April Roundup - #bookbinge

April was Australian Librarian's book binge month.  Where we read as much as we can in April, funnily enough.

April started really well with the Easter long weekend and plenty of reading time.
I finished off Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It was quite good and was like Twilight but with witches instead of vampires. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel which will come out later this year.
I then read The Suspect by Michael Robotham, mainly because he is from Casino and so am I! It was quite a good read and I think I will read more of his books in the future.
Then, just as I was overdosing on hot cross buns, I overdosed on the Hamish Macbeth books by M C Beaton. My sister is a fan of the TV show and this spun off into the books. She had the first 8 books in the series. I indulged in all of them over 3 days... and then I really needed a break
from them. The moralising of the author which hadn't worried my so much in the earlier books was starting to annoy me by the 8th.
After so many cozy mysteries I turned to some tougher stuff with Tell Noone by Harlan Coben.
Book club books came next with A short history of tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka and The reluctant fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid. This was my second outing with both books, and they stood up well to it. Especially the reluctant fundamentalist, as I knew what to expect and picked up on things I missed the first time around.
Then came A fair maiden by Joyce Carol Oates. I have a friend who raves about this author, and this book intrigued me for it's tag line of "a modern Lolita". I wasn't sure where the parallels came in until near the end of the book. I think I will have to read more by this author before I
can say how I feel about her writing.
I returned to Hamish MacBeth with Death of a travelling man.
I'm up to $29 in the buck a book challenge

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Moshin Hamid - Rockdale Reader's Choice April 2010

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is Changez story. He is the narrator and it is through his voice that we know what is going on. The story starts with Changez meeting an American man in the Anarkali area of Lahore, Pakistan and offers to show him the excellent tea Pakistan has to offer. They sit
and Changez talks the rest of the day. The American is edgy and on guard all through the story and the ending is abrupt, leaving the reader wondering.

I first read this book when it came out in 2007. I enjoyed reading the book, but was left feeling frustrated by the open ending. I like my books wrapped up neatly at the end and feel cheated when I'm left hanging in the air, especially when there is not opening for a sequel.

Never Let Me Go - Rockdale Readers choice March 2010

The book group selection for March 2010 was Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
Never Let Me Go is narrated by Cathy, a carer. She tells of her time at an exclusive school and her friendship with Ruth and Tommy. Slowly through the book it is revealed that Cathy, Tommy and Ruth aren't like normal people. They have a special purpose. To say anymore would ruin the story. In fact, you should probably stop reading now if you don't want to come across any spoilers.
I was watching Catalyst  on the ABC on 1 April 2010, and it reminded me strongly of Never Let Me Go. Perhaps this was how it all started? I think the issues of growing human organs and cloning is still very topical and this book should promote you to think about these issues.