riverwillow's 2013 attempt to read some books

2012 was not a good reading year for me, although I read 107 books in total because of a stressful work situation I didn't read a single book for the six weeks during November and December, but my book buying habit didn't diminish.

So this year I've set myself the challenge of reading 100 physical books, whenever or however they got onto my bookshelves, with the secondary goal of reducing my tbr from 771, scary I know, to 669, which is slightly less scary.

Oh yes and a morning's reading got the first book out of the way Frozen Heat, which I really enjoyed and not only because I'm a huge fan of the Castle series.

You're off to a good start, with one read already! Good luck with the challenge.

<2 Thank you. I see your currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo, let me know what you think as this is one of those books I seem to know a lot about but I don't think I've ever read it.

I've also just realised that my TBR is now 773 (so it was 774) this morning as I didn't add my SantaThing books to the total - even more scared.

Starred - Good Luck, riverwillow!

#3: I must update my home page, as The Count of Monte Cristo was a reread, and a while ago, but it is a fabulous novel and I loved it. I read the Penguin Classics edition, translated by Robin Buss, so it is a modern translation rather than one of the freebie Victorian-language ones. I thought it read beautifully - not like a translation at all (or perhaps I've just read bad translations of things before...). There is a three-month Group Read of it in the 75 Books Challenge group starting in March, but I don't see a thread for it yet.

Good luck, riverwillow! Glad to hear the first book was a good one :)

Alexandre Dumas is SO much fun! I really regret that I didn't read them when I was younger.

Good luck with your list!

1 down and 99 to go - nice start! Good luck with your reading!

It's been a busy start to the year and this is the first chance I've had to post. I've managed to finish another three books that qualify for the challenge, which is great

The Iron Tonic
Dodger
Dying in the Wool

Which is good, sadly I've also added 4 books to my tbr pile - must get reading!

I'm back!

I have been reading, but much more slowly than usual. But I'm relieved to say that I left the 'job from hell' in the middle of March and really started reading the next day, lots of ebooks I'm afraid, but have finished another five qualifying books since I last posted.

Police at the Funeral
Miss Jacobson's Journey
The Swerve
The Uninvited Guests
Bedlam

Welcome back! Glad to hear the job from hell is a thing of the past. How was Bedlam? I have a Christopher Brookmyre book on the TBR pile and am looking forward to trying him.

I loved Bedlam, its one of his 'supernatural' books, set in the world of video games - I was a little nervous as I'm not a gamer - but it really didn't matter as he;s exploring several ideas.

I see you've got Where the Bodies are Buried which is one of his detective/police procedural books where he does like to bust the conventions - much as I love Rankin he's almost the anti-Rankin - and which I also loved. Brookmyre is one of my favourite authors, don't you love it when you find a living author who's work you like, and is a master of black humour. I do hope you like it.

And another one down, Brilliance, which sadly wasn't that brilliant, and was a book group read.

And another one off the list Life After Life

Somehow this book didn’t quite work for me and I’m not sure why. I really like the idea of a life lived again and again as a kind of learning process, which also sets up a really nice explanation of déjà vu, a feeling Ursula encounters again and again. I’m also a huge fan of Atkinson, especially her non-Jackson Brodie works. But Atkinson doesn’t quite carry this one off.

It may be the multiple lives, at times it became very hard to work out who was alive and who was dead in each life (I’m trying to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t read the book). Also I lost patience a couple of times with some of the loves, I do understand that it was important to show misdirected lives, but the dalliance at the Berghof was, I thought, misguided and I do appreciate that Atkinson was trying not to go down the Unity Mitford route. Having said that the sequences set in London during the Blitz were superbly graphic, yet lyrical in their descriptions of the bombing raids.

I’m just not sure where it was all going, or indeed if it was meant to go somewhere, so, and unusually when reading Atkinson, I was left with a deep sense of dissatisfaction when I finished the book.

And another one off the list And Only to Deceive, which was one of last year SantaThing books, which I really enjoyed.

This is an interesting first novel in a series I hadn’t heard of until my SantaThing partner selected this book for me and I’m really glad she did.
One of the things I really enjoyed was the idea of Emily getting to know her husband only after he’d been dead for 18 months, having married him to escape her mother, together with the growing realisation that the marriage she was creating in her head probably wouldn’t have existed. Emily is a strong, independent character who is resistance to the mores imposed on a woman by society and her mother, which sets up some nice little set pieces.
The outcome of the mystery – who is selling fakes to the British Museum – is fairly obvious from about halfway through the book, and the characters do start to conform to generic ideas of hero, villain etc., but this is, I hope a rookie mistake. As always with American writers writing about British characters there are anachronism which grate on this British reader. However these are minor quibbles as all in all this is good debut and I shall look out for other books in the series.

