reading diary

recently finished: Ian Sansom: The delegates' choice - for me it was certainly not the best volume in Sansoms series "The mobile library". I liked the first two volumes, and there are also some hilarious paragraphs in "The delegates' choice", but the main character, always complaining librarian Israel Armstrong, somehow annoys me by now. Armstrongs perceptions of the northern irish rural population were funny in the beginning, but are a bit overstated now. A review from culturenorthernireland.org concludes: "However, while The Delegates' Choice suffers from some comic misfires, too flimsy a plot and the crippling weight of its voluminous dialogue, it will no doubt be welcomed by confirmed fans of Sansom’s mystery series. It just may not win him any new ones".

recently finished: J.B. Stanley: Carbs and cadavers - This is the first volume of the series "A supper club mystery", and I immediately took the supper club members to my heart: five overweight people with hearts of gold - a guybrarian, a postman, a teacher, a pet groomer and a police assistant - trying to lose weight together, making friends and solving a crime. The characters are authentic and likeable with little eccentricities. I bought the novel only because it features a librarian and was surprised of its funny and heart-warming nature (the title doesn't sound really sophisticated ;-). I certainly will purchase the other two installments soon.

currently re-read: Larry Beinhart: The librarian.