April was a slightly better than average reading month for me, seven books read and a nicely varied bunch as regards genre.
18. The Toy Makers - Robert Dinsdale
19. The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris
20. Birds of a Feather - Jacqueline Winspear
21. As the Crow Flies - Damien Boyd
22. Cheerfulness Breaks In - Anglea Thirkell
23. Pardonable Lies - Jacqueline Winspear
24. The Riviera Set - Mary S. Lovell (To be reviewed.)
So, seven books, six fiction, one non-fiction, a real mixed bag including three crime yarns, three historical fiction stories and a history of the French Riviera from 1900 to 1960ish. Two of the crime books were also historical so it seems I lived mainly in the first half of the 20th. century for the whole of the month of April...
And it continues as I'm presently reading this:
Churchill featured heavily in The Riviera Set so I'm really just continuing on from that, plus I'm currently watching The Crown on Netflix in which his presence is also rather prevalent. Funny how one thing can often lead to another.
Favourite book of April is this:
Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear was *just* superb.
Last month I listed six books I hoped to read in April. Of those I actually read three and abandoned one, so am quite pleased with that.
Books I would like to get to in May:
That last one, Beyond the Footpath by Clare Gogerty, might well be in the running for nicest cover of the year come the end of December. :-)
One difficultly is staring me in the face already. The first two books are Icelandic, which to choose for the European Reading Challenge? Eeeek... I don't need this kind of stress!
Happy reading in the glorious month that is May.
9 comments:
Of course you doubled the amount I read lol... Must be sibling rivalry !! Love You!!
Hi Pat... was ill with a rotten cold for a week so had a good excuse to just sit and read... and feel sorry for myself. LOL
I see (on Goodreads) that you are now reading The Darkness by Jonasson. I have recently gotten the first book in his other series and am debating whether to read that one for Iceland or one I had initially planned to read (by Quentin Bates).
I tried several of the Maisie Dobbs series a few years back and did not like them well enough to continue. Maybe I should try again. I see that later in the series some of the stories sound like spy stories and the setting gets closer to World War II.
The Toymakers sounds interesting (in parts, not sure I would like reading about toy soldiers either) but it might be a book I would try if it eventually showed up at the books sale... and that would take a while.
Hi Cath,
I have loved The Crown. You must have watched Season One, in which Churchill figures prominently. I loved that first season, which I watched twice over, as well as Season Two. Season Two is a bit more dense and deep, which I really liked. Evidently there will be another, older actress to play Elizabeth in Season Three. I keep waiting for it. But maybe not.
Thank you for the link to the Guardian article about The Tatooist of Auschwitz. I'm of two minds about historical accuracy in Holocaust Fiction. Of course, I'm so glad that younger authors are continuing to write about the real people who struggled to survive during this brutally horrid time. The more readers that they attract the better, to my mind, for the good of all.
On the other hand, the real historical facts are out there for novelists to fact-check. There are so many organizations in every nation that can provide leads to fact-checkers, scholars, and historians. To my mind, as a published writer of history, there is no excuse whatsoever for publishers or novelists to get the facts wrong when specific historical events during the Holocaust are being written about. Penicillin in 1943? What was the publisher thinking? And the other inaccuracies as well. I hold the publisher and the book's editor accountable, because so many historical novels are "vetted." Maybe so much time has passed now that young editors think factual accuracy no longer matters. Well, look at the factual inaccuracies of Phillipa Carr's so-called "historical" novels. People devour her books, but Carr is legendary for getting her facts wrong. (Really bothers me, though.)
Great reading month for you. I need to get my act together and do a post soon.
Tracy: I finished The Darkness while away on holiday, it was certainly 'interesting'. Bombshell ending.
As to the Maisie Dobbs books, trying them again a few years later certainly worked for me but wouldn't necessarily work for everyone.
Judith: Yes, season 1 of The Crown. We're only about halfway through, just watched the fog one which was amazing. I've heard that the actress taking over from Claire Foy is going to be Olivia Coleman, but that might just a rumour.
I agree with both your points about historical accuracy. Although the issue here seemed to be Lale Sokolov's memory of events rather than the author's mistakes. I could be wrong about that though and perhaps the author could've done more checking. It's a difficult one.
Diane: Thank you, May's shaping up quite nicely too.
Hi Cath,
Another really successful month for you reading wise and some excellent titles to consider for my own list. I possibly would be more interested in 20-23, however the one which really caught my eye was the Damien Boyd, probably because the action begins here in The Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, which is not too far away from us. I am always a sucker for being drawn to either local authors, or story locations which are known to me.
I too, have yet to read 'Snow Falling On Cedars', although we must be in the minority by now!
I shall also be interested to read your thoughts about The Darkness, which sounds very intriguing.
I might be have to agree to disagree with you over the cover of 'Beyond The Footpath', but then we aren't even half way through the year yet, so other options may turn up!
Thanks for sharing and for your lovely reviews :)
Yvonne
xx
Yvonne: Yes, the Damien Boyd was nice to read because of the local aspect. A friend is working her way through the whole series and says that she's enjoying them very much.
Yes, I a lot of people have read A Snow Falling on Cedars. One of the reasons I haven't is that I believe it features a protracted court case and I'm not a huge fan of court case in books and on TV. I need to put that aside though as it would be an excellent book for my 'war' challenge as a book set in the USA or Canada.
Take care and I hope you're having a good week.
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