Totals on the RIP Challenge (click to see previous reviews):
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley
A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
I'm so close to completing my RIP reads. Dracula, A Study in Scarlet and The Graveyard Book are all that remain. And while I'm totally enjoying the thrilling books I've chosen for myself, I'm ready for a change of pace. I'm looking to read the titles I've been saving for the cooler months when I'm positive I'll be cuddled on the couch often.
Books I'm most excited about:
Gillespie and I by Jane Harris
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
I'm sure there will be plenty of new releases to catch my eye, as well, but these are musts before the end of the year. Feel free to send over suggestions!
I've also completed two classic titles and am working on a third in order to fulfill my 50 book pledge by August of 2017 for the Classics Club.
Look out for my reviews of these recent reads:
The Pigeon Pie Mystery: A Novel by Julia Stuart
The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Court by Michelle Moran
How are you doing for the year?
Well you've already passed the halfway mark, so I wouldn't be too pessimistic about not finishing ;)
ReplyDeleteI've heard good things about 'The Moonstone', I'm considering adding it to my TBR pile too (as if I didn't have other books to read...)
I'm still getting used to balancing work and school and so hope next year I'll make more time for reading!
Mariana,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. I think this is the closest I've come to reading 50 books in a year. I just don't see how people read like 300+. I have reading hangovers and can't start new titles for days!
I loved The Woman in White so much and heard The Moonstone might be better so I'm looking forward to it. The B&N copy was pretty neat looking as well.
Balancing life and all the other things that suddenly come up is so hard when it comes to reading, but really, it's all about having fun and enjoying it. I really have to remind myself to not stress sometimes without letting myself completely drop the ball! Hope you find that balance but I'm positive you will!
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I've only read 33/50 so far. And I'm pretty sure I won't get anything else read this month other than the Grapes of Wrath. The competitive part of me wants to be able to accomplish 50 books! The number seems so little when you see others reading 100-200+ books a year! But, I know that a lot of the books I choose to read are large and much more time-consuming to get through - but most often totally worth it! I don't want to be only reading 200 page long YA novels just to complete the 50 book pledge.
ReplyDeleteI'm like you - I often take a few days (sometimes more) time off in between books - sometimes this is because I'm not in the mood to read, but often it's because life gets in the way. On another note...sometimes I feel that if I didn't blog I would probably read more...but I like spending time blogging and reading other people's blog. I think for next year I will try and focus on finding more balance with reading, writing and blogging/blog visiting. :)
Brie, Yeah, I've read a few door stoppers but my low number was more impacted by events that occurred unexpectedly that prevented me from reading for several weeks in all honesty. I will say that I've done better this year than in the past so I actually feel confident I'll complete 50 by the end of the year! (I just checked and I've almost read as many pages with 31 books this year as I did last year with 38 books). I know that I read more slowly than some people and I shouldn't rush it. But I agree completely! I can't imagine reading one book after the other. It's one thing that's always kept me from participating in readathons. I've never been able to jump from one book to the next and think it would be difficult.
DeleteBlogging is also a time constraint because you're reading and then you're not picking something else to keep those ideas fresh (unless you're reading a bunch of books simultaneously- another thing I can't do). Good luck!
Ooh, Dracula is good, cheesy fun! At least I thought it was cheesy. :-D
ReplyDeleteYou're the first to tell me what it's cheesy so I'm looking forward to it even more. I didn't really think it could be as spooky as everyone's been saying but I guess I'll just have to see!
DeleteDracula is totally creepy! I found it a lot creepier than I'd expected, actually. Hope you like it!
DeleteYou're killing the RIP challenge! Nice work. I'm really glad I only pledged to read two, because so far I've only got one down. I had 50 pages left in The Casual Vacancy and after that I plan to read my last RIP. I haven't decided which title though.
ReplyDeleteI'm also happy to see The Round House on your list of books you're excited about. It's a good one.
Brenna, I'm trying. I'm currently listening to The Graveyard Book but don't know how I feel about audio. I think I'm missing bits of the story. I'm looking forward to discussing The Casual Vacancy with you!
DeleteI just picked up The Round House and know I'm in for some great writing.
You are doing great! I hope you are able to finish the books you want this month. I too am looking forward to some of the books I'm considering for the last two months of the year. As it gets closer to Christmas I want to make up for missing it last year and read I Am Half-Sick of Shadows. I've started to drift back into science fiction reading so I imagine I'll do more of that in the cooler months. For each of the last two years I've read one of Tanya Huff's Valor novels late in the year and I've been seriously considering going there next. At any rate there will be some fun reading coming up for November and December.
ReplyDeleteYes! I have I Am Half-Sick of Shadows on my December list after we discussed it! I even found it at the library the other day on the front shelf and didn't pick it up. I'll be sad when the series is over! I know he has another coming out in February. I'm starting the Louise Penney series. Have you read any of those? Looking forward to seeing your reviews and choices in the months to come.
DeleteI had to smile, yes, I've read Louise Penny. Just picked up her first book in August and read 7 of the 8 books one right after the other. I have the latest here waiting to read. Needless to say I LOVE the main characters in the stories. The first has some debut novel issues but I didn't even mind those because I liked Inspector Gamache right from the start.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and daughter were talking about Flavia last night and almost ruined Half-Sick of Shadows for me. I'm glad I was able to stop them in time.
Haha! As soon as I saw your comment I realized that we had already had this conversation on your blog! Oye! Sorry. :) I'm so excited about starting it up and even got my boyfriend's mother the first of the series because I was anticipating it being great. I got her hooked on the Maisie Dobbs series and she ended up blowing past me - finishing them all in under 2 weeks! I'll let you know once I dive in.
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