Reading not Writing 2007 #5
I finally seem to be getting on a bit with this, probably because I've started listening to audio books as well as reading properly.
21. Struggling Free by Margaret Penfold. This is another self published novel I've reviewed for The Historical Novels Review Online so I won't say much about it here, beyond the fact that it was brilliant. Set in Palestine during WW2 it was far better than the mediocre blurb on the jacket suggests.
22. Villa of Mysteries by David Hewson. Having enjoyed Lucifer's Shadow by the same author, I was expecting something similar, but this was very different. A contemporary crime novel set in Rome, it is the first in a series featuring Nic Costa, one of Rome's finest. The plot involved a sixteen year old murder mystery that may have had something to do with a revived Dionysian cult. I enjoyed it, but perhaps more for the way it was read (OK another audio book).
23. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant. I seem to be focussing on Italy at the moment, as this was another Italian set novel, this time in the Venetian Renaissance. The Fabulous One had recommended it, and he was perfectly right; it was very good. I have tended to avoid Dunant in the past because, you know, litry bollocks, but this proved very readable, and while not exactly plot driven the characters were well written and interesting.
24. A Man's Man by Ian Hay. Another pre-WW1 romance. Sadly, I am beginning to find Hay a bit tiresome, particularly with all his snide asides about women, so this isn't one I would recommend.
25. Something Fresh by PG Wodehouse. Whereas this, on the other hand is something I would recommend. Wodehouse has a marvellous comic touch. This was one of the Blandings novels and was a mix of crime, romance and humour with some of the most perfectly idiotic characters you could hope to meet. I doubt they were exaggerated.
21. Struggling Free by Margaret Penfold. This is another self published novel I've reviewed for The Historical Novels Review Online so I won't say much about it here, beyond the fact that it was brilliant. Set in Palestine during WW2 it was far better than the mediocre blurb on the jacket suggests.
22. Villa of Mysteries by David Hewson. Having enjoyed Lucifer's Shadow by the same author, I was expecting something similar, but this was very different. A contemporary crime novel set in Rome, it is the first in a series featuring Nic Costa, one of Rome's finest. The plot involved a sixteen year old murder mystery that may have had something to do with a revived Dionysian cult. I enjoyed it, but perhaps more for the way it was read (OK another audio book).
23. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant. I seem to be focussing on Italy at the moment, as this was another Italian set novel, this time in the Venetian Renaissance. The Fabulous One had recommended it, and he was perfectly right; it was very good. I have tended to avoid Dunant in the past because, you know, litry bollocks, but this proved very readable, and while not exactly plot driven the characters were well written and interesting.
24. A Man's Man by Ian Hay. Another pre-WW1 romance. Sadly, I am beginning to find Hay a bit tiresome, particularly with all his snide asides about women, so this isn't one I would recommend.
25. Something Fresh by PG Wodehouse. Whereas this, on the other hand is something I would recommend. Wodehouse has a marvellous comic touch. This was one of the Blandings novels and was a mix of crime, romance and humour with some of the most perfectly idiotic characters you could hope to meet. I doubt they were exaggerated.