Sharp Words

Living with the Truth, Jim Murdoch – finished Friday 1st. Own copy, re-read.
My review

The Sea Change, Patricia Bray – finished Sunday 3rd. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
A sequel to The First Betrayal, better than I thought it was going to be. And I needed something to read on the plane home from London.

Flight of the Goose, Lesley Thomas – finished Tuesday 5th. Own copy, first read.
A really interesting novel set in 1970s Alaska.

His Earthly Crown, Kate Elliott – finished Wednesday 6th. BookMooched copy, first read.
The Conquering Sword, Kate Elliott – finished Thursday 7th. Own copy.
Only one more of this series that I need to track down!

Chart Throb, Ben Elton – finished Sunday 10th. Library book, first read.
This does for X-Factor what Dead Famous did for Big Brother; namely, rips the arse out of it (if you’ll excuse the expression). Very funny and very worrying.

Les Mis̩rables, Victor Hugo Рfinished Sunday 10th. Own copy.
I admit that my copy is abridged so it didn’t take long to read. But I had the urge to do so after seeing the musical in London last weekend (which was fabulous).

The River, By Moonlight, Camille Marchetta – finished Monday 11th. Own copy, first read.
I was sent this for review courtesy of Blog Stop Book Tours – not sure if I’ll be reviewing it or not, though I did rather enjoy it. It had a good period flavour (affluent 1917 New York).

Affinity, Sarah Waters – finished Tuesday 12th. Library book, first read.
Didn’t like this as much as her other novels although it was very intriguing.

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf, Victor Pelevin – finished Wednesday 13th. Library book, first read. Re-read, finished Thursday 28th.
Intriguing Russian novel, that I need to write a review of.

Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk – finished Thursday 14th. Library book, first read.
Can’t believe I’d never read this before! Not bad although since I’ve seen the film, there were no surprises.

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides – finished Friday 15th. Own copy, first read.
Something that had been on my must-read list for ages, and I’m glad I finally got round to it. I love his writing.
** This counts as my place book for my reading challenge – ok, cheating, sort-of, since Middlesex isn’t really a place name in the context of the novel. But it’ll do.**

Phule’s Company, Robert Asprin – finished Sunday 17th. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
Although I’ve read a lot of the Myth books, I’d never picked up this series. It’s even better.

Wicked, Gregory Maguire – finished Monday 18th. BookMooched copy, first read.
Son of Witch, Gregory Maguire – finished Tuesday 19th. Library book, first read.
I much preferred Wicked to Son of Witch even though both were well-written, imaginative novels. I think it’s because, since they were stories about Oz, I wanted to see familiar things – and despite a nice quick glimpse of Tip and a couple of other nods to the Oz canon in Son of Witch, this happened far more effectively in Wicked.

Heart of the Mirage, Glenda Larke – finished Wednesday 20th. Library book, first read.
The Shadow of Tyr, Glenda Larke – finished Thursday 21st. Library book, first read.
Really good new fantasy by an Australian writer; there are quite a few who I’ve like recently (inc. Karen Miller).

Inda, Sherwood Smith – finished Sunday 24th. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
More fantasy that left me wanting the next installment asap.

Fool’s Errand, Robin Hobb – finished Monday 25th. Own copy.
The Golden Fool, Robin Hobb – finished Tuesday 26th. Own copy.

The Final Sacrifice, Patricia Bray – finished Thursday 28th. Borrowed from Marion, first read.
The final book of this trilogy (I assume), and a good ending.

Gale Force, Rachel Caine – finished Friday 29th (plane fodder). Borrowed from Marion, first read.
Is this series ever going to end?! Not that I’m complaining, exactly, but each book seems to end on a cliffhanger…

Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris – finished Sunday 31st (more plane fodder). Borrowed from Marion, first read.
The first of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (dating from 2001) and I can see how it fits into the evolution/explosion of urban fantasy of the past 10 years or so. A fun novel, oddly so considering the body count!

Fool’s Fate, Robin Hobb – finished Sunday 31st (though I started it on Thursday 28th before I went away). Own copy.
It was good to finally get copies of The Tawny Man trilogy again after getting rid of my tradeback-sized ones, and to read it finally one book after another. There was a lot I’d forgotten, but Robin Hobb’s writing never fails to please me.

Total for August 2008: 23 + 2 re-reads
Ongoing total for 2008: 116 + 10 re-reads