January felt like a slow reading month, as too much of my time was caught up with news. However, now that I’m counting, I did not fare too badly. 12 books read, of which 4 translations and 5 by women. I am far, far behind on reviews, however, so for the time being you will have to make do with a single word or phrase.
For review on Crime Fiction Lover:
BA Paris: The Breakdown – predictable
Marc Elsberg: Blackout – disaster movie type
Federico Axat: Kill the Next One – surreal
David Young: Stasi Wolf – surreal in a different way
For #EU27Project:
This is where I stumbled a little, as I have written zero reviews of any of these. I am also having second thoughts about using Arango and Hiekkapelto for Germany and Finland respectively, as there is little local ‘flavour’ in their work (they take place elsewhere). I have been sadly neglectful of adding any links to the #EU27Project page myself, but thank you to all the other book bloggers who have diligently read and reviewed and linked up. So much better than me! I will do better in February, I promise.
Olumide Popoola & Annie Holmes: Breach (Peirene Now!) – the refugee camps of Europe – more necessary reading than ever
Sascha Arango: The Truth and Other Lies (Germany) – macabre fun
Kati Hiekkapelto: The Exiled (Finland) – cross-cultural misunderstandings
Lisa McInerney: The Glorious Heresies (Ireland) – inventive delight
For fun (and to reduce TBR pile, especially on Netgalley):
Ian Rankin: Rather Be the Devil – reliably entertaining
Stav Sherez: The Intrusions – slightly panic-inducing
Brian Conaghan: The Bombs that Brought Us Together – timely and fresh
Rachel Cusk: Outline – anthropological storytelling at its best
My favourite crime reads this month were The Intrusions and Rather Be the Devil, while my favourite non-crime were Outline and The Glorious Heresies.
I’m impressed with your skill at reducing your review to just a few words (sometimes just one!). It’s good to hear that you got a decent amount of reading done this month, despite everything else going on. And you know, there’s nothing wrong with reading just for fun…
Yes, laziness is a great motivator for conciseness! I will probably review some of them later on, as they were very good and thought-provoking.
That is a good month. I am glad you enjoyed The Glorious Heresies. I loved it too. I loved the writing and how it brought alive the Irish community of the underworld and petty crimes. I have Outline by Cusk on my TBR. I keep hearing good things about it.
I need to get to Cusk’s book soon. I liked previous ones.