That Was Then
I finished another 15 books during October (a couple of reviews still to come). Although I didn’t have any 5-star reads it was a high quality month with nothing rating below a 3. My pick of the month has to be Jo Nesbø’s The Redbreast, a novel I abandoned on my first reading last year but picked up again after you all told me to and fell in love with the book’s protagonist, Harry Hole.
There are a veritable treasure trove of honourable mentions which I simply cannot separate. They include trips to Scotland, Iceland, Ghana, America, England, 1850’s Australia and Japan.
- Ann Cleeves’ Red Bones
- Arnaldur Indriðason’s Operation Napoleon
- Kwei Quartey’s Wife of the Gods
- Linwood Barclay’s Never Look Away
- Martin Edwards’ The Arsenic Labyrinth
- Robert Engwerda’s Mosquito Creek
- Shuichi Yoshida’s Villain
New Additions
Since buying my eReader I have curtailed my acquisition of printed books quite dramatically (good for the trees) but have been busy stocking up eBooks and audio downloads (bad for the bank balance). Included among my new acquisitions are the latest Belinda Lawrence mystery, a Harry Bosch novel (Maxine made me give Connelly another go), a flash fiction anthology of stories that involve a mythical ‘Mega Mart’, the second novel in Karin Fossum’s Inspector Sejer series (yes I know I’m behind) and a historical work that blends fact with fiction in what promises to be an interesting fashion.
Challenge Progress
It’s a good thing I had a whole year to complete the Global Reading Challenge as it looks like it will take me that long to finish it. This month I read another two books to bring my total to 19 of 21. Both Villain and Wife of the Gods made it to my honourable mentions for the month.
My only other open challenge is the Canadian Book Challenge which requires me to read 13 books by July next year. I read four books that counted for this challenge in October bringing my total to 7.
- Robin Spano’s Dead Politician Society
- Inger Ash Wolfe’s The Taken
- Catherine Hunter’s The Dead of Midnight
- Vicki Delany’s Negative Image
Isn’t it marvellous that Canada produces enough entertaining female crime writers that I can have a smorgasboard of them without even trying? Well I am assuming Wolfe is female though of course as it’s a pseudonym I could be wrong.
Reading Now and Next
I’m keen to finish the global challenge now that I only have 2 books to go so have started Southwesterly Wind which is set in Brazil and I’ll probably read my wildcard historical fiction straight after that. Then it might be time for my second Elly Griffiths novel I think. I’ve just started a new audio book, C J Box’s Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, which I am already enjoying and have no plans for what will come after that in audio format.
Chart of the month
So far this year I have finished 129 books which seemed like a statistically significant enough number to look at where they all come from. As you can see I buy most of my books in one form or another. Wonder what this will look like next year? Will I have a giant chunk of pie for pirated eBooks ( and if I do how will I hide it to avoid going to prison)?
What about you? What was your favourite book for October? Or your most exciting acquisition? Or is there something coming up for you in November that you can’t wait to get to?
Reactions to Reading 
Bernadette – You’ve made such impressive reading progress!! I’m so glad that you gave The Redbreast another go; Harry Hole is a terrific character :-). I’m also glad you gave my other favourite Harry – Harry Bosch – another try. I’m a Connelly fan, so I’m biased, of course, but still…
And I love your chart!! My suggestion: just simply don’t put a label on next year’s chart for “pirated books.” Perhaps call it …..”acquired from other sources…” 😉
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Bernadette, you can’t stop Harry Hole reading with THE REDBREAST! I’m now reading NEMESIS and it’s even better…and THE DEVIL’s STAR is the book where we find out what happened to Ellen!
Then we’ll celebrate the holiday season with THE REDEEMER!
(And I’m a Harry Bosch fan, too, but would recommend that you start at the beginning with THE BLACK ECHO….fantastic!)
Jane
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Jane I’ve no intention of stopping at The Redbreast (I’ve bought all the rest of the books in the series) but I don’t like reading books close together. I like to leave it around 6 months or more between books otherwise I find they can get a bit repetitive. Besides I like to savour the anticipation of reading the next book rather than dive right in – gives me a chance to miss the characters a little. I know others like to read series very close together or back to back but that just doesn’t work as well for me.
As for the other Harry I thought about going right back to the beginning but I don’t have the energy to read yet another long running series right from the get go. I am reading a couple of other old series from the start (Henning Mankell’s Wallander series and Sjowall and Wahloo’s Martin Beck series) and there at least a dozen more series that I am behind on plus I have tried one book from 172 new-to-me authors in the past 2 years – I’d really like to read a second book by lots of these authors some time soon! There is a limit to how much reading time I can squeeze out of a day.
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I understand, Bernadette. But there’s such a rhythm in Nesbo’s books (and of course the strange Nordic names) that urges me forward with his books!
And he never really solved several mysteries that arose in THE REDBREAST.
As for the other Harry, Connelly is too prolific for me to keep up with. I pick up his books occasionally when they fade from the bestseller list.
Somehow, I think a book challenge would not work for me. If the first book does not read well, I forego the others (although I like a long series just in case). This pick and choose (from blogs like yours) has worked well. I’ve tried Martin Edwards, Louise Penny, Sjowall/Wahloo, Mankell, Bruen, and half a dozen others over the past year. But the only series I’ve read in total is the Ed Loy P. I. mysteries by Declan Hughes and the Quirke mysteries by Benjamin Black.
And am happily half way through the second Harry Hole with the third one waiting!
Jane
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Bernadette, I love your chart, obviously I must do some end of year charts. ;o)
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Wow, your organizational skills rock! I am impressed! I have the same Jo Nesbo on the nightstand to get to soon. By the way, William Heffernan has a new detective, Harry Doyle, who will knock you out. The Dead Detective. Loved it.
October was a downer month for me in books-I was reading alot of Eastern European and Russian fiction and they are as bleak as the Scandinavian titles. I’m taking a break now with Benedetti’s The Rest is Jungle short story collection.
take care and know that your emails are read with anticipation and a bit of jealousy!
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Ah, charts! [What I really think: ah, Discount Noir! – but I am far too modest to admit that]
And why shouldn´t *you* go to prison for your e-book beliefs? You seems to me to be exactly the type: rebellious & ready to suffer for your principles ;D
(But if you do, please make sure you are allowed to read, review books and blog in there).
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Great chart! Always such a up to see those! Such proficiency and professionalism!
Of your list of October books read, I’ve read only the Linwood Barclay, and I always like his books. I put several of these books on reserve at the library and am anxious during the holidays to get into the Ann Cleeves’ and Martin Edwards’ series. The library has “Wife of the Gods,” and it’s on its way to me.
I read several books I liked in October, including my favorite, “Let the Dead Lie,” and “Thursday Night Widows,” Sara Paretsky’s latest, “Body Work,” and miscellany. I have a favorite light, humorous author, David Rosenfelt,” who also loves dogs and I read his latest, “Dog Tags.” Can’t be serious and studious all of the time! Must laugh.
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