Surprise surprise! I actually reviewed ALL of the non-fiction reads in March! Erm and just three other books.

So here’s what I actually reviewed:

All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin
The Last Brother – Nathacha Appanah
The Fourth Star: Dispatches from inside Daniel Boulud’s Celebrated Restaurant -Leslie Brenner
Bringing up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting – Pamela Druckerman
Is that a Fish in your Ear? Translation and the meaning of Everything – David Bellos

And some brief thoughts on those I didn’t!
Fiction
Destiny and Desire – Carlos Fuentes
A complicated, bizarre book (it is the story told by a decapitated head). A difficult read that takes the reader through modern day Mexico.

Delirium – Laura Restrepo
Another complicated read, delirious yes but at least heads were intact.

Bitten (Women of the Otherworld #1) – Kelley Armstrong
A fun read. Although recently I’ve been wondering if reading e-books (like this one) make for a different experience than the printed version. That is, would I have rated this book higher if it were a printed read?

The Descendants – Kaui Hart Hemmings
All I knew about this book was from the trailer of the movie adaptation. Two things: George Clooney; Hawaii.
Well the book was more than that. A great story of a father’s relationship with his two daughters, and coming to terms with a tragedy.

Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Ah I am falling for Elizabeth Gaskell! Now I feel the need to go read everything else she has written.

Winter’s End – Jean-Claude Mourlevat
I liked the way the story was built up, how the reader is equally in the dark as the protagonists (orphans living in boarding schools who have no idea what the world outside is like). And the fact that it is a translated book. But I would have preferred more details and history about the oppressive government.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – Patricia A. McKillip
Review to come!

Graphic Novels
Blacksad – Juan Diaz Canales
I’m not fond of anthropomorphism but this series set in 1950s America is rather fascinating. Blacksad is a cat, a hardboiled detective. And the stories weave in racism, Communism, and of course crimes and conspiracies.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (Vol 1) – Jacques Tardi
The Arctic Marauder – Jacques Tardi
Tardi has this rather odd way of depicting humans – they all seem to be born of the same facial mold. I was constantly confused by the characters in Adele Blanc-Sec. Less so in The Arctic Marauder, which was overall a more interesting, Jules Verne-ish read.

The Last Temptation – Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Michael Zulli
I usually enjoy most of Gaiman’s graphic novels, but this needed more backstory. It was a rather simple storyline, perhaps because it was a collaboration with Alice Cooper?