Thursday, September 3, 2015

July/August reading

One of my 2015 goals was to read at least two books per month and to write about it on my blog.  I decided that all of the books that I read would be just for fun, not job related reading.  I've done a pretty decent job keeping up with my goal.  From January-June I read 14.75 books (links here).  Unfortunately  I forgot to write my monthly post about my July reading until August was nearly over so I decided to save it and combine my July and August reading.  So without further ado, here are the books I read in July and August.

Quinn by Iris Johansen
This was a mystery novel that is part of a trilogy, I think, and not the first book in the trilogy.  The writing wasn't superb, I felt like most of the story was just fluff and was stringing me along.  It also ended in a cliffhanger, which I didn't like, but my disgust wasn't strong enough to read the other books.  Maybe I would have liked this book more had I read the first book in the trilogy first?  I don't think so.  This book was just meh.  I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.

One Plus One by JoJo Moyes
Yep, another JoJo Moyes book.  I really love her writing.  Just enough to suck me in, but an easy enough read that I can polish it off in a night or two.  One of my favorite parts about her writing is that she tells the story from the perspective of several different characters which not a lot of authors manage do do as seamlessly.  If you want a quick, easy, feel good read, pick this book up.  Or any JoJo Moyes book, for that matter.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
I read this book at Klara's recommendation.  Well, she read the second book in the series, but I wanted to start with the first (see above for the pitfalls of not starting with the first).  Robert Galbraith is one of JK Rowling's pen names so I had high expectations.  It couldn't be more different than Harry Potter, but I wasn't disappointed at all.  I loved this book.  Intelligent writing.  Excellent plot.  I highly recommend this book and I can't wait to read the next in the series!

Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork
This book is in the adolescent literature genre and is written from the perspective of a young man with Aspergers Syndrome.  I read it because a friend had high praise for the book and loaned it to me.  Plus I have an interest in the Autism Spectrum, so it was interesting to read a book from the first person perspective.  I thought it was a pretty good book.  It's probably not for everybody, unless you have an interest in adolescent lit or Autism, but it was good nonetheless.

So I believe this brings me to 18.75 books for the year.  I might have come up a bit short a few months so far, but I think I'll definitely hit 24 books for the year and have my two book per month average!  

9 comments:

  1. I've only read one of JoJo Moyes's books, Me Before You, but I enjoyed it a lot, and I heard there are making it into a movie!

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    1. Ohhh! I didn't know they were making Me Before You into a movie! I can't wait!

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  2. I think I will be on track to reach or surpass that number myself. :) Some interesting-sounding picks here, thanks!

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    1. Yay! Your book reviews were part of my inspiration for doing this. :)

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  3. I really need to start reading.....I'm not a reader. I read two books at the beginning of this summer and I was all proud (it's pathetic, I know), and then I stopped. But I know where I can turn to for lists - between you and Loribeth you've got me covered-)

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    1. Not pathetic at all. I think that people get busy adult-ing and reading often falls by the wayside. Plus with the availability of content online, I'm guessing you read a lot, just not a lot of books. :)

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  4. That last title sounds vaguely familiar but the rest I don't think I've come across before. Thanks for sharing, I always like to check out new authors when I can. Right now, I have a pile of at least 5 books to be read myself. I am reading two at the same time right now, kind of swapping between the two. One I am really enjoying but the other, too early to tell.

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    1. I admire you for reading two books at the same time! Are they both the same type of book (e.g., fiction)? I could probably read one non-fiction and one fiction at the same time but not two of each! I'm in awe!

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    2. Yep, they are both fiction book, both fantasy genre but different enough that I don't get them confused. It's kind of fun because if I get to a boring bit in one book, I just switch over to the other. I tend to be a fast reader so I go through books too fast and I tend to run out and have stretches where I can't find anything good to read.

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