And another one, The Complaints by Ian Rankin, which was so good I'm rummaging in my TBR mountain to find the sequel as my next read.

Brilliant introduction to a new series written by Ian Rankin, the main protagonist Malcolm Fox, is the antithesis of most of modern genre crime detectives, especially Rankin’s own Rebus. Yes he’s divorced, but he doesn’t seem too tortured by it, he doesn’t drink and works as a DI in the Complaints and Conduct Department or ‘The Complaints’ and has just successfully wrapped up a case against a corrupt DI, he does have some problems, he has an elderly father living in a residential home and a sister in bad relationship. Fox’s world is about to change, his sister’s partner is murdered and this, alongside his new investigation, into Jamie Breck, take him to places that he never expected to go and expose just how far he will go to get his man.

Great character development and pacing made this a book that I couldn’t put down so I read the book in one sitting. I’m extremely grateful that I’ve got both sequels waiting to be read as I want to read more about Fox and his team.

Glad you liked The Complaints! I liked both but preferred The Impossible Dead. The dialogue is my favourite aspect; the team have such a good rapport.

Have just pulled out the Impossible Dead as my next read, I already love the relationship between Fox and Kaye, so am now really looking forward to sitting down to read this.

And I've finished The Impossible Dead which is just fantastic

Second books in a series are hard to write, yet Ian Rankin makes it look effortless. Fox is an interesting central character divorced, at odds with his sister and worried about his failing father, his personal life is solitary, but he’s not isolated as he has an amazing rapport with his team, Tony Kaye and Joe Naysmith, one that feels genuine rather than the uniting of individuals in a difficult job. Fox is another driven policeman, determined to discover the truth and undercover corruption both within the force and outside.

His latest investigation, a murder connected to the conviction of Detective Paul Carter for misconduct – Fox and his team are investigating whether any other officers in his station are implicated in the case – takes him back to the dark days of 1985 and the dark side of the separatist movement sending letter bombs and anthrax to government offices where the death of a prominent separatist lawyer was assumed to be suicide, but just might be murder.

The story is brilliantly paced as Fox slowly makes his way to the shocking truth. A superb read.

Am pulling out Standing in Another's Man's Grave from the pile as the next read, I should really hold off so that I've got something to read between now and when the next one comes out, Saints of the Shadow Bible, in November, but I've no patience and I'll just have to wait.

Amazing how much more reading I'm doing now that I'm not working at the job from hell - I am working - just wish I could stop buying books!

And another one down, the latest Ian Rankin Standing in Another Man's Grave, all I can say is Rebus and roll on November!

Was expecting slightly more Malcolm Fox in this one, not that I’m complaining as its wonderful to reunite with an old friend. Semi-retirement – even though he’s a civvie working in the cold case unit isn’t really retirement - hasn’t changed Rebus, I suspect that nothing will ever change Rebus, and now that the age restriction for serving policeman has changed he’s hoping to get back in.

By chance Rebus picks up on a cold case that he thinks may be connected to a current investigation, reuniting him with Siobhan Clarke. Apart from the joy of seeing the band back together, its great to see Rebus back doing what he does best, making connections to build a solid case. But Fox is lurking in the background keeping an eye on Rebus as he’s determined to prove that Rebus is crooked and prevent his return to the force.

My only small criticism is that having spent the last two books with these characters there wasn’t enough of The Complaints in the book, although I really enjoyed seeing Rebus’s perspective on Fox. Another superb book from Ian Rankin and I’m impatiently waiting for Saints of the Shadow Bible to be published.

Next one off the list, Speaking from Among the Bones - this is a fanastic series of books, which I was first introduced to by one of my SantaThing partners, which I highly recommend that you check out.

I love this series of books. Flavia is a wonderfully brilliant central character.

‘I’ve mentioned before my passion for poisons and my special fondness for cyanide. But, to be perfectly fair, I must admit that I also have a soft spot for strychnine, not just for what it is, but for what it’s capable of becoming. Brought into the presence of nascent oxygen, for instance, these rather ordinary white crystals become at first rich blue in colour, then pass in succession through purple, violet, crimson, orange and yellow.
A perfect rainbow of ruin.’

