March Overview/ Month Ahead

Yet another quiet month. My book stats are dropping. I have had essays and exams last month and have more this month. There was also a chunkster in there that I took my time with.

This month I read only 6 books;

1. Ghost Town - Rachel Caine
2. The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham
3. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
4. The Black Angel - John Connolly
5. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
6. Eleanor of Aquitaine - Alison Weir (which I have still to review).

My favourite is the one that took me almost the full month to read - The Three Musketeers. Full of adventure but it had a more serious undertone in there too and in the end it was actually quite sad. My least favourite was The Black Angel but only because it was a little disappointing. Otherwise I enjoyed all of the books I read this month.

Challenge Overview

 I just managed to do my challenges this month although I did enjoy them. For the sci fi challenge I went with my own title rather than the group choice. I went for Wyndham's The Kraken Wakes. I love Wyndham and I this book did not disappoint. Just good classic sci fi. The group choice for this month is Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear. I've read him before and I do like him but I am trying not to buy any books this month. I might read Empire State by Adam Christopher instead.

 For this I read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. There is now just one book on this list that won't be a re-read. I love Jules Verne. He's another author who can write a fantastic adventure story. Plus this book is the best Vintage Classics cover I have came across to date. I see me reading more of him in the future. Next up (and I started it last night) is a re-read and it's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I loved this book when I read it the first time and I am loving it all over again.

 My favourite book for this month and also the largest and the longest time I have spent on a book. Which is of course The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I already mentioned why I loved it so won't repeat myself. It's a bit surprising as growing up I avoided adventure books. Since I am reading Tom Sawyer for The League challenge I thought I would read The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn for this one. I haven't actually read it before so I am looking forward to it as it's supposed to be better than Tom Sawyer.

For the Mixing it Up Challenge I read for the history category. I picked Alison Weir as an author I had never read before and the book was Eleanor of Aquitaine. I enjoyed it but I'm not going to say too much about it as I have yet to review it. Next is the contemporary fiction category. Again not a challenge for me really since I love contemporary fiction so I will be reading an author new to me. I have picked out Freedom by Jonathan Franzen but I'm on the fence. That might change.


Out of all my plans for this month I did manage most of them. I have started Nick Harkaways Angelmaker but have still to get round to reading the third book of Murakami's 1Q84. I make no promises for this month.

I do expect my reading list to be slightly larger this month as I am taking part in Dewey's 24hour read-a-thon. I haven't yet made up my mind what I am going to be reading but I promise to post a pic as soon as I decide. I have a tentative list but keep swapping the books. The only one that has stayed is an Agatha Christie. Good old Poirot saw me right last time.

I've also set up a sponsor sheet for taking part. Money is going to Crohn's and Colitis Uk. So if anyone has any spare pennies and would like to sponsor me I won't say no :D http://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Sime1

How has everyone else's reading month been? How does your month ahead look? How are you getting on with your challenges?