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Bibliofile - May


Another month, another 10 books. So far this year I've read 43. Books are such a great escape. Each one takes you away to a different world and with my eclectic tastes I get to visit many and varied different worlds.

I started out the month with a trip to India and two detective novels by Tarquin Hall featuring Dehli Private Eye Vish Puri. Both had a good balance of mystery and humour. I'm not sure how I came across them but I thoroughly enjoyed them both.

I also travelled to the Netherlands in The Girl Who Saved The King of Sweden. Jonas Jonasson is the same author who brought us The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared which I just loved. "The Girl" was equally good following the travails of a young South African girl who comes into possession of an atomic bomb and travels to Sweden with it. Sounds bizarre, I know, but the book is delightful and uproariously funny.

Perhaps the most bizarre book I've read in a long time was the collected writings of deceased storied 60s and 70s rock critic Lester Bangs: Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung.  When you read this book you often wonder did he write this when he was stoned or am I stoned reading it. A psychedelic stream of consciousness that often has little to do with the concert or LP (remember those?) of a group being reviewed can be a difficult read. But he's a fascinating writer. I like to think of him as the Hunter S. Thompson of rock critics. You can imagine reading these reviews in his monthly Creem column or from the Village Voice but when you sit down and read them all at once at times it can be tough slogging.

I closed out the month with a return to form - a detective novel - returning to Jo Nesbo and the third in his Norwegian cop Harry Hole series. Very satisfying.

Here's the full list of my readings from May, along with my ratings:

The Case of the Missing Servant - Tarquin Hall ****
The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing - Tarquin Hall ****
Persona Non Grata - Tom Flanagan **
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden - Jonas Jonasson *****
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung - Lester Bangs ****
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin *****
Frog Music - Emma Donoghue ****
Normal Family - Don Trowden ****
Bellweather Rhapsody - Kate Racculia *****
Nemesis - Jo Nesbo ****

So that's what I was sticking my nose into in May. How about you?
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Comments

Cheryl said…
I came, I read, I enjoyed that you had a good month of reading. Until sometime in my 30s, I could read a book set in almost any country and not get hung up by not knowing too much about the geography. Something changed and I found myself getting lost when I'd try to read anything except stories from North America and the countries of what was the USSR. I know it's because I get wrapped up in not knowing anything enough about where I've been taken, but I still can't shake it. I'm a weirdo through and through.
3 June 2014 at 07:52
Bryan G. Robinson said…
Oooh, I have the Jonasson book on hold at the Free Library of Philadelphia and can't wait...especially after your now mentioning it. :)
3 June 2014 at 09:06
nonamedufus said…
These days, Cheryl there are so many books out there by so many authors outside of North America one has to adapt. The backdrop merely adds to the story. It's the telling that counts.
3 June 2014 at 09:58
nonamedufus said…
It was delightful. Equally so were The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Bellweather Rhapsody which I failed to highlight.
3 June 2014 at 10:00
Sandie Kirkland said…
Ah, another Jo Nesbo fan! I just finished The Leopard over the weekend; I think that one is number four. I've read the series out of order as I drop everything else whenever I get my hands on a Nesbo.
3 June 2014 at 10:23
nonamedufus said…
Very much a Nesbo fan. But I'm anal. I like to read detective series in chronological order.
3 June 2014 at 13:37
Caleb Mason (from Publerati) said…
Thanks for reading our novel Normal Family by Don Trowden. We are trying something different for ebooks, donating a portion of all our sales to the Worldreader Organization to help spread literacy.
3 June 2014 at 19:50
Becca said…
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry is my favorite read this year! I loved it so much!
3 June 2014 at 20:10
nonamedufus said…
It was a very enjoyable read. Thanks for making it available.
3 June 2014 at 20:22
nonamedufus said…
Wasn't it great? I really liked it.
3 June 2014 at 20:23
Indigo Roth said…
Hey Dufus! I've been doing my best, tho I'm still on unabridged audio books rather than paper ones. This month I've read Neil Gaiman's adult back catalogue, and failed miserably with THE BOOK THIEF. Salut, Roth.
4 June 2014 at 06:05
nonamedufus said…
Audio books are still books. I've liked the Gaiman books I've read.
4 June 2014 at 13:03
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