I finished 14 books in May. I was unable to resist the Orange list and so my reading was dominated by books from it. Unfortunately I don’t seem to have the same taste in books as the Orange judges this year – I’ll post a full summary of my thoughts on the Orange short list at some point in the next week, but overall I was quite disappointed.
I noticed that all the books I read were relatively new. I am disappointed by the lack of older books and so intend to concentrate on reading a few next month.
Book of the Month
Beside the Sea – Veronique Olmi
The City & The City – China Miéville
Hearts and Minds – Amanda Craig
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet – David Mitchell
The Weight of a Mustard Seed – Wendell Steavenson
The White Woman on the Green Bicycle – Monique Roffey
A Gate at the Stairs – Lorrie Moore
The Very Thought of You – Rosie Alison
Acts of Violence – Ryan David Jahn
Black Water Rising – Attica Locke
Hector and the Search for Happiness – Francois Lelord
Plans for June
The Booker long list isn’t announced until 27th July, so I am going to enjoy a brief period of time without a book prize list to work from! I’m going to try to read a few of the books that I wanted to read in May and then focus on some international reads. I hope to squeeze in a few science fiction reads too!
A Life Apart – Neel Murkherjee
Our Tragic Universe – Scarlett Thomas
The Surrendered – Chang-Rae Lee
Marcelo in the Real World – Francisco Stork
The Birth of Love – Joanna Kavenna
The White Bone – Barbara Gowdy
Songs from the Other Side of the Wall – Dan Holloway
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
The Russian Countess – Edith Sollohub
How Late it Was, How Late – James Kelman
The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell
White is for Witching – Helen Oyeyemi
I know I probably won’t be able to fit them all in, but several are very short so you never know!
Which books from my list should I ensure I read?
Do you plan to read any of the same ones?