But she’s also a child, locked in a war with her elder sisters:

‘My sisters had attempted, on numerous occasions, to convince me that Harriet was not my mother: that I had been adopted, or left by the Little People as a changeling, or abandoned at birth by an unknown mother who couldn’t bear the thought of weeping every day at the sight of my ugly face.
Somehow, it would have been much more comforting to know that my sisters and I were not of the same tribe.’

‘I had created a poison which, in sufficient quantities was enough to stop a rogue elephant dead in its tracks. What it would do to an impertinent sister was almost to gruesome to contemplate.’

Flavia’s on top form as she uses her investigative abilities to track down just who killed the local church organist, Mr Collicut, and deposited his body in the tomb of St Tancred and why.

The family is also, once again, teetering on the edge of financial ruin as the creditors circle, an intriguing development at the end of the book may or may not save Buckshaw from being sold, I can hardly wait for the next instalment in the series.

Ooh, can't wait to read that one! I plan to request it from the library once the hold queue has shrunk a bit.

If word gets around as to how good it is, the hold queue may not shrink for a while! I'd be surprised if this wasn't one of your books of the month.

I've finished another one - am only just realising how much that horrid job had bothered me and stopped me from reading - A Poisoned Season, the first book in the series came from another SantaThing partner, I just hope my partners have loved the books they've received.

The second book in the Emily Ashton series, I’ve always suspected that second books in a series are hard to writer, but Alexander manages it very well. Emily is an engaging central character, curious, fearless and unconventional, I love her spats with her rigidly conventional mother, the scene where she takes tea with Queen Victoria and her mother is a delight.

The mystery is interesting and I’m pleased to say that I didn’t guess the identity of the murderer until very late in the book. But Emily’s relationships with those around her are at the heart of the book. Her burgeoning relationship with Colin, man of mystery, is great, although his determination to keep to the rigid social conventions is annoying, and doesn’t save Emily from being at the centre of a scandal. But most of all I love the friendships with Margaret, as she waits to go up to Oxford, and Emily, married to a man with political aspirations who tries to prevent his wife reading the latest sensation novels, Emily, of course, has other ideas.

There are a few anachronisms which grate on this British reader, but otherwise this was a fun and fast read and I’m moving straight on to the third book in the series.

Riverwillow -

I really enjoyed the Lady Emily Ashton series (at least the ones that I've read). I am always on the look-out for historicals that take place in interesting locations and books 3 (Vienna) and 4 (Constantinople/Istanbul) certainly satisfied my armchair traveler!

Looking forward to seeing what you think of those two!

Caramellunacy -

Thank you - I raced through book 3 and just finished it. Loved your review.

I've got book 4 on my pile and I've just ordered the next 2 in the series - sadly they're not that available in the UK at the moment - and was going to take a break from the series while I waited for them to come, but now I know that book 4 is set in Instanbul I'll have to move directly on to read this one as well! At least I've changed my ROOT definition this year and they all count.

So, sadly too late for my April total, I've finished A Fatal Waltz

During a shooting party their host is murdered and Emily’s friend Ivy Brandon’s husband, Robert, the victim’s protégé, is arrested. Determined to prove his innocence Emily starts an investigation that takes her from London to Vienna and into a political maelstrom involving anarchists and a plot to assassinate the Kaiser and bring Britain and Germany to the brink of war.

This series is a great escape from the modern world, I loved the descriptions of Viennese cafe culture and the encounters with Klimpt. While the controversy surrounding the Mayerling Incident adds authenticity and feels as if it captures a small part of what a visitor in fin de siècle Vienna could’ve experienced.

Emily also comes face to face with Colin’s ex-lover, the spy, Countess Kristina von Lange, which causes her some anxiety about her relationship with Colin. She’s also under threat as bullets are left in her hotel room and as Colin is absent for much of the book Jeremy becomes her protector and the ease of their friendship also comes under threat.

Am looking forward to reading the next instalment in the series.

My eighteenth root of the year is the fourth book in the Emily Ashton series, Tears of Pearl, its the last one on my pile, although I have ordered the next two in the series, it just depends when they turn up.

