Despite not getting sick this January, I still managed to read a LOT of books. Most evenings after dinner I plopped down to read. Which isn’t a bad thing at all.

In case it isn’t immediately obvious, I’m re-reading Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano series, which I adore. I’m somewhat surprised–some mystery series I can only read a couple books one after the other before they start to get repetitive, but not Camilleri.

I read two books that look to be the start of interesting series, ML Brennan’s Generation V is an interesting take on the almost (at this point) overdone vampire genre. The Grendel Affair is a supernatural mystery/secret agent series, and I really liked both the world building and the main character. I’ve gotten really tired of the heroine who is sexy-alluring and able to physically take down every monster she comes across. Don’t get me wrong, I still love strong heroines, but after awhile, it all starts to get unbelievable. And of course another lovely Jane Yellowrock book.

The steampunk was the book I essentially hate read. It was really horribly awful.

Mystery

Inspector Montalbano
Montalbano’s First Case (2004/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Gianluca Rizzo and Dominic Siracusa (7/10)
The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)
The Snack Thief (1996/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8.5/10)
Voice of the Violin (1997/2003) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8/10)
Excursion to Tindari (2000/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (7/10)
The Smell of the Night (2001/2005) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (7/10)
Rounding the Mark (2003/2006) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (7/10)
The Patience of the Spider (2004/2007) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8.5/10)
The Paper Moon (2005/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8.5/10)
August Heat (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (6.5/10)
The Wings of the Sphinx (2006/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (8.5/10)
The Track of Sand (2007/2010) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (7/10)

Supernatural Fantasy

Jane Yellowrock
Black Arts (2013) Faith Hunter (9/10)

Alex Verus
Cursed (2012) Benedict Jacka (7/10)
Taken (2012) Benedict Jacka (8/10)

The Grendel Affair (2013) Lisa Shearin (8.5/10)
Generation V (2013) M.L. Brennan (8/10)

Fantasy

Equal Rites (1987) Terry Pratchett (7/10)

Steampunk

The Affinity Bridge (2009) George Mann (1/10)

Graphic Novel

Monster on the Hill (2013) Rob Harrell (6/10)

Kids

Basho and the River Stones (2004) Tim Myers and Oki S. Han (4/10)

Stats-wise, I read 14 mysteries, mostly due to my re-reading of the Inspector Montalbano series (I’ve only got a couple more left). That binge re-read is also skewing my male-female ratio this month, at 19:2.

Format-wise, I’ve read half as many trade paperbacks this month, as I read all of last year. Thanks again to my binging on Inspector Montalbano.

And now, if you’ll excuse, me, I need to get back to my book.