Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Around the world in 365 days

One of my aims in 2010 was to further internationalize my reading. Below are all my reviews organized by the country in which they were set (not by the nationality of the author). I managed to get a decent spread of reading, visiting 21 countries (more if you count the 5 books set in multiple locations). The USA, however, was still the country that dominated my reading, with 37 of the stories set there. Still, at least I did a bit of travelling.

The split was:
37: USA
7: Ireland
5: Australia, Italy
4: France, Scotland
3: England (a bit of a surprise this one)
2: Iceland, Palestine, Brazil
1: South Africa, Botswana, Laos, Argentina, Sweden, Thailand, Poland, Spain, Cuba, Malta, Japan

1 book was fantasy, 5 were set in more than one country, and 13 were non-fiction.

USA
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston *****
The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain *****
Small Crimes by Dave Zeltserman *****
The Ones You Do by Daniel Woodrell *****
Vanilla Ride by Joe Lansdale *****
Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski *****
Killer by Dave Zeltserman *****
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett *****
Isle of Joy by Don Winslow ****
The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley ****
Halo in Blood by John Evans/Howard Browne ****
South of no North by Charles Bukowski ****
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy ****.5
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett ****
Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell ****
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta ****
Damnation Street by Andrew Klavan ****
Then Came The Evening by Brian Hart ****
Point Blank by Richard Stark****
Devil's Food by Anthony Bruno ****
The Song is You by Megan Abbott ****
Leather Maiden by Joe Lansdale ****
A Firing Offense by George Pelecanos ****
Grift Sense by James Swain ****
I, The Jury by Mickey Spillane***.5
Smoked by Patrick Quinlan ***.5
The Green Ripper by John D. Macdonald ***.5
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly ***.5
The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza by Lawrence Block ***
Cogan's Trade by George V Higgins ***
Bad Things Happen by Harry Dolan ***
Fury by G.M. Ford ***
The Devil's Garden by Ace Atkins ***
Motor City Blue by Loren Estleman ***
The Fugitive Pigeon by Donald Westlake ***
Client by Parnell Hall**.5
Up in Honey's Room by Elmore Leonard **

Ireland
Collusion by Stuart Neville ****.5
The Big O by Declan Burke ****
The Day of the Jack Russell by Colin Bateman ****
Gallows Lane by Brian McGilloway ***.5
The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Samson ***
Hand in the Fire by Hugo Hamilton ***
The American Envoy by Garbhan Downey ***

Australia
Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland *****
Vodka Doesn't Freeze by Liah Giarrantano ****
Dead Set by Kel Robertson ****
Truth by Peter Temple ****
Blood Moon by Gary Disher **

Italy
The Goodbye Kiss by Massimo Carlotto ****
Via Delle Oche by Carlo Lucarelli ****
Almost Blue by Carlo Lucarelli ***.5
Criminal Summer by Luigi Guicciardi ***
And Then You Die by Michael Dibdin **.5

France
Brodeck's Report by Phillipe Claudel *****
The Good Thief's Guide to Paris by Chris Ewan ****
Badfellas by Tonino Benacquista ***
Have Mercy on Us All by Fred Vargas ***

Scotland
Raven Black by Ann Cleeves ****.5
The Complaints by Ian Rankin ****
Old Dogs by Donna Moore ****
Paying For It by Tony Black ***

England
London Boulevard by Ken Bruen ****
Saturday's Child by Ray Banks****
Old Flames by John Lawton ***

Iceland
Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason *****
Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason ***

Palenstine
The Grave in Gaza by Matt Beynon Rees *****
The Samaritan's Secret by Matt Beynon Rees ***.5

Brazil
Blood of the Wicked by Leighton Gage ****.5
The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza ****

South Africa
Killer Country by Mike Nicols ***.5

Botswana
A Deadly Trade by Michael Stanley ***

Laos
The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Coterill ****.5

Argentina
Needle in a Haystack by Ernesto Mallo ****

Sweden
Roseanna by Maj Sjowall and Pers Wahloo ****

Thailand
Bangkok Tattoo by John Burdett ***

Poland
The Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst ***

Spain
Water-Blue Eyes by Domingo Villar ***

Cuba
Havana Fever by Leonardo Padura ***

Malta
The Information Officer by Mark Mills **.5

Japan
Shinjuku Shark by Arimasa Osawa **

More than one country
The Mask of Dimitrios by Eric Ambler ****
Instruments of Darkness by Robert Wlison ***.5
Dead I May Well Be by Adrian McKinty *****
The Arms Maker of Berlin by Dan Fesperman ***
Trail of Blood by S.J. Rozan ***

Fantasy
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett****.5

Non-fiction
A Brief History of Neoliberalism by David Harvey ****
Ten Days to D-Day by David Stafford ****
We Die Alone by David Howarth *****
Enough is Enough by Fintan O'Toole ****
Love, Sex and War by John Cosgrove ****.5
The People's Manifesto by Mark Thomas ****
Operation Mincemeat by Ben Macintyre ****
Chickenhawk by Robert Mason ****
Breakfast with Anglo by Simon Kelly ***.5
Wasters by Shane Ross and Nick Webb ***
GUBU Nation by Damian Corless ***
Kamikazi by Raymond Lamont-Brown ***
Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie **

3 comments:

Bernadette said...

At least with virtual travel you don't get stuck in the airport for hours/days :)

So when you say Ireland do you include books set in Northern Ireland too? Just wondering how to arrange things for my Ireland Reading Challenge

Rob Kitchin said...

Yes, I take Ireland as the Island of Ireland

Bernadette said...

Thanks - then I have heaps of books for the challenge :)