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June Summary and Plans for July

My June reading has been dominated by Titus Groan, the first book in The Gormenghast Trilogy. It has become one of my all-time favourite books and so I am looking forward to seeing what happens in the rest of the series.

I have also been reading Shantaram and can see that becoming a favourite too. Working through these chunksters means that I don’t have that much time for other books, but I’m not going to apologise – I love it and recommend that you try reading them too!

Book of the Month
Titus Groan (Gormenghast trilogy)

 

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Books Reviewed in June

Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake 

Night Waking – Sarah Moss 

Pure – Andrew Miller 

Rendezvous – Esther Verhoef 

A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan 

Visitation – Jenny Erpenbeck 

The Possessed – Elif Batuman 

Plans for July

I am looking forward to the Booker long list announcement on 26th July. I’m currently trying to decide which books I think will be selected and I’ll reveal my prediction in a couple of weeks’ time.

Shantaram and the Gormenghast Read-along will continue to dominate my reading this month. The length of these books means that I am being drawn towards shorter, lighter books in the rest of my reading time. I’m going to be very busy looking after my new puppy and my two boys over the Summer holidays and so I’m not going to even think about what other books I might squeeze in this month – I’m just going to see what catches my eye!

Have a wonderful July!

16 replies on “June Summary and Plans for July”

I missed your great month! When you rave about something I definitely take notice. I tried to click back on Titus Groan and my computer blew up so I’ll have to come back when my electronics are behaving. I can easily be smoked out by chunksters, but on my Poland trip, I actually read TWO chunksters (Cutting For Stone and The Doomsday Book) so I’m feeling pretty cocky. I think if I know I’m going to have the time, I need to go for it. This one is going on the list.

Sandy, Sorry to hear that your computer isn’t behaving – I hope you get it sorted soon. Titus Groan is one of those chunksters that needs to be read slowly, so it takes quite a while to read, but is well worth it. I hope that you like it as much as I did.

I hope that you enjoyed Cutting for Stone. It was one of my favourite reads from last year so I look forward to reading your review.

I’m looking forward to your Booker longlist predictions! My fingers are crossed for Linda Grant to make it. There are so many venerable authors with new titles coming out this fall, I’m eager to see if it’s a list of familiar names or newer faces (or a bit of both!) I hope you enjoy the rest of the Gormenghast trilogy just as much!

Carrie, I haven’t read the Linda Grant book yet, but from all the positive things I’ve heard about it I think it will stand a good chance. I look forward to finding out if it will make it.

Have a good holiday! And take today’s Guardian with you: there are appreciations of Peake by Michael Moorcock, China Miéville, Hilary Spurling, and AL Kennedy.
Best wishes, Peter
(from the place where your puppy comes from)

Peter, I didn’t manage to get a copy of the Guardian today, but I’ll see if anyone I know has a copy – thanks for letting me know about its contents.

Looking forward to your predictions! I don’t know why I couldn’t get through Titus Groan when I tried it *#$% years ago. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Beth, I don’t think this book will be for everyone, but I do suggest that you give it another chance. If it hasn’t wowed you after 25 pages then I don’t think it is for you. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you fall in love with it second time around.

Samantha, It was a reasonably quick read. The pace isn’t that fast, but the book is quite short. I hope that you decide to read it and enjoy it as much as I did.

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