Reviewing Kindle books

I am about to commit to print some reviews of books that I read when I was travelling.
What they have in common is that they are all books that on my Kindle.

I am toying with the vague feeling that reading them on my Kindle affects the style of review I am able to write.
 
For example, checking up on some detail is not as easy on the Kindle as with a made-from-paper book where you can quickly flip over pages to locate some words you remember as being on "top left".

I described some of my techniques in an earlier post.

I try to compensate by making annotations and marking text on the e-book as I go and then by checking these after I've finished reading. But that really depends on whether I've marked the text in the first place. I have finished reading some books and found I have not marked or annotated anything.

Of course you can search the e-text itself for particular references but that is a rather slow method as the Kindle will throw up all bits of text containing that search term. When there are 100s, this not particularly useful.

While I was travelling I got into the habit of writing a draft review in a notebook immediately after completing the book. I hope that helps.

If you are also reviewing books you've read in e-book format, you might like to leave a comment about how you feel these reviews compare with reviews you've written of books in other formats. Are they skimpier? Is the format influencing your style of review?

Forgotten Book: DUPE, Liza Cody

This week's Friday's Forgotten book for the meme hosted by Patti Abbott on Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books appears in my records for 1993.

DUPE, published in 1980, was another brilliant debut novel, winning the John Creasey award.

Publisher's blurb:
When Tom Jackson employed Brierly Security to investigate his daughter's murder, Anna Lee expected it to be yet another tedious case. Instead she finds herself following Deidre's trail into the violent, seedy and decidedly unglamorous world of the film industry for clues.

DUPE was the first in Cody's Anna Lee series:
1. Dupe (1980)
2. Bad Company (1982)
3. Stalker (1984)
4. Head Case (1985)
5. Under Contract (1986)
6. Backhand (1991)

Cody followed this series with another but more recently appears to have written only short stories.
Her website is here.

Normal services to resume shortly

Just reporting that we are home again, fighting the jet lag, and the cold! (where did 8 C come from) and relishing blue skies.

I'll start catching up on book reviews etc again soon, promise!

Crime Fiction Alphabet: UN... by Marie Jungstedt

Here's yet another author you should look out for.
Mari Jungstedt is a Swedish journalist and popular crime fiction author.
Jungstedt worked as a reporter on Swedish national public radio and television, and is still an occasional presenter on TV4's daily talk show Förkväll.

Her first three novels are set on the island of Gotland (the UN.. books) and feature Detective Superintendant Anders Knutas and the journalist Johan Berg. Two of her novels were filmed for Swedish TV, and her work has been translated into English by Tiina Nunnally.

Mari Jungstedt lives in Nacka, near Stockholm. Her husband comes from Visby, Gotland, and during the summer they stay on Gotland.

The three novels I have reviewed are
UNSEEN
UNSPOKEN
UNKNOWN

1. Unseen (2006)
2. Unspoken (2007)
3. The Inner Circle (2008)
     aka Unknown
4. The Killer's Art (2010)
5. The Dead of Summer (2011)

Check other posts in the Crime Fiction Alphabet 

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2011 - Letter U - week begins 6 June 2011

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction - a Community Meme.

It is never too late to join in on this meme and you don't have to post each week if reading (or life) gets in the way. And it is so easy!

The books and authors being suggested are a great way of learning about books you haven't read, or authors you haven't yet met.
We have participants from all over the globe too. Do take the time to check the entries towards the end of the week. Like me, you'll find yourself adding "must read" titles to your TBR.

Letters already covered: A B C  D  E F G  H  I  J  K  L  M N  O P Q R S T

This week's letter is the letter U

Here are the rules

By Friday of each week you have to write a blog post about crime fiction related to the letter of the week.
[Those who intend to participate regularly have signed up here.]

Your post MUST be related to either the first letter of a book's title, the first letter of an author's first name, or the first letter of the author's surname.
So you see you have lots of choice.
You could write a review, or a bio of an author, or even maybe cover a crime fiction "topic", so long as it fits the rules somehow.
(It is ok too to skip a week.)

Please link your post for the week back to this page. (a letter image is supplied that you can use in your post as well as the meme icon if you wish).

