30 June 2012

Reading list (first half of 2012)


Below is what I read on the first half of the year, starting from the most recent. A total of 39 books, or an average 6.5 books per month. I was able to shave off around half from my projected reading list. The six graphic volumes skew the statistics. But here are the numbers:

39 books read -- 33 fiction (24 novels, 6 graphic, 3 short stories), 5 poetry, 1 nonfiction
31 books by male writers, 8 by female writers
27 translations -- 16 from Japanese, 9 Spanish, 2 German
12 original language -- 7 English, 4 Filipino, 1 English and Filipino

Books read (January-June 2012)

Black Rain by Ibuse Masuji, trans. John Bester
Augustus by John Williams
Bartleby & Co. by Enrique Vila-Matas, trans. Jonathan Dunne
Threesome and Engkantado by Mark Angeles
Lover's Lane by Axel Pinpin
Vertigo [post 1; post 2; post 3; post 4; post 5] by W. G. Sebald, trans. Michael Hulse
The Box Man by Abé Kobo, trans. E. Dale Saunders
The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick by Peter Handke, trans. Michael Roloff
Snow Country by Kawabata Yasunari, trans. Edward G. Seidensticker
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, ed. Anthony Kerrigan
Almost Transparent Blue by Murakami Ryū, trans. Nancy Andrew
The Woman in the Dunes by Abé Kobo, trans. E. Dale Saunders
Six Not-So-Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman
Trilce by César Vallejo, trans. Michael Smith and Valentino Gianuzzi
Ariel: The Restored Edition by Sylvia Plath
Never Any End to Paris by Enrique Vila-Matas, trans. Anne McLean
Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee
Our Lady of the Assassins by Fernando Vallejo, trans. Paul Hammond
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene
Responde by Norman Wilwayco
Mandarins, stories by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, trans. Charles De Wolf
1Q84 [post 1; post 2; post 3] by Murakami Haruki, trans. Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel
Maoh: Juvenile Remix, volumes 4-9, by Megumi Osuga and Kotaro Isaka, trans. Stephen Paul
Mondomanila by Norman Wilwayco
Nowaki by Natsume Sōseki, trans. William N. Ridgeway
Varamo by César Aira, trans. Chris Andrews
Laughing Wolf by Tsushima Yūko, trans. Dennis Washburn
The Wild Goose by Mori Ōgai, trans. Burton Watson
Alphabetical Africa by Walter Abish
Voyage Along the Horizon by Javier Marías, trans. Kristina Cordero
Stoner by John Williams
The Athenian Murders by José Carlos Somoza, trans. Sonia Soto
The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño, trans. Natasha Wimmer


Also reviewed (read at the end of 2011):

Twelve stories by Machado de Assis, from Oxford Anthology of the Brazilian Short Story, ed. K. David Jackson
The Castle by Franz Kafka, trans. Mark Harman 
Insomnia by Kristine Ong Muslim


Things to look forward to in July and beyond:

Spanish Lit Month by Stu and Richard (July)
Literature and War Readalong by Caroline (July selection is Black Rain by Ibuse Masuji)
Japanese Literature Challenge 6 by Bellezza