I have had quite a good month I think although my blogging itself hasn't been quite as regular. I am busy just now and likely to get busier so I'm not able to take part in as many memes. There are still one or two that I will take part in if I can.In June I started a new challenge which was hosted by Gabe over at GabeReads. The challenge is to basically read the books in my tbr pile. I picked voracious reader which means I have to read three books from that pile each month. I managed it this month and read;
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Exit Ghost - Philip Roth.
I was disappointed with the first too. I had been expecting them to be better than what they were. Especially since Dickens is one of my favourite authors. Funny though a friend told me the other day that Hard Times was one of her favourites. Just goes to show that everyone is different. Exit Ghost was my favourite of the three. Surprising since it's in the middle of a series and I haven't read any others.
I also took part in my first give away. This was hosted by Judith over at Leeswammes' blog. There were over seventy of us giving away books with literary merit. The range of books being given away was amazing. I decided to be boring and stick to classics but it was such a pretty one too. Sadly I couldn't have everyone win but to celebrate my birthday at the end of August I am going to have my own giveaway.
I didn't read quite as many books as last month but I think I still managed a respectable number;
Sister - Rosamund Lupton
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Hard Times - Charles Dickens
Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich
Exit Ghost - Philip Roth
Bedpans and Bobbysocks - Barbara Fox and Gwenda Gofton
The Poison Tree - Erin Kelly
Anno Dracula - Kim Newman
Nurse! Nurse! - Jimmy Frazier
When God Was A Rabbit - Sarah Winman
I actually have several favourites in this list which are; Sister, The Help and When God Was A Rabbit. I think the last one wins it by just a fraction though. My least favourite was The Poison Tree.
June was also the month that I started Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts as part of a readalong. I am loving it so far and this will continue into July.
In July I also have three more books picked out from my list for the challenge. If all goes well I plan to read;
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
Lullaby Town - Robert Crais
Mary Tudor - Mary Whitelock
I do reserve the right to change my mind though :)
Nothing much else planned for July. I am tempted to read a couple of kids books I have sitting there. Whilst my break away hasn't been quite six months I do feel I need something light. We'll see though.
What are your plans for July and how did last month go for you?
I'm starting to think I shouldn't have signed up as a voracious reader, though Gormenghats is taking up a lot of time, once that's finished it should get easier to squash those classics into my schedule!
ReplyDeleteI do up quite a long post about my June wrap-up. Since it's middle of the year a whole hosts of items to review and ponder upon. I love classics and hope if there are 25 hours in a day I would read a few more.
ReplyDeleteYou inspired me to read Sister by Rosamund Lupton. I find it a haunting and a chilling read, very accomplished for a debut. I'm half way through the book and loving it too. I hope to read The Help at some point. Looks like you have a good month!
JoV
Whoot! Go you. I really don't have any books I should have read by now, just because I like to read what's in my hands and that's usually what a publisher puts there. So I'm just usuing classics for now.
ReplyDeleteEllie, I will probably be in the same place once I start studying again. I don't remember if I managed to get much reading the first time round.
ReplyDeleteJoV, I would love there to be more reading hours in the day too, lol. Glad you picked up Sister. I definitely loved it. It was also the first book that my book group read that everyone enjoyed. The Help was another fantastic read.
Nonner, thank you. My problem is that when I worked with books I bought more than I could actually read. I am catching up now though and I even manage to read the few books that I buy now too. I am planning a classics challenge for myself next year. Going to create a list of the ones I want to read.