Friday, October 31, 2014

October 2014 Reading Wrap-Up

October was an excellent reading month for me, I'm happy to say! After experiencing a hellacious Reading Slump earlier in the year, I don't take a good reading month for granted anymore. Nope--instead now I know to be very grateful to the Reading Gods! Here are the books I read in the past month:

Here are the titles, with links to my reviews if I've posted them yet:

Rainey Royal by Dylan Landis

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Some Luck by Jane Smiley

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim

Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Certainty by Victor Bevine (review to come on Nov. 5 as part of a blog tour for TLC Book Tours)

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood

Reunion by Hannah Pittard

Eleven books in one month . . . I couldn't get the twelfth in?! Seriously, this may be some kind of a personal record for me (well, that is, if I don't include college and graduate school. Eleven books read strictly for pleasure and not because they were assigned--that would be the record). I'm certainly reading at a faster pace since I started blogging. I don't know if that's because I feel like I should read more to add content to the blog, or if it's simply because through blogging I have become aware of-- and have access to--so many great books!

And my favorite book for the month of October? These were all good reads, so that is a tough question. But I'm going to say Some Luck by Jane Smiley, which I found to be a very satisfying and engrossing family saga.

I hope October was a great reading month for you as well. Onward to November, intrepid readers!

9 comments:

  1. Reading for content vs. reading because you know is always something I wonder about, too. But I rarely have enough space to review everything I read, so I feel more like it's wanting to gobble up great book than wanting to fill up space on the blog. It looks like you had a great month!!

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    1. Yeah--I think now that I read so many other blogs, I am constantly adding to my list of "must reads." And then as soon as I finish a book, I have a stack of things I'm dying to get to! Before I started the blog, I would sometimes go through a process of selecting a new book that took a few days--reading reviews, going to the bookstore or library, etc. Now, BAM--I'm on to the next book right away. It's great! Hope it continues.

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  2. What a great month for you - 11 books is fantastic! You and I read some of the same books this month: Reunion, Without You There is No Us (just finished that yesterday), and Certainty (posted my review of that on Oct 27). Will look forward to your upcoming reviews.

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    1. Sounds like we're on the same cycle of fall books! And did you read Us by David Nicholls also? I have just started that one. And it's so nice that all of these have been pretty good reads!

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  3. I put some of your selections on my Goodreads wishlist. Looks like you had an excellent month of reading! I have no doubt that you are reading more because you are suddenly more aware of all the wonderful books out there just waiting to be read!

    I don't read very fast anymore and some weeks I read just one book and some I read three, but to me, the number isn't as important as my pleasure from reading, so every month is a good month of reading to me :)

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    1. I honestly don't usually read this many books in one month! I think of myself as a steady and not-very-fast reader. There've been times I took a whole month to finish one novel. I totally agree, Rita--the pleasure you get from reading is the most important thing!

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  4. Wow. Eleven books in one month! Wow!

    Off to take a look at your review of Lila.

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    1. Really very unusual for me . . . I don't know if I'll be able to sustain that pace!

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