July was a fantastic reading month for me. I enjoyed almost everything that I read, leading me to read for longer than usual. In total I finished 14 books.
Three were so good that they’ll end up as my 2010 favourites:
The Book of Negroes – Lawrence Hill 
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
The Birth of Love – Joanna Kavenna
The White Bone – Barbara Gowdy 
The Surrendered – Chang-Rae Lee 
The Republic of Trees – Sam Taylor
White is for Witching – Helen Oyeyemi 
Plans for August: The Booker Long List!
I’ll be spending August working my way through the Booker long list. I don’t think I’ll have time to read anything else. In fact I’ll be lucky to finish the long list before 7th September (the day the short list is announced), especially since I also have to squeeze in The Sopranos by Alan Warner
I’m also considering reading The Siege by Helen Dunmore
Have you read both books? Do you think I’ll enjoy The Betrayal less if I haven’t read The Siege first?
There will be more than Booker on the blog…
Unfortunately I’m a little behind in writing reviews, but the good news is that I have finished almost everything in my sidebar and so I’ll be able to intersperse those reviews with the Booker ones.
Summer holidays
It is the school Summer holidays here in the UK and so I’ll be spending my days looking after my little boys.
This means that you probably won’t see me on Twitter much and my blogging time will be greatly reduced. I apologise in advance for taking longer to respond to your comments and my dwindling Internet presence – I’ll be back to full blogging speed in September.
Have a wonderful Summer!
33 replies on “July Summary and Plans for August”
Enjoy your time with the family! You had quite a busy month in July, so you definitely deserve some time to rest!
Natalie, I’m not sure I’d describe it as a rest, but hopefully we’ll have fun 🙂
Jackie, you sure had a great month of reading! I hope you enjoy the time with your boys — they grow up far too quickly!
And thank you for mentioning that The Betrayal is a sequel to The Siege. Like you, I don’t like reading things out of order!
Laura, I’m hoping to pick up a copy of The Siege from the library tomorrow. I think I’ve decided to read it first, but I might just look at the blurbs and see if they look linked.
It is amazing how fast children grow – the time is really flying!
Hi Jackie,
I think I’ll follow your lead and read the prequels – I don’t like reading out of order either! Happy reading!
Tricia, Great news! Let’s hope we enjoy them all!
I hope you and the boys really enjoy the Summer break, Jackie. Our schools stopped for summer hols at the end of June! Good luck with the Booker – I tend to get less read when the children are off school – wonder why… 🙂
Teresa, I’m quite pleased that my boys didn’t finish at the end of June 🙂 I normally manage to read the same amount when my boys are on holiday as I do almost all of my reading in the evening once they’re asleep. It is the blog commenting that suffers as I tend to go out for the day during the holidays. Hopefully I’ll be able to still do some though 🙂
Summer is always tough on all fronts. I can’t find it in my soul to write a review, and I will run out of posts very soon if I don’t! You’ve had some great ones this month, ones that I would really like to read someday. Have a wonderful holiday and we’ll look forward to lots of Booker fun!
Sandy, I’m amazed at the number of posts you have scheduled in advance. I’m afraid I’m not as organised as you and am lucky to have three posts written in advance. I’m down to one at the moment 🙁 I hope you have a wonderful Summer too!
I hope you find time to read the Booker longlist and enjoy your boys! I didn’t realize The Stars in the Bright Sky was a sequel. I’ll definitely sneak in The Sopranos first, and I’ll try my best to sneak in The Siege too. It will be a busy month of reading!
nomadreader, I’m really pleased that you’re reading all the Bookers too. Good luck with it!
Good luck reading the longlist! I don’t like to read books out of order either; it always irritates me that I might have missed something even if I do manage to understand the story.
Have fun with your boys!
Meghan, Exactly! The story is normally easy enough to follow, but then you often find that if you go back to read the first book it is ruined by already knowing the ending. I have heard that The Siege is wonderful so I’d hate to lose out on the enjoyment of reading it.
You had a great July Jackie, and have ambitious plans for August (with 2 little ones). Have fun and enjoy the month.
Thanks Diane!
You read great books. Although it was slow month for me, I truly enjoyed all that I read.
Here is my post: TSS: What Books I Read in July
gautami tripathy, You are lucky to have enjoyed everything that you read. I almost managed it! I hope your August is just as good 🙂
Enjoy August – with the summer, and the Booker long list, and time with the kids.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for the reviews – hope at least some of them (if not all) are fantastic and well worth the read. At the moment, Room has me most curious.
anothercookiecrumbles, I’ve just finished Room – it was fantastic! I hope to write a review soon and am sure I’ll be able to persuade you to read it 😉
I hope you have a great summer holiday! Also, July seems to have been a good reading month for you. Good luck on the Booker longlist.
Thanks Iris!
I hope your August is as successful a reading month as your July! Enjoy your summer holidays.
I have similar plans to you reading-wise although taking a relaxed approach towards it (I don’t want to be overwhelmed and bring on another reading slump). Luckily I have a backlog of book reviews so blog won’t be saturated with Booker reviews either.
Claire, It is good to hear that you are planning to read some Bookers. I’m hoping that I wont get overwhelmed, but if I do then I’ll be quite happy to read something a bit lighter and miss the deadline. It isn’t worth stressing over 🙂 Enjoy your August reading 🙂
Happy summer vacation! I hope you enjoy the Booker titles that you get to.
Thanks Amy!
Have a great summer holidays! We’ll miss you. Everyone needs a break, even if it is a break from blogging!! 😀
JoV, I hopefully won’t be breaking from blogging, but don’t expect anything other than reviews around here for a while!
You don’t want to miss summer with your sons – they do grow up frighteningly fast.
I really treasure the memories of my four when we spent a lot of time together not doing very much at all really and funnily enough that is what they remember now aged from 26 to 16. It’s more the picnics in the park and rock pooling on a beach that they look back on than any big expensive event!
I have decided to read The Siege first – just as soon as I can find the stepladders to get it off the high shelf where it has been sitting for a few years!
LizF, It is the simple things in life that are normally the most enjoyable. I’ve just finished the wonderful Room by Emma Donoghue and that book emphasizes this. I’m sure you’ll love it 🙂
I’ve just started The Siege. I think it is going to be a great read. Enjoy your Booker reading 🙂
I always find it remarkable that people actually have a reading plan for the coming month. I can barely plan one book ahead..lol
caite, I don’t always stick to my plan, but I do like completing my lists 🙂
I hear you … until school starts in September my blogging time is very reduced!