Showing posts with label Month in Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Month in Review. Show all posts

Monday, 5 November 2012

Month in Review: October 2012

Having said last month that I was picking up with my blogging and reading, this month I failed to make any real improvement.  I read two books!  Two!  That is just poor, especially given that I had a bit of a mad birthday book haul:


That pretty much sums up this month: more books acquired than read, though that also describes my usual approach to books and reading.

Books Read in October 2012
60. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

Stats
Total Books Read = 2
Total Pages Read = 597
Average Book Length= 298

Owned Books = 2
Library Books = 0

Books Reviewed

Most Popular Blog Post

Month Ahead
1. Continue with the Harry Potter Readlong, hopefully get all 4 remaining books read.
2. Start the Series Catch Up Challenge - my sign up post is here.  Get at least one of those series finished!

The Year Is Almost Over
My Goodreads challenge was to read 100 books this year (and I only count books that are new to me; including rereads I've probably done it, blast).  I have read 62, which means I need to read 38 books in two months/8 weeks/56 days.  That is so not doable but I'll give it a shot.


Monday, 1 October 2012

Month in Review: September 2012

I feel like I got back into the swing of blogging and reading this month.  It's certainly been my most productive stretch of blogging for a while.  And if September had a constant it was J.K. Rowling: I started the Harry Potter Readalong, reread the first three Harry Potter books, read The Casual Vacancy and went on the studio tour.

One of the many photos I took - more on my Twitter profile.

Books Read in September 2012
52. Prater Violet by Christopher Isherwood
53. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
54. Montmorency by Eleanor Updale
55. Montmorency on the Rocks by Eleanor Updale
56. All the Conspirators by Christopher Isherwood
57. Moranthology by Caitlin Moran
58. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
59. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Stats
Total Books Read = 8
Total Pages Read = 3,074
Average Book Length = 384

Owned Books = 6
Library Books = 2

Books Reviewed
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Most popular blog post
Top Ten Books on my Autumn TBR List

Book of the Month
Moranthology by Caitlin Moran
Non-fiction/Collection of columns

I love this book for it's irreverence, it's humour and the fact that I agree with the views expressed (it's always nice to read people whose politics are like yours).  Covers everything from party bags for children to binge drinking to Downton Abbey and Doctor Who.  And I laughed my arse off several times, especially at "Downton needs Elton Drake!".  I recommend this and How To Be A Woman to everyone.  Go forth and read Caitlin Moran!  Then follow her on Twitter (especially when she's watching Nigella as that is fun).


Month Ahead
1) Try and clear my library books.  I have 19 to read from 2 libraries which is a bit ridiculous.  And I really need to read these and not borrow any new books before I start any of the unread books I own.
2) The Casual Vacancy Readalong - two posts, one on the 4th and one on the 11th.  The first is just general impressions, and the second will be the full review.  I'm still not sure what I think about the book, but I did find it disappointing.
3) Keep rereading Harry Potter for the readalong.  I will be waiting till I've done The Casual Vacancy Readalong before I post more reviews, but this gives me time to read the remaining 4, especially the brick that is Order of the Phoenix.

Three TBR Books To Read in October
1. Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr
2. Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock
3. For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

Sunday, 1 July 2012

Month in Review: June 2012

This month I've managed to keep up my level of reading - I tend to find my reading stride in the summer, it was the same last year - and have read two of my favourite books this year.  Also moving a bit further on in two series I'm reading (The Wardstone Chronicles and The Keys to the Kingdom) which is a plus, as I tend to drop series far too quickly.


Books Read in June 2012
35. Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix
36. Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes
37. The Spook's Secret by Joseph Delaney
38. Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
39. An Utterly Exasperated History of Modern Britain by John O'Farrell
40. The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
41. Swan Song by Edmund Crispin
42. Buried For Pleasure by Edmund Crispin
43. Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix
44. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
45. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Stats
Total Books Read = 11
Total Pages Read = 3591
Average Book Length = 326

Owned Books = 8
Library Books = 3

Most Read Author = Edmund Crispin (3)

Top Three Books of the Month


2. Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
3. Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

Monday, 4 June 2012

Month in Review: May 2012

Despite posting early in May about my plans to actually blog more, I failed to do so.  However, I did exceed my target of 'how many books I need to read a month to hit 100 at the end of the year' by reading 11 books (the target is 9) so I'm quite pleased with that.  I also found 5 Dorothy Dunnett books in various second hand shops, causing me to make a strange meeping noise when I spotted 4 in one shop - the teenage boy selecting books beside me looked a little alarmed but books 2-5 of the House of Niccolo series deserve a greeting, I think.

