30: Kamikaze Girls, Novala Takemoto

Had bought this a year or so ago, and the recent Murakami had gotten me in the mood. Pretty good. I am actually tempted to go to the Baby, the Stars Shine Bright store now. And...lucky me, there is one in SF! No idea what I'd do there, apart from look ridiculously out of place. Perhaps that's enough to merit a visit.

29: The Chinese Maze Murders, Robert van Gulik

Why not? It happened to be one I had not read in a long time. It also happens to be the story that Moord in de Vergrendelde Kamer was based on, which I read for the first time a few weeks ago when I found it at a used bookstore in Utrecht.

Europe: 19-28

Two months in Europe caused this to happen:

19: Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome

On my iPad. Hilarious. It's one of those classics people (in this case my mom) have been telling me about for ages. I tried in junior high and was bored two pages in. Things change.

20: Cards on the Table, Agatha Christie

In Sweden, on planes, busses, and at Irina's in Stockholm.

21: Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami

Beginning good, ending a little weak.

22: Het Lijk Zonder Hoofd, Robert van Gulik

Krantenstrip.

23: Moord in de Vergrendelde Kamer, Robert van Gulik

Nog een krantenstrip.

24: A Short History of Tractors in Ukraina, Marina Lewycka

Funny (in writing) but frustrating (in subject).

25: Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men, Donald McCaig

Worthless writing, interesting subject. This guy is a full-time author?

26: Halssnoer en Kalebas, Robert van Gulik

More van Gulik.

27: Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie

"Hell", said the Duchess. Hastings is a complete idiot—I much prefer Watson to Hastings.

28: De Nacht van de Tijger, Robert van Gulik

And one more.

Pre-Europe: 13-18

Books I read before leaving for Europe in July and never recorded:

13: The Drops of God, volumes 1 & 2, Tadashi Agi & Shu Okimoto

Wine manga. Yes, indeed. Apparently this crazy thing increased wine sales in Japan significantly. Every time a new wine appeared in the serialised manga, it would sell out all over Japan. (Is it any good? Not really. But it's culturally stupendously interesting.)

14: Azumanga Daioh, Kiyohiko Azuma

The television series is delightfully quirky. The manga it was based on is very similar. The short episodes make it surreal.

15: Read 'Em and Reap, Joe Navarro

Blah, blah, blah. Typical FBI twit writes like a self-important...FBI twit. The material is interesting, though.

16: Letterati: An Unautharized Look at Scrabble and the People Who Play It, Paul McCarthy

I don't remember this very well, I'm afraid. I don't even know if overall I thought it was good or bad. I do know I skimmed a lot, because I've read a lot about Scrabble and competitive Scrabble in the past year and much of the material was familiar. Best part: the four-page chapter on Ping-Pong/table tennis. Ping-Pong was a Parker Brothers trademark, PB organised tournaments in the 20's, players broke with PB in order to use their own equipment, table tennis was born.

17: Death Masks, Jim Butcher

Whatever. More fluff.

18: The Pink Panther, Marvin Albert

I love it! I had never read the book.