Holmes: breach – A collection of short stories inspired by the current refugee camp in Calais. Timely.

Rick Yancey: The 5th Wave – Humans are being wiped out by aliens that are yet to land – or have they already? Strictly okay – I chose to read this because I loved Yancey’s short story in Rags & Bones but it fell very short of expectations.

S J Watson: Before I Go To Sleep – A woman wakes up one morning confused by the stranger in bed beside her, the age of her reflection in the mirror, and an acute sense of disorientation. So good.

My favourite would have to be Before I Go To Sleep; fast-paced until near the end wherein the only reason it’s slow is because you’ve exhausted the possibilities and thus are at that time simply waiting to find out which one it is. I’m not sure I’ll watch the film – I read they changed a lot, is that true? – but I’ll be reading S J Watson’s Second Life at some point. breach was another stand out, though in fact the only book I didn’t enjoy so much was The 5th Wave; I’d hoped it’d be so much more than it was and thought it was a standalone. I won’t be continuing the series in a hurry.

Quotation Report

None this time.

Last month of summer; sad, but I’m hoping to see more of my nephew and enjoy the last sunny evenings.

How has your summer been so far, or, if you’re in the southern hemisphere, how is winter treating you?

Why is it that it can feel the year is going by very fast until you reflect on what you’ve done in that time? Weird, isn’t it? Here are the books I read in June:

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim: Season Of Crimson Blossoms – When Reza breaks in to Binta’s house the woman finds a desire for him under her terror and when he returns in peace they begin an affair. A very good book about a relationship between a young gang leader and an elder of the community that looks at society as well as the self.

Frédéric Dard: Bird In A Cage – Upon returning home, Albert goes to the restaurant he was too poor to visit as a child and becomes acquainted with a woman who has an aura of mystery. Difficult to sum up without giving it all away, this is a short, filler-less thriller and rather good.

Marie Sizun: Her Father’s Daughter – France has never known her father, a prisoner of war, and believes that his homecoming will destroy the bond she has with her mother. Excellent novella from Peirene Press.

Pamela Hartshorne: House Of Shadows – Kate wakes up in hospital with amnesia and the memories she undercovers have nothing to do with her present situation except in the way those around her seem to hate her. Good premise poorly executed.

Shan Sa: Empress – A fictionalisation of the life of Empress Wu Ze Tian of the 600s, detailing her journey from commoner and low-ranking concubine to leader of China. This was a re-read for me and I enjoyed it just enough but wouldn’t particularly recommend it. (It was interesting to note the difference in my enjoyment from teen years to now, however.)

Tahmima Anam: The Bones Of Grace – Zubaida meets Elijah at the cinema and his arrival in her life brings upheaval to already-laid plans to return home and marry her childhood friend once her palaeontological studies are over. I’d say this is a book you’ll either love or strongly dislike – I’m in the love it camp (my review will be objective).

Xiaolu Guo: A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary For Lovers – Zhuang Xiao Qiu, who goes by ‘Z’ because westerners cannot pronounce her name, has travelled to England to learn English to better her prospects back home; she meets a man she comes to love but their relationship is ruled by both a cultural divide and a personality mis-match. I found this a lot better than Guo’s later I Am China; there’s a lot more literary thinking behind it and less editing problems, though as far as a recommendation goes I must point out you have to be happy with the idea of reading a book written entirely in broken English (it’s one of the concepts).

This wasn’t the most literarily pleasurable months I’ve had – that made-up term again – but the diversity went a long way towards smoothing that out. There were three books I loved: the Ibrahim, the Sizun, and the Anam, all for very different reasons and thus it’d be difficult for me to choose between them as far as favourites go (Ibrahim’s method; Sizun’s concept and point of view; Anam’s sheer uniqueness) but I can’t say the others weren’t fun either. Guo’s book was a very easy read and I appreciated the way she brought development and reality to a character you never hear from directly through the use of another’s broken English. Hartshorne may have given the game away within moments but I still enjoyed the ride. Dard is a master of succinctness. And Sa, whilst I can now see the flaws, has had a big impact on my history lover self since I first read her.

Quotation Report

None this time.

When I’ve read a good number of books in the first six months of a year, I often hope to match it in the latter six. Here’s hoping we all meet our reading goals!

How many books do you hope to read by the end of the year?

This month was another good reading month. I’m continuing to get better at choosing good books – I actually had a tiny slump when a book wasn’t quite so great: it was a 4 star book! I’m doing a whole lot less of that read-a-book-even-when-you-reckon-before-starting-that-you’ll-find-it-mediocre thing.

All books are works of fiction.

The Books

Alice Dunbar-Nelson: Violets And Other Tales – A collection of very short stories, poems, and a bit of non-fiction by a 1800s American female activist. Okay by itself; a promise for her future writings.

