Books Read in January

I have decided to post a list at the end of each month, of books I read during that month. This will be a place to make brief comments about some of the books, whereas my overall annual list, simply includes names of books and authors, without any reviews or comments.

01. Arctic Drift - Clive Cussler and Dirk Cussler - 05/01

Good story, excellent plot. But as is often the problem with a lot of complicated thriller novels,  writing itself leaves a lot to be desired. So even though I can appreciate a good story, and I can see what an excellent movie it might have made, but I can also see how much more I might have enjoyed if writing was more polished. 

02. Princess Diaries: Seventh Heaven - Meg Cabot - 06/01

03. Princess Diaries: After Eight - Meg Cabot - 07/01

I mistakenly thought that this was the last book in the series, so I was extremely annoyed by its ambiguous ending. I am sure there were few expletives as well. Then I calmed down enough to check on Meg Cabot's website and realised that there are actually two more books, so the world was right again. I am not a fan of vague endings at the best of times, but in series it is completely unforgivable. I don't invest hours and hours of reading time, and several books worth of money in a series, to find that conclusion could be either this or either that. 

04. Journal 1 - Dolly Garland - 08/01

I haven't read my journals cover-to-cover since I started keeping them. For the earlier journals, enough time has passed for me to look at them with objectivity, so I have decided to start reading from Journal 1. 

05. The Laurentine Spy - Emily Gee - 09/01

This was an excellent stand-alone fantasy. It does a good job of containing just enough information of setting and background to be sufficient for stand alone. It is well-written, engaging and characters are very sympathetic and well developed.

06. The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho - 11/01

07. Club Dead - Charlaine Harris - 14/01

08. Knight of Shadows - Roger Zelazney - 14/01

09. Dead to the World - Charlaine Harris - 16/01

My absolute favourite book in the Sookie Stackhouse series (from Books 1 to 8). Before this book, I liked this series. After this book, I love this series.

10. Dead as a Doornail - Charlaine Harris - 16/01

11. Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris - 17/01

12. All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris - 18/01

13. From Dead to Worse - Charlaine Harris - 19/01

14. Magic Strikes - Ilona Andrews - 22/01

15. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader - Anne Fadiman - 22/01

A superb collection of essays from a book lover. Anne Fadiman's writing style is easy to read, engaging and genuine. This little book is a wealth of joy for a book lover, and the essays talk about books, as book lovers think of them - as something more than just a piece of entertainment or an object. The value of books as we perceive them is not understood by "regular" people, and reading these essays is like speaking to a friend who feels exactly the same way.

16. One for the Money * - Janet Evanovich - 24/01

I read quite a lot of Stephanie Plum books from a library few years ago. Just bought first three books in the series for re-read. 

17. Pride and Prejudice * - Jane Austen - 30/01

Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors of all time, and definitely my THE favourite classics author. Now and again, I feel the need to revisit my favourite Austen books.