Emily and Colin are now married and on an extended honeymoon in Constantinople/Istanbul. I was concerned that this change in Emily’s circumstances might alter the tone of the books – in one series I read set in the same period when the author married off her main female protagonist the series switched from being centred around her to her husband – but Colin more or less treats Emily as an equal, although concerned about the risks she takes. Of course it helps that he needs a woman to aid in the investigations into the murder of a harem girl, who it seems is actually the daughter of a English diplomat kidnapped when she was just a young child.

The plot was a little jumbled up – the sub-plot involving Roxelana was annoying and contrived – and I’m afraid I guessed the murderer, but not the motive, quite early in the book. Additionally there are the inevitable anachronisms. However, I found Emily’s anxieties surrounding childbirth, mainly her fears for herself but also those for Ivy, confined to bed and awaiting the imminent birth of her first child both convincing and touching.

An interesting instalment in the series.

And another one down, Lord Roworth's Reward which is an entertaining fast read for a sunny Sunday morning. It was nice to catch up with old friends. But I probably shouldn't have read this straight after reading Georgette Heyer, which wasn't a ROOT, as this books pales in comparison. Having said that not a bad read.

Number 20, which was a bookclub read The House of Rumour.

I read this book for bookclub and frankly when I finished it I wasn’t that impressed.

Its a well written book and I really liked how Arnott structured the book, using each of the cards of the Tarot Major Arcana as the theme for each chapter and the merger of fact and fiction. Unfortunately some of the things I liked also weaken the book, having a different theme and main central character for each of the chapters fractures the narrative. The merging of fact and fiction also doesn’t quite work, mainly because the facts and the characters drawn from history are so vibrant, indeed some of the real events and characters are so outlandish you couldn’t make it up, whereas the fictional characters feel two-dimensional.

The discussion at bookclub didn’t change my mind about these faults, but we had a long and intense discussion about so many things, history, religion, science while trying to work out just what Arnott was trying to achieve with the book, that I can’t still say that I’m indifferent to the book, I’m just not sure what I am.

So I've finished Dead Ever After the last of the Southern Vampire/True Blood series.

This is the last in the Southern Vampire Series, as it was called in the UK before the launch of the True Blood, and, especially looking at the direction Sookie’s taken in the last couple of books, is a fitting ending to the series. I particularly liked how the stories of some of the main characters, both friends and villains, were woven into the plot and how these characters, and Sookie have changed and, in some cases, grown, since the first book.

Now I’ve said that I have to address the number of negative reviews of the books and the death threats allegedly made to Charlaine Harris because Sookie doesn’t end up with the vampire/werewolf/werepanther/faerie/shifter/man or whatever that the reader wanted her to. Frankly I’m shocked by this, because this series isn’t Twilight and while Sookie’s romantic liaisons have been important, often she’s been more focussed on staying alive and keeping her friends and family alive, than her relationship with her new boyfriend – and didn’t at least nearly kill her? I do think that this may be more to do with True Blood than the books. There are lots of differences between the characters in the books and the ones in the TV series, Arlene and Lafayette spring immediately to mind, but I think this is also applies to the characterisations of Bill, Eric and Alcide as they are subtly more sympathetic and human in the TV series than they are in the books.

As I’ve said, for me this was a satisfying ending to the series and, even better, after the last couple of books weren’t so good, was much better than expected

That is really absurd, these death threats.

I absolutely agree connie, making death threats to any author because their ending for a story doesn't match your vision is completely absurd.

In the meantime I've moved on and finished another book A Kiss at Midnight, which kept me occupied between meetings today.

A fun reversioning of the Cinderella story. Kate isn't quite a kitchen drudge, her stepsister, Victoria, isn't evil or ugly and her godmother, Henry, short for Henrietta, isn'ta fairy either. But the Prince is a Prince, and handsome and intelligent too. A fast, fun read.

I've just finished my seventh book of the month and its only the 16th! I think I've finally getting on back on track. - Dangerous to Know

Emily and Colin are staying with Colin’s mother, Anne Hargreaves, in Normandy while Emily recovers her strength following the events at the end of the last book. Unfortunately Emily and Anne do not get on well and this causes tension in the house, which is only increased when Emily stumbles across a woman’s body bearing wounds similar to those inflicted by Jack the Ripper on his victims. Of course Emily and Colin get drawn into the investigation.

