December and 2013 Reading Round-up

Happy New Year :-)

Here's my usual round-up of my book reviews, what I read in December 2013, plus other posts that have been on the blog, including my recommended reads for 2013. Also, a reflection on reading challenges I signed up for in 2013 and thoughts for 2014.

I managed very little reading over the last few weeks, I couldn't seem to relax into a book. I hope things will pick up very soon. I've been thinking about how many books I've got that I really wanted to read when I bought them, and about making time this year to read these lovely books that I already own. I'd still like to read some new books of course, but I would like my reading to feel more like a choice again and less like a chore. Does that make sense?

I reviewed:
(clicking on the titles takes you to the reviews)

His Father's Son by Tony Black

Kellie at Come-alive Cottage by Wendy Unsworth

Dance the Moon Down by R. L. Bartram

The Undertaking by Audrey Magee

The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow

Dead Gone by Luca Veste

Quick reviews of:
The Husband's Secret
The Cry
Trust Your Eyes
Cambridge Blue
Until You're Mine

Quick thoughts on:
Pictures at an Exhibition
The Last Family in England
Frost Hollow Hall
Sad Monsters

Guest book review of Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton

Guest book review of The Lives She Left Behind by James Long


I also read:
(thoughts coming soon)

The Blood Whisperer by Zoe Sharp

Road Ends by Mary Lawson

I started reading:

The Humans by Matt Haig

The Facts of Life and Death by Belinda Bauer


I featured on:

We Love This Book - Best Books of 2013

Dizzy C's Little Book Blog - Blog Buddies

Reading Matters - Book Bloggers Advent Calendar


I featured posts and extracts from:

Goodwill Tour - Paying it Forward - Keith Maginn

Guest post by Anna Belfrage

What were your reading highlights this past month?

I also posted my books of the year and other recommended reads lists.

Reading Challenges from 2013 - updates

Translation Challenge - I managed to read 9 books in translation by my reckoning, I'd hoped for more though, and will keep at this in 2014 too.

To be read pile Challenge - I only read 4 of the 12 I hoped to read (and there were 2 more which I started but it didn't feel like the right time to read them, but will re-try both.) 

:-( MUST read the rest this year!

The Classics Club - hardly scratched the surface on this so lots to dive into for me this year. 

Non-fiction - again I hoped to read more than I did, so I aim to read this year the ones I bought/received but didn't yet read.

Bout of Books 8.0 - Progress Updates Master Post!

This is the master post for my reading throughout the Bout of Books 8.0 read-a-thon. 

I'll try to update it everyday, August 19th to August 25th.

Here's a link to my post with the books I hope to read.

Updates

Monday

Number of pages I've read today: 105

Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 1

Books: The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)

Tuesday

Number of pages I've read today: 50

Number of books I've read today: 0

Total number of books I've read: 1

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
Reading - New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)

Wednesday

Number of pages I've read today: 146

Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 2

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)

Thursday

Number of pages I've read today: 123 pages
52 pages of Someday We'll Tell Each Other Everything
71 pages of The Return of the Soldier

Number of books I've read today: 0

Total number of books I've read: 2

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
Read - New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)


Also commented on lots of blogs today, including quite a few 'new to me' ones.

Friday

Number of pages I've read today: 65 pages of The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis
30 pages of Someday....

Number of books I've read today: 0

Total number of books I've read: 2

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
Read - New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)

Saturday

Number of pages I've read today: 40 pages of The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis
42 pages of Blackmore's Treasure by Derek G. Rogers

Number of books I've read today: 1

Total number of books I've read: 3

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
Read - New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)
Read - The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis (WellSaidPress)

Also did lots of DIY at our house today, including starting to paint a bedroom and woodstaining some new bookshelves - woohoo!!

Sunday

Number of pages I've read today: 

Number of books I've read today: 

Total number of books I've read: 

Books: 
Read - The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke (Peirene Press)
Read - New England Rocks by Christina Courtenay (ChocLit)
Read - The Secret Lake by Karen Inglis (WellSaidPress)

I've developed a summer cold and I managed a bit more DIY but my reading concentration really suffered, so my bout of books attempted fizzled out quite a bit at the end...

But I really enjoyed taking part, I would do it again, and next time I'll try and be more active about it on twitter and visit even more blogs. 

2011 Reading Challenge - Progress so far

Well, here we are just past the mid-point of May and I'm having a look at the reading challenge I set myself on the Goodreads website for this year. I was nervous about doing this as I really wasn't sure how many books I could read and also I am not a fast reader. So I went for what I thought was a decent but very likely achievable target of 50 books. Looking at my stats, I have now completed 22 books, which I am fairly happy with. More would always be good in an ideal world, because I have such a backlog to get through! But I've enjoyed what I've read, and sometimes it's a case of being in the right frame of mind to really enjoy a book. If the mood is not there, it's not there, and I keep reading the same sentence, paragraph or page. But when I am fully imersed and getting carried away by the characters and the tale, there's not much else like it. So I'm happy with my progress, off I go to finish my current read and make it 23, and if I manage my 50 this year, here's to - maybe - 75 next year?