Reading in May

I only have 9 books on my list for May, but all of them were ones I finished, which is always nice, and most of them were very good.

1. A perfectly good man, Patrick Gale. I read Pictures from an Exhibition a while back and really enjoyed it, so when I saw this one, I thought it would also be a good read, and I was right. I liked both the story and the moving back and forth in time to see pieces fall into place (with a few gasps as things became apparent). If you aren't a fan of the novel which moves in different POVs and times, avoid this one - it does it a lot and sometimes it takes a minute to work out where the current chapter goes chronologically in the grand arc of the story. Anyway, a thoroughly excellent story, and I was delighted to look up Patrick Gale and find loads of other titles I can check out.

2. The Invisible Circus, Jennifer Egan.  A story about a younger sister discovering the truth behind her wild older sister's death in the 70s. Again, I enjoyed watching the parts of this story unfold; it was moving and very readable. 

3. Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris. The second in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Light relief. But well-written, interesting (if you enjoy vampire mysteries) light relief.

4. The Fever Tree, Jennifer McVeigh. Historical novel set in South Africa. I enjoyed this, and found the depictions of early English settlers' lives in South Africa very interesting. Frequently in books I want to sit the two main characters down and force them to actually talk to each other (the end of the book would probably come more quickly in these cases) and this book gave me that feeling as well, though the two characters in question have more excuse for not talking to one another than characters usually do.

5. The Gargoyle, Andrew Davidson.  No idea how to describe this one, as it's not really like anything I've read before. It does have a modern story line interspersed with a historical one, but not in quite the same way as most books with that device do. I did think this was  a truly remarkable, unusual story, and very gripping. I really wanted to see what happened to the main character despite the fact that he was a complete ratbag (or perhaps because of it).  A warning to the squeamish though - the protagonist begins the book by being very badly burned and the descriptions are unforgiving and explicit. I almost had to put the book down at first (not squeamish about most things, but I'm a bit touchy about serious burns as my brother was badly burned at one point in his life - though not as badly, I'm glad to say, as the protagonist here), but glad I persisted.

6. Gold, Chris Cleave.  I read this book in practically one sitting - it was good, but also, we had a lovely sunny weekend and I just sat in the garden reading for an entire afternoon. A luxury I can't usually afford! (Not to mention, not usually enough sunshine to do it...)  This one was about Olympic cyclists and friends, their relationships to each other and cycling and so on. A few twists and turns I didn't expect, but very readable and enjoyable. I've read two of Cleave's other books - Incendiary and The Other Hand and found both of them good, so I wasn't surprised I enjoyed this one.

7. The Last Runaway, Tracy Chevalier.  I've read all of Chevalier's books (except one I hadn't heard of until recently, The Virgin Blue, which I think is her first) and she is among my favourite authors of historical fiction. I find it very realistic and thorough, which I enjoy (Susan Vreeland is another favourite). This one was about a young Quaker woman who emigrates to Ohio from England, and her experiences with runaway slaves. As with all of Chevalier's books, you feel you really get inside the head of the main characters and experience how their thinking is very much a product of their time and beliefs - the famous Girl with a Pearl Earring does this exquisitely - this was no exception. 

8. The Blue Sword, Robin McKinley (re-read). An old favourite which I revert to sometimes when I need something quick and easy while trying to work out what I want to read next or whatever. Not sure why I bother to re-read it anymore - I've read it so many times I can practically recite it.  It's a young adult fantasy novel, for those interested in that sort of thing. No vampires.

9. Flight Behaviour, Barbara Kingsolver. Another favourite author (her fiction, that is - not read her essays, etc as I am not a big non-fiction fan). I've been saving this one as I knew I would enjoy it. Not quite done with it yet, but will be soon. Kingsolver often combines science (especially ecology) with her fiction, though her most famous book (The Poisonwood Bible) doesn't do that. Flight Behaviour addresses climate change issues, as well as more personal (to the characters) issues.