This is an interesting instalment in the series, Emily and Colin have both been wounded by the events in Constantinople, but react very differently. As we see from her diary entries – a really nice device – Anne Hargeaves is just as independent and forthright as Emily, but is unable to appreciate Emily’s virtues and so worries for her son. No Margaret this time, but Cécile and Sebastian both put in an appearance and assist Emily with her investigations and provide support to her as she tries to deal with the repercussions of Constantinople. As always there’s a historical context to the story, Monet reappears and they meet Maurice Leblanc who’s creation of Arsène Lupin is inspired by his encounters with Sebastian.

The identity of the victim and her family circumstances seems to be the key to solving the murder, and its here that I found the story to stretch just beyond the bounds of credibility, the family are just too much, especially her siblings – I don’t want to give too much away here and spoil the plot. But having said that there were a nice number of twists and turns to the plot to keep me satisfied and the resolution to the case is scarily plausible.

Wow, you are getting a lot read! I'm feeling particularly slackery this month on the reading front.

If it makes you feel any better I was really slack on the reading front in the first part of the year, I'm not working enough at the moment so I'm spending my spare time reading and knitting.

I've just finished another one, The Bull of Mithros, I’m a huge fan of this series depicting a Greece that the tourists rarely get to experience. Hermes Diaktoros is an investigator empowered by the ‘Authorities’ to mete out justice. But, despite certain similarities in their shape and concern about their mode of dress, Diaktoros is no Hercule Poirot, as his justice is one that invariably doesn’t involve the police and the courts but is more poetic in form, rewarding the good and punishing the transgressors – as I’ve said before he reminds more of Christie’s mysterious invention Harley Quinn, who also brings a strange and wild justice to those he encounters.

Its summer and the island is teeming with tourists but they hardly figure as the locals try to find out just who the stranger, thrown overboard from a boat, is. He seems familiar and may be connected to a violent robbery committed some years previously, or he may not. This is another intriguing mystery and one that takes Diaktoros on an interesting journey as he untangles the relationships and loyalties on the small island of Mithros. Wonderful.

So I've completed numbers 26 to 29.

I've had to think about the first one as I didn't finish the book HHhH but as its off my shelves, ir rather the pile in the hall, decided it counted.

I very rarely stop reading a book, but, after a week of trying and despairing, I'm going to have to put HHhH down and I'm not sure that I'll return.

The sad thing is that there are things I like in this book. While some find the the authorial interpolations distracting, I like how they detail the author's anxieties about creating a novel based around a key historical event and the constant reminder about what is based on eyewitness accounts or verifiable accounts and what he's recreated.

My problem is the subject matter, I've read other books about WWII some factual, some fictional and while they've all had an emotional impact on me, none have upset and frustrated me as much as this book. Sadly I think that as much as I like the authorial interpolations as a technique they have also rendered this book unreadable for me as some of the interpolations about the author's personal life, or the beauty of the woman from a particular area seem inappropriate and grate on the reader as the book progress and Binet meticulously details atrocity after atrocity as the Nazi's inexorably move towards the final solution.

Next was A Crimson Warning

Back in London after her adventures in Normandy, Emily is settling down to enjoy the delights of the London Season. But all is not well, at a Ball Colin intervenes to break up a fight, caused by the scandalous revelation about the fiancée of one of the participants. This is the first of many scandals that overcome London high society all presaged by the daubing of red paint on the family homes of those involved.

Colin has also been called in to investigate the murder of a well-known businessman and when his distraught fiancée starts to receive threatening letters demanding the return of something her fiancée gave her, Emily joins the investigation.

There is a dark heart to this instalment, the initial murder is followed by a number of deaths as the front steps of one after another society family are daubed. Emily also gets a first-hand experience of how the London working class really live, although it doesn’t seem to drive her to become a social campaigner as expected, although she does try and help those she encounters.

A great addition to the series, its nice to see Emily and Colin back in London amongst their friends and family – Colin’s tussles with Lady Bromley are particularly fun. Alexander also has a lot of fun with her character, she introduces Emily to the concept of Woman’s Suffrage, unsurprisingly Emily embraces the idea and sets off to find out which MPs would be sympathetic to the idea.

Next was a read for book group The Teleportation Accident

What can I say about this other than read it? Well its a Smörgåsbord of a book, with lots of layers and multiple genres and several ideas all thrown into the mix. In another writer’s hands it could’ve been a confusing mess of a book, but Beauman holds it all together really well with very few slips.

