Six times six = hours of reading joy

More than half way though the year. The longest day has come and – oh woe! – gone. And quite a few book-bloggers whom I follow have been joining in Six in Six, a way of recording at least some of the books read and enjoyed in the first part of the year, hosted by Jo of The Book Jotter. She proposes all kind of headings for lists-of-six. I’ve interpreted these fairly liberally. Here are mine.

Six books set in a country not my own:

Leila Slimani: Watch us Dance (Morocco)
Barbara Kingsolver: Demon Copperhead (USA)
Lauren Chater: The Lace Weavers (Estonia)
Roy Jacobsen: Just a Mother (Norway) 
Georges Simenon:Monsieur Monde Vanishes (France)
Jennifer Saint:  Atalanta (Greece)

Six books in translation:

Philippe Claudel: Monsieur Linh and his Child (French)
Hubert Mingarelli:  A Meal in Winter (French)
Guadalupe Nettell:  Still Born (Spanish)
Hanna Bervoets: We had to Remove this Post (Dutch)
Jenny Erpenbeck: Go, Went, Gone (German)
Daniela Krein:  Love in Five Acts (German)

Six books set in the past:

Kiran Millwood Hargrave: The Dance Tree
Lauren Goff:  Matrix
Victoria Mackenzie For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on my Little Pain.
Peter Ackroyd:  The Lambs of London
Annabel Abbs: The Language of Food
Jo Browning Wroe:  A Terrible Kindness.

Six works of non-fiction:

Dan Saladino: Eating to Extinction
Katherine Rundell:  Super-infinite
Patrick Galbraith:  In Search of One Last Song
Matthew Green: Shadowlands
Patrick Modiano:  The Search Warrant
Kushanava Choudhury: The Epic City: the World on the Streets of Calcutta.

Six books set in Ireland:

Sheila Armstrong:  Falling Animals
Hugo Hamilton: The Speckled People
Audrey Magee:  The Colony
John Banville:  The Lock-up
Louise Kennedy:  Trespasses
Sebastian Barry:  Old God's Time

Six books I enjoyed and haven’t yet mentioned

Caleb Azumah Nelson: Small Worlds
Shelley Read:  Go as a River
William Trevor: Last Stories
Kate Grenville:  A Room made of Leaves
Elizabeth McCracken: The Hero of this Book
Joseph O'Connor:  My Father's House

This has been a bit of fun, revisiting books I’ve enjoyed and authors I’ll read again. Popping books onto the appropriate list was a challenge in itself . Many of them fitted into two, if not three categories. Have you any particular favourites from the books you’ve read this year? Do any of my choices appeal to you? Thanks for a fun challenge, Jo!

My header photo was taken in the Bosu-Dong Book Alley in Busan, South Korea.

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

52 thoughts on “Six times six = hours of reading joy”

  4. I recognise many titles on this list! Out of interest, what was Patrick Galbraith’s book like? I used to work for him as a freelance editor on the magazine he edits.

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    1. Of course you recognise lots of the titles Kim. You can take the blame for my choosing to read them! The Patrick Galbraith? A bit curate’s egg-ish. He made many interesting points about conservation, demonstrating how complex an issue it is, but at the same time was the master of the inconsequential and irritating anecdote. I gave it 3 * on Goodreads, but it averages a 4*. I wonder if that accords with your memories of him.

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  5. I saw your section on translated fiction, then felt guilty about the miniscule number of books I’ve read this year that were translated. Gosh I seem to have lost my way this year.

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    1. Guilty? We’re supposed to read for pleasure! I seem to be on a bit of a roll with works in translation, but next time I look, I may find I’ve read none at all. It’ll all even out in the end.

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  6. As Sheree says, your reading recommendations often persuade me to add something to my to-read list, so much so that I suspect you of recommending almost everything I read, although I dare say it can’t be the case. It’s fun to see this snapshot and the variety of books you’ve read. I made a note of three, but only because of the titles! My own reading has been shamefully sparse this year, which is very unusual. The book I have enjoyed most so far has been Tristan Gooley’s How to read a tree. You’d have to tell me if it’s one you recommended! If not, you might enjoy it.

