October 2015 reads

I didn't do a great deal of reading this month, and it was mostly a bit meh. Only one really good book, and it wasn't romance. I haven't read a good (B+) romance since July, and there weren't many in the first half of the year, either. I suspect it might be me, not the genre. I'm getting really picky.




1 - The Italians, by John Hooper: B+
review coming soon

This is a collection of essays about Italy and Italians, written by an author who lived there as a foreign correspondent for many years. I really enjoyed it, and recognised much of what he described, as we've inherited quite a lot of these attitudes and customs in Uruguay!




2 - Don't Want To Miss A Thing, by Jill Mansell: B-
review coming soon

Ostensibly about a man who gives up his care-free London life to take guardianship of his baby niece after his sister dies and becomes friends with his neighbour. These two are central characters, but this is just as much about the people in the Cotswolds village he moves to. It's nice, but not really great.




3 - Only Enchanting, by Mary Balogh: C-
review coming soon

Part of the Survivors' series. The characters bored me to tears. It got mildly interesting at several points but never for long!




4 - All Seated on the Ground, by Connie Willis: C
review coming soon

A Christmas story with aliens! I liked the idea, but the madcap nature of it got to be a bit much for me, even in under 130 pages.



5 - In Her Defense, by Julianna Keyes: D
review here

The heroine is an ambitious lawyer who was the villain in a previous book, and I love difficult heroines. I didn't love this book, though. I particularly had trouble with the romance, as I didn't like the hero or believe they were in love.



6 - A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James: DNF
review (such as it is!) here

Winner of the Man Booker Prize this year. This is a story about the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. It was the last of the listed books that I got to, and the writing really didn't appeal to me. I'm wondering if I was just getting a bit burnt out and should give it another shot.




7 - Turbulence, by Jordan Castillo Price: still reading
review coming soon

Originally published in serial format. I'm reading the collection all in one go. The plot involves a pilot and a flight attendant and mysterious goings-on in the Bermuda Triangle. Ok so far.




8 - The Monogram Murders, by Sophie Hannah: still reading
review coming soon

Reading this for book club. It's a new Hercule Poirot book, authorised by the Agatha Christie estate. So far it's the worst book I've read this year.