After a few lean months it is bumper Monthly Deals month, with good choices in all my usual reporting areas. As ever a personal and partial selection of stuff I am keen to read, or have read and can recommend. On until the end of October, apologies for the delay.
Classics
The Masque of the Red Death and other stories – reliable Penguin classics edition
Barry Hines – A Kestrel for a Knave – adapted for the classic film
Anthony Powell – A Dance to the Music of Time novels 1-3. I am now on book 10 of this unmatched 12-volume sequence. The first three volumes lay the groundwork for 4-9 which are just brilliant. They are not for everyone and always teeter on the edge of parody, but I would urge anyone to give them a go.
The Penguin book of Ghost Stories
Robert Graves – The Greek Myths
Non-fiction
Ben Folds – A Dream of Lightning Bugs – mmmm Afterword catnip
Stewart Lee – March of the Lemmings – mmmm Afterword catnip
Sci-fi
Temi Oh – Do You Dream of Terra Two?
Marina J. Lostetter – Noumenon
These are two well-reviewed novels I am very happy are on the list, particularly the former.
Ted Chaing – Exhalation – AKA the Arrival writer. His short stories (the only things he writes) emerge slowly and win lots of prizes. This is the new collection, only his second in two decades.
Neal Asher – Human – after reading about 4 of the Polity novels that was enough Asher for me, but his blend of intergalactic warfare, James Bond and rogue AI can be very enjoyable. Think a hyper-militarised version of Banks’ the Culture, only not as well written.
Thrillers
Martin Cruz Smith – Gorky Park and virtually every novel he has written is on offer in advance of a new publication. As my kids would say God Tier: Gorky Park and Polar Star. Wolves Eat Dogs (about Chernobyl) is also very good. The others are always readable. As to his non-Renko novels, I can offer no personal views. Renko is enough for me.
Raymond Chandler – The Long Goodbye. The supreme noir stylist.
Fiction
Jonathan Lethem – Motherless Brooklyn – a very fine book.
Rohinton Misty – A Fine Balance
Arundhati Roy – The God of Small Things
Not read either of these but are held in high regard.
Olga Tokarczuk – Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead – this is a fabulous book that I would urge you all to read, Eastern European magic realism. Completely unclassifiable, but with a strong ecological theme and a hugely engaging narrator. It is on the surface a whodunnit thriller, under the surface it is a fine work of literature.
My top 3 recommendations :
Powell
Chaing
Tokarczuk
….or substitute Gorky Park for any of those. Can’t believe there are people out there who have not read it.
Thanks for the list.
A kestrel for a knave is a school classic, and rightly so. I am curious to read it again.
I should have added that the series of QI random facts books are available for 99p today.
Thanks for the list, please keep them coming!
I would never have known about the Ben Folds book. Promptly downloaded & will be read in instalments on my phone – biogs are great for dipping into, when you can’t devote all your attention to a story.
Thanks again for posting these deals, moseley- they are a fantastic service.
Having done a bit of digging, I really like what I’ve heard about ‘Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead’, so I’m going for that one.
I’d have been oblivious without your OP, so cheers!
Always something to tempt on your monthly list MM.
And what may well appeal to some – Bob Mould’s See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody is currently 99p on Kindle.
Thanks for that
Anyone here seen Des yet? If you’d like to read a forensic examination of Nielsen’s psyche, Brian Masters’ seminal Killing for Company is also available for 99p. Featuring superlative performances from David Tennant, Daniel Mays and Jason Watkins across three parts, Des is also well worth a couple of hours of your time