Sunday, July 31, 2016

#ReadMyOwnDamnBooks : July Edition


July went by in a blur but I made an effort to keep on track with this and I'm still in the running to reach my goal of 80 books for the year from my own shelves, whether they're new books from the TBR or rereads. Admittedly, two of these books were recent acquisitions (one purchase, one gift) but I actually read them in the same month I got them which hasn't happened in ages with anything but a new release. I have almost forgotten the days when I went out and bought a new book because I literally didn't have any other unread ones in the house! Ahh, blogging ...

July

The Magician's Ward by Patricia C. Wrede
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
London: A History by A.N. Wilson
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson

Monthly Total: 6
Yearly Total: 46

My favorite book was Charlotte Sometimes, which was everything that I could have hoped for -- time travel, history, and sisterly angst.

London: A History was a short little thing that gave an overview of London's history by highlighting certain elements like architecture. I enjoyed it, though the timing was a bit bad because he talks a lot about how essential immigration and immigrants have always been to the health of the city, a fact that quite a few people seem to have forgotten lately. The heartening part is that London is cyclical and so there's always hope for a return to sanity.

Code Name Verity was unexpected even after all this time of hearing about it from everyone. I didn't speed through it the way I thought I would but I certainly enjoyed it.

So, I think I'm going to tackle S by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams in August. I keep saying I need a time when I can focus on the complexity of it and what better time than the dog days of summer, right? I can't linger over it too much though because I'll need to read five other books from my shelves to stay on track. I have a feeling a few of them will be rereads though because I'm in the mood!

What books are you planning on reading in August? Any rereads?

Keeping cool with indoor reading,
K

7 comments:

  1. Charlotte Sometimes! Lovely book. I don't think I have read the Wilson history, unless I did in a different edition.

    I read S and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I talked about it at the time, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Wilson one is only about 10 years old and is a little Modern Library volume. It's worth getting to fill in some London trivia tidbits! I definitely learned some things from it.

      And I have a feeling that I will be going around to everyone's S reviews once I'm done. I started it a couple of days ago and it's definitely a unique read!

      Delete
  2. You are doing awesome on reading your own books! Hope the rest of the year leads to great reads off of your shelves. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope so too! Of course, I have a bunch of hoarded RIP reads that I'll start getting to next month and I bet I'll have a few gems in that stack. :)

      Delete
  3. S honestly isn't that complex. It really is just mainly super fun, as long as you're not expecting it to be, like, complicated and brilliant. It's just a fun, cool, beautifully designed book. I am FOR IT.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm doing okay with it but it's going a little slower than normal just because I want to take good care of it. I can't just kick back in bed with all that stuff falling out all over! ;)

      Delete
  4. I finally got a copy of Code Verity and am eager to read it.

    80 books is an awesome goal (I am pressed to get my 60 done) and from your own shelves is even more impressive.

    Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete