Now I always Knew it would be a thin month book-wise in June, I left my current job on the 2nd of this month and had a wedding in Croydon for the first weekend and Seven days in Scotland with Amanda, I had hoped to read more but time and sunny weather cut into my reading time. Then on Monday I started my new job for the NHS and had my first of two weeks training .so the total of books read has risen to 55 still on course for the 100 for the year mark.
Book of June
A selection of the Basque writers experience in the US gives us a glimpse at the country from an outsider’s eye, but also a writer looking back on his life and what is to come. This is what we need publishers to do publish the books from writers that aren’t straight fiction.
None book discovery
MY new job has opened my eyes to what I can maybe do in the future it seems an NHS service keen on promoting staff to learn and move forward.I hope to do when I am settled in my new job.
Next month
More training at the new job and starting the new job may slow my reading down, I am reading a French novel from the US press New vessel at the moment and have a couple from Maclehose waiting on my tbr pile . What are you reading this month
Things got back to normal on the blog this month after a couple of lean months review wise. I managed to finish the man booker longlist. I managed to read books from 10 countries .No new Publishers this month but the second book from Notting hill editions the Barthes Diary. So I have reviewed 49 books this year on the blog leaving me on course to read over 100 books this year.
Book of May
Belladonna by Dasa Drndric
It is a tough month as there has been a number of books that have touched me the Barthes is a great book for me at the moment but in the long run Dasa’s book is one that needs to be read Andreas Ban is a anti hero that shows us , what we need to be thinking about.
None book discovery
I am due to leave work tomorrow after 17 years , I am sad but also looking forward to my new job in three weeks. I have just brought a Lomo La sardina Camera for my holiday next month, a retro camera with flash filter should make some memorable photos from our holiday.
Looking forward
I have had a little extra money last few months so have slowly been getting some US translations from publishers like Open letter, Dalkey archive , Deep Vellum and archipelago books . The Castagnet from this month was the first of these books , I have a Magdalena Tulli I am reading at the moment. How was your month and what plans have you to read next month ?
I Missed last month for obvious reasons so this is a round up of the twelve books I managed to review between April and March . One new press Contra Mundun from whom I reviewed The Major Refutation a quirky french novel .Eight countries have been covered by me in the last two months and I have read a number of french novels pushing the blog total to 90 french novels and nearer the goal of 100 for this year . with the twelve here it brings this years total of books reviewed to 38 .
Book of March and April
Compass by Mathias enard
I think this is a masterpiece an ode to a world that has now long gone the syria of many years ago is told over one night and a love story .
None book discovery
Well being Honest this has been a crap couple of months for me . I lost mum in March we had funeral in April and I am now mid way in the process of getting a new job in NHS , so I am rather sad at having to leave a place I have worked for twelve years but with my mum and step mothers passing in the last couple of year I had decided long term I need a job that would see me best in my last twenty odd years of work. But like many folks in time of trouble we seek solace in what we know and for me that has been the last two star wars film which I got on bluray disc the last few months they have given me many an hours break from what has been a hard couple of months.
Looking forward
well we have the shadow shortlist to come out soon . I have a number books I have brought recently and a huge backlog of review books to read. BellaDonna I hope finish tomorrow is another great book from an old favourite of this blog Dasa Drndic , also the second Peter Owen world series three books from Spain I have read Nona’s room already a stunning collection of short stories .
Well it is now two months of round ups this year . Last month I managed to review 13 books the same as January taking total to 26 books under review this year . I also read two new to me press books Noir press who are bring us Lithuanian lit to English for the first time . Then Belle Vue press an american press that published The attempt . Ten countries covered last month , I managed to read six books for Pushkin press fortnight , I also have one more to review next month . !2 of the 13 books are translation the one non translated work is my first to be for the Burgeess100 celebration of Anthony Burgess .
I loved this tale of the last summer before their worlds all change these great writers at various points in the career are caught in the Belgium seaside and my favourite from Pushkin Press fortnight .
Books read –
You can follow what I have been reading on instagram I am a few books ahead as ever of what I am reviewing but with a few long books coming on tbr pile I hope to catch up and be back on par by end of this month .
