It’s been a while, again. Moving house is busy and it’s taking me a while to adjust timewise as there are lots of chores and things to arrange and also having a new job isn’t helping with that. At the end of the day I am just tired. So no major updates yet. I am well, things are progressing. And I am really enjoying living together!
Due to spambots I have closed my comments for a while. I hope this won’t be necessary much longer. Even though I have been reading a bit, I quit writing my short reviews somewhere along the way. So these reviews will be a bit different than usual…
So let’s get to it! What did I read this August and September?
56. Greenwood by Michael Christie (3.5 stars, English, ebook)
Even though this book is well-written, I didn’t feel like much was going on. The character building and buildup of the story is pretty well done too, but there wasn’t much mystery. Somewhere onethird in I already knew where the story would lead and how it would end. Despite this, I did want to know more about Everett and kept on reading because of that. He was the best and only lovable character. Some sympathy was gained for Liam and eventually even Harris, but this family saga is a sad one. The ending, comparing the trees (and their root system) to how a family works was real nice. And if you can learn one thing from this story it would be that sometimes you do get to pick your family.
57. Snowblind by Ragnar Jónasson (3.5 stars, Dutch, library)
This is not a book to read in summer and I was saving to read it next winter when it would be cold and snowing (I always keep a list of books like this at hand) but I needed a book by an Icelandic author and my other option sadly fell through. Anyway, Snow Blind has a nice pace to it and it is easily readable. Both the sentences as the chapters are short. There are many characters to get to know, and the first half felt like I was only meeting new people and learning about their background. It wasn’t until later that the story started to move and come together. Felt a bit like a modern Miss Marple. Small town murder where everyone knows everything about eachother, but there are secrets too and we don’t learn about them until the last chapters. Nicely done! I will probably enjoy the rest of this series when it’s actually winter.
58. Crooked House by Agatha Christie (4 stars, English, ebook)
I remember liking this one a lot, but most of the plot is already lost to me. An old patriarch died, and the son of a famous inspector, dating the granddaughter of the patriarch, starts investigating his death so they can be together. It’s a weird family, all a bit crooked, living in the same house. Agatha Christie had a lot of fun plotting this story and it shows. Just like other stories, there were a lot of twists and turns to get to the murderer.
59. Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (4 stars, English, ebook)
This I remember better. I was in need of a book about a quest, and choose one of Discworld, not to be disappointed. Polly travels, disguised as a man, in an army where many others females also disguised as men, take part in. Each with their own reasons. Finding their husbands or brothers, fleeing from whatever life they used to have… It’s another story about the bravery of women, the futility of war and contains epic battles. Even though some of them are just coincidence.
60. King of the north by Femke Roobol (2,5 stars, Dutch, print)
Don’t remember the plot of this one, as you can see by the stars it wasn’t really worth reading it.
61. Red harvest by Dashiell Hammett (4 stars, Dutch, print)
This was intriguing just by the titel alone. And luckily it didn’t disappoint. A cold hard gangster story, with some good dialogues. Almost everybody in the story dies, while the detective cleanses the town of gangsters and corrupt police departement. Apparently this story was first released in 1929! I hardly noticed, believed it to be a 70’s crime before I started reading.
62. Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (4 stars, Dutch, print)
Wow what a funny detective story, so much sarcasm going around, I had a few good laughs! Besides the funny part the story itself was good too, not very action driven, but still fast and adventurous.
63. The Serial Killers Club by Jeff Povey (3.5 stars, Dutch, print)
Someone survives attack of a serial killer and accidentally murders him. After that, he joins the serial killers club by taking on the killers identity and becomes a serial killer himself. It’s a weird but entertaining story. Especially so when an FBI agent joins in.
64. The lamb wills laughter the lion by Margaret Killjoy (3 stars, English, ebook)
This was a short story, and a strange one at that. Magical realism collides with squatter enviromentalist lives. There’s a bit of mystery, murder and betrayal. I could see why people like this story, but it was missing something for me.
And that was it! These were my August and September reads. Have you read any of these too? What did you think about them? Do you have a recommendation for something similar? Or is there anything you would like to know? Ask me in the comments!