Reading report for March 2013

I had one of my big reading months in March, with a total of 24 books finished. I had a lot of free time in March, having taken a week off from work at the beginning of the month, and then there was Easter. This gave me plenty of time to read.

Romance predominated, but I also read in various other genres, including mysteries (one historical and one historical and supernatural), cultural history, natural history, folk-tales, parapsychology, a travelogue, a classic children‘s book, and a book about pseudoscience and science fraud.

Just like last month, one of the month‘s stand-out reads was a reread: Persuasion is by far my favourite Austen novel. The other stand-outs were Spook, which I thoroughly enjoyed, just like the other two Roach books I have read (Stiff and Bonk) and Where the Wild Things Are, which I would have loved had I read it as a child and still thoroughly enjoyed as an adult.

I also must mention What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss, which was brought to my attention by the Smart Bitches blog a couple of years ago as an excellent contemporary romance, which it is. Thanks, Smart Bitches, I owe you.

And now I think it is time I came out and said it: I am addicted to Nora Roberts‘s romance novels. I am fine with her standalone novels – I can read one and then go and read something by someone else, but if I start one of her series books, I must finish the rest of the series. I read 2 series – a total of 9 books – in March, plus the first book in a third series. Most of the series books she wrote for Silhouette aren‘t up to the same standard as her longer standalone novels but I find myself drawn to them despite the often recycled characters (and sometimes plot points) and annoying recurrent expressions because these books pack an irresistible and gratifying positive emotional punch into a relatively small number of pages and they never fail to cheer me up.

The Books

Tasha Alexander: And Only to Deceive. Historical mystery.
Jane Austen: Persuasion. Romantic fiction. Reread.
Bjarni E. Guðleifsson: Náttúruskoðarinn I: Úr dýraríkinu and Náttúruskoðarinn II: Úr jurtaríkinu. Natural history.
Karina Bliss: What the Librarian Did. Romance, contemporary.
Colin Cotterill: Thirty-three Teeth. Historical mystery (supernatural).
Jennifer Crusie: Anyone But You. Romance, contemporary. Reread.
Ben Goldacre: Bad Science. Pseudoscience, fraud.
Georgette Heyer: The Reluctant Widow. Historical romance. Reread.
Ewan & Charley Boorman McGregor: Long Way Round. Travelogue.
Ólafur Davíðsson: Íslenzkar þjóðsögur I. Folk-tales.
Mary Roach: Spook: Science tackles the afterlife. Popular science, parapsychology.
Nora Roberts: Calhoun Women series: Courting Catherine, A Man for Amanda, For the Love of Lilah, Suzanna's Surrender, Megan's Mate. Romance, contemporary.
Nora Roberts: MacKade Brothers series: The Return of Rafe MacKade, The Pride of Jared MacKade, The Heart of Devin MacKade, The Fall of Shane MacKade. Romance, contemporary.
Nora Roberts: Night Shift. Romantic suspense.
A. L. Rowse: Heritage of Britain. Cultural history.
Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are. Fantasy, illustrated children‘s book.

How to make a simple origami bookmark

Here are some instructions on how to make a simple origami (paper folding) bookmark: Take a square of paper. It can be patterned origami paper, gift paper or even office paper, just as long as it’s easy to fold. The square should not be much bigger than 10 cm/4 inches across, unless you intend to use the mark for a big book. The images show what the paper should look like after you follow each step of the instructions. The two sides of the paper are shown in different colours to make things easier, and the edges and fold lines are shown as black lines. Fold the paper in half diagonally (corner to corner), and then unfold. Repeat with the other two corners. This is to find the middle and to make the rest of the folding easier. If the paper is thick or stiff it can help to reverse the folds. Fold three of the corners in so that they meet in the middle. You now have a piece of paper resembling an open envelope. For the next two steps, ignore the flap. Fold the square diagonally in two. Yo...

Book 40: The Martian by Andy Weir, audiobook read by Wil Wheaton

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Bibliophile discusses Van Dine’s rules for writing detective stories

Writers have been putting down advice for wannabe writers for centuries, about everything from how to captivate readers to how to build a story and write believable characters to getting published. The mystery genre has had its fair share, and one of the best known advisory essays is mystery writer’s S.S. Van Dine’s 1928 piece “Twenty rules for writing detective stories.” I mentioned in one of my reviews that I might write about these rules. Well, I finally gave myself the time to do it. First comes the rule (condensed), then what I think about it. Here are the Rules as Van Dine wrote them . (Incidentally, check out the rest of this excellent mystery reader’s resource: Gaslight ) The rules are meant to apply to whodunnit amateur detective fiction, but the main ones can be applied to police and P.I. fiction as well. I will discuss them mostly in this context, but will also mention genres where the rules don’t apply and authors who have successfully and unsuccessfully broken the rules. 1...

Reading in Reykjavík

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