….aren’t you glad? 
Sometimes it’s great to have a recharge and a reflect and so I have.
I’ve just finished Shadow of the Scorpion by Neal Asher, which was brilliant, but also means that I now owe the blog three book reviews. The other two are for A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin and The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry. Both excellent debuts. I’m having a good run.
I’m reading another Arnaldur Indridason. This one Silence of the Grave and is the second one. I’ve read the first Tainted Blood and The Draining Lake, the forth one. I know I’m going to read Voices.
Vintage have kindly sent me two more crime writers in translation Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell and The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas – I know Mankell form the Kurt Wallander series on the Beeb, which I missed – intentionally really as I like to read the books if there any rather that watching an adaptation – I bought Faceless Killers to see what all the fuss was about. Italian Shoes is unrelated – with a once successful surgeon, Frederick Welin, who now lives in self-imposed exile on an island in the Swedish archipelago.
The Chalk Circle Man introduces a new Policeman Jean-Baptiste Adamsbery – so a good jumping on point from twice CWA Duncan Lawrie International Dagger winner.
And to top off books to talk about a copy of Alex Bell’s second novel Jasmyn dropped through the door last week but I’m not going to be talking about that until nearer to June. So you’re going to have to make do with The Ninth Circle, which is a strong debut in itself.
Finally, I’m off to London this week to a signing by Mike Carey and Kate Griffin so I’m looking forward that – my first signing in Forbidden Planet. So my priority this week is to read Thicker than Water. It’s an Urban Fantasy set in London with the lead being Felix Castor and exorcist. I’m hoping to make this week an Noir/Detective/Urban Fantasy thing as I’m keen get moving on The Dresden Files and I have the next David Devereux, Eagle Rising, that I’ve kind-of started.
I’m not sure that this is a good idea as they’re centred in the same are but each has different personalities, methods, and drives so it shouldn’t get too confusing.
Well that’s hopefully a taste of my reading for the next couple of weeks.
I’m aiming to have Kate Griffin’s and Mike Carey’s reviews up with week – as they’re signing – and Jedediah Berry, hopefully.
So that’s my reading – what’s yours?
Hope you’ve all been reading? Haven’t you?
After a glut of young adult, paranormal romance/fantasty, and non-fiction reading, I'm getting back on the horror & fantasy trail this week. My TBR choices are Anne Bishop's "Black Jewels Trilogy", J.V. Jones 'Master and Fool' (Book 3, don't know why I didn't finish this trilogy before now), Chris Wooding's 'The Braided Path' (that I started a while back, and was enjoying the eastern flavour it promised, but was put aside as I'd promised to read a few other things), Codex Alera (now I've dug them out), Emma Bull's "War for the Oaks", and Mary Gentle's "White Crow" (as I've read great things about 'Rats and Gargoyles' and I'm wanting some hard urban fantasy). I'm undecided where to start once my current book is finished
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Forgot to say … Glad you had a great break … but, happy you're back
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I love the Wallander books. If I need a crime novel, I turn to Henning Mankell. The BBC series was actually rather good – very true to the source material; if I remember correctly, Kenneth Branagh was a fan of the books himself. I'd recommend SIDETRACKED though, which is about the 4th book in the series. Stunning novel.
Ah, now that's the problem – I'm always a bit hesitant in starting a series in the middle and playing catch up – but if I don't get one with the first one I'll skip ahead to Sidetracked now that you've said that!!
I heard that too about Branagh – maybe after I've read the books – the TV series of The Dresden Files was the reason I started reading them – nothing like the source material really but fun non the less!
Hiya Gav,
I haven't read any Constantine yet … maybe an author to look out for eh. The edition I bought is a thumping fat trilogy isbn 9780451529015. It's classed as dark fantasy, but just reading Bishop's short introduction she sums it up as, "a story about love and betrayal, magic and mystery, honour and passion." And, I noted from Goodreads.com in my to buy diary … "blends the darkly macabre with spine-tingling emotional intensity, mesmerizing magic, lush sensuality, and exciting action."
And I can't remember where I'd cut & pasted the following blurb from:
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THE ONCE AND FUTURE QUEEN [Book 1]
Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch sees an ancient prophecy come to life in her dazzling web of dreams and visions.
Now the Dark Kingdom readies itself for the arrival of its Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But she is still young, still open to influence–and corruption.
<snipped> To Continue …
Whoever controls the Queen controls the Darkness. Three men–sworn enemies–know that. And they know the power that hides behind the blue eyes of an innocent young girl. And so begins a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, where the weapons are hate and love … and the prize could be terrible beyond imagining….
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So, maybe it is geared toward female readers if it's romance or erotically heavy – I'll drop a few lines here once I've read it.
I'm trying to read some 'oldies' that I've meant to read for what seems like forever. "War for the Oaks" is supposed to be a front-runner in establishing contemporary Urban Fantasy, so I'm looking forward to that one – and I had to buy it second-hand on ebay as it's Out of Print at the moment. I was really inspired by this simple recent review http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/01/02/191205...
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@ wend – I was looking at Anne Bishop – do you think it's for more a female audience? or would I like it – I like the Dark Fantasy of Storm Constantine and was thinking that it might be like that?
You've got a good little pile going on there! That's the great part – you never quite now what the next book will be until you start it and hopefully get hooked!
Thanks – I'm back to normal more or less – now I have to sort myself out and get some blogging done!