October Overview/ Month Ahead!

These last few months have flow in so quickly, or is it just me? This month feels particularly fast but I think that has something to do with that I am now back on placement and will be there until Christmas. I am still managing to get some reading done. The place I am at works on 13 hour shifts so by the time I get home I head straight to bed with my book. I am quite enjoying that though. The only down side is that I am far behind in my reviews. So far behind I am thinking of compiling some of them into mini reviews just so I can catch up. I will probably do this with the readathon books although it seems a shame to do that since I did enjoy those books.

Thanks to the readathon I managed a total of 9 books which is the most I have read in a month since May. Speaking of readathon I raised £176 for SAMH. Big thank you to those who donated and cheered me on. I also finished another challenge (again, still to review that last book). So that will be two challenge overviews I will have to do. Last year in October I asked everyone for Halloween read suggestions and basically read not much else for that month. I would have liked to have done the same this year but October crept up on me unawares. Plus I very much want to get through the rest of my tbr pile by the end of this year. So at the end of the month I picked up a Stephen King from that pile which I should finish over the next few days.

Enough blabbering here is what I read this month;

1. The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
2. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain
3. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
4. A Patchwork World - Anne Tyler
5. Monday Mourning - Kathy Reichs
6. Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked - Derek Landy
7. Ladder of Years - Anne Tyler
8. No One Left To Tell - Karen Rose
9. The Greatest Show On Earth - Richard Dawkins

At one point I was reading 3 books at once this month (two of which I still have on the go). That's because I was reading The Greatest Show On Earth and at home I needed something light since I was too tired for anything else hence the Karen Rose and now Stephen King. The other book I am reading is a book of essays about crime writers. It's a huge hardback so not the easiest book to carry around.

My favourite book this month is a tie between Ender's Game and A Patchwork World. A Patchwork World has a slight edge over the sci fi just because it was nice to come back to an author I had read once before and rediscover how good she is. Least favourite was The Greatest Show On Earth. I found it a little dull and in the beginning a little patronising too.

Challenge Overview

 For October I chose A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. It hasn't been my favourite book of this challenge so far. I think though that was entirely down to the mood I was in. I was wanting something that was entirely humour filled and instead I got tongue in cheek with a serious undertone. At another time I would have loved it. This month I am going to go with The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I've loved all the other ones and I see no reason why I won't love this one.

 For the sci fi challenge I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card which was one of my favourite reads for October. When I signed up for this challenge this was one book that was a definite must. Glad I managed to get a hold of a copy. With any luck I will be able to get my hands on the rest of the series. I haven't picked a title for the challenge this month. No more sci fi books in my tbr pile. I may join in the group choice or see what the library has on offer (due a wee visit).

This is the challenge I finished this month. I finished it with The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins for the science category. Not my favourite book ever. I usually enjoy the science side of things but in this case I found it a little dull. Maybe because I was too busy to concentrate properly but I also didn't like Dawkins tone at the beginning of the book. It feels strange not to have another category to chose from. However, I have enjoyed this challenge quite a bit and look forward to sharing an overview of it.


So that has been my month. Fairly busy and hectic but it was still a good one. Other than my classic title I'm not sure what I will read this month. I keep changing my mind. There are a few on my tbr pile that I am looking forward to reading. I am thinking that it is more than time that I read the third installment of 1Q84. I'll probably read that alongside the Sherlock Holmes since it's another hardback. I also have a few chunky books to read. Has everyone else had a good October?