Category Archives: 2010 New Reads

The Sign of the Four – Arthur Conan Doyle

Posted on January 16, 2011 by Ela

(MobileReference e-book, originally published in 1890) The Literary Omnivore reviewed this short novel by Conan Doyle recently, reminding me that I had never read it before – I seem to have managed almost all the short stories, but the longer … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Crime fiction, Fiction, Read on my Kindle, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Microserfs – Douglas Coupland

Posted on January 14, 2011 by Ela

(Flamingo 1995) This book was regarded as ‘About as zeitgeisty as it gets’ in a review on the front cover: upon reading it in 2010, the reader can see that it has lost its immediate cultural significance, but its general … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Fiction, Humour, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Problem of the Green Capsule – John Dickson Carr

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Ela

(Langtail Press e-book 2010, US title; originally published in the UK as ‘The Black Spectacles’ in 1939) John Dickson Carr wrote detective fiction both under this name and as ‘Carter Dickson’. He was American, but spent much of his life … Continue reading →

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The Man Who Knew Too Much – G. K. Chesterton

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Ela

(Project Gutenberg e-text 2004, originally published in 1922*) This rather surprised me by being a collection of short stories rather than a novel (I was expecting something more like The Man Who Was Thursday), all connected by the presence of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Crime fiction, Fiction, Read on my Kindle, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

False Scent – Ngaio Marsh

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Ela

(HarperCollins e-book 2009, originally published in 1960) I’m very fond of Ngaio Marsh’s detective novels featuring Roderick Alleyn: the earliest date from the 1930s (A Man Lay Dead is the first), and although she wrote a lot of these mysteries … Continue reading →

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Atonement – Ian McEwan

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Ela

(Vintage 2002) I came to this book after having seen the film adaptation with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, and am rather glad I did so. It’s actually a very faithful adaptation, except for a few minor details, and except … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Fiction, Filmed adaptations, Historical fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Review of 2010 in books

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Ela

I started the ‘Book A Week’ challenge on the Chaletian Bulletin Board in 2009, which certainly did a lot for my reading of ‘new’ books. For 2010 I aimed for one hundred books over the year, but didn’t manage to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Discussion, Links, Lists | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Epitaph for a Spy – Eric Ambler

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Ela

(Penguin Modern Classics 2009, originally published in 1938) In Eric Ambler’s left-leaning spy thrillers, his protagonists tend to be ordinary men thrust into terrifying situations. In Epitaph for a Spy, Josef Vadassy is a Hungarian refugee and language teacher living … Continue reading →

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Pegasus – Robin McKinley

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Ela

(G. P. Putnam’s Sons 2010) Robin McKinley is a writer whose books I almost always buy in hardback, since I’m too impatient to wait for the paperback issue. However, I’d actually hesitated about getting this, her latest, until I read … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Fantasy, Fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Ela

(Penguin Red Classics 2006, originally published 1934) Nick and Nora Charles are staying for Christmas in New York, when Dorothy Wynant, who remembers Nick from when he used to be a detective, introduces herself and asks Nick if he knows … Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 New Reads, Crime fiction, Fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments