I get cookbooks - Check a few recipes, back to the library.
I get a lot of non-fiction to make myself feel good. When it comes time to read, I pick up the fiction. Non-fiction back to the library.
I am not influenced by cover endorsements. Heck, Lee Child endorses everything, it seems. But I'll read a blurb and think, that sounds good. Then I'll take it home and give it a try, only to find it's not that good. Two recent books in this category: The Devil's Half Mile by Paddy Hirsch (NYC in 1799) and Those Who Go By Night by Andrew Gaddes (Medieval whodunit). I liked the idea of both books, but the writing left something to be desired. The writing was pedestrian, and the characters seemed to speak in contemporary colloquial English. So. . . back to the library.
This month, for example, here's what I've checked out:
Sweet Home Cafe - cookbook
Kate Atkinson, Transcription - just checked out
Hallie Ephron, There was an old woman - just checked out
Susan Hill, A Question of Identity - reading
Paddy Hirsch, The devil's half mile - returned
Conn Igulden - The Abbot's Tale - I'll probably get around to it
Dashiell Hammett - Four Novels - I'll probably read a few
Jonathan Lethem, The feral detective - Reading
Ricky Jay, Jay's journal of anomalies - Will probably buy
Dan Bilefsy, The Last Job - about a heist by retired crooks - Not bad, and I like true crime, but the criminals annoyed me
Sandra Newman, The Heavens - Couldn't get into it, returned.
Candice Fox, Crimson Lake - Couldn't get into it, returned
Susan Hill, The Betrayal of Trust - Read it
Andrew Gaddes, Those Who Go By Night - as noted, returned
So, 12 fiction. Read 1, reading 2, will read 1 or two more. That's less than half.
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