« Buttons! | Main | The Visit »
Sunday July 31, 2011
Books in July
There have been more audio books than usual this month as I work my way round painting the kitchen to show at least some progress in time for Alison's impending visit. (She claims it's not important.... but we know better...)
- Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
This won the Man Booker 2009 - when I thought the Sarah Waters The
Little Stranger should have won - but that was before I read
this. I borrowed it as an eBook from the library - all new experiences
- and the choice is currently limited. However, what a great choice
it turned out to be. A fantastic novel - almost not a novel of course.
Had I not been so engrossed in the text I would have wondered where
the title came from, but this became abundantly clear in the closing
pages.
Co-incidentally I have been since exposed to several other cultural experiences about the same historical period through TV, film, and country house exhibitions, and it is really fascinating. 
Bones to Ashes and Devil Bones Kathy Reichs
[read by Lorelei King]
More library loans, which make good listening for long car journeys, or painting walls! Tony is a great Reichs enthusiast. However, Rob surprised me by saying he did not enjoy the book he read, finding it tedious in forensic detail - I wonder if they are better as spoken word.- The Private Patient P D James [read by Michael Jayston]
This is completely in the standard mould, confined in the setting of
a private hospital for plastic surgery. The characters are a shade wooden
and dated, but I think I have always felt that about James books. I
think I am more of a "plot" person with less interest in the
psychological depths of the characters - and the characters are not
very warm or likeable. However, as far as I can tell James writing is
as good as ever, and the actual plot (under all the psychology) is quite
strong.
PD James has recently been awarded the Theakstons Old Peculier Outstanding Contribution to crime fiction - only the second author to receive it. - Bloodline Mark Billingham [read by the author]
Eighth in the series proved as interesting as ever. I am pleased to say that although he sticks with the serial killer theme, the books rely far more on the likeable character of Tom Thorne, than weird and wonderful ways people can be murdered. The writing encompasses Thorne's life and work to equal degree, without becoming boring about either. I find the characters very real, which is quite something when reading about murders which by sheer weight of numbers have to be pretty far from reality. - Lord Peter Views the Body Dorothy L. Sayers [read by
Ian Carmichael]
An enormously entertaining short story collection:
- "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag"
- "The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker"
- "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran"
- "The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste"
- "The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach"
- "The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face"
- "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba"
- "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers"
- "The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention"
Posted by Christina at 8:37 AM. Category: Books of the Month
