Friday 1 August 2014

Books read in July

July was quite a good reading month for me - 11 books read in all. To be honest I've come to the conclusion that my reading speed has increased. My average used to be 5 to 7 books, whereas it's now 9 to 11. Even when long books are included, and there were two over 500 pages last month, I still manage the same number. I didn't know this could happen but it clearly has, so there you go.

Anyway, these are the books I read in July:

58. Sovereign by C.J. Sansom

59. Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson

60. The Rendezvous and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

61. The Library edited by Rebecca Gray

62. Sanctus by Simon Toyne

63. The Overloaded Ark by Gerald Durrell

64. Helliconia Summer by Brian W. Aldiss

65. Lorraine Kelly's Scotland by Lorraine Kelly

66. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley

67. A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

68. For the Time Being by Dirk Bogarde

Quality-wise I consider it be a good month of reading. All these books were good, some very good, some, like the new Flavia de Luce were like visiting old friends. I've tried and I can't pick a favourite. Three or four were stand-out excellent such as Sovereign by C.J. Sansom and For the Time being by Dirk Bogarde. Others were just simply charming like The Dead in their Vaulted Arches (the new Flavia) by Alan Bradley, Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson, Lorraine Kelly's Scotland, and The Overloaded Ark by Gerald Durrell. Helliconia Summer by Brian Aldiss was very readable classic science Fiction.

I am very pleased that of the 11 books I read last month 4 were non-fiction. That brings my total this year to 15. It's not 'brilliant' but it's actually not bad and I'll continue to make the effort to read a few non fiction volumes every month.

I hope August is a good reading month for you.

~~~oOo~~~

8 comments:

BooksPlease said...

A good reading month, Cath! I had difficulty choosing a favourite for July too. My non-fiction reading is lagging behind yours - I'm up to 8 for the year so far. They take me much longer to read than fiction!

Nan said...

I am SO impressed, and happy for you. Such a good feeling to be doing all that great reading.

DesLily said...

holy cow! and to think I was happy when I read one book a week! (I don't even do that now :( ) But there is always a book next to my chair ! This is really outstanding Cath!! so ummm tell me... do you sleep at all? lol :)

Cath said...

Margaret: Thanks, I thought it was pretty good too. 8 is much better than none at all. And the non-fiction you read tends to be longer books I notice.

Nan: It's a beautiful way to spend a hot summer afternoons.

Pat: I was happy reading one book a week too and am not sure how this speeding up happened. Weird. Wish I could explain it.

TracyK said...

A very varied month. I admire your ability to read more non-fiction. I have a terrible time pushing myself through non-fiction, no matter how good it is. I am reading Monuments Men right now and it is good and I will finish it in August.

Cath said...

Tracy: Yes, I like to ring the changes a bit. I enjoy non-fiction but need to choose the right books in order to get through them in a reasonable time.

Susan said...

Cath: what an excellent month of reading you have had! I didn't read as many. I am reading, just not quite the speed (8 books per month) that I want to get. Right now going through Wise Man's Fear, which at over 800 pages will cut into my total for this month too, though it is very very good. Even better is that you enjoyed them all so much :-)

Cath said...

Thanks, Susan. Well summer is so busy and even I'm finding my rate slowing this month as we have family days and grandkids here. Wise Man's Fear... that's the sequel to The Name of the Wind I think? I still haven't read that. I really *really* must.