QuestingA's Books Off The Shelf 2015

Again, I'm aiming for 30. I'll need to hit at least that to cover the almost 30 books bought last month! In addition, I will try and buy fewer books.

Good luck!

Have fun!

Thanks fundevogal and rocketjk! Nice to see you both on this thread again.

1 Blue Screen by Robert B Parker

I got this in a library sale last November. So, not on the shelf for long but now it's gone. I generally enjoy Robert B Parker but I didn't like the ending to this one.

2 Late Victorian Gothic Tales ed Roger Luckhurst

I bought this book late last year, so it hasn't been on the shelves for long. Most of the stories were enjoyable and it included the first Henry James I've ever read. 'Sir Edmund Orme' was very good.

3. Excursion to Tindari by Andrea Camilleri

This has been on the shelf for possibly several years. As good as all the other Inspector Montalbano stories. I remembered it from the tv series, which made it easy to visualise.

4 The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

I remembered this title from the TV series, so grabbed it when I spotted it second hand mid-last year. I hadn't realised it was published in 1951 (rather than the 70's). Full of post-war angst and theorising about civilisation.

5 Death on the Cherwell by Mavis Doriel Hay

I bought this some time last year. It was a light, easy read. Just what I needed this weekend.

>7 QuestingA: Triffids remains one of my all-time favourite books and go-to comfort reads. One of my good friends describes all Wyndham as 'jolly hockey sticks apocalypse', which is pretty much right. "Oh dear chap, the world is ending!" "Pass the gin, we'll fix it with the boffins in the morning."

Hi imyril. :) this was the first Wyndham book I've read. It reminded me of sci fi movies of the same era like The Thing and the first Quatermass, possibly because I watched both of these at the same time I was reading Triffids. I like your friend's description.

6 The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

I bought this late last year.

7 69 by Ryu Murakami

This wasn't great. My sister bought it as part of her wish to read more Japanese authors. Now it is off the shelf and off to the charity shop.

8 Civil War England by Peter Young

This was given to me, I think, last year. Very readable. Short.

9 Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly

This was great. I felt I should be reading it out loud. This is another of the books I bought late last year.

10 Murder in Piccadilly by Charles Kingston

I'm working my way through the British Library Crime Classics series. I can see why most of them went out of print. They aren't as well crafted as an Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers. But, I enjoyed Murder in Piccadilly.

I keep meaning to buy one of those and have a go!

Hi notmyrealname. Mystery in White has been my favourite so far. I also liked Mr Bazalgette's Agent because it was quite a nice story and The Santa Klaus Murder because I didn't guess who did it. If you're into crime and inter-war fiction then they're worth reading, otherwise maybe not. I already own another eight of them, so will be continuing with them.

11 Catastrophe: Europe goes to war 1914 by Max Hastings

I bought this last year after hearing Max Hastings talk at a literary festival the year before. Took me a long time to read. The book covers the lead up to the war and the first months until the end of 1914.

12 The Blackhope Enigma by Teresa Flavin

Another of the books I got from the library sale last year. Quite fun, well plotted.

13 The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude

Another of the British Crime Classics that I picked up last year. This one seemed more like the crime fiction I'm used to. And, I didn't guess who did it.

14 Hanging Woman Creek by Louis L'Amour

This was one of two Louis L'Amour books I picked up in a library sale late last year. I read the first one over Christmas. I didn't enjoy either as much as I liked a book of his short stories, which I got by mistake a few years ago.

15. The Spy Paramount by E. Phillips Oppenheim

I don't read a lot of spy novels, although at one time I spent a LOT of time with Robert Ludlum. This was really good. Fast paced and interesting. It took me longer to read than it should have, due to lack of sit-down-reading-time. Consequently I did't do the pace of the book justice. The outcome was good - peace for all of Europe, at least for a time. It's books like this that make me realise how interesting and different history is. The hero had gone through WWI and didn't want Europe to revisit the horror of modern warfare. The book is set in 1934 and was published in 1935.

This volume (and one other by the same author) was published by the British Library circa the same time as the first of their classic crime series. I'm guessing they were, at the time, interested in reprinting both crime and spy novels. I hope they come back to the spy novels. I'm looking forward to reading The Great Impersonation.

It was published in 2014 so I must have bought this last year.

And, this book puts me half way through this challenge. Hooray for me!!!

16. The Lake District Murder by John Bude

The second John Bude book in the British Library Crime Classics (but, I believe, not the last). The plot was more detailed than The Cornish Coast Murder and I enjoyed following the detective as he solved the crimes, but I liked the first book better as it focused more on the murder.

17. The Goddess and the Thief by Essie Fox

This was one of the 30 odd books I bought late last year. It was disappointing. The characters weren't well developed and mostly seemed to have little idea of what was going on in their own lives. The main character in particular seemed confused by other people, constantly misreading other characters and doing silly things.

Today I bought six more books. Yesterday I bought one.

18 Snuff by Terry Pratchett

From a library sale last year.

19 Scarlet and Black by Stendhal

I first read this at university and had forgotten it. An enjoyable reread.

20 Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

Got this from my sister a couple of years ago. Now it's off the shelf.

>23 QuestingA: That's disappointing - I read The Somnambulist a few years ago and it was enjoyable fluff; but it sounds like The Goddess and the Thief suffers from the same flaws without much to offset them. I'll give it a miss - thank you.

Hi imyril, there are so many other books to read! :)

21 The Notting Hill Mystery by Charles Warren Adams

Interesting and easy to read.

22 Real World by Natsuo Kirino

This was good. My enjoyment grew as the story unfolded and I met more of the chatacters.
This was passed on to me by my sister, maybe a couple of years ago. Now it's off the shelf.

23 Vathek by William Beckford

One of the books I bought at the end of last year. Enjoyable because of the extravagant narrative and I learnt a bit about Arabic mythology but also not enjoyable because of the violence perptrated against many innocent and blameless characters.

This was an amazingly successful year for this challenge. I didn't hit my goal but had no reasonable expectations of doing so. Came pretty damn close.