Sharp Words

Raising the Stones, Sheri S Tepper - finished Thursday 3rd. Own copy.
An old favourite, which bears up every time I re-read it.

Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier - finished Thursday 3rd. Library book, first read.
I’ve been meaning to read this for some time, and I really enjoyed it even though it was a lot shorter than I expected. The story was simple and the language evocative.

Succubus Blues, Richelle Mead - finished Thursday 3rd. Library book, first read. Re-read, finished Tuesday 8th.
My full review
** This counts as my colour book for my reading challenge. **

Kaï-ro, Graham Marks - finished Saturday 5th. Library book, first read.
I picked this off the SF/Fantasy shelves, but I’d class it more as a YA novel. It was a pretty good post-apocalyptic novel, set in a city named Dinium (which I recognised on that clue alone, although there were plenty of others) centuries after a major climate upheaval. I enjoyed it well enough.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J K Rowling - finished Monday 7th. Own copy.
I just fancied reading this again, since it had been a few months - I’d forgotten what an horrendous body count it has! It was the first time I’d read it since the revelations about Dumbledore, too, so that put a different gloss on events - although not really that much.

The Ruins of Ambrai, Melanie Rawn [Book 1 of Exiles] - finished Wednesday 16th.  Own copy.
The Mage-born Traitor, Melanie Rawn [Book 2 of Exiles] - finished Tuesday 22nd. Own copy.
When oh when is she ever going to produce the third book of the trilogy?! I checked publication dates and realised that we’ve been waiting for it for over 10 years… She has published a few things in that time, but not a lot compared to her previous prolific output (the two Dragon trilogies).

Jack of Ravens, Mark Chadbourn - finished Saturday 26th. Library book, first read. 
I’m probably going to review this, but I want to re-read the trilogy that proceeds it first (it’s book 7 of a series which consists so far of 2 trilogies, plus this one and its sequel which is just out).

True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey - finished Tuesday 29th. Own copy.
We watched the film Ned Kelly the other night (for me, in recognition of Heath Ledger’s death) and it made me want to read this novel again even though it’s not the one on which the film was based. It’s an intriguingly crafted novel, written from Ned’s point of view and with idiosyncratic grammar and punctuation (or lack of); the style can take a while to get into, but once you get the hang of it, it works - for me, anyway.

The Sunrise Lands, S M Stirling - finished Thursday 31st. Borrowed from Colin, first read.
Again, something I’m probably going to review - another book 7 that follows 2 trilogies! I feel a bit guilty for reading it though; it was the book I bought Colin for his birthday last week, and I read it before he had a chance to - a not-uncommon occurrence. (Well, ok, he said I could.)

Ongoing total for 2008: 10 + 1 re-reads
That is not a lot of reading for me in a single month; I usually average about 15 books. I’m not sure why I was such a slow reader in January; it took me a long time to read the Exiles novels, perhaps because I was so familiar with them and so wasn’t racing through to find out what happened next.