Monthly Roundup - June 2010

In the throes of a horrid head cold means June is not ending on a high note when it comes to reading and blogging both of which are making my head ache and I'm struggling to just keep up with what has to be done .........and thinking about the ever growing to be reviewed pile.
My apologies for not making the It's Monday meme rounds this week .
Meanwhile I cheer myself up by reading all the northern hemisphere summery posts and try to ignore the winter blues.

It's the start of two weeks of school holidays here at the end of the week and I'll have grandchildren staying over that time so it's going to be a slow start to July. Probably time to take a step back and have a quieter month as June has seen a great deal of activity.

Total Books Read = 17

Roses - Leila Meacham
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen - Syrie James
Avalon - Anya Seton
A Note from an Old Aquaintance - Bill Walker
Cursed - Carol Higgins Clark
The Shadow of Your Smile - Mary Higgins Clark
New York - Edward Rutherfurd
The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
The Vintner's Luck - Elizabeth Knox
Run For Your Life - James Patterson/Michael Ledwidge
Daughters of the House - Michele Roberts
Savage Lands - Clare Clark
The Thief Taker - Janet Gleeson
Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell
The Steppe and Other Stories - Anton Chekhov
Lady of the Butterflies - Fiona Mountain
Out of Shadows - Jason Wallace

DNF: didn't get past the 50 pages.
The Wilderness - Samantha Harvey
Hanging Blind - Paddy Richardson

A Huge Disappointment:
The Captive Queen - Alison Weir.............also a DNF but I did read over 300 pages before I finally gave up. I don't normally review DNF books but if I find time I may do with this one.

It wasn't until I began to look back over June that I realised what a huge month it's been for 'firsts'.

First Bloggiesta: What an exhausting three days but very worthwhile and lots of fun. Achieving all those little jobs I kept meaning to do , learning the things I didn't know how to do, planning ahead and of course meeting lots of new bloggers.

First Readathon : Following after the Bloggiesta it was the perfect opportunity to leave the computer and focus on reading for a week. Hosted by Kristen at Bookworming in the 21st Century the HUGE TBR readathon was a great success.

First Read-Along:  I really enjoyed the Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell read-along experience and look forward to July when we'll be reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. If you're interested in participating the read-alongs are hosted by Allie at A Literary Odyssey .

First Guest Author post: With Bill Walker - A Note from an Old Aquaintance

First Posts away from home:
The first review for Royal Reviews
A guest post for Historical Tapestry's Anya Seton month.
A guest blogger post for Kat at Literary Enchantment

Seeing all that listed I realise what a busy blogging bee I've been in June - definitely time to have a quiet read and review month!