Weekly Reading Roudup
November 12, 2012 22 Comments
The week
I’m still going, although not so strong, with NaNoWriMo. I haven’t met the target for last week, but I still have enough to write about. I’m not out of ideas, just didn’t want to spend the time on it. This week I hope to get a lot further again.
I missed my book club on Friday night because I wasn’t feeling well. I’m still a little head-achy but I’ll just ignore it as much as I can. 🙂 It’s my son’s birthday today, 14 already! He’s taller than me and his Dad and possibly even taller than his elder brother (15).
This week I’ll be visiting a Dutch publisher. They’re organising a spring catalog afternoon with authors talking about their new books and a tour of the building. Looking forward to that!
I’ve been reading a lot of books for Dutch publishers lately. I’m giving you the English titles but probably won’t review them on Leeswammes’ Blog.
*****
Books I finished in the last week: 4
![Houvast [Holding on] by Linda Jansma](https://leeswammes.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/houvast.jpg "Houvast [Holding on] by Linda Jansma")
Click on the blue link to see the review
De regenboogbende [The Rainbow Troops] door Andrea Hirata. An Indonesian man tells about his youth, going to a very poor school that is constantly threatened with closure. Contemporary fiction. 4 stars
Houvast [Grip] by Linda Jansma. A woman whose husband died from an accident earlier in the year is worried when her brother is missing. At the same time another man is found dead. An thriller involving car chases and kidnapping. Thriller. 4 stars.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander. Short stories, all written in an entertaining manner. Some are great, others less so. 3.5 stars
The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke. A boy living in poor circumstances thinks his bet friend is a demon. When his mother is in hospital having attempted suicide, a psychiatrist tries to find out whether the boy has a psychosis. Contemporary fiction. 5 stars
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Books I’m reading and planning to read
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Reviews
Click on the blue links to go to the reviews
Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace. A man meets a woman in the street and is left holding her disposable camera. He develops the film in order to try and find her back. Contemporary fiction. 4.5 stars
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy. A family’s quiet holiday is interrupted when a strange young woman comes to stay with them. Contemporary literary fiction. 4 stars.
Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos. Two former friends are contacted by the husband of another friend who has gone missing. Contemporary literary fiction. 4 stars.
Voor ik ga slapen [Before I Go To Sleep] by S. L. Watson. A woman wakes up every morning not remembering who she is and who the man next to her in bed is. Thriller. 5 stars
*****
That’s it!
What are you reading this week?
About Judith
Leeswammes' Blog 
Considering you’re not feeling well, your progress with NaNo sounds fair. Best of luck for catching up this week, you did well last year so the odds are good 🙂 Happy birthday to your son! Hope you enjoy the afternoon and tour and like the books you’ve planned for this week. I’m in that between books stage.
I’m harldy ever in a between books stage, Charlie. I know exactly what I’m reading next (or which 3 books I will choose from). Usually I start the next book within a few hours of having finished the previous one. I know, it’s almost like chain-smoking!
Another fruitful week, it seems! I hope you are feeling better, now. Wish your son a happy birthday and enjoy your week, Judith.
Nadine, I’m feeling a bit better already. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Ruben was home early today with a 10 for Maths (highest possible mark), so that was a nice surprise on his birthday. It also means he will get a new computer game (every 10 is 1 game – luckily this is only the 3rd 10 between my two boys since the summer [?]) – but they don’t get any reward for a good report at the end of the term, we expect good reports, it’s not something you only do for a reward. So, the 10=game thing is a bit of fun, really.
I’m sorry you aren’t feeling well but happy you are well enough to push ahead (vs crawling into bed). 🙂
Sounds like you have a lovely week planned with your son’s birthday and the publisher outing. Through twitter, I’m aware that you are participating in the November writing project. I wish you a lot of luck with this project and am excited to see how it turns out.
Have a great day today – happy birthday to your tall 14 year old! They do grow up quickly 🙂
Mari, I did feel a bit cloudy in my head for the whole weekend, but luckily I was able to get out of bed.
Yes, the writing… It’s afternoon here now and I haven’t started yet. I have done some household chores and visited the hairdresser, though.
Today I am going to read “Mrs Queen Takes the Train” by William Kuhn that I won from your give-away. The book arrived within a couple days of winning it! I’ll let you know what I think.
Laura, ooh, I hope you like it as much as I did! Good to hear it arrived really fast.
Halfway through the book as of the middle of the afternoon and I am really enjoying it! I will be sharing it with my mother after I am done. It’s a nice break from my other reads at the moment (Trollope and G. Eliot) but not just fluff. Very nice. Thanks again. I did have to look up what an equerry does-I thought it had to do with horses and found that that was what they did in the past. Also, I will be watching Branagh’s Henry V on Netflix soon. (Thanks Mr. Kuhn!)
Glad you’re enjoying it so much, Laura!
Charlotte Street sounds like a book I’d like (not that I need to add more to my list!). And I must read the new Kingsolver book because I love her writing; doesn’t matter what she is writing about.
Hope you’re feeling better today.
I think you’d like *Charlotte Street*, Leslie.The Kingsolver book makes a good read so far (100 pages in). I’ve been following a woman with plans to cheat on her husband (yuk!) and a long church session (yawn!) and I still love it. 🙂
I requested an audio review copy of Flight Behavior. If I don’t get one I’ll have to get on that long list at the library!
With your love of nature, I think you’ll really like *Flight Bahavior*, Leslie! Hopefully you’ll get the audio.
I hope you enjoy Flight Behavior, I did 🙂 Happy birthday to your son. I have a 14 year old boy as well and yep, he’s taller than both of his parents too 🙂
I am certainly enjoying *Flight Behavior*, Jennifer.
I’m 6 foot tall so to have a son that’s taller than me is a strange thing. 🙂
I hope you feel better to celebrate your son’s birthday.
My nephew is turning 1 on Saturday and though he’s not taller than anyone he sure is cuter than most 🙂
I’m feeling much better now, Suzanne. Still tired but the headache is as good as gone.
I think the cuteness disappears with height. Enjoy your little nephew as long as you can!
You are 6ft and your son is already taller than you? Wow he is going to be a big boy 🙂 Happy Birthday wishes for him.
Thanks for your congratulations on my anniversary.
Have a great reading week and fun at the publisher event!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out
We’re a tall family, Shelleyrae!
I have to work at night to be able to catch up with NanoWriMo. I hate to give up, but it looks like a mission impossible to me at the moment 😦 The publisher event you are going to attend sounds really fantastic. I hope you have a lot of fun there 🙂
Thanks, Tes. Actually, whatever you do on your novel is good. It’s better than not doing anything! I am behind too and I just hope to keep going in December until I have a decent draft.