After your post is published, put a link to your actual blog post in the Mr Linky that appears below.
(leave a comment if Mr Linky has disappeared)

Then come back at the end of the week to check to see who else has posted and visit their blog (and leave a comment if you can).

Please check each Monday for the letter of the week

Letters already covered: A B C  D  E F G  H  I  J  K  L  M N  O P Q R S T

Thanks for participating.

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Forgotten Book: THE ICE HOUSE, Minette Walters

This week's Friday's Forgotten book for the meme hosted by Patti Abbott on Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books appears in my records for 1993.

One could possibly argue that Minette Walters is not a forgotten author, but THE ICE HOUSE marked a remarkable debut.

From Minette's website:

THE ICE HOUSE was published in 1992 by Macmillan after being rejected by numerous publishing houses. It won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey Award for best first novel and was translated into several languages within six months of initial publication. As with her subsequent books, THE ICE HOUSE creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia and tension through Minette’s skilful depiction of a handful of characters whose personalities are neither totally attractive nor totally unattractive.

Publisher's blurb
'When a rotting, unidentifiable corpse is discovered in the grounds of Streech Grange, it marks the beginning of a nightmare murder investigation for the three women living there. But is it the beginning? Or does the body lying in the ice house mean that the police can finally close their file on David Maybury, who vanished from Streech Grange ten years earlier? Inspector Walsh, the investigating officer in charge of the original inquiry, is a man obsessed with uncovering the truth.

His suspicions centre - as they did at the time of her husband's diasappearance - on Phoebe Maybury. She inhabits a strange, isolated world where her only close companions are Anne and Diana, the two women friends who live with her. For many in the local community Streech Grange is as place of evil, and Phoebe herself has become the focus of the villager's dislike and fear. They believe that she murdered not only her husband but her parents as well. And now that some hard evidence has been uncovered the pressure to convict her becomes intense.

As Walsh and his assistant, Detective Segeant McLoughlin, begin to probe into private lives and secret passions they assume that a conviction for murder can only be a formality. But sometimes obsessions can obstruct the truth...

Minette Walters' novels are stand alones, but recent novels have reflected political issues such as the Iraq War, and mercenary soldiers.

The Ice House (1991)
The Sculptress (1993)
The Scold's Bridle (1994)
The Dark Room (1995)
The Echo (1997)
The Breaker (1998)
Acid Row (2001)
The Shape of Snakes (2001)
Fox Evil (2002)
Disordered Minds (2003)
The Devil's Feather (2005)
The Chameleon's Shadow (2007)

My reading - May 2011

I'm still travelling - well, temporarily stationary in Abu Dhabi - so the reviews for most of my reading for May 2011 are not on my blog yet but here is the summary. The reviews will be done progressively over the weeks following my arrival home at the end of next week.

1. 4.4, THE VANISHING OF KATHERINA LINDEN, Helen Grant (29 May)
2. 4.8, SILENT VOICES, Ann Cleeves (27 May)
3. 5.0, THE WRECKAGE, Michael Robotham (25 May)
4. 4.8, THE HANGING WOOD, Martin Edwards (20 May)
5. 4.6, SAD CYPRESS, Agatha Christie (15 May)
6. 3.8, DIAMOND EYES, A.A. Bell (13 May)
7. 3.5, WHAT WAS LOST, Catherine O'Flynn (9 May)
8. 4.1, LIQUORICE TWISTS, Dorte Jakobsen (9 May)
9. 4.7, WHITE SKY, BLACK ICE, Stan Jones (9 May)
10. 4.8, KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES, Jussi Adler-Olsen (5 May)
11. 4.5, VENGEANCE ROAD, Rick Mofina (4 May)
12. 4.4, EYE OF THE RED TSAR, Sam Eastland (2 May)

You can see there are some good reads on my list including 3 books that scored 4.8 that must go on your TBR.
Michael Robotham's latest THE WRECKAGE is my pick of the month though, and among my best reads for the year.

I'm travelling pretty well in my challenges - currently reading the final one for the Canadian reading challenge, and on my 72nd book for the year.