Through his main, self-obsessed and frankly unlikeable main character, Egon Loeser, Beauman explores the ideas and history of the mid-twentieth century, except well he doesn’t, Loeser is so self-absorbed that he doesn’t read the news, or bother with politics, so history happens off stage – in LA in 1935 Loeser is constantly confused when he is congratulated on his escape – while Loeser mulls about his non-existent sex life and about his favourite book, Midnight at the Nursing Academy.

Its also very funny.

Read it.

And last is another Tasha Alexander, Death in the Floating City.

Emily and Colin are in Venice, investigating the murder of Emily’s ‘friend’ and nemesis, Emma’s father-in-law, who was discovered stabbed to death and clutching a fifteenth century ring. Emma’s husband has disappeared, leading local police to believe that he is responsible for his father’s murder, Emma is not convinced and wants Emily and Colin to clear his name.

This is a complicated plot as Alexander threads the story of the owner of the fifteenth century ring into the main story, but she holds it altogether well.

The book ends with an intriguing development.

I've finished number 30, Beautiful People, which, as it was a busy work week was a bit of an achievement.

I do have a soft spot for Wendy Holden's books as they're usually well-written and a cut above the average chick-lit, but still a guilty pleasure. This is an enormous book, stuffed with seemingly disparate characters and story lines, which all do. eventually, converge in a dénouement in Italy. While Holden always conforms to the conventions of the genre, one of the things that sets her apart from the rest is that she teases the reader with a set of possibilities for her characters that don't always happen.

Just finished Dreams and Shadows which, if you love Neil Gaiman or the Brothers Grimm, I can't recommend enough. This is a brilliantly dark fairy tale for our times Cargill mixes folklore, myth and fairy stories with a smattering of Dante and Milton in his narrative to great effect. Much more Grimm than Disney, this is both a morality tale - the trickster Coyote is possibly the only character, fairy, human, angel or demon, who has a perspective on the struggle for existence - and bildungsroman as we follow Ewan and Colby as they travel, and battle, from childhood to adulthood. This is a great debut novel and I look forward to reading more of Cargill’s stories in the future.

And onto the man himself with The Ocean at the End of the Lane:

‘Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody.’ This also applies to Neil Gaiman’s books, you can read the blurb, look at the cover art, read reviews and summaries but nothing will prepare you for what lies within the pages.

This is a fairy-story for all, about discovering what really is at the end of the lane, and about what happens when you grow up:

‘I’m going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don’t look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they’re big and thoughtless and they always know what they’re doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is that there aren’t any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.’ She thought for a moment. Then she smiled. ‘Except for Granny of course.’
We sat there side by side, on the old wooden bench, not saying anything. I thought about adults. I wondered if this was true: if they were all really children wrapped in adult bodies, like children’s books hidden in the middle of dull, long books. The kind with no pictures or conversations.’

I could tell you more, about how the book starts with the adult protagonist doing the most grown-up of grown-up things, attending a funeral, and how seeking to clear his head he drives to the site of his old, long-gone, childhood home and how this stirs up memories of his childhood. But all I will say is that this is one of the best, if not the best, book that I’ve read in a while, so read it and discover the complexities within for yourself.

I totally agree with the part about grown-ups. I'm 60 on the outside but on the inside i'm no older or wiser than perhaps 18 or 20. I'm just acting my part ;-))

I know exactly what you mean Connie, although on the inside I'm not that sure I've progressed much beyond 16!

Number 33 has been finished The Feast of Artemis, potentially the last in a series that I love.

Hermes Diaktoros investigates the seventh deadly sin, greed. A chance encounter with his half-brother leads them to Dendra and the festival celebrating the end of the olive harvest. But a day of feasting ends in tragedy when a young man is badly burned as he tries to leap a burning bonfire. Later Hermes learns that there are allegations that the young man didn't fall but was tripped, the latest incident in a long-running and bitter feud between two local families. Then the patriarch of one of the families dies suddenly and Hermes becomes involved in a complex investigation to discover if he was murdered and, if so, why.

As the series has, up until now, used one of the seven deadly sins as its inspiration this is potentially the last book in the series, which I really hope it isn't, Maybe Ms Zourodi could extend the series by using other figures from Greek Mythology like the Erinyes (Furies), unless they are part of the mysterious Authorities that empower Diaktoros to mete out a wild form of justice. Many of the reviews and blurbs reference Diaktoros as being a Greek Poirot, and yes there are similarities, a rotundity of form and a fastidiousness of dress immediately spring to mind, but for me Diaktoros has more in common with another Christie creation, Harley Quinn, who is another otherworldly dispenser of justice.

