June reading roundup

This month's focus was on historical fiction and I have to say I didn't read as many books as I wanted to in this category.  I'm too easily sidetracked because it's summer, I think, and the weather in Florida isn't nearly as bad or hot as it is elsewhere for a change.

So here's what happened in my June:


historical fiction: 

• On the Proper Use of Stars, by Dominique Fortier  -- Victorian England, Franklin Expedition
• Waiting for Sunrise, by William Boyd (read in May) --  WWI, England, Vienna
• Pao, by Kerry Young  -- Jamaica 1938-1989  (My copy needs a home, free, if anyone in the US wants it)
• Flesh, by Khanh Ha  -- Annam (Vietnam) early 20th century
• The Neruda Case, by Roberto Ampuero -- 1970s Chile, Cuba, East Germany
• Painter of Silence, by Georgina Harding -- 1940s/1950s Romania 

crime fiction

• The Paris Directive, by Gerald Jay  (US)
• The First Fingerprint, by Xavier-Marie Bonnot (France)
• A Death in Tuscany, Death of a Mafia Don, and A Death in Calabria, by Michele Giuttari (Italy)
• The Black Rose of Florence, by Michele Giuttari (Italy)
• The Age of Doubt,  by Andrea Camilleri (Italy)

 odd/weird fiction

• New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird, edited by Paula Guran
• The Croning, by Laird Barron, not yet reviewed

nonfiction 

•  The Mark Inside, by Amy Reading
• Mrs. Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady -- not yet reviewed 

fiction

• Skios, by Michael Frayn -- read, not yet reviewed  (but I liked it)

other book-related stuff:
1) The book group read The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes. We all liked it, and had a great time debating who had been pregnant and who was the father.We discussed it over tea and scones. I'm currently putting together the next list of reads for when we come back from our summer hiatus. Suggestions would definitely be helpful!

 2) Added to the Amazon wishlist this month:
Ride a Cockhorse, by Raymond Kennedy
The Madman of Bergerac, by Georges Simenon
In a Lonely Place, by Dorothy B. Hughes

Summer Resort, by Esther Kinsky (Germany)
Part of the Solution, by Ulrich Peltzer (Germany)

 3) Books bought this month:
Wife of the Gods, by Kwei Quartey  (Africa)
The Murder of Halland, by Pia Juul (Scandinavia)
Kapitoil, by Teddy Wayne
Black Skies, by Arnaldur Indridason (Scandinavia)
Afterlives of the Saints,  by Colin Dickey
The Coward's Tale, by Vanessa Gebbie

4) Currently reading: 
Black Skies, by Arnaldur Indridason




so that's all...I'm off to go start my Saturday!