I read 11 books in October, and overall the quality was outstanding. My major achievement this month was finally finishing 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, over 6 months after starting it. It felt like hard work at times, but now I have finished it I can appreciate how amazing this book is. I highly recommend it to anyone who can dedicate many hours to studying a lengthy piece of literary fiction.

My favourites this month

I also finished one audio book. Child 44  is the best audio book I have ever listened to, so I highly recommend you try to find a copy.

Books reviewed during October

Stone’s Fall – Iain Pears 

2666 – Roberto Bolaño 

Legend of a Suicide – David Vann 

The Island at the End of the World – Sam Taylor  

Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 

Modern Delight – Various 

Her Fearful Symmetry – Audrey Niffenegger 

De Niro’s Game – Rawi Hage 

Eating Air – Pauline Melville 

I Served the King of England – Bohumil Hrabal  

Dracula – Bram Stoker  

The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness 

Labyrinth – Kate Mosse  (DNF)

Audio Book

Child 44 – Tom Rob Smith (Audio Book) 

Plans for November 

The great thing about November is that I have no real plans – I am just going to read whatever takes my fancy!

Have a fantasic November!

I read ten books in September, the majority of which were very enjoyable reads, but none were outstanding. In fact I read so many good books that I can’t pick a favourite from the 4 star reads.

The number of books I read in September was slightly less than in previous months, but I have been reading longer books recently. Brothers and The Poisonwoond Bible were both 500+ pages and my current read, Perdido Street Station, is nearly 900 pages long. I aim to keep up the longer reads, as I often find them more satisfying than the shorter books.

I also completed one audio book and one short story.

Books reviewed during September

The Strain – Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan  

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver 

The Dwarf – Pär Lagerkvist 

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 

To Say Nothing of the Dog – Connie Willis  

Brothers – Yu Hua 

The Boy Who Kicked Pigs – Tom Baker 

Corduroy Mansions – Alexander McCall Smith 

Voice Over – Celine Curiol 

The Necklace – Guy de Maupassant (Short Story) 

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins 

Hotel du Lac – Anita Brookner  

Audio Book

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman (Audio Book) 

Plans for October

I love read alongs, so have taken the opportunity to join several in October.

 

 

The first is Rebecca, with the lovely Sandy. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time and have high hopes that it will become one of my favourite books.

Fizzy Thoughts is reading Dracula, another book which I’d love to read. It seems like the perfect book for Halloween, so I look forward to joining in.

Finally, I hope to finish reading 2666 in the next couple of days. It has been a great experience, so the group have decided to continue reading together – our next book will be Kristin Lavransdatter, hosted by  Emily and Richard. I have heard a lot of good things about this book, but I’m pleased to be able to share reading such a long book with lots of other people!

Are you joining any of these read alongs?

Have a great October!

August’s reading was dominated by the Booker long list. I have now finished reading them all and will post my final review (Summertime) tommorrow. I will write a summary of the Booker long list, with my predictions for the short list, soon.

I read a total of 15 books in August and one audio book. The overall quality of the books I read was outstanding. I don’t think I have read so many great books in one month before.

Favourites of the month

 

Books reviewed during August

Heliopolis – James Scudamore 

The Invisible Mountain – Carolina De Robertis 

How to Paint a Dead Man – Sarah Hall 

The Glass Room – Simon Mawer 

The Double – José Saramago 

Far North – Marcel Theroux 

One Morning Like a Bird – Andrew Miller 

The Victorian Chaise-Longue – Marghanita Laski 

Brooklyn – Colm Tóibín 

Not Untrue and Not Unkind – Ed O’Loughlin 

The Quickening Maze – Adam Foulds 

Nocturnes – Kazuo Ishiguro 

Cloudstreet – Tim Winton 

Love and Summer – William Trevor 

The Voluptuous Delights of Peanut Butter and Jam – Lauren Liebenberg 

Me Cheeta – James Lever  (DNF)

Audio Book

Plans for September

I am really looking forward to September as I have some amazing books waiting in the TBR pile. I can’t decide which I am looking forward to more Catching Fire (Hunger Games Trilogy) or Her Fearful Symmetry.

Which one do you think will be the best?

I am going to try to resist buying more new books in September and make an effort to read the ones I already have. Do you think I’ll be successful?! LOL!

I hope that you had a great August and have exciting plans for September.

The amount of time I spend reading seems to be increasing – I managed to read and review 15 books and 1 audio book in July. I have also completed another 5 books and have their reviews waiting to be published in the next few days. I put this down to having a few spare weekends in July to read, so getting through a few extra books during this time.

I like having a few reviews/other posts under my belt, as it means I don’t have to worry about ensuring I have time to write a blog post each day. This isn’t something I’ve really done in the past, but planning posts several days in advance is something I recommend.

Do you write write your posts in advance? How many days ahead are you?

Favourites of the month

 

Books reviewed during July

The Other Hand – Chris Cleave  

Flu – Gina Kolata

Blackmoor – Edward Hogan  

Kill-Grief – Caroline Rance 

Lanterns on Their Horns – Radhika Jha

Fathers and Sons – Richard Madeley

The House at Riverton – Kate Morton 

Six Suspects – Vikas Swarup

Sugar Cage – Connie May Fowler

The Late, Lamented Molly Marx – Sally Koslow 

Tragedy At Law – Cyril Hare 

The Lost Book of Salem – Katherine Howe 

Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh 

Reading in the Dark – Seamus Deane 

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel (DNF)

Audio Book 

Rhett Butler’s People – Donald McCaig  

I also wrote this review for a favourite from my pre-blogging days:

The Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean Auel

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Plans for August

I’m going to focus on the Booker long list in August, maybe adding a few Japanese books for variation.

I’ll try to add a few other books as well, just so you don’t get sick of reading about Booker books!

Did you find any great books in July?

Are you planning to read any thing from the Booker long list in August?