February 2014.....

 It's nearly the end of the week, and of the busy month of February, so I feel it is time I stop neglecting my duties here and say hello. There has been quite a bit going on this month; two birthdays (mine and my other half's) a bit of skiing, a fair old bit of work and seeing my brother off on his travels to China, all of this has had an impact on my reading success for the month. After getting off to an impressive start, in both quantity and quality imho, in January I have slowed down a tad, and not quite managed a book a day.... I know it's sad  only 18 books read this month, but some absolute corkers in there.

It seems as though February has been the month for bookshop based books, there have been three of these this month. Of these Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore stands out as my absolute favourite. The blend of Dan Brownesque secret societies with the high v low tech argument won my heart, and I loved every moment I spent reading this wonderful little novel. The Collected Works of AJ Fikry takes a more emotional and, sadly, realistic look at life in a bookshop, and I defy anyone to read through to the end without feeling at least a little choked up. Next to these two Mrs Sinclair's Suitcase couldn't really complete, it had a lovely premise but the combo of hidden letters and forbidden wartime love affair came across as just a little too twee for my tastes. I am sure that it will prove to be very popular with many readers but it failed to strike the right note for me.
My two favourites from translated works this month have to be the adorable story of Sprout The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, and the frankly disgusting, but brilliant, Eat Him if You Like. Two totally different books but both simply marvellous. Both have been sympathetically translated and the resulting books are perfect each in their own way. Sprout in particular is a delightful character, reminiscent of the best of Beatrix Potter, but a little more feisty.
The other standout books for the month have ranged from the darkly comic crime heist Three Graves Full, through to the entertaining and informative The Almost Nearly Perfect People. Each of these five books come highly recommended. Strangely each seems to deal with some aspect of a creepy or downright alien culture or mode of behaviour, so maybe the fact that these are some of the books I have enjoyed most of all this month says something about me. I choose to assume that the bleak, twisted and darkly comic nature of several of these books simply fits my mood throughout the month of February rather than in general. Maybe I really do need to consider a move to one of the fascinating Nordic countries explored by Michael Booth. It's an interesting thought.
One book which I haven't quite managed to complete just yet is Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre, if I had then I think this would probably been listed amongst my favourite books for the month. It took me a while to get to grips with a historical novel that kept inserting quotes from contemporary individuals such as Naomi Campbell, but once I got further into the story I began to see this clash of periods as the stroke of genius it is. In any case, I've not quite completed the novel as yet so fear it must wait to see how it compares with other things I read in March. Sorry Venetia!
As always I have been sent a large number of wonderful looking titles by the lovely publishing people I am in contact with, and I will get round to reading them as soon as I possibly can. I should have a good amount of reading time available over the next month so watch this space for a good number of reviews and whatnot coming up on this page. A handful of the ones I have pulled out of my heap for immediate reading include books like The Echo by James Smythe and The Abduction by Jonathan Holt. These along with a good number of others will be being read over the next few days. As I've also had my birthday this month I have been lucky enough to have been given a good stack of lovely things to read by my friends and family so I'm sure that some of these will be being read over the next couple of weeks. All rather exciting if like me you are rarely seen without a book in your hand.
Anyway it's probably time that I wrapped this post up and knuckled down to some reading proper.... back to the coal face and all that. I know, I know it is a hard old life hehe....

Throughout the month I have purchased, been given or been sent an impressive 91 books, of the books I read during February 10 were acquired during the month, with 5 coming from my January stash. Roll on a busy month of reading for March.

Books acquired throughout February.....

The Slaves of Solitude	Patrick Hamilton	The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August	Claire North
A Spy in the House of Love	Anais Nin	Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookshop	Robin Sloan
Henry and June	Anais Nin	Brewster	Mark Slouka
Sexus	Henry Miller	Gypsy Goddess	Meena Kandasamy
A Talent to Annoy	Nancy Mitford	Viper Wine	Hermione Eyre
Banished	Liz de Jager	The May Bride	Suzannah Dunn
Mother Mother	Koren Zailckas	The Madness of July	James Naughtie
Sally Heathcote Suffragette	Mary Talbot	Quiet Dell	Jayne Anne Phillips
The Hanged Man of Saint Pholien	Georges Simenon	The Queen of the Tearling	Erika Johansen
The Echo	James Smythe	Bittersweet	Colleen McCullough
Americanah	Chimamanda Adichie	Cat Out of Hell	Lynne Truss
A Natural History of Dragons	Marie Brennan	A Wolf in Hindelheim	Jenny Mayhew
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly	Sun-Mi Hwang	Three Graves Full	Jamie Mason
We are our Brains	Dick Swaab	The Letter Bearer	Robert Allison
Trouble in Mind	Jeffery Deaver	Spirit House	Mark Dapin
Authority	Jeff VanderMeer	Eat Him If You Like	Jean Teule
Annihilation	Jeff VanderMeer	The Front Seat Passenger	Pascal Garnier
Miss Buncle's Book	D E Stevenson	Fifty Years in Time and Space	Frank Danes
Memory of Water	Emmi Itaranta	The Land Where Lemons Grow	Helena Attlee
Orphan Train	Christina Baker Kline	The First Book of Calamity Leek	Paula Lichtarowicz
This is The Life	Alex Shearer	The Shadow of the Crescent Moon	Fatima Bhutto
Ghostwritten	Isabel Wolff	Strange Death of Fiona Griffiths	Harry Bingham
The Girl Who Came Home	Hazel Gaynor	The Ruby Slippers	Keir Alexander
The Investigation	Jung-Myung Lee	Paris Requiem	Lisa Appignanesi
Chop Chop	Simon Wroe	Lettice and Victoria	Susanna Johnston
The Last Boat Home	Dea Brovig	Under the Sun	Justin Kerr-Smiley
Cruel Crossing	Edward Stourton	The Breath of Night	Michael Arditti
The Bees	Laline Paull	They Were Counted	Miklos Banffy
Bird Box	Josh Malerman	They Were Found Wanting	Miklos Banffy
The Heroes' Welcome	Louisa Young	The Celibate	Michael Arditti
Paris	Edward Rutherford	Yours Until Death	Gunnar Staalesen
The Boy With The Porcelain Blade	Den Patrick	A Pleasure and a Calling	Hogan
Northanger Abbey	Val McDermid	Treachery	Parris
The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman	The Lemon Grove	Helen Walsh
& Sons	David Gilbert	Unravelling Oliver	Liz Nugent
The Serpent of Venice	Christopher Moore
The House Girl	Tara Conklin	Good Soldier Svejk	Jaroslav Hasek
Someone to Watch Over Me	Yrsa Siguardardottir	The Son	Philipp Meyer
Blackout	Connie Willis	We Are Completely Beside Ourselves	Karen Joy Fowler
The Museum of Extraordinary Things	Alice Hoffman	Be Safe I Love You	Cara Hoffman
A Burnable Book	Bruce Holsinger	The Almost Nearly Perfect People	Michael Booth
The Abduction	Jonathan Holt	Irene	Pierre Lemaitre
Freaky Deaky	Elmore Leonard	Dancing Bear	James Crumley
Dune	Frank Herbert	Dune Messiah	Frank Herbert
The Collection	James Crumley	The Cardiff Trilogy	John Williams
Healing Relaxation	Edie Irwin