I had another great reading month. Haven't had a bad one all year. It does make these best of lists hard to narrow down sometimes though.
1.
The Savage Detectives,
Roberto Bolano- Imagine The Beats wandering Mexico, Latin America and Europe instead of the USA.
2.
Real World,
Natsuo Kirino- I had not heard of or read this author before. I found it in the new release section and picked it up to check it out. I tend to like some outre sub-genres and when I saw Japanese feminist noir I couldn't resist. It did not disappoint.
3.
Peace,
Richard Bausch- Captures the language and feel of the bottom guys on the totem pole in an army. Only a couple of days go by but enough happens for a lifetime of post-traumatic stress disorder.
My top three were pretty easy to pick:
Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale was a great urban fantasy crime and mystery story with a wonderful tortured hero in Belimai.
Skin Hunger by
Kathleen Duey, another dark fantasy, this time one written for teens. Would be great for fans of the last two installments of Harry Potter.
Gods Behaving Badly by
Marie Phillips I loved the title of this book and enjoyed the story just about as much.
Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 7:42am.
Sadly, July has been a bad reading month for me. I can only list one favorite,
What Was Lost by
Catherine O'Flynn. None of the other books I read was terrible, but none rises to the level of a favorite. Clearly, I have my work cut out for me for the rest of the summer.
July has been a slow reading month for me too. I only have two that I really loved:
The Savage Detectives. I, too, felt that he and Jack Kerouac could have been very good friends. I will now be hunting down everything I can find by Bolano.
Darkmans by
Nicola Barker. This is such a weird book that I probably will have to read it again to fully get it. Dark, funny, smart, and very demented.
Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 8:30am.
Sorry, VisibleGhost, but I read Kirino's
Real World last week too, and really didn't care for it at all, barely a cut above a manga comic I thought, and am still in shock that it was given a cover review by the NYTBR.
Hands down, no contest:
1>
The Shadow of the Wind Wonderful characters, a delightful journey, just all-around a good read.
2>
The Lace Reader because it's so very fun to read a book people here crow about and actually enjoy it.
3>
Gutenberg because I love
John Man's dry wit and because the life of the man who gifted us with ready access to books should be well-known, nay celebrated, by all us biblioholics.
Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 10:47am.
I loved reading
Merle's Door and learned some new research findings about dogs, wolves, etc.
Jfetting - I was thinking of reading
Justine soon so glad to hear someone enjoyed it.
I've really loved reading this month and its been hard to narrow it down to three but I think my favourites were
1.
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes - a thought-provoking idea for a story and a very moving ending.
2.
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor - beautifully written and another one that nearly had me crying at the end.
3.
Post Office - Charles Bukowski - the first Bukowski I've ever read. I found it really funny and although his alter-ego narrator character isn't really particularly likeable, I was drawn into his escapades.
Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 12:50pm.
#10- I thought
Real World was a brilliant take on the juxtaposition of traditional politeness and simmering rebellion in modern Japan which has made it one of the leading art and culture exporters of the last twenty years. The teens that turn into rebels without a cause do so in a way that is completely different from, say the US, where complete disregard for authority, both parental and civil, is much more common.
#1 - Try Kirino's
Out if you liked
Real World. Talk about dark! And shocking. Wow.
Message edited by its author, Jul 31, 2008, 4:27pm.
Well, I've only read three, and one was a re-read. So, that leaves two... both were great.
1.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant -- Among other things, just a good story.
2.
King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hachschild -- non-fiction history of the "Congo Free State" of
Heart of Darkness infamy. It lasted 23 years and killed ~10 million people.
#18, VisibleGhost: Sorry again, but ho-hum.
LouisBranning, it's a thread for people to post what they enjoyed reading in the past month not a thread to post what they didn't like. You got a Top 3 for the month or not? I liked
Real World. You didn't. I don't read the NYTBR but you mentioned it showed up there so someone there must have thought it worth reviewing.
I really don't give a flying fuck whether anyone likes or dislikes my picks. I just post what I enjoy reading. And that seems to be what everybody else in this thread is doing, yourself being the lone exception.
#20- Thanks, it looks like her backlist available in English isn't too long so I'll probably pick some up.
#32, aguntherc, I loved
The Bridge on the Drina too.
#27, VisibleGhost, Although these Top Reads threads are focused on people's lists of favorite books, as with the general What Are You Reading? threads, people often comment on other people's selections (as I have done above). Very often there is disagreement; in fact, people often don't like books I liked or vice versa. I find it interesting to read other people's perspectives and to learn why they disagree about books. For books I haven't read, it can help me decide whether I want to read them or not.
#30 xanix - you've picked a few book
Cannery Row and
Far From the Madding Crowd that are looming on my list - I'm looking forward to reading them. I'm seen a few movie adaptations of Madding, but never got around to reading it, it's been a long time coming.
#32aguntherc & #33 rebeccanyc - when I think of The Bridge of the Drina the main thing I remember is poor Radisav.
Wow, you guys make me feel like such a pathetically slow reader. The bad news is I only read 4 books in July (and one was an audio book, at that!), the good news is it makes it easier to pick a favorite from such a small selection!
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian was a close second.
Company Aytch on the non-fiction side. It's as good as people say. Civil War memoir: "I laughed, I cried, I learned more about that War from this one book..."
Canoeing with the Cree also on the non-fiction side. It's a small little book about two boys adventures during the 30's. Written and lived by
Eric Sevareid"Hidden City" by
Michelle West in the fiction category. Extremely well written fantasy. {I didn't include touchstone for it because the wrong book is always listed.}
Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 8:15am.
Only one book qualifies:
The Innocent Man - John Grisham - an upsetting true story of an innocent man convicted of murder and sent to Death Row
Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2008, 9:40am.
I only managed eight books, probably because I decided to finish off the 'Children of Earth' series while I was sick. ( that reeeeallly slowed me down). Of the lot, these were the best.
1.
The Grasshopper Trap--Patrick McManus
2.
Lord Jim--Joseph Conrad
3.
Me and Emma--Elizabeth Flock
I only have one outstanding read from July, which was
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.
I've been enthusiastically reading mostly African lit this month. My top 3 (no particular order):
The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola (strange, and great fun, a must for lovers of myths and folktales)
Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto (magic realism from Mozambique)
Songs of Enchantment by Ben Okri (the second in the Famished Road trilogy--
The Famished Road, which I read in June, is my favorite book so far this year)
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