Category: Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

November 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

Lola2 Comments

November was a terrible month for me readingwise. I just could not get myself motivated to read at all. It’s beyond a slump! Anyway, I’m going with it, but if you’re wondering why I have been a bit quiet, that’s why! There is not much to talk about and I guess I have been slacking on the blogging as well. Overall, I just feel a little uninspired.

Hopefully things will change soon!

I did read a grand total of three books in November so here goes:

1. Born A Crime (Trevor Noah ) ★★★★★★☆
2. Dream (Natalia Jaster) ★★★★☆☆☆
3. Knots & Crosses (Ian Rankin) ★★★★★☆☆

I honestly hope I will have a better month this month, but it is not looking like it yet! How was your reading month?

BOOK OF THE MONTH:
Easily Born A Crime by Trevor Noah – it was a wonderful listen!

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

October 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

LolaLeave a comment

My month of reading started ok, but I read hardly anything in the latter part of the month. The long and the short of it is that I only read 5 books over October, but with one of them being Homer’s The Iliad, it still feels like an achievement. I have been listening to a lot of music and writing instead of reading and blogging in October. That trend is still going on a bit, so things may still be a bit quiet for a little while longer on my end. I am sure it will change again, but for now, I am just going with the flow and not worrying too much about it.

It was definitely quality over quantity in October and I am ok with that. I was able to strike two books I have been meaning to read forever off my TBR (The Iliad and The Handmaid’s Tale), which I am really happy about. I did not really read any of my Halloween reads that I had planned, but c’est la vie I guess.

Fingers crossed that my reading will pick up in November (it hasn’t yet!). I am not setting a TBR for November at all, so we will see how it goes.

Atwood, Margaret - The Handmaid's TaleBOOK OF THE MONTH

The Handmaid’s Tale is easily one of the best books I have read and I am so glad I finally got to it. Definitely one I want to read again in the future.

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

September 2019 Reading Wrap-Up

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September was a month of two halves. I managed to read loads in the first half, but then life happened and my reading time dropped right off.

I still managed to finish 10 books in September and that is definitely not to be sniffed at! It was also the first time this year I finised an audio book and I finished two!

1. Crazy Rich Asians (Kevin Kwan) ★★★★★☆☆

2. Walking Home (Clare Balding) ★★★★★★☆

3. A Polar Affair (Lloyd Spencer Davies) ★★★★★★☆

4. Tin Man (Sarah Winman) ★★★★★☆☆

5. A Long Way Down (Nick Hornby) ★★★☆☆☆☆

6. Sleep (C L Taylor) ★★★★★☆☆

7. Becoming (Michelle Obama) ★★★★★★☆

8. Ramona Blue (Julie Murphy) ★★★★★★☆

9. Knife of Dreams (Robert Jordan) ★★★★★☆☆

10. Never Greener (Ruth Jones) ★★★★☆☆☆

***

Four 6-star reads is pretty good going. Interestingly enough  I read 3 non-fiction books and all of those were 6 stars! Two of those (Becoming and Walking Home) were audio books.

The fiction was a bit more iffy with only one 6-star read, three 5-star reads, one 4-star book and a 3-star book. I did also have one novel I DNFd at 15% as it was becoming clear to me it simply was not for me.

Obama, Michelle - BecomingBOOK OF THE MONTH

This has to be Becoming by Michelle Obama. I was very impressed by the way she expresses herself and how inspiring she is. It was a pleasure to listen to her narrating it on audio book.

 

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

August 2019 Reading Wrap-Up: A Bit Meh…

Lola1 Comment

August was not my best reading month when it came to the quality of the books. I read 10 books in total, which I am pretty satisfied with, but only two of those were six star-books.

1. Feed (M T Anderson) ★★★★☆☆☆

2. Lie (Natalia Jaster) ★★★★☆☆☆

3. This Adventure Ends (Emma Mills) ★★★★★☆☆

4. Treading the Uneven Road (L M Brown) ★★★★★★☆

5. Summer: an Anthology for the Changing Seasons ★★★★★☆☆

6. Godsgrave (Jay Kristoff) ★★★★☆☆☆

7. Seducing Charlotte (Diana Quincy) ★★★★☆☆☆

8. The Summer of Impossible Things (Rowan Coleman) ★★★★★★☆

9. Riders (Veronica Rossi) ★★★☆☆☆☆

10. Eucalyptus (Murray Bail) ★★★★★☆☆

***

When half of the books you read rate 4 stars or lower, you know you did not choose the right books. I had hoped to finish another book, but I did not have much time for reading the last couple of days of August.

I was especially disappointed with Godsgrave. I loved Nevernight so so much, but much of what I loved about it was the witty writing and that was sorely missing in Godsgrave.

My biggest surprise was Treading the Uneven Road, which is a set of interlinked short stories set in Ireland. I loved them a ton.

I also really loved Eucalyptus, which was oddly wonderful. but I can see how it is a very polarizing book. It is definitely a love or hate kind of situation.

Overall though, too many ‘meh’ books in August. Onwards and upwards!

Coleman, Rowan - The Summer of Impossible Things

 

BOOK OF THE MONTH:

Without a shadow of a doubt this was The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman. It was not a perfect book, but I loved it so so much. It is a book that feature time travel and I simply adored the characters, the setting and the story. It was predictable, but I really did not mind that. A lot of love for this new favourite.

 

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

July 2019 Reading Wrap-Up: a readathon… or two!

