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Reading report for October 2013

I finished 14 books in October. Of those, 4 were rereads and none were ebooks, something that hasn‘t happened in a single month since I bought my Kindle a couple of years ago. In addition, all 10 first-time reads were TBR books, so I have now fulfilled my goal of reading 50 books from my TBR stack in 2013. Now that there are only 2 months left in the year I don‘t think I will set myself a further TBR goal, but I will continue to count the TBR books I read to see if it is realistic for me to set the TBR bar higher for next year. I am finally beginning to see gaps in my formerly overstuffed bookshelves, and I should be having a hard time preventing myself from buying books to fill them, but so far it has been easy to avoid that temptation, because I am saving up money for something else. Besides, the Christmas season is beginning and I have been busy planning what to give to whom and making Christmas cards.

There were several reading highlights in October. Among them were Only in America by BBC correspondent Matt Frei and The Unites States of Europe by American reporter T.R. Reid, which are comparable books in that the authors are trying to give their compatriots an idea of what the subjects they are writing about are like. Their approaches are different, Frei‘s being more anecdotal and using him and his family to illustrate many points of difference between the USA and Europe/Britain, while Reid takes a more political and historical approach and makes comparisons while mostly keeping himself and his family out of the picture. Both are informative and enjoyable reads.

Both Georgette Heyer books were stand-outs as well. Not because they are good mysteries – I can't in all honesty say that about either – but because of the repartee-filled dialogues and screwball characters Heyer excelled at whatever genre she was writing in. I also enjoyed the humour of Martha Grimes‘ The Anodyne Necklace, which in addition is a good mystery, one in which Elizabethan literature plays a considerable role. I am also happy to have discovered a new mystery author (to me): V.C. Clinton-Baddely, whose twist at the end of My foe outstretched beneath the tree came as a complete surprise, even though I did have my suspicions about the identity of the killer.

The Books
  • V.C. Clinton-Baddeley: My foe outstretched beneath the tree. Murder mystery.
  • Jennifer Crusie: Anyone But You. Romance, contemporary. Reread.
  • Jennifer Crusie: Getting Rid of Bradley. Romance, contemporary. Reread.
  • Jennifer Crusie: Manhunting. Romance, contemporary. Reread.
  • Elínborg Lárusdóttir: Hvíta höllin. Memoir.
  • Fannie Flagg: Can't Wait to Get to Heaven. Inspirational novel.
  • Matt Frei: Only in America. Social commentary.
  • Martha Grimes: The Anodyne Necklace. Murder mystery.
  • Georgette Heyer: Behold, Here's Poison. Murder mystery.
  • Georgette Heyer: A Blunt Instrument. Murder mystery.
  • Lora Leigh, Nalini Singh, Erin McCarthy, LindaWinstead: The Magical Christmas Cat. Romantic urban fantasy.
  • T.R. Reid: The Unites States of Europe. Political science and history.
  • Sigge Stark: Engir karlmenn, takk. Romance. Reread.
  • Patricia Wentworth: The Catherine-Wheel. Murder mystery.


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Comments

George said…
Impressive amount of reading in October! I just finished Michael Gruber's intelligent action novel, THE RETURN. I have Donna Tartt's GOLDFINCH in the on-deck circle. I also have Lawrence Freedman's magisterial STRATEGY: A HISTORY on the top of my Read Real Soon stack (but it's 3 inches thick!).
November 07, 2013 7:50 pm
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