I do hope that this isn't the last we see of Diaktoros as I really enjoyed this book - just don't read it if you're dieting as the descriptions of the various local delicacies will cause you break your diet on the spot and you may have to follow Hermes' example and visit your local tailor to get your waistband loosened. Superb.

And another one done. No.34 Gone Girl:

I’m slightly torn by this thriller. On the one hand I love the idea of that both the victim and the protagonist telling their own stories, and their version of events and (no spoilers) I thought the ending was fitting. On the other I didn’t find anything new or that exciting in the story. I also found it quite difficult to relate to the characters, the story may be documenting the extreme end of a marriage that’s drifted in to complacency and mutual disregard, but its really hard to care about such thoroughly unlikeable characters, seemingly without a redeeming feature between them. As a result I can’t make up my mind whether or not this is an average read or a good read, maybe time will tell.

I'd forgotten that I'd also read (if that's the right word) a couple of Gorey's this month - should add that Gorey isn't for everyone:

A Halloween Treat I adore Gorey and this two-sided book doesn’t disappoint, the illustrations are superb and Gorey’s macabre humour is in evident. A Halloween Treat is the more conventional of the two books, each illustration is one letter of ‘Halloween’, some following a group trick or treating. Flip the book and you have Gorey’s Ghosts, a wonderful jewel of drawings, with ghosts of all kinds appearing in every one. A must for the Gorey fan, and a must read for Halloween.

and

The Wuggly Ump Lovely. Quintessential Gorey, an idyllic childhood, full of daisychains and games is threatened by the Wuggly Ump. Superb drawings. Fantastic.

Two more down, bringing my total to 38.

The first Manna from Hades, I wasinterested to see how this new series from Dunn would compare to her Daisy Dalrymple series. Eleanor Trewynn is an interesting character, having spent her life overseas working for a British charity, following her husband's death she's retired to a small Cornish villiage having used her savings to set up a charity shop.

1960s Cornwall gives lots of scope for local colour, and absent minded Eleanor and her Westie Teazel seem to be good central characters for a new mystery series and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

The second was a very popular book with over 800 reviews, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society I wasn’t sure that I’d like this book, but I’m a great fan of epistolary novels, so I thought I’d give it a go. Now if I say that Les Liaisons dangereuses is one of my favourite novels, you might think that this isn’t quite my cup of tea, and you’d almost be right, because I also love light and frothy fare and Shaffer’s tone and approach is very reminiscent of Nancy Mitford.

I loved Juliet and her exchanges with Sidney and Sophie, which set the scene nicely for her easy exchanges of letters and growing friendship with Dawsey, Amelia, Isola, Eben and the other members of the society. I also loved her penchant for throwing things, book, teapots, when aroused. I did find that the pace dropped a little when Juliet moved to Guernsey. However I did like the gradual unravelling of Elizabeth’s, Christian’s and Kit’s sad story.

Mary Ann Shaffer seems to have done her research and manages to show her understanding of what the people of Guernsey went through during and after the Occupation without undue sentimentality or sensation. I’m only sad that she wasn’t around to witness the success of her book, or to write more, as this was such an astonishingly good début.

Number 39 is done, The Detour, this was a book club read and I can’t make up my mind about this book. On the one hand it’s a wonderfully atmospheric read, on the other hand elements of the story are so obscure and abstract book that this becomes a frustrating elusive story to read. Having said all of that, conversely I loved all the mysteries in the book, why did she leave Rotterdam, was she really ill, bitten by badger, etc.? I really liked the unreality of the setting and how her perception of events flips between reality and seeming hallucination. This is maybe one of those books I need to sit with for a time and possibly re-read before I can make up my mind.

Managed to complete numbers 40 - 44 over the last few days:

A Medal for Murder
The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I
The Thief
A Colourful Death
Murder in the Afternoon

The Watchers is on my books to check out list. Hope it was interesting!

And number 45 is done The Prisoner of Heaven I loved The Shadow of the Wind, wasn't a fan of The Angel's Game, and really hoped that this book would be a return to form. Sadly it wasn't. It was OK, but nowhere near as magical and compelling as The Shadow of the Wind, which really shows how well Zafon can write. Yes it was nice to hear Fermin's story and to hear more about David Martin and Daniel Sempere. There's apparently a fourth book to come, I'll see how I feel when it comes out in paperback as, at the moment its not one that I am going to rush to read.