Books Read in May 2012
24. Goodbye to Berlin - Christopher Isherwood
25. 1000 Years of Annoying the French - Stephen Clarke
26. Will Grayson Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
27. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares - Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
28. Mr Norris Changes Trains - Christopher Isherwood
29. Franny & Zooey - J.D. Salinger
30. Aenir - Garth Nix
31. Above the Veil - Garth Nix
32. Into Battle - Garth Nix
33. The Violet Keystone - Garth Nix
34. Mister Monday - Garth Nix

Stats
Total Books Read = 11
Total Pages Read = 3348
Average Book Length = 304

Library Books = 6
Owned Books = 5

Most Read Author = Garth Nix

Top Three Books
1. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
2. Will Grayson Will Grayson
3. Goodbye to Berlin

Book of the Month
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
YA / Contemporary
I love Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, and somehow the publication of Dash and Lily passed me by because I am an idiot.  When I saw it in Waterstone's in Cambridge (bless whoever buys in the US imports for their teen section) I pounced, but then didn't read the book for three months.  This was silly: the book is as funny, clever, true and wonderful as Nick and Norah, and I devoured it in as few sittings as I could.  Absolutely wonderful.

Friday, 2 December 2011

Month in Review: November 2011

Another lazy month, reading and blogging-wise.  I have been doing some of my own writing - though not taking part in NaNo for the first time since 2009 - and this is taking priority over reading.  And then I bought a couple of new games and lost some time to those (Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7, both very good and very timesuck-y). 

I also don't think my reading is going to go up in December, but I do plan to do a lot of Year in Review style posts on the blog, covering things I've read this year and challenges I've completed.

Books Read in November 2011
134. The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliff
135. The Missing - Lisa McMann
136. Real Live Boyfriends - E. Lockhart
137. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
138. Dead Girls' Dance - Rachel Caine
139. Frontier Wolf - Rosemary Sutcliff
140. Beauty - Robin McKinley
141. The Iron King - Julie Kagawa
142. Love and Other Four Letter Words - Carolyn Mackler
143. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
144. The Mark of the Horse Lord - Rosemary Sutcliff

Stats
Total Books Read = 11
Total Pages Read = 2924
Average Book Length = 266

Owned Books = 2
Library Books = 8
Bought After Borrowing & Reading = 1 (The Iron King)

Most Read Author = Rosemary Sutcliff (3).

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. Real Live Boyfriends
02. The Iron King
03. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
04. The Missing
05. The Lantern Bearers
06. Frontier Wolf
07. Beauty
08. The Mark of the Horse Lord
09. Dead Girls' Dance
10. Love and Other Four Letter Words

Friday, 4 November 2011

Month in Review: October 2011

Slightly lazy month, both for reading and blogging.  In a minor defence it was my birthday, which meant I actually had a social life but that I also attempted to make some resolutions which I promptly broke and didn't post about.  And then November started and I still hadn't done anything new.  I need to make some plans and stick to them (this applies to my writing as well as my reading and blogging).  However, I have done quite a bit of reading in October - but am really looking forwards to the Re-readathon later this month.

NB: While I did read Dante's Inferno this month (review here) I'm not listing it as it's part of my doorstop Oxford Classics Divine Comedy so I'll count it when I've finished Paradiso.

Books Read in October 2011
121. Stop in the Name of Pants - Louise Rennison
122. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me? - Louise Rennison
123. Frostbite - Richelle Mead
124. Valiant - Holly Black
125. Ironside - Holly Black
126. Let It Snow - Maureen Johnson, John Green & Lauren Myracle
127. The Labours of Hercules - Agatha Christie
128. Destination Unknown - Agatha Christie
129. Beauty Queens - Libba Bray
130. Wish Me Dead - Helen Grant
131. Seven Sorcerers - Caro King
132. Before I Die - Jenny Downham
133. A Murder of Quality - John le Carre

Stats
Total = 13
Total Pages = 4317
Average Book Length = 332
Most Read Authors = Holly Black, Agatha Christie and Louise Rennison (2 each)

Cover of the Month
Beauty Queens

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. Beauty Queens
02. Before I Die
03. Let It Snow
04. Ironside
05. Valiant
06. Wish Me Dead
07. Seven Sorcerers
08. Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me?
09. Stop in the Name of Pants
10. Frostbite

Saturday, 1 October 2011

Month in Review: September 2011

September seems to have lasted forever, so much so that I when I came to compile the list below I didn't think I'd read some of the books this month.  This is not good.  I'm reading things so quickly I'm not really taking them in, so that I'll find myself wondering which book I read so-and-so in and be annoyed that I can't be certain.  Think I'm going to need to slow down and do some rereads of books from earlier this year, although it's my birthday this month which means a Book Buying Binge of grand proportions.  Still, I tend to read more books from the library than books I own, so maybe that will slow me down a little.