Non Book discovery
A second new record shop in Chesterfield called Vanishing point I imagine after the film or primal scream track selling second-hand vinyl and CDs . After a year or two with no record shops and from four at one point many year ago it will be nice to have another place to spend time browsing .
I am terrible at round ups as all of you may know but every year I try to keep track of what has been read and reviewed this year I am just marking books I have reviewed on the page of my blog not read then reviewed.So I have reviewed 13 books this month . I have gone from Belgium via Quebec, Latin America and Africa and back to europe with books from 13 countries reviewed and 8 new writers to the blog and five with books already on the blog. Three new to the blog publishers as well. Last all Translated of course .
For me it is the Danish modernist classic Havoc , simply a classic of its time worthy of Waugh , Joyce or any of the great modernist writers . 600 pages of a man struggle with drinking and falling down that rabbit hole of drinking to much.
Books read
I have read 13 books as well some I have reviewed this other will be reviewed next month. You can follow via my Instagram what I am reading at the moment as I have been recording my current reads this year over there .
Non book discovery
Each month I want bring some non book related to the month end and this it is a Tv series I have been enjoying over on Netflix it is the series A series of unfortunate events from the Lemony Snicket ,childrens books. I missed the film with Jim Carey in back when it came out I had by time the film came out had my fill of Mr Carey so came to this not knowing much about the books or film. So for me it was a treat the series style wise reminds me at times of Wes Anderson the same twee world his films live in the tales of the Baudelaire children as they try to get by after the death of their parents , as the evil relative Count Olaf wonderfully played by Neil Patrick Harris , was he really that loveable kid Doogie Howser MD years ago here as a mad actor and his troop of actors trying to catch his three relatives for the fortune. What has your month been like ?
I can’t remember the last time I felt I had blogged enough to be worthy of doing a round-up of my months blogging .Last month was Woman in translation month and through this blog we took a journey around the world . We started in Mexico with The story of my teeth by Valeria Luiselli , the tale of a man selling his teeth as thou they were famous teeth .We then head north to Sweden and a woman falling in love with an artist in a story about how we view love Wilful disregard by Lean Andresson .Then we head to France and a dead bar owner and his customers tell the story of his life and his death in Bar Balto by Faiza Guene .Then a u turn and back up north to Finland and The second book by Sofi Oksanen , when doves disappeared the story of two men during and after the war in Estonia .Then I did a post about my lack of Ferrante fever , I d try to read book one again but be honest still not getting it !!But this next one was a small victory in the type of books I read the exchange of princesses by Chantal Thomas was a great historic novel about a young princesses in France and Spain .Then onto Crime in post war Czechoslovakia and Innocence or murder on the steep street by Heda Margolius Kovaly best known for her memoir she took a slip of American hardboiled crime style and made it her own in Czech style crime in this novel .I then pulled five old reviews from Winstonsdads 500 plus books in translation reviewed .Then we head back on our Journey and to Brazil The passion according to GH by Clarice Lispector is one woman story of how she killed a cockroach the day before in a white room , stunning and the final push I need for the complete stories which I got this weekend by her .Then I lament the lack of female nobel winners . The I was Asia bound with one of the books of the year The vegetarian by Han Kang the story of one woman after she turned vegetarian in Korea told from three views .The back to France for a third book and Heloise is bald by Emile De Turckheim the story of one girl growing with an older man the apple of her eye .Then back to Korea and another fable tale with the Hen who dreamed she could fly by Sun – Mi Hwang a hen escapes her home and discovers the wider world .Then a non fiction book by a Croatian writer Thank you for not reading By Dubravka Ugresic , a witty and serious look at the world of books from the trivia of western publishing and the reverence of the soviet years of being a writer .Then a slice of great Danish fiction with this should be written in the present tense by Helle Helle , one girls waste years of being at university and not going there but elsewhere .Not bad 12 reviews from woman in Translation .The find of the month was Innocence or murder on a steep street a real gem a slice of american in europe that thankfully missed the censors shredder .
