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Reading report for May 2009

I read 22 books in May. Five of them were travelogues, which is perhaps not surprising, as I am planning my summer holidays and being tickled by the travel bug. I also read four literary novels, or perhaps five, depending on how you categorise Emma Donoghue's book, which can be called either a novel or a collection of interconnected short stories.

The challenges are going well:
  • Top Mysteries: 4
  • Icelandic books: 4
  • TBR for over a year: 9


The books:
  • Birgitta H. Halldórsdóttir : Háski á Hveravöllum (romantic thriller)
  • *Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (true crime)
  • *Sarah Caudwell: The Shortest Way To Hades (murder mystery)
  • Emma Donoghue: Kissing the Witch (fairy tales/fantasy)
  • Einar Már Guðmundsson : Riddarar hringstigans (novel)
  • Martha Gellhorn: Travels with myself and another (travelogue)
  • Knut Hamsun: Pan (novel)
  • *Michael Innes: Appleby on Ararat (murder mystery)
  • Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer: The Phantom Tollbooth (children's fantasy)
  • Norman Lewis: A Dragon Apparent (travelogue)
  • Jeff Lindsay: Darkly Dreaming Dexter (murder mystery/thriller)
  • *Peter Lovesey: The False Inspector Dew (murder mystery)
  • Frances Mayes: Bella Tuscany (travelogue)
  • Sharyn McCrumb: The Windsor Knot (murder mystery)
  • *Nicholas Meyer: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (mystery-thriller)
  • François Rabelais: Gargantua (novel)
  • Colette Rossant: Apricots on the Nile (foodie memoir)
  • Snjólaug Bragadóttir frá Skáldalæk : Holdið er torvelt að temja (romance)
  • Patrick Süskind: Sagan af herra Sommer (novel)
  • Svava Jakobsdóttir : 12 Konur (short stories)
  • Colin Thubron: The Hills Of Adonis (travelogue)
  • Honor Tracy: Winter in Castile (travelogue)

I am planning to go on a 2 week camping holiday during the second and third weeks of June. I expect my reading pace will slow down considerably during that time. I will be taking with me a number of books, all of them challenge reads except the Icelandic Roads Handbook and the Lonely Planet Guide to Iceland, which I plan to write a review of when I get back. I hope and pray that I will have good weather during this time, since it it unlikely that I will be able to find indoor accommodation at short notice, considering that most hotels and guesthouses are booked up throughout the summer. The economic problems Iceland is facing have made it very expensive to travel abroad, leading to many more Icelanders taking local holidays this year.
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Comments

Jackelyn said…
You are a wonderful book-reading machine! Do you rent your books? I can't see how else other than the library that you can afford to do all that! I rent using Bookswim (like a Netflix of books) and i'm enjoying it. What are your thoughts?
June 02, 2009 1:31 am
Bibliophile said…
Jackelyn, I own about 1700 books, 800 of which I haven't read but am trying to. I also have a library card, and while I think a service like Bookswim is commendable, I for one wouldn't need it because I enjoy a very good and cheap public library system.
June 03, 2009 6:46 pm
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