August 2012 Wrap-Up

While it didn't reach the superb heights of July, August was still a good month for reading with lots of translated fiction (mostly review copies), and a couple of non-fiction works and an old friend thrown in for good measure.  All is well in Tony's reading world :)

What's that you say?  The challenges I signed up for at the start of the year?  *Ahem*.  Let's not talk about that...

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Total Books Read: 10

Year-to-Date: 81

New: 9

Rereads: 1

From the Shelves: 2
Review Copies: 7

From the Library: 1

On the Kindle: 0

Novels: 3
Novellas: 1

Short Stories: 4
Non-Fiction: 2

Non-English Language: 7 (Swedish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Icelandic, Polish, Spanish)

In Original Language: 0

Murakami Challenge: 0 (0/3)

Aussie Author Challenge: 0 (5/12)

Australian Women Writers Challenge: 0 (5/10)

Japanese Literature Challenge 6: 0 (3/1) 

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Books read in August were:

1) The Hundred-Year-old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
2) The Man Who Walked Through Walls by Marcel Aymé
3) Alves & Co. and Other Stories by Eça de Queiroz
4) Beginning Theory by Peter Barry
5) The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope
6) Five Russian Dog Stories, translated by Anthony Briggs
7) Independent People by Halldór Laxness
8) Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss
9) Cold Sea Stories by Paweł Huelle
10) Recipes for Sad Women by Hector Abad

Tony's Turkey for August is: nothing

I had a few issues with Sarah Moss' Names for the Sea, particularly in the first third, but that didn't detract from the overall interest of her travelogue about a year in Iceland.  So, after two-thirds of the year, the contest for the worst work of 2012 is still a two-turkey race ;)

Tony's Recommendation for August is: Halldór Laxness' Independent People

Independent People is actually described in Names for the Sea as "Iceland's national novel", and it's hard to argue - any mention of Icelandic literature is bound to get around to Laxness sooner rather than later, and this is the one which you are often told to read.  Luckily, it lives up to the hype :)

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I still have a few review copies coming in, but I'm hoping to be able to read a few more of my own books in September.  I didn't get to my mountainous J-Lit pile this month, and my original-language reading also suffered.  However, I'm on a bit of an Icelandic kick at the moment, so it's going to be tough to fit everything into just thirty days - and get some sleep too...