February reads

After two months of really struggling with reading - not having much time to devote to it; not being able to concentrate when I did find time; not really getting in to any books - I'm extremely happy that February has marked a return to my usual reading habits. 

1. I adored Wonder, the funny, touching and ultimately uplifting tale of a ten year old boy with an extreme facial disfigurement who goes to school for the first time.  Very much recommended.

2. There is an insidiously creepy atmosphere to this Louisiana-set thriller.  A dead body is found near the former slave quarters of a historical plantation, and the scene is set for a mystery which reaches back into the unhappy history of the Deep South.  A cut (no pun intended) above my usual trashy crime novels; I enjoyed it very much.

3. I'm reading this, very reluctantly, for my book group.  In fact, I'm enjoying it so little that I may give up... anyone want to convince me it's worth persevering with?  So far, it's just page after page of banging on about animal behaviour and religion: possibly the two things I am least interested in.

4. Given to me by Richard as a late Christmas present, with the charming words, "it might be too difficult for you; there aren't many pictures."  Cheers for having faith in my intellectual capabilities, bro.  Viking Age Iceland was actually a very readable history of saga-era Iceland (and actually, there were lots of pictures.  I "oohed" out loud at one diagram of a 10th century longhouse because I'm a massive loser).

5.  Continuing the Iceland theme, I really enjoyed this account, by writer and literature professor Sarah Moss, of relocating to Reykjavik for a year with her family.  If you've ever visited the country and - like me - toyed with a romanticised idea of living there, this is a great read.

6. The last in a trilogy of crime thrillers by Peter May, all set in the Outer Hebrides: specifically, the Isle of Lewis.  Not terribly intellectual or demanding, but it passed the time.