Those of you on Twitter will know that I retreated to a Secret Mediterranean Location prior to Easter.
It was a glorious week of relaxation, good weather, good food and reading. However, in the run up to the break it was a frantic dash to get everything done and I didn’t get a chance to post my reading list for the holiday.
It was more genre heavy than intended:
– Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (I found it hard to believe this was the same man who wrote The Unconsoled [crap] as I enjoyed this quite a lot. Only the strange turn of phrase on dialogue ties the two titles together).
– Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (I will sing the praises of Angry Robot from the rooftops for bringing this writer to the UK. Great book, well executed and I’m keen to see what she does next.)
– Harbinger of the Storm by Aliette de Bodard (Another Angry Robot title, in this case also a friend. Aliette’s 2nd novel sees Acatl taking on another murder in the Mexica empire, the twists and turns come thick and fast, along with the bodies, in this superbly researched and well crafted novel. I’ll keep saying it: de Bodard is one to watch.)
– Tourniquet by Kim Lakin-Smith (Kim’s first novel*, released in 2007 [I think], Renegade City takes the outliers of society and puts them in one place where they can be accepted for who they are, or can they? Are there always people on the fringe? Is it only the centre ground that changes? Interesting themes explored in lush lyrical prose. I would quite like mechanical wings.)
– Supercannes by JG Ballard (One of Ballard’s later novels and a little disappointing. Characters could have benefited from a bit more work, story joins are a bit clunky while the prose not up to what this writer was capable of at the height of his powers. Killed some time though.)
What was your Easter reading?
* I confess I do try to read the work of people I meet on the writer circuit. It’s just me but it feels odd if someone is an artist not to at least go and look/listen/read some of their work.
NB: Written before the Clarke win for Zoo City.