Books Read in September 2011
099. The Masqueraders - Georgette Heyer
100. The Treasure Map of Boys - E Lockhart
101. The Princess Diaries: Take Two - Meg Cabot
102. Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel - Andrew Graham-Dixon
103. Guyaholic - Carolyn Mackler
104. The Princess Diaries: Third Time Lucky - Meg Cabot
105. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things - Carolyn Mackler
106. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden - Helen Grant
107. The Riddle of the Poisoned Monk - Sarah Matthias
108. Feeling Sorry For Celia - Jaclyn Moriarty
109. Tom Fletcher and the Angel of Death - Sarah Matthias
110. And That's When it Fell off in My Hand - Louise Rennison
111. Hex Hall - Rachel Hawkins
112. The Glass Demon - Helen Grant
113. You Know Where To Find Me - Rachel Cohn
114. The Silver Branch - Rosemary Sutcliff
115. Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins
116. Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers - Louise Rennison
117. Startled by His Furry Shorts - Louise Rennison
118. Ripley's Game - Patricia Highsmith
119. The Thieves of Ostia - Caroline Lawrence
120. Luuurve is a Many Trousered Thing - Louise Rennison

Stats
Total = 22
Total pages = 5861
Average book length = 266
Most Read Author = Louise Rennison (4 books).

Nicest Covers of the Month
The Vanishing of Katharina LindenMichelangelo and the Sistine ChapelThe Masqueraders

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. The Treasure Map of Boys
02. Lola and the Boy Next Door
03. The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
04. The Glass Demon
05. The Silver Branch
06. The Masqueraders
07. Hex Hall
08. Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel 
09. You Know Where To Find Me
10. The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things

Friday, 2 September 2011

Month in Review: August 2011

Ah, long inactivity.  Fun things like moving house, job hunting and general lack of internet access have conspired against me (also: natural laziness) which means I haven't updated since April (at least it's April this year, but still) and am now planning all sorts of things which may or may not get done (including something involving Enid Blyton, though what that is I do not know). 

Anyway, something which I can do because it is essentially a list...

Books Read in August 2011
78. The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff (1/8 - 4/8)
79. The Queen's Fool - Philippa Gregory (22/7 - 5/8)
80. A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray (5/8 - 7/8)
81. Rebel Angels - Libba Bray (7/8 - 8/8)
82. One of Our Thursdays is Missing - Jasper Fforde (12/8)
83. Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas - Louise Rennison (12/8 - 13/8)
84. The Talented Mr Ripley - Patricia Highsmith (25/7 - 13/8)
85. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson (13/8)
86. Tithe - Holly Black (13/8 - 14/8)
87. Bad Taste in Boys - Carrie Harris (15/8)
88. Five Are Together Again - Enid Blyton (15/8)
89. The Crowfield Demon - Pat Walsh (15/8 - 16/8)
90. Withering Tights - Louise Rennison (18/8 - 19/8)
91. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld (15/8 - 21/8)
92. Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead (21/8)
93. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan Aiken (22/8)
94. The Bermudez Triangle - Maureen Johnson (23/8)
95. Dancing in my Nuddy Pants - Louise Rennison (26/8 - 27/8)
96. The Last Continent - Terry Pratchett (27/8 - 29/8)
97. Vegan Virgin Valentine - Carolyn Mackler (30/8)
98. Outcast - Rosemary Sutcliff (31/8)

Stats
Total = 21
Total pages = 6591*
Average book length = 314 pages

Completed Challenge = 1st in a Series with Tithe (14/8)

Inadvertent Trope of the Month = It Got Worse.  Seriously, several of these books are full of things just getting worse and worse and bleaker and bleaker.  Prime examples: Outcast (ye gods, that was one thing after another); Uglies (and I know it's going to get worse in Pretties); and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (vile Victorian orphaned and alone bleakness).  I liked all of these books, and two at least had happy endings, but they needed buffers of 'happier' books around them.

Most Read Author = Louise Rennison (3 books).

