March 2012 Wrap-Up

Little did I know, when writing my previous monthly wrap-up, that my leisurely, random reading plans were about to be hijacked by a frenetic, strictly-structured schedule.  A few weeks ago, the longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize was announced, and after I foolishly announced that I was planning to read a good few of the books nominated, I was invited by Stu of Winston's Dad to join the Shadow Panel for the event.

So much for leisurely reading...

*****
Total Books Read: 13

Year-to-Date: 34

New: 13

Rereads: 0

From the Shelves: 5
Review Copies: 0 

From the Library: 6

On the Kindle: 2 (1 Review Copy)

Novels: 9

Novellas: 2

Short Stories: 2

Non-English Language: 9 (2 Hebrew, 1 Spanish, 1 Japanese, 1 German, 1 Chinese, 1 Icelandic, 1 Italian, 1 Norwegian)

In Original Language: 1 (1 German)

Books read in March were:

1) The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro

2) A Family Supper & A Village After Dark by Kazuo Ishiguro

3) Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos

4) The Sailor who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima

5) The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

6) Heimsuchung (Visitation) by Jenny Erpenbeck

7) Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

8) Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke

9) From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón

10) The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

11) Professor Andersen's Night by Dag Solstad

12) Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz
13) Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld

Murakami Challenge: 0 (0/3)

Aussie Author Challenge: 0 (4/12)

Australian Women Writers Challenge: 0 (4/10)

IFFP 2012 Longlist: 6 (9/15)

Tony's Turkey for March is: nothing

My last book of the month, Blooms of Darkness, almost tempted me into giving it the drumsticks, but in the end I decided that it wasn't quite poor enough to warrant the humiliation ;)

Tony's Recommendation for March is: Kazuo Ishiguro's The Unconsoled

Ishiguro's strangest novel was first out of the blocks this month, and despite the plethora of excellent novels consumed(!) in March, it was never really seriously challenged.  It's hard to give honourable mentions in a month as successful as this, but I suppose, if pressed, that I would have to single out Sjón, Eco, Oz and Mishima for special praise :)

And that's it for March!  April will (hopefully) see me power through the rest of the IFFP longlist plus a few other books I have lined for review.  There is one potential stumbling block though - Péter Nádas' monster of a book, Parallel Stories, may just keep me busy for longer than I'd like...