I look forward to this month tomorrow I intend to review a nobel hopeful from Ukraine , then I am doing a classic book from Nigeria , that will start a number of reviews of African based or related books . How is your month looking ?
Well after a bright start in January to my blogging year my blog went of the rails slightly last month ,but I had Amanda in hospital thankfully she is ok now and near the end of the month I have used the last of my holidays for 2013/4 so have actually just done not a lot and recharged my batteries but now start to wind back up with the Iffp longlist out in a little under a week I need to review and catch up on books I may have to read for that .but last month I managed to read 11 books and reviewed 8 books also had Pushkin press fortnight which I loved the fact so many people joined in celebrating a publisher I love .I also had a great interview with Hélène Gestern q& a .Also added the Blogging meet up in June in Sheffield
Polychrome by Joanna Jodełka poland Oliver VII by Antal Szarb Every promise by Andrea Bajani Italy Journey into the past by Stefan Zweig austria the break by Pietro Grossi Italy
Amok and other stories by Stefan Zweig Austria
Death in Pont-Aven by Jean-Luc Bannalec france
The late Monsieur Gallet by Georges Simenon Belgium
A french novel by Frederic Beigbeder france
Pigs foot by Carlos Acosta Cuba
Dead star by Alavro Bisama Chile
I ve already read two great books in march and am looking forward to reading the new Andres Neuman novel and doing Shadow Iffp post .What are your plans for March ?
Well I got 2014 off with a bang I managed to review 19 books on the blog which is the most I have acheived for a couple of years and I have read 16 books also my best ever start for a year .So I decide it is about time I brought back the month end round up posts .A great start here is what I read in January –
As you see a real mix but with French novels and Japanese to the fore .I think the real gem of the month is Zenith Hotel a book that comes out in march but one that I read and instantly called the best book I had read for a long time .I enjoyed taking part in Tony’s January in Japan event again .
Books read 2014 to date – 16
Countries read from – 9
Next month – Well Pushkin press fortnight is at the end of the month I have a couple I read last year to review for that and also halfway through a couple on my kindle .I’ve a new French crime series to start .
I happened to have seen this link to a newish blog that is translating Turkish Prose and poems to English .As I feel there is never enough in English from Turkish it’s great to see a translator putting her work Online lets hope she gets some interest and some more fiction and poetry comes to use in English . go and visit word prism
Well the nights are starting to lighten its been a busy month here at Winston’s tower ,some how shocked how I managed to get 14 books read this month but a number where rather short .I had a number of night shifts and was off for the last five days of the month .I managed to have a little more time than normal to read .Any way favourite book of the month Train to Budapest by Dacia Marani ,which I shall review early next month ,other honorable mentions go to The eleven by Pierre Michon and the two Donald Antrim reissues I read .A good book finding month as many of you may know I tend to have tight book finances ,when it comes to what is available to spend sad to say I had to return to Amazon after nearly a year just because of cost and availability of the books I want for three books ,I hope in summer trips out to cities with Amanda will mean I can buy books in shops I want .But the other side of this is I am a huge second-hand buyer and this month saw me hit gold with a number of penguins a Roman Gary ,Andre Gide ,Henrich Boll and a Samuel Beckett novel .Which eased my conscious re using amazon as some of these books are out of print and will be reviewed on here which I hope will get people to find them all out as they are all writers I feel the need to read and think other people should these are the ones that explain modern literature in France and Germany as they tend to inspire or have been read by most modern writers in these countries .So the month ahead well here at Winston towers two dates spring to mind ,the first is valentines day as a romantic at heart I’ve my book ready for the day and will be spending time myself with the darling Amanda .The other date in my diary is Amanda’s birthday which may not be so bookish as she isn’t a huge reader but sure we will have a lovely time and I ll get her some great gifts .For the blog I sit on the verge of a quarter million views in my stats sometime today or tomorrow I will pass that total so thanks to every one who visits on a regular or just once all welcome great that you all come and visit the blog .The picture at the top was taken in the middle of the month out with Winston in the middle of the snow .
