September 2012 Reads

Had a bit more inclination to read in September than I did during the summer months, as I finished 43 books and had a few others in-progress.  Interesting mix of re-reads, non-English works, YA, and even some wretched 1980s D&D fantasy.  As is normal for me, only a few words on those works I haven't reviewed already:

302  W.H. Hudson, The Purple Land (good)

303  Qian Zhonghsu, Humans, Beasts, Ghosts (excellent; might write more on this in the future)

304  Laura Esquivel, Malinche (very good)

305  Dung Kai-cheung, Atlas:  The Archaeology of an Imaginary City (will write more after a re-read in the near future; reminds me favorably of Calvino's Imaginary Cities and Jan Morris' Hav)

306  Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Time of the Twins (dreck)

307  Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, War of the Twins (crap)

308  Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Test of the Twins (putrid shit)

309  Omar Khayyám, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám (re-read; poetry; classic)

310  Dean Francis Alfar, How to Traverse Terra Incognita (story collection; excellent; one of the better 2012 collections I've read so far)

311  Luigi Pirandello, Racconti fantastici (Italian; short story collection; very good; more to be said in the near future, perhaps)

312  Luigi Pirandello, The Oil Jar and Other Stories (story stories; very good; see above)

313  Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth (YA; re-read; excellent)

314  Junot Díaz, This is How You Lose Her (short story collection; more to be written after I (hopefully) attend his October 13 address at Nashville's Southern Festival of Books)

315  Umberto Eco, Dire Quasi la Stessa Cosa:  Esperienze di Traduzione (Italian; non-fiction; outstanding bit on translation)

316  Umberto Eco, Experiences in Translation (non-fiction; contains elements in common with the Italian book, but is not a straight translation; excellent)

317  Umberto Eco, Mouse or Rat?:  Translation as Negotiation (non-fiction; shares other things in common with the Italian book, but is organized differently; excellent)

318  Natalie Babbitt, Tuck Everlasting (YA; good)

319  Zilpha Keatley Snyder, The Egypt Game (YA; decent)

320  Jerry Spinelli, Maniac McGee (YA; average)

321  Etgar Keret, The Bus Drive Who Wanted to be God and Other Stories (short story collection; very good translation from the Hebrew original)

322  Thomas Mann, Death in Venice (re-read; very good)

323  Jai Sen and M. Reza Aribuwana, Island of Glass and Ashes (graphic novel; very good continuing storyline in this third volume based on Malaysian mythology)

324  Henrik Pontoppidan, The Apothecary's Daughters (dated work; decent, but not what I'd consider Nobel-caliber)

325  Friedrich Heinrich Karl Freiherr de la Motte-Fouqué, Undine (very good)

326  Stefan Żeromski, The Faithful River (very good, underrated work)

327  Ivo Andrić, The Damned Yard and Other Stories (excellent)

328  Alina Diaconú, ¿Qué nos pasa, Nicolás? (Spanish; excellent)

329  Manuel Vicent, La novia de Matisse (Spanish; very good)

330  Steven Erikson, Gardens of the Moon (re-read; already reviewed)

331  Steven Erikson, Forge of Darkness (review in near future)

332  Molly Crabapple, The Art of Molly Crabapple, Volume I:  Week in Hell (art book; very good)

333  Mario Benedetti, Acordes Cotidianos (Spanish; illustrated poetry collection; excellent)

334  Pío Baroja, La dama de Urtubi (Spanish; very good)

335  Steven Erikson, Deadhouse Gates (re-read; already reviewed)

336  Steven Erikson, Memories of Ice (re-read; already reviewed)

337  Steven Erikson, House of Chains (re-read; already reviewed)

338  Wilson Rawls, Where the Red Fern Grows (re-read; YA; already reviewed)

339  Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (Booker Prize finalist; review in near future)

340  Steven Erikson, Midnight Tides (re-read; already reviewed)

341  Ian Cameron Esslemont, Night of Knives (re-read; already reviewed)

342  Christian Kiefer, The Infinite Tides (might write formal review later; very good debut novel)

343  Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Booker Prize finalist; review in near future)

344  Steven Erikson, The Bonehunters (re-read; already reviewed)


October should be another interesting month.  I have the next two weeks off from part-time work, so I should finish the Malazan books later this week.  I will then begin reviewing the six books shortlisted for this year's Booker Prize, plus I may do a re-read/finish reviewing Andrzej Sapkowski's books that I own in Spanish translation.  Also, expect a few other odds and ends and things of a squirrelly nature.