Thursday, December 1, 2011

Monthly Roundup - November 2011

The end of the year is nigh as we welcome in December and I can't say I'm sorry to see November go. It has been a less than memorable month. The out-of-sorts feeling I had during the first week turned out to be the forerunner to the flu which laid me low for another week and since then it's been a slow battle to regain the lost energy.
On the positive side lying around gave me the opportunity to think about reading and blogging - sometimes looking at what you don't want to do is better than thinking about what you want to do when it comes to making changes.


Books read in November = 13


* = Top picks for the month
Italics are from my bookshelf or on Kindle



The Ridge by Michael Koryta
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
American Devil by Oliver Stark
*The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford
*The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry
The Caller by Karin Fossum
*Diamond Dove by Adrian Hyland
*Shut Your Eyes Tight by John Verdon
The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney
*Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg (to be reviewed 29 Dec.)
Devious by Lisa Jackson
*The Warden by Anthony Trollope (review coming)
The Dragon Queen by Alice Borchardt (review coming)


DNF = 1
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman..........I read 100 pages and that was enough. As much as I love descriptive prose there is such a thing as overkill and it all became extremely monotonous. Not for me!

Fiction - 12
Non-fiction - 0
Library books - 7

On Kindle - 3
From my bookshelf - 2



Added to bookshelf - 2
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - a win from the Literary Blog hop
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte - bought with the help of a discount voucher.

New from NetGalley

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M J Rose
Obedience by Jacqueline Yallop
The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

2011 Challenges........I read and reviewed books needed to complete two challenges and that winds up my challenge reading for 2011. I had three that I barely got started on so they must be considered as failures. 

2012 Challenges..............I don't want too many challenges next year so I'm keeping a firm hold on my tendency to rush into something that I'll regret later. So far I've committed to these three which might be enough and any other temptations I'll leave until the end of December before deciding.


For December - it's a busy time of year so nothing planned except to finish those 'Best of 2011 ' lists.

I hope everyone finds some time to relax and read in the hectic rush towards the festive season.



4 comments:

  1. You had a great November. Hope December is just as good.

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  2. I'm thinking Dovekeepers is not for me either. Just does not seem to be one I'd like. Hope December is just as good as last month for you.

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  3. Glad your feeling better, its amazing how you feel it coming on and then the flu takes you down just like that.

    I can't wait for the Best of 2011 lists, yaaaay.

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