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Reading report for October 2011

I finished a total of 10 books in October, which means that my reading index is slightly up, although it has not yet reached last year’s monthly average. In addition there was one Did Not Finish, which was rather unfortunate as it sounded very interesting when I was offered it for reviewing.

The books were a mixed bag of various genres, and I have reviewed no less than four of them. One review is already published (in 2 parts) and three more are coming up in the next couple of weeks, starting tomorrow.

Mary Balogh, Colleen Gleason, Susan Krinard, Janet Mullany :Bespelling Jane Austen. 4 paranormal romance novellas, 2 historical, 2 contemporary.
Jim Crace: The Devil's Larder. Short stories with a food theme.
Carola Dunn: Death at Wentwater Court. Cosy murder mystery; historical.
Rachel Gibson: Daisy's Back in Town. Romance, contemporary.
Kay Hooper: Lady Thief/Masquerade. 1 volume, 2 historical romances (1 short novel, 1 novella)
Michael Innes: Appleby's End. Mystery.
Nathaniel Philbrick: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. History.
Carmen Posadas: Little Indiscretions. Crime, literary novel.
J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, read by Stephen Fry. YA fantasy, audiobook. Reread.
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Literary novel, historical.

DNF: The Undertaker by William Brown. 
I got sent this book for review and gave it the 25% test (the Kindle equivalent of the 50-page test for books with no pagination) before deciding that while the premise of the story is interesting and it is well-written, the style is not to my taste and I simply couldn’t work up enough sympathy for the narrator-hero to want to see what happens to him. However, others have given it good reviews, so don’t pass it on just because I didn’t like it enough to finish it.

As usual, I am reading Too Many Books At Once. Take a look:
Children of Kali by Kevin Rushby.Travelogue and history.
Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
The Oxford Book of Oxford, edited by Jan Morris. History. Bathroom book that I expect to finish by mid-2012.
London: The Biography, by Peter Ackroyd. History.
The Mysterious West, edited by Tony Hillerman. Short mystery stories set in the western USA.
Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon.Adventure tale.
Nul Points by Tim Moore. Travelogue/biography. Examination of what happened to the people unfortunate enough to come last in the Eurovision Song Contest with zero points.

These are just the ones I have read something in during the last week. I have about a dozen more I haven’t touched for weeks or months which are in various stages of being read. When I come out of a reading slump I tend to do it with a rush.
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