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Reading report for July 2013

Although I finished 21 books in July I expect the page count was pretty similar to an average month, because I read several short books.

Of the 21 books, 13 were rereads. 5 were audiobooks, all of them re“reads“, although I had only listened to one of them before. 5 of the rereads were comic books (1 Spirou and Fantasio book and 4 Lucky Luke books) I have owned since I was a teenager and hadn‘t touched for many years.

One of my favourite web comics, Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell, came to an end in July. It had been running for several years when I discoverd it, and I went all the way back and caught up and then followed it faithfully to the end. I hope the authors will publish it in book form one day.

All the Nora Roberts novels were in the 2,5 to 3,5 star range for me, and I don‘t expect any of them will become rereads, unlike the In Death books that she writes under the J.D. Robb name.

The standout book of the month was Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. I didn‘t like it as well as I did Anne‘s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but the quality of the writing is excellent and I might reread it at some point.

Finally, I sampled a new genre this month: gay romance. It was really quite like a straight romance novel in all respects except there were two heroes instead of a hero and a heroine and the, ahemm, orifices in the sex scenes were different (can you tell I mostly read 'vanilla' romances?). Unfortunately Acrobat by Mary Calmes has a lot of things wrong with it. I had actually started writing a review of it, but then I came across a review on Goodreads that really says most of what bothered me about it. (The link will take you to to the page for the book, then you scroll down to the review by Baba ♥♥♥ Marcus, Tyler, Tate, Dan, Ty, & Hunter – third from the top when this was written). I will say that stylistically it is well written and Nate is likeable even though he is a complete and utter Mary Sue character. However, the "You love me! You really love me!" attitude got me really annoyed after a while. Low self-esteem of this kind is really not enough to make a character rounded.
I feel my introduction to this genre has not been the best and I might try another one, but I will definitely do some research first.

The Books:
  • Charlotte Brontë: Shirley: Historical novel; classic.
  • Mary Calmes: Acrobat: Gay romance.
  • Franquin: Burt með harðstjórann (Le dictateur et le champignon) : Comic book. Reread.
  • Sophie Goldstein & Jenn Jordan : Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell: Comic book.
  • Guðni Sigurðsson: Ég tvista til þess að gleyma: Quotations from Icelandic movies.
  • Georgette Heyer: These Old Shades: (audiobook) Historical romance. Reread.
  • Ngaio Marsh: A Man Lay Dead and Enter a murderer: Murder mystery, police. Reread.
  • Morris & Goscinny: Þverálfu-járnbrautin (Des rails sur le prairie), Rex og pex í Mexíkó (Tortillas pour les Daltons) and Batnandi englar (Les Daltons se rachetent): Comic book. Rereads.
  • Morris & Viq: Fjársjóður Daldóna (Le magot des Daltons): Comic book. Reread.
  • Joshua Piven & David Borgenicht: The Worst-case scenario survival handbook: Travel: Survival handbook. Reread.
  • J.D. Robb: Naked in Death, Glory in Death and Immortal in Death: (audiobooks) Murder mystery, futuristic, police procedural. Rereads.
  • Nora Roberts: High Noon, Tribute, Black Hills and The Witness: Romantic suspense.
  • J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: (audiobook) Fantasy, YA. Reread.

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