January Overview
February 3, 2012 24 Comments
You know, this month was probably a record month for me: I read 20 books and abandoned 3 more. That’s 23 books off the shelves! I must admit that I have been reading during non-reading time this month: I have books to read for the Indie Lit Award and I joined a competition at Shelfari, where we read random books (chosen by dice) from our to-read shelf and wish lists and I guess I am a little competitive and try to be, or stay close to, the leader.
None of the book really stood out for me. I liked most of what I read and I was particularly happy to have finally read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. The 5-star books come highly recommended.
This is what I read
Click on the orange links to go to the review
Room by Emma Emma Donoghue 5 stars
The Starlite Drive-in by Marjorie Reynolds 5 stars
The Discovery of Jeanne Baret by Glynis Ridley 5 stars
Spin by Catherine McKenzie 4.5 stars
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh 4.5 stars
The End of Alice by A. M. Homes 4 stars
Vette pech [Dutch: Fat Luck] by Larissa Verhoeff 4 stars
The Rise and Fall of a Domestic Diva by Sarah May 4 stars
The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark 4 stars
Life’s a Beach by Claire Cook 3.5 stars
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery 3.5 stars
Vanished by Liza Marklund
De camping [Dutch: The Camping] by Karin Kuiper
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Away By Amy Bloom
The Collector by John Fowles
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Vals licht [Dutch: Deceptive Light] by Joost Zwagerman, DNF
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, DNF
De asielzoeker [Dutch: The Asylum Seeker] by Arnon Greenberg, DNF
This is what I reviewed too
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey 4.5 stars
Eleven by Mark Watson 4.5 stars
The Trout Opera by Matthew Condon 4 stars
First You Try Everything by Jane McCafferty 4 stars
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto 4 stars
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 4 stars
The rest…
An invitation to give away a book: The Literary Giveaway Blog Hop (Feb. 18-22)
I’m taking part in the Magical March Challenge
What did YOU read in January?
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Very impressive! I don’t think I could just pick up a book randomly as I almost always choose one that fits my current mood, but that’s just me. Personally I managed to read 16 books in January which must be a personal record for me too!
Oh and I’m already curious how you liked “The Bone Garden”!
Sixteen books is very good, Birgit! Picking up random books is a bit challenging but I do finally read books that have been on my TBR or wishlist for a long time. Some are good, some not so, but at least they’re gone!
I enjoyed The Bone Garden but it was a totally different sort of book from what I expected (this was historical fiction rather than modern hospital drama).
Maybe this picking-books-randomly would work wonders on my TBR piles too! I might do that sometime seeing how I always end up dumping newer books on older ones and then working myself down which means that the old ones might be ancient before I finally read them.
As to “The Bone Garden” I must admit it’s one of my fav’s by Tess Gerritsen – very different to her Rizzoli & Isles thrillers – and I was amazed how much I enjoyed the historical fiction part of the novel (I was totally new to the genre when I first read the book).
Birgit, my choice of books isn’t 100% random as sometimes we can choose an alternative book (depending on the numbers on the dice… remember it’s a game). But generally I keep to what I get and this way, I’ve read 9 or so books from the TBR/wishlist already.
I have read quite a lot of books this month! That doesn’t happen a lot these days! 🙂
“Vampire Academy / Spirit Bound” – Richelle Mead
“Vampire Academy / Last Sacrifice”- Richelle Mead
“The importance of being a Bachelor” – Mike Gayle
“Bloghelden” – Frank Meeuwsen
“Voor ik ga slapen” – S.J. Watson
“Zakelijk Twitteren voor beginners” – Carlijn Postma
“Fucking Berlin” – Sonia Rossi
And I am still working on this one:
“De Nevelprins” – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Roxanne, I’ve only read Before I Go To Sleep from your list and I loved it. Hope you have another good month coming up!
Wow! I’ve never read that many books in one month. The Collector is high on my TBR so I’m hoping you enjoyed it. I hope next month is just as rewarding for you.
Jackie, The Collector was creepy but a good read. I read it quite soon after *Room* so that was a bit strange (*The Collector* is about a man who kidnaps a young woman and puts her in a cellar).
You keep amazing me in how much you manage to read in only 1 month!
I know, Uniflame, it’s amazing to me too! I did make some extra reading time, though.
WOW! That’s more than half of what I read (not audio) all 2011. Looks like you read some great books to, which makes the month a super success.
I need to put this post together. Hopefully today.
Good luck with your February goals.
Mari, I know, I read a lot – couldn’t help myself! 🙂
Wow — 20 books is an amazing month! I “only” read seven.
Seven is good when you work full-time etc., Suzanne. We all have different amounts of time to spend on our books (and blogs).
Wow….I would never be able to read 20 books in a month. Looking at your list, I loved THE STARLITE DRIVE-IN and LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS.
I only read two. 🙂
Elizabeth
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
I hope you read two very good books, Elizabeth! Yes, The Starlite Drive-in and The Language of Flowers are both great reads.
23 books??? No, I´m not going to tell you how many I read 😀 But I had a good writing week or two.
Too many, Dorte! Writing is much more productive than reading – very nice that you got a lot done this week.
Looks like an amazing set of books you read in January! I’m interested in knowing what you thought of The Gargoyle. It was really graphic at the beginning but I ended up really loving that one at the end (gave it 5 stars).
Erika, I liked the Gargoyle. It was very different from what I expected but I enjoyed reading it. The ‘suspense’ of whether Marianne was crazy or really 700 years old was very interesting.
I didn’t get a chance to read a lot of fiction in January. I read A Seductive Kiss by Francis Ray. I read more non-fiction in marketing more than anything else.
Lena, non-fiction is often more useful, so I hope you learned a lot from your reading this month.
I never see someone read 23 books in a month but now! I’m very impressed but please do eat and sleep and breathe! LOL 😀
Jo, I do still eat and sleep. 🙂
I just read a bit extra because of a competition I’m doing. And with the weather being as it is, I didn’t feel like going out much.