Reading report for April 2010

I finished only 9 books in April. This is due to lots of overtime work coming my way. I am also in the process of decluttering my apartment, which is taking a lot of time, during which I listen to Rob Inglis' beautiful reading of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It’s funny, but the more stuff I get rid of, the easier it becomes to throw out even more, and I suddenly found myself able to cull more than 50 books, so the TBR stack has been somewhat reduced. I did put some of the books on a TBR list because I still want to read them, but they are available from the library so there is no reason to have them cluttering up my bookshelves, waiting to be read.

Of the books I read, 1 was a Bibliophilic Challenge Book , 2 were Top Mysteries, 3 were TBR, and 4 were non-challenge books. One of the top mysteries was also TBR.

The books:

• John Boyne : The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. YA novel about the horrors of the Holocaust.
• Angela Carter: Expletives Deleted. Literary essays and criticism. Bibliophilic challenge.
• Bruce Chartwin : The Viceroy of Ouidah. Historical novel.
• Martha Grimes: The Old Fox Deceiv'd. Murder mystery. TBR challenge.
• Reginald Hill : Deadheads. Murder mystery. TBR and Top Mystery challenge.
• Margaret Millar: Beast in View. Top Mystery challenge.
• Terry Pratchett : Nation. YA adventure novel.
• Nora Roberts & J.D. Robb: Remember When. Two short interconnected novels, one contemporary, the other part of the In Death series. TBR challenge.
• Carole Tanenbaum : Fabulous Fakes: A passion for vintage costume jewelry. Fashion history.

Tentative reading plan for May:

I am halfway through several books, including three I mentioned in my last reading plan. They are The Camel Bookmobile, the print version of Making Money, and Welcome Home. Once I finish Welcome Home I may go back to reading Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor, or I might choose another travelogue or possibly one of my several TBR non-fiction history books.

I got several Bibliophilic challenge books from the library a couple of days ago, including The Hours by Michael Cunningham, which I have started reading and like so far. I also picked up a book that may end up as the African book in the Global Reading challenge. I would like to read at least two Top Mystery challenge books, probably Cyril Hare’s Tragedy at Law and possibly Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana.