Sharp Words

Sebastian, Anne Bishop – finished Thursday 1st. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
Not a bad fantasy romance novel; an interesting premise, and an improvement on some of her other work which just isn’t as dark as she (or her marketing people) seem to think it is.

The First Betrayal, Patricia Bray – finished Friday 2nd. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
Another intriguing little fantasy novel. There’s a sequel, although I think the story actually concluded well where it did in this book.

Kushiel’s Scion, Jacqueline Carey – finished Sunday 4th. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
The fourth part of her wonderfully sexy fantasy series, set in an alternate mediaeval Europe. There’s a new narrator, which means the first 3 stand by themselves, with this as a new start, and new readers would be able to pick up here. I highly recommend the previous books though.

The Case of the Missing Books, Ian Sansom – finished Tuesday 6th. Library book, first read.
What fun! I met Ian Sansom last year as he was running the NaNoWriMo sessions at Queens University Belfast, and I’d had my eye out for his books. It’s a humorous little novel about an English Jewish vegetarian librarian who comes to work in North Antrim, and the local area and people are wonderfully realised.

Madapple, Christina Meldrum – finished Saturday 10th. Own copy, first read.
Actually, this is an advanced reading copy, and I’ll be reviewing it in June as part of a Blog Stop Book Tour.

The Twilight Herald, Tom Lloyd – finished Sunday 11th. Library book, first read.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Stormcaller, but I found this one to be really confusing. I had a sense of most of the characters, but lost my grasp on the plot several times (which wasn’t helped by the actual book itself skipping over some events). I don’t know if I’d read another although I’m assuming there will be one, to judge from the ending of this one.

Gentlemen of the Road, Michael Chabon – finished Wednesday 14th. Library book, first read.
This was rather fun in a Boy’s Own, Kipling-esque style. I’m not sure what I expected, particularly from a literary writer like Chabon, but I did enjoy it – in fact, there’s a piece at the end which describes his motivations for writing it. (And it had a gorgeous faux-Edwardian green and gold fabric-bound cover.)

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak – finished Thursday 15th. Own copy, re-read.
Review by me & Ken Armstrong

The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway – finished Wednesday 21st. Own copy, first read.
Another advanced reading copy: review to come next month (I was supposed to have done it by now, but I haven’t got round to re-reading the book).

Venus in Copper, Lindsey Davis – finished Sunday 25th. Own copy.
The Iron Hand of Mars, Lindsey Davis – finished Wednesday 28th. Own copy.
I love Lindsey Davis’ Falco novels – they’re about a cynical private eye (informer) in ancient Rome, and they have interesting plots full of humour.

Total for May 2008: 10 + 1 re-reads
Ongoing total for 2008: 65 + 5 re-reads