Nicest Covers of the Month
Bad Taste in Boys (Kate Grable #1)Uglies (Uglies, #1)The Crowfield Demon

Top Ten Books of the Month
01. Uglies
02. The Eagle of the Ninth
03. Speak
04. A Great and Terrible Beauty
05. Rebel Angels
06. Bad Taste in Boys
07. The Crowfield Demon
08. Bad Taste in Boys
09. The Bermudez Triangle
10. Vampire Academy

*I have a spreadsheet for this because clearly I a) have no life; b) am obsessive; and c) really like spreadsheets.

Friday, 15 October 2010

Month in Review: September 2010

Making Money (Discworld, #36)
New reads
Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane - Andrew Graham-Dixon
I love Caravaggio's paintings, and this book not only has plates of most of them (which I ran around showing my housemates) but also goes into detailed exploration of them.  There was a lot of flicking back and forth between text and image and saying of 'oh, I hadn't noticed that'.  It's also one of those biographies - like Claire Tomalin's Jane Austen: A Life - where even though you know how it ends you're still willing it not to happen, especially as his death (there, spoiled it) is both a mystery and lonely.  Definitely recommend the book, even to those who know nothing about him.  

Scott Pilgrim 6 - Bryan Lee O'Malley
Read because I was planning to see the film until illness and hectic schedules got in the way.  I read the first three at uni, in about 2007, and had a quick power through the last three in August/September this year.  It deserves more than a quick power through, though, as the series is brilliant.  The end is awesome.  And Wallace is the best.  

Making Money - Terry Pratchett
Didn't enjoy this as much as Going Postal (see below) but it was still good because, well, it's Pratchett.  I can't detail the parts I really did enjoy without hideously spoiling, though if they ever try to film it as a sequel to Going Postal I can see some problems - especially with what Mr Fusspot was running round with in his mouth.  Not my favourite Discworld, and not one I'd give to someone starting on the series, but still a damn good read.   

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
Everyone and their dog has read this series but me.  I started reading The Hunger Games because Mockingjay was out and I wanted to read the trilogy in one go (I'd rather not have to deal with cliffhangers and waiting for next volumes if I possibly can).  However - as the fact that I have yet to pick up Catching Fire even though it is right there on my To Be Read pile shows - I stopped after the first one.  It's so intense.  And, as I texted a friend repeatedly, fucked up.  Every time I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.  This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it: it's well-written, unputdownable and gave me a deep urge to skip to the end so I could check everyone I wanted to made it out alive but I couldn't jump right into Catching Fire afterwards for fear of my brain dribbling out my ears.  

Read for Project Fill in the Gaps, because, y'know, it won the Booker.  The style took a bit of getting used to, but after the first few pages I was hooked.  It's an easy read, despite being so densely packed with detail (and big enough to brain a person).  The main issue I had was entirely my own: I don't know the Tudor period half as well as I thought I did.  I've studied it, I've watched David Starkey walk round Hampton Court proclaiming about it, but I couldn't remember when Ann Boleyn fell (spoiler) or when Thomas More was executed (and another).  I was tempted to look it up online, but decided against it because I was enjoying Mantel's take on events too much - I actually liked Thomas Cromwell, who I've usually seen presented as a good organiser but dastardly destroyer of monasteries, oh the bastard.  I need to write a fuller review of this, because it deserves it, but I highly recommend it.

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Another for Project Fill in the Gaps, and my choice for Banned Books Week.  Read it in one sitting, right after finishing Wolf Hall, so I was up till 2am and didn't care.  I can't think of an adequate way to describe the book, except that I was often laughing and getting angry at the same time.  And now I want to read as much Vonnegut as I can get my hands on, starting with Mother Night.  Possibly my favourite of everything I read in September, and therefore hardest for me to define - it was amazing.  There, inadequate but it sums it up.

Rereads
Going Postal - Terry Pratchett
Reread this before reading Making Money, as needed to remind myself of Moist's backstory.  I could remember not enjoying the book much the first time I read it, but on reread I couldn't work out what the hell I was thinking.  It's fantastic.  Maybe not as much my favourite as Night Watch or Thief of Time, but still bloody brilliant, especially the resolution - which is, marvellously, the right resolution.  And I snorted on a train at "[h]ere's that damn enormous fiery eye again" (p330 in my edition).

Maurice - E.M. Forster
Read again after my housemate and I spent a day perving on Rupert Graves watching Merchant Ivory adaptations of Forster.  I'd read the last third or so (Scudder!) a lot but hadn't reread the beginning with Cambridge and Clive and things that make me want to beat my head against a wall.  I still skimmed some of the middle sections, because they're so awkward, but the book as a whole is still awesome, and the adaptation is very faithful.  Also Rupert Graves.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...