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Now, my TBR for July was pretty ambitious with ten books on it. Six of those were for Summerathon, which actually took place in June, but I used the prompts to set my July TBR.  So let’s have a look what those books were and whether I read them:

  • All These Beautiful Strangers (Elizabeth Klehfoth) 
    • For Summerathon prompt to drink my favourite drink whilst reading
  • Summer: an anthology for the changing seasons (edited by Melissa Harrison)
    • For Summerathon prompt to read a book set in summer
  • The Other Wives Club (Shari Low)
    • For Summerathon prompt to read a book featuring travelling
  • The Kiss Quotient (Helen Hoang)
    • For Summerathon prompt for a beachy read
  • Singletini (Amanda Trimble)
    • For Summerathon prompt to read a book with food on the cover
  • Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid)
    • For Summerathon prompt to read a book with sunrise colours on cover
  • The Bees (Laline Paul)
    • Book hauled in July 2017
  • The Secret Lives of Cows (Rosamund Young)
    • Book hauled in July 2018
  • Pan’s Labyrinth ( (Guillermo del Toro & Cornelia Funke)
    • NetGalley e-ARC
  • Crashing the A-List (Summer Heacock)
    • NetGalley e-ARC

***

So, how did I do?

Well, pretty bloody fantastic, if I say so myself. I read a total of 15 (!!!) books in July, which is a lot for me. I also decided to take part in The Reading Rush pretty last minute and that bumped my numbers up as I read a few shorter books for that. You can check my TBR for that here if you like! I did try and fit in some of the books already on my TBR.

So what did I read and in what order (I don’t know why the order matters, but it does!!!)?

 

 

Then The Reading Rush started in 21 July:

  • 8. Sweetpea (C J Skuse) ★★★★★☆☆
    • Prompt: purple on the cover
  • 9. Making Cocoa for Kingsley Amis (Wendy Cope) ★★★★★☆☆
    • Prompt: read an author’s first book
  • 10. The Secret Life of Cows (Rosamund Young) ★★★★★☆☆
    • Prompt: read a book you mean to read last year
  • 11. Albert Einstein (Ned Hartley/Tom Humberstone) ★★★★★★☆
    • Prompt: read a book in one place
  • 12. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn/David Levithan) ★★★★★★☆
    • Prompt: read a book and watch a movie adaptation
  • 13. A Black Fox Running (Brian Carter) ★★★★★★☆
    • Prompt: read a book with a non-human main character
  • 14. Daisy Jones & The Six (Taylor Jenkins Reid) ★★★★★☆☆
    • Prompt: read a book with five or more words in the title

I am so proud of myself for doing so well and fulfilling all the prompts. For once, the timing just worked!

And finally to finish the month:

The only book from my July TBR that I did not manage to read was Summer: an anthology for the changing seasons. There is a chance I will read that one in August instead, even if I have not actually put it on my TBR. I will if I am in the mood for it. As for the prompt that I put it down for, there were other books set (partly) in summer, so I consider that prompt fulfilled either way.

So to sum up I read: 10 full length novels, 2 non-fiction books, 1 short novel, 1 poetry book ad 1 graphic novel. I am very happy with that indeed! I rated 10 of those books 5 out of 7 stars. I had one 2-star book and one 4-star book. The 6-star books held out until the end of the month, but I still managed to find three books worth that rating in my opinion. Unfortunately no seven-star books this month, but there was one that came close, which brings me to…

Carter, Brian - A Black Fox RunningBOOK OF THE MONTH:

Hands down my favourite book that I read in July was A Black Fox Running. Although it was not quite perfect for me, it came pretty close. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and it just felt like a very special book. It was first published in the 1980s and is written mainly from the point of view of a fox roaming Dartmoor in Devon and it’s so so good. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely is mine!

And the cover of this new edition is just a joy to behold!

 

 

 

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

June 2019 Wrap-Up: 8 books

Lola3 Comments

Eight books does not seem like a lot, but I actually feel very pleased with the books I managed to read in June. The quality was up there and I got to some books I have been meaning to read for a while. None of the books got less than 5 out of 7 stars, which is pretty good going.

So, these are the books and the order I read them in. Click on the title for my review.

* I did not rate The Black Stallion. This is a middle grade book that I read for nostalgia’s sake and there is no way I can rate it. It will always be a perfect ten to me. However, I feel that still after all these years it holds up. It is still an incredibly well written story. A horsey book that is not at all girly or cringey, but full of interesting characters and adventure – check!

Looking at those ratings, it is kind of amusing. I rated Elantris 5 stars and This Lullaby 6 stars. Does that mean that This Lullaby is a better book than Elantris? No, not necessarily, I enjoyed both of them a lot. It made me think about what I base my rating on. A big part of it is enjoyment, but other things also come into play. I think I will do a post on that in the very near future. as I have a lot of thoughts on it.

Jordan, Robert - New SpringBOOK OF THE MONTH

I actually had a hard time deciding which book to go for, but I think I will go for New Spring by Robert Jordan. In Sanderson’s Elantris I saw a lot of echoes of Robert Jordan’s writing. The way Jordan writes characters, even small side characters, is second to none in fantasy in my opinion. I think New Spring showed a slightly sharper version of Jordan’s usual books and all the stronger for it. I enjoyed it so much!

On a side note, I am so happy that Brandon Sanderson is involved in the TV adaptation of The Wheel of Time!

I am looking forward to reading more of Brandon Sanderson’s books in the near future for sure. 

 

Books · Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

May 2019 Wrap-Up: only 7 books

LolaLeave a comment

I did not feel May was too bad readingwise, but I only managed to read 7 books. I finished two series though and both had satisfactory endings, so I am happy!

So these are the books I read (in the order I read them in):

Backman, Fredrik - A Man Called OveBOOK OF THE MONTH
Definitely A Man Called Ove. I absolutely loved that book. I expected to love it, but it still took me by surprise. I have discovered I love these types of ‘very human’ books.

I would thoroughly recommend it if you have not read it yet. It’s so good.