Numbers 46 and 47, Valley of the Shadow and Broken Homes, which is the fourth instalment in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch which I highly recommend. I may have one more book in me before the end of the month - lets see.

Yay, Rivers of London! I've read 1 and 3 and have 2 patiently waiting on the shelves. Looking forward to it and 4.

As someone who's not a Londoner but lives and works in London, I just love how these books really reflect the spirit of London, in a different but similar way to Neverwhere. Books by Neil Gaiman and Ben Aaronovitch tend not to have to wait too long on my shelves!

And talking of reading, I've finished number 48 The Secret Keeper, I do love a sprawling Gothic family saga and fortunately this was a return to form as Kate Morton's last book really didn't rock my boat!

That's really good to hear, Riverwillow. De vertrouweling is on my Soon to read shelf. And movinf to the top of the pile fast.

Its definitely better than The Distant Hours which I found really disappointing, but she's not quite back on form, so I do hope that you enjoy it.

In the meantime, I've had a lazy Sunday reading, which is naughty as I had lots to do, but once I picked up When the Devil Drives I couldn't put it down. I've always loved Brookmyre's work and this series is a good one.

Two more polished off, which takes me finally beyond the half way point, Flesh Wounds and The Chalk Circle Man. Very different books but both fascinating and compelling reads and really worth checking out.

Hey, I'm reading When the Devil Drives too! It's really good so far. That first chapter was really creepy!

I hope you enjoy its as much as I did - Brookmyre is one of those writers that I feel should be more widely read than he is, and I don't quite understand why not.

Number 52 is Fated which I enjoyed but sadly paled in comparison to the Dresden Files and Rivers of London series, but the second book in the series is languishing somewhere on Planet TBR so I will give it a go.

And two more down. The Bat which I probably enjoyed more than most as I haven't read any of the other Harry Hole books and I dug out the follow-up to 52 Cursed - the touchstone isn't working - by Benedict Jacka which has some interesting character development so I will check out the others in the series.

On a side note and with apologies to any Dan Brown fans, I thought I'd managed to escape getting a copy of Inferno - touchstone isn't working for this either - from my friend who loves Dan Brown and she did hold her promise. Sadly another friend who knows I'm currently reading the new Clive James translation of The Divine Comedy - giving up on work touchstones - has given me a copy knowing full well that if a book comes into the house there has at least to be an attempt to read it before it leaves, as a laugh. Hmm you can go off some people. Yes I'm yet to add it to my library ... Please let it be better than the last one.

Numbers 55 and 56 have been completed.

First up Seeking Whom He May Devour the second in the Commissaire Adamsberg series. This was a strange and quite wild book, but very enjoyable. The second was A Woman Unknown, another instalment in a continuing series - the Kate Shackleton series, which is almost the complete polar opposite to the Adamsberg series, but very enjoyable none-the-less.

And another two books completed Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk which I found, frankly, disappointing and a Gorey/Neumeyer box set which I loved Donald and the .../Donald Has a Difficulty. I think that's probably it for August.

I've been away for a while but have completed a few more books bringing me up to 67 completed:

An Absolute Scandal
Inferno
Beautiful Ruins
Revenge Wears Prada
Stoner
Deadly Heat
Captain Ingram's Inheritance
The Chalice
Taken

I adopted some rescue cats - yes in the plural - unfortunately one very quickly decided he didn't like his new accommodations and escaped, leaving his very unconcerned sister, who may have had a hand in his disappearance, and a older foster cat behind, and the whole saga has eaten into my reading time, but am slowly getting back on track.

Nice work! What did you think of Deadly Heat? I tried reading the first of the Heat books and was disappointed, although the general idea of bringing Castle's work to life was a good one.

Sorry to hear one of the cats escaped. I hope he finds his way to another home quickly.

Sorry I've been a bit absent recently.

I love the whole idea of the Castle series and some of the books are better than others, apparently they may be written by different writers which may explain the differences in quality.

I've kept reading and am now up to 76 books completed:

The Shock of the Fall
Chosen
Behind the Shattered Glass
Murder on a Summer's Day
Parnassus on Wheels
Three Ladies Beside the Sea
The Haunted Bookshop
The Rook
The Magus of Hay

So I only managed one more book for the challenge Raising Steam but am giving it another go in 2014. Finger's crossed.