March 2014 Reads

This looks like a lot of reading. It was even though there are two I didn't finish (the first two on the list).

Not crazy about these three:
My Struggle: Book Two: A Man in Love; Knausgård, Karl Ove; translated by  Don Bartlett.
  I only made it to page 200 before I decided I'd had enough.
In the Night of Time; Molina, Antonio Muñoz; translated by Edith Grossman
  Just couldn't really get into this.  I think I'll try it again in a couple of months. (I might also give the Knausgård another try.)
The Islands; Gamerro, Carlos; translated by Ian Barnett
  Read on Kindle (my copy). Long passages on the development of a computer game really distracted from the story. All that techie stuff may have been fascinating a few years ago when this was first published, but now it seems dated and unnecessary.

These two were very heavy, glad I read them but they were disturbing.
Back to Back; Franck, Julia; translated by Anthea Bell       
The Dark Road; Jian, Ma; translated by Flora Drew 

Discussed these two in an earlier post (March 22, 2014)
The Golem and the Jinni; Wecker, Helene (Kindle from library) 
The Hakawati; Alameddine, Rabih

Of this next group Live Bait and Wake were the best, but all were good                    
Live Bait; Genovesi, Fabio; translated by Michael Moore (Advance electronic review copy)
 This was a fun coming of age story. Epub is my least favorite way to read an ARC.  
Wake; Hope, Anna
  Am enjoying the World War I novels currently being published. 
A Circle of Wives; LaPlante, Alice
  A mystery-who killed the bigamist trigamist?
Attachments; Rowell, Rainbow (Kindle from library)
  Chickish lit
The Moon Sisters; Walsh, Therese  (Advance review copy)
  Didn't like this at first but it kind of grew on me. 
Belle Cora; Margulies, Phillip
  Can't resist historical novels set in San Francisco- this was a good one.    
The Wind Is Not a River; Payton, Brian
  World War II in the Aleutian Islands.   
Little Bee; Cleave, Chris
  Nigerian girl in UK   

Two that were disappointing:
Bellman & Black: A Ghost Story; Setterfield, Diane
  Was so-so on her The Thirteenth Tale  and decided to give her another chance-shouldn't have bothered.
A Burnable Book; Holsinger, Bruce                                
 Interesting subject, he knows his stuff but I don't care for his writing style.

Short Stories
Three really good collections.
Bark: Stories; Moore, Lorrie Excellent review of this by Joyce Carol Oates in NRB
Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge; Orner, Peter      
Snow in May: Stories; Melnik, Kseniya  (review copy from Library Thing) 

Non-Fiction
A Taste for Intrigue: The Multiple Lives of François Mitterrand; Short, Philip  (Advance review copy from Goodreads)
  Excellent!  I'd say it was my best read of the month, but it actually took me a couple of months to read. (Over 600 pages)
Dear Abigail: The Intimate Lives and Revolutionary Ideas of Abigail Adams and Her Two Remarkable Sisters; Jacobs, Diane
  I do like Abigail...and her sisters.  Nice to learn more about them.
Uprising: A New Age is Dawning for Every Mother's Daughter; Armstrong, Sally
 (Advance review copy from Goodreads) This was ok. It should be read by people who probably won't read it. 
George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution; Kilmeade, Brian  (Kindle from library)
  Not very well written.

Unless otherwise noted, books were physical copies from public libraries.
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