Woo-hoo! I read four books this month. This is still woeful compared to the number I used to read, but it’s better than I’ve done during most months recently. Read on to find out what I read in May.
It’s Not About the Tapas by Polly Evans
As I’m hoping to the walk the Camino de Santiago this summer I want to start reading books that have a connection with it. Polly Evans left her job in Hong Kong and before settling back in the UK decided to cycle round Spain. The first part of her trip is through the Pyrenees and she dips in and out of the Camino route.
Her trip is quite different to the one I’m expecting to take and not just because she’s on a bike rather than walking. She stays in private rooms for starters. But even though it’s different, her stories still gave me a feel for the place and I’m looking forward to exploring this area for myself.
Far From True by Linwood Barclay
Linwood Barclay writes hard to put down thrillers. When I start one I know I’m not going to get much else done until I finish it. This one kept me gripped to the end and then I turned the last page and … it ended on a major cliff-hanger. Fortunately I was able to go straight out and buy the next one and finish the story.
The story is set in the fictional Promise Falls, a town on the east coast of the US. Strange things have been going on, some horrific and others more prank-like, but they all seem to have a connection with the number 23. The police and other characters are in a race to catch the perpetrator before he does something even more catastrophic.
The Twenty-Three by Linwood Barclay
This is the follow-up to the book above. It starts where Far From True leaves off and packs a lot in. The atrocity I was left expecting at the end of the last book occurs and the town struggles to cope with it. The perpetrator is only revealed at the end of the book and wasn’t the character I was expecting it to be. Sometimes sequels can be a let-down, but this one was, if anything, even more exciting.
Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it All by Jonas Jonasson
Jonas Jonasson’s books are always a delight to read. He’s best know for his first book, The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, and this was his best book. The only reason his other books aren’t quite as good is only because his first was so good it’s probably unbeatable. So even though I don’t think this was as good as his first it’s still very good.
In this book a hitman (he’s only known as a hitman because he hits people) checks into a seedy residential hotel. The receptionist who has never lived to his potential and another guest, a de-frocked atheist priest, see a chance to make money by managing the hitman’s career and turning him into a real hitman.
Of course a farce ensues and the trio end up on the run, avoiding both the dregs and the cream of the criminal underworld who all want their money back along with retribution, and starting a church and a Santa Claus charity along the way.
It’s an enjoyable light read and makes me love Sweden that little bit more than I already do.
Have you read any of these books or would you like to? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Share this:
