I finished 14 books in August, most of them from the 2010 Booker long list. I was very impressed with the overall standard of the books I read, having more 4.5+ star reads than ever before. I only hope I can repeat this next month!
Book of the Month
Books Reviewed in August:
Sweetness in the Belly – Camilla Gibb 
The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell 
The Weight of Silence – Heather Gudenkauf 
The Stars in the Bright Sky – Alan Warner 
Parrot and Olivier in America – Peter Carey 
(DNF)
Plans for September
My first task is to finish the Booker long list – I have three more books left to go. I’m not sure I’ll manage to read them all before the short list is announced next Tuesday, but I’ll do my best!
The Finkler Question – Howard Jacobson
In a Strange Room – Damon Galgut
Richard and Judy Book Club
I’m very excited about the launch of the Richard and Judy book club on Thursday – I’ll probably read one or two of their selections straight away. I was interested to listen to them talk about the launch of their book club in the video below – it sounds as though they have at least two books in translation. I’m sure that they’ll pick some fantastic books and I’ll enjoy their enthusiastic discussions.
I’ll also be reading most of the books on this list:
Stonehenge: A Novel of 2000 BC – Bernard Cornwall
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
All My Friends are Superheroes – Andrew Kaufman
Stone in a Landslide – Muriel Barbal
The Elephant’s Journey – Jose Saramago
More Non-Review Posts
Next week my oldest son starts school and so I will have much more time to write blog posts. I hope that I’ll be able to use this extra time to research some bookish topics so I can produce some non-review posts that will interest you.
I’ll also do some fiddling behind the scenes to try to improve navigation around my blog.
Are you excited about the launch of the Richard and Judy book club?
Which of the books on my September pile have you read?
30 replies on “August Summary and Plans for September”
Oh wow, you’ve read and reviewed a LOT! 🙂 I really want to read Esme Lennox and Room and Skippy Dies.
I don’t really follow shortlists etc, but I’m glad you do, and then I can follow your ecommendations 🙂
Are your rereading Never Let Me Go or are you reading it for the first time? Then you’re in for a treat.
Looks like your September is going to be great! I want to read some nonfiction next month, I tend to neglect it.
Bina, I haven’t read Never Let me Go before, but have heard so many wonderful things about it that I just need to know what everyone is talking about! I hope that I love it as much as everyone else seems to.
You amaze me with all the wonderful books you read in August. For Sept….I enjoyed Never Let You Go, but Tinkers not so much.
Have a great month.
BibliophileBytheSea, It is good to know that you enjoyed Never Let you Go too. I’m really looking forward to reading it 🙂
another productive month Jackie ,I ve some african novels coming up next month als the end scibona and new david vann ,all the best stu
Stu, I have a copy of the new David Vann, but it will probably be October before I get to it. I look forward to seeing what you make of it.
Richard & Judy never change do they LOL I see they are anouncing the titles tomorrow and I hope I get to play along. For various reasons I wont go into now my reading list for the next few months is a little set in stone so I dont know if Ill be able to fit the book club reading in but I will try to if any appeal.
Jessica, I love the fact they never change 🙂 I really hope this book club is a success for them and I look forward to seeing what they select.
Room is currently on order at the library (I think I am next in line). You have really gotten into a nest of good books lately! And plans? What is that? I never know from minute to minute what I’m going to be reading. I’ve been toying around with the RIP Challenge. I need it like a hole in the head, but I think I could knock out a number of other challenges and this one at the same time. We will see…
Sandy, I’m thinking about doing the RIP challenge too. Carl is such a wonderful host that it seems a shame not to sign up. I’ll see what books I can root out for it 😉
I’m really pleased to hear that you’re getting Room. I’m sure that you’ll love it.
14??!!! How on earth did you manage that? Well done Jackie!!
I have always picked one or two from Richard and Judy Book Club, Some I enjoyed it, some I don’t. I tend to be more careful now that my TBR pile is too high, and pick only the ones who are reviewed as very very good.
All the best in September plan! and it must be wonderful seeing Junior off to school soon. My eldest is going off to Primary 1 (after a year in reception) and my 3 year old to the nursery. 😀 (2 boys, drives me insane!)
JoV, I’ve had a few long train trips and continue to read for long periods each evening so I do seem to fly through books at the moment. I hope I can keep it up through the winter.
I have two boys too 🙂 My three-year-old will be starting nursery five mornings a week and so I will have virtually all day free as he still has an afternoon nap. I’m really looking forward to having some free time for once.
Congratulations on such a great month! You really did have some wonderful books that you loved, which is good to see. I see some wonderful books in your upcoming list too so enjoy and happy reading!
Thanks Amy. I hope you have a great September too 🙂
Great job! I would give the Richard and Judy list a try if I weren’t going for the Giller longlist in September!
I’ll be finishing Parrot and Olivier tonight, only 15 more pages. Wow, I see why you stopped reading it. At page 175 I put it down, went on vacation for a few days, and then came back to it. I must say that once they reached America the book got better, though not by much 🙂 It’s taken me almost two weeks to read.
Shannon, It is great to hear that I made the right decision in not finishing Parrot and Olivier. I look forward to reading your review and discovering why the end section was slightly better 😉
Good luck with the Giller long list. That isn’t something I’ll be attempting, but I’ll be keeping an eye out for any good reviews that catch my eye.
OMG, this is impressive, and congrats on having such a good reading month!! I’m excited for he Richard and Judy Book Club as well because who doesn’t mind another book to read, right? 🙂
Why have I not read Room yet?? So behind…
Coffee and a Book Chick, It does seem mad to add 8 books to the TBR just because R&J say so, but I do love them 🙂 I just hope they live up to expectations.
You did have a good August!!
And the only one on your September list I read was Never Let Me Go. Very Different!
Jenners, I hope that means that I’ll be able to introduce you to lots of fantastic new books 🙂
Looking at this post is daunting, I haven’t even started typing out my round-up yet!
That’s a lot of books you’ve read, and I can’t but be wowed that you’ve almost finished the prize list! I’m very excited about the Richard And Judy book club, at first it was coincidence that I picked their books but now I actively seek them out. I think I saw their show once but my choosing their choices has come about strangely.
My plans for September are to get back to the number of books I put on my TBR in July, basically my plan is to get back to reading books I chose the old way – before I started reading blogs. I love the recommendations from blogs of course but I think picking up random books is good, less pressure etc, and then you’ve new books to introduce to people too.
Charlie, I have been a fan of R&J from childhood and so I always watched their shows. I used to read the whole list in advance and discovered many fantastic authors that I still follow. I just hope they continue to select wonderful books 🙂
I am so excited to see that Room was your favorite book this month. My library has had copies on order for weeks, it seems like, and I am anxiously awaiting them to actually get here so I can read it!
Stephanie, I hope that your library gets copies in soon and that you love it as much as I did 🙂
What a wonderful month you had! I still completely agree about Room. I’ve fallen quite far behind on my Booker reading, but I still hope to catch up by the time the winner is announced. I’m hoping to get to Tinkers and Never Let Me Go this month too, but only time will tell. Happy reading!
Carrie, I think I might manage to read all the Bookers before the short list announcement, but it is going to be tight. I hope you manage to catch up before the winner is announced. 🙂
I enjoyed this post because I could get a quick look at your general impressions of the books you read. For some, I have intentionally avoided your review because I plan to read the book sooner rather than later (like The Siege, which I’m reading now). I’ve saved this post so I can come back to your reviews later.
I can’t wait to see what you think of Tinkers and Never Let me Go. Also, good luck with your son starting school. That’s a big milestone!
Laura, I find it very useful to rank the books I’ve read each month – sometimes I change the ratings a little bit to ensure they all line up in order of preference 😉
I hope that you enjoy The Siege as much as I did!
I’ve only read Never Let Me Go – my very favorite by Ishiguro. Best to you for an enjoyable September Reading!
[…] failed to make much of an indent on my September plans and so most have the books have been transferred straight from that list to this […]