What I read: June & July

June and July were both very busy months and I didn't read a lot, so I decided to combine them into one posting. I don't have very high hopes for August either (on holiday and quite busy) but you never know!

1. Seraphina, Rachel Hartman. This is a young adult fantasy novel, an original take on a world involving dragons. I enjoyed it, and will look for more as they come along.

2. The Peacock Emporium, JoJo Moyes.  Didn't like this as much as some other Moyes books I've read - it wasn't bad, just wasn't as compelling or original. A good holiday book, if you want something which isn't too hard.

3. Shark Fin & Sichuan Pepper, Fuschia Dunlop.  A travel/food memoir about eating in China. Certainly on of the best travel books I've read - really interesting both in terms of food and insights into Chinese culture.  Highly recommended to any who like travel or food.

4. American Gods, Neil Gaiman. Unsurprisingly excellent. Odd but brilliant. What can I say?

5. Stonemouth, Iain Banks. I wasn't sure about this as I was not keen on the only other Iain Banks novel I'd read (it was actually an Iain M Banks novel - The Wasp Factory - and I hated it.  Then again, I'm probably the only person in the world who doesn't like The Catcher in the Rye, so maybe it's a coming-of-age story thing...)  But this sounded promising and it was enjoyable. Not stunning or anything, but very readable and a good story.

6. The End of Mr Y, Scarlett Thomas. This one, on the other hand was very compelling. I'm not sure I completely understand it, especially the end, but I thought it was great (though not as good as American Gods, or a book from a recent month, Gargoyle, both of which sit in a similar genre of fiction).

7. Tell the Wolves I'm Home, Carol Rifka Brunt.  Ok, this is a coming-of-age story, and I really enjoyed it, so my previous comment about coming-of-age stories is obviously bollocks. (Not to mention, I Capture the Castle is a long-time favourite.)  This novel centres on a young teen whose uncle, to whom she is close, dies of AIDS, back in the 80s, when it was new, scary and somewhat taboo to speak of. As I was a similar age at a similar time and had a friend whose father died of AIDS back then, it was particularly resonant. A good, solid story which I definitely enjoyed.

8. Pure, Andrew Miller. Historical fiction set in Paris in the late 18th century (1795-ish) - an engineer has responsibility for emptying an overfull cemetery in the middle of Paris. Again, a solid novel, with some interesting bits of history in it.

9. My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk. The verdict is still out on this one (still reading it) - there are aspects of it I like very much, but I'm not totally convinced by the structure. I will definitely finish it, though - there are things I want to find out!