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  7. Gosh, you do read a lot of books, and such a diverse range. I often pick one ot two from your monthly reviews. I’ll have to read through this list again.

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    1. Oh, thanks Jude. This list represents just over half the books I’ve read this year, so maybe I should do another post to include the rest. I’m glad some of them appeal.

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  8. I can’t believe how many books you’ve read already! The titles and book covers are a terrible tease, Margaret. I don’t have time to look them all up but there are many I’d pick up from a library trolley 🤗🩷

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  9. I was thinking of you this morning and your reading and book sharing. I appreciate your encouragement to step out and read more. colorful books which open doors to worlds beyond my own, thank you.

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  11. I always think this is a good way to look back on the first six months of the year – I’m glad you’ve joined in! I’ve read and enjoyed some of the books you’ve included, although sadly I haven’t read enough non-fiction or translations this year to fill those categories myself.

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    1. Well, take a bow, Helen. You’re one of the bloggers who sent me on this path. I’m a fairly new arrival to works-in-translation, but am here to stay, I think. And those six books were the only non-fiction works I’ve read this year: a low total for me.

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  12. Interesting selection! I’ve only read one (A Terrible Kindness) and have one more lined up to be read (Dance Tree). I’ve just read A Town Called Solace which i think you have probably mentioned – anyway, I certainly saw it recommended in various places. It’s a book group choice by another member which I was very happy to accept. I really enjoyed it, though the meeting is not till next week so I don’t know what the others think yet. I would certainly read more Mary Lawson.

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  13. Great categories for this meme!
    I have read a few authors you have mentioned, but not these titles.
    Funny that you put Modiano in nonfiction: he tricked you into thinking it was nonfiction (he’s good at that). But actually is is a novel

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    1. How funny! I genuinely thought it was his venture into NF. Thanks for putting me right. I’ll have to leave it there I think. A bit of a faff to re-do this part of the post.

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  17. A wonderful collection of books, Margaret. I just started “The Collector of Lives: Giorgio Vasari and the Invention of Art” by Ingrid D. Rowland and Noah Charney. It is the biography about Vasari and all the scoop on the great artists of the Italian Renaissance. I confess, I have to run to keep up with all of the names.

    I have been reading novels for the past few months, but have returned to non-fiction for this book. I continue to learn and learn and learn….

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    1. I normally read more non-fiction than I have lately, and that book about Vasari looks well worth hunting down. But I do love escaping into a well-written novel that that transports me to other places, other lives, other ways of living.

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  18. Thank you for joining in and I always like to see Non Fiction coming up, underrated I always think.

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  19. Wow, so many interesting books and I haven’t read any of them. The only author I have read are Leïla Slimani (-), Barbara Kingsolver (+), Georges Simenon, Jenny Erpenbeck (-) Peter Ackroyd (+) and Kate Grenville (+). Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favourite authors and I have read most of her books, just not her latest ones. And I haven’t even heard of the German author you mention, Daniela Krien, though, after looking her up, her books sound quite interesting.
    And I don’t think you’re late. We reflect on the first six months and they have only just passed.
    Thanks for the post.

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    1. You seem to have read rather a lot of ‘my’ authors. Yes, I agree about Kingsolver. I’ve just got another: Unsheltered. Do you read in English or in translation? Daniela Krien is someone whose work has cropped up quite a lot lately in blogs I read, hence my interest. I’m glad to have been introduced.

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      1. I guess that’s how we found each other, right?
        I absolutely love Unsheltered, one of my favourites by her.
        And yes, I prefer to read the original, if I know the language, so no translated English books for me.

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      3. I’m not a huge fan of most French literature – in any language, that might be the reason for you?
        Anyway, without reading so much in English, I doubt my English would be at the level it is today.

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  20. I have Small Worlds nearby, but it’s not on my #20booksofsummer23, maybe I should switch out a few and add it in. And The Colony, can’t wait to read that as well.

    Love your lists and seeing what you’ve been reading this year!

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  22. Lots of interesting looking books here. I’ve only read a handful of them, mostly the Irish ones, and have Demon Copperhead on my wishlist. I’ve done this challenge in the past and it can be surprisingly tricky to find six categories without reusing books in more than one, so well done! Of course, I’m now going to spend the next couple of hours seeing if I can do it this year…

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