Ayelet Gundar-Goshen: One Night, Markovitch – A man with an unremarkable face and his friend with the amazing moustache decide to join men heading to Germany to save Jewish women from the Nazis and bring them home to Israel. Full of humour, this is no less a book with a lot to say. It was even better than I’d hoped.

Elnathan John: Born On A Tuesday – Dantala goes to live at a mosque, studying the Quran and working for the Imam, and doesn’t see the turbulence outside. A good book about how religious intolerance isn’t straight forward.

Sue Gee: Trio – A man looses his wife; during his trauma he accepts an invitation to a concert wherein he meets a group that will aid his recovery. Beautiful but the end is a pity.

Thomas Hardy: Far From The Madding Crowd – Three men make a play for Bathsheba’s hand with varying levels of passion and her frivolous nature causes tragedy. The first half is very boring, the second absolutely fantastic.

V H Leslie: Bodies Of Water – Drawn to the river for reasons she doesn’t understand, Kirsten moves into a renovated Victorian hospital, a place that saw death. Very good book about hysteria and female ‘problems’.

I’d say One Night, Markovitch was my favourite this month; it took me a while to read it but that was my problem – the text is consistently fabulous. Trio was almost sublime, but, ironically, Gundar-Goshen’s ending literally spelled out what was wrong with Gee’s book – the Israeli author speaks of the problems with books jumping in time; her own does this but she’s made amends for it. And I was enjoying Far From The Madding Crowd very much by the end. The other three books weren’t bad, indeed they were very special – it’s hard to speak of favourites when each has entertained you.

Quotation Report

Yaacov Markovitch of One Night, Markovitch is pleasantly surprised to learn his visa-wife is a fan of agricultural literature – she’d said she’d read a great deal about Israel’s oranges. What he doesn’t realise is she’s read a four-line stanza.

Having got back from the Hay Festival, I’m ready to get back in the reading zone.

How was your May?

This month has been about events, also birthdays. And sunshine – we had a day of lovely spring heat and another during which I got a little burned. I’ve become acquainted with some fantastic books, most that I’ve shared with you through event posts, and others that I’m looking forward to sharing with you. I got a couple of great reads from the charity shop, too, in particular a hardback copy of Susanna Kearsley’s The Firebird; well timed because I’d just finished my first book of hers. It’s also been about the Wellcome Book Prize shortlist.

The Books

Non-Fiction

Amy Liptrot: The Outrun – Liptrot’s journey from alcoholic to sobriety which happens mostly back at home in the Orkney isles, as opposed to London, where she helps her father on his farm, takes long walks, watches for birds for conservation, and goes swimming in the sea in all weathers. Solid; good.

Cathy Rentzenbrink: The Last Act Of Love – The story of the event and aftermath of the author’s brother’s accident as a victim of a hit-and-run. A superb book.

Suzanne O’Sullivan: It’s All In Your Head – A doctor’s story of her patients who have psychosomatic illness, the history of the diagnosis, and her hopes for change. Good, if a little too ‘are you with me!’ at the end.

Fiction

Alex Pheby: Playthings – Based on the life of a turn-of-the-20th-century German judge, this is a fictional account to follow on from the factual memoir the man wrote of his Schizophrenia.

Holly Black: The Darkest Part of The Forest – When the boy who has been sleeping for generations disappears, things start to go wrong. Not the best summary; it’s an okay book.

Marie-Sabine Roger: Soft In The Head – A man who speaks of his lack of education and poor childhood meets an old woman in the park and they strike up a friendship over pigeons, books, and learning. Utterly fantastic, there are so many different themes to this book and they’re all handled excellently; and it’s a book wherein I heard the character in my head rather than my usual ‘voice’ – so well written and translated.

Mavis Cheek: Dog Days – Patsy’s divorced her measly husband and is looking forward to being single and living with her daughter, hopefully staying far away from her friend’s attempts to match-make. An easy, escapist read that’s slightly dated but very honest in its look at divorce.

Nicholas Royle and David Gledhill: In Camera – During the Cold War an East German girl pinches her father’s camera and take photographs of her family and home life. A great short story with many layers, matching fiction to artwork.

Susanna Kearsley: Mariana – Julia buys the house she always dreamed of living in and finds herself slipping backwards in time. Pretty awesome.

Finally a month in which I read a lot. I took The Last Act Of Love with me everywhere. It’s an excellent book, though it seems wrong to say so. Mariana was a good runner-up, a few niggles, but I enjoyed it a lot, and In Camera was pretty fab – I loved the way the girl’s narration was surface dressing to Royle’s underlying story. And Soft In The Head I highly recommend; look out for it in June. It’s been a good reading month – the only book I wasn’t keen on was the Holly Black. All the others I enjoyed a fair to a great amount.

Quotation Report

None this time.

Here’s hoping the trees gain more leaves by the end of spring… it still looks wintry here.

How was your April?