Wednesday, August 03, 2011

July in Review

What I Learned

Well, obviously that I should have bought a computer in the last month instead of hoping my computer would hold out a bit longer! My computer broke last year and it was my video card had been accidentally unplugged. Anyway, the person that plugged in back in didn't do it right and it was like that for about a year before anyone noticed. Even though it was plugged in correctly for the last month, it was obviously too late and decided to die. I was thinking I had more time so I wouldn't have to rush into a purchase. Now, here I am rushing because the computer I can use is so freaking slow it is driving me nuts!

I also learned that for the time being reading more than one book at a time is working for me. I read 26 books this month. I had a very slow reading month last month, so it is a huge turnaround for me. I am thinking with the dead computer I might get a bit more done this month. August is busy, though, with other things.

New to Me Authors

George R.R. Martin (A Game of Thrones)
Mark Dunn (Ella Minnow Pea)
Moira Young (Blood Red Road)
Randy Russell (Dead Rules)
Joann Sfar & Emmanuel Guilbert (The Professor's Daughter)
Steven Millhauser (Enchanted Night)
Karen Kincy (Other)
Melanie Benjamin (The Autobiography of Tom Thumb)
Franny Billingsley (Chime)
Joe, Alina, Vicki, and Valerie Darger (Love Times Three)
Mitchell Zuckoff (Lost in Shangri-La)
N. John Hall (Correspondence)
Pete Hautman (The Big Crunch)

See? This is why I never finish series...

Series Talk

Farseer Trilogy: 1/3
Song of Fire and Ice Series: 1/5
Outlander Series: 1 out of not sure...
Blue Envelopes Duology: 1/2
Blood Red Road Trilogy: 1/1 - CAUGHT UP!
Jack of Fables Series : 9/9 - FINISHED!
Other Series: 1/2
Sianim Series: 3/4
Women of the Otherworld Series: 12/12 - CAUGHT UP!
DarkGlass Mountain Trilogy: 3/3 - FINISHED!

The Source

Library: 8
Borrowed From Friend: 0
eReader: 2
Personal: 16

What I Read

132. Assassin's Apprentice (Farseer Trilogy, Book 1) by Robin Hobb (Completed July 3, 2011)
133. Cut by Robin Hobb (Completed July 3, 2011)
134. A Touch of Lavender by Robin Hobb (Completed July 3, 2011)
135. Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue (Completed July 8, 2011)
136. Game of Thrones (Book 1 of A Song of Ice and Fire Series) by George R.R. Martin (Completed July 8, 2011)
137. Outlander (Outlander Series, Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon (Completed July 10, 2011)
138. 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson (Completed July 10, 2011)
139. Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn (Completed July 10, 2011)
140. Blood Red Road by Moira Young (Completed July 11, 2011)
141. Dead Rules by Randy Russell (Completed July 12, 2011)
142. The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar & Emmanuel Guilbert (Completed July 14, 2011)
143. Enchanted Night by Steven Millhauser (Completed July 15, 2011)
144. Jack of Fables - Volume 9: The End by Bill Willingham and Company (Completed July 17, 2011)
145. Other by Karen Kincy (Completed July 18, 2011)
146. The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin (Completed July 19, 2011)
147. Steal the Dragon by Patricia Briggs (Sianim Series, Book 3) (Completed July 19, 2011)
148. Chime by Franny Billingsley (Completed July 20, 2011)
149. Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage by Joe, Alina, Vicki, and Valerie Darger (Completed July 21, 2011)
150. Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff (Completed July 24, 2011)
151. Fables - Volume 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham & Company (Completed July 25, 2011)
152. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Completed July 25, 2011)
153. Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld Series, Book 12) by Kelley Armstrong (Completed July 25, 2011)
154. Correspondence: An Adventure in Letters by N. John Hall (Completed July 28, 2011)
155. The Infinity Gate (DarkGlass Mountain Trilogy, Book 3) by Sara Douglass (Completed July 28, 2011)
156. The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman (Completed July 30, 2011)
157. There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff (Completed July 30, 2011)

Books Added to the TBR Pile

The Devil Colony by James Rollins
Enchanted Night by Steven Millhauser
Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

There were a few more review books... It looks like I made a lot of progress on my TBR pile this month, though. Even with the few I left off the progress is nice!

Thoughts on August

A new computer! I am excited even if the time could be a bit better... August is expected to be a busy month so it is hard to say what will happen. I would like to get back to some of the challenges I have been avoiding, though!

5 comments:

  1. As usual, Kelly, I'm flabbergasted by the amount you get read!!! Looks like I've got lots of great Kelly reviews to catch up on when I finally get a chance--this makes me happy. :D
    Hope your new computer will bring you much joy and very few frustrations!

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  2. It sounds like you had a wonderful month of reading! I hope that August goes just as well for you and that your computer troubles go away soon :)

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  3. I'm as flabbergasted as Debi. But I will embrace any opportunity to use the word flabbergasted when I see it. VERY impressive. I really want to read Ella Minnow Pea because I adore the alphabet. I must have missed your review? I will go hunt it down...

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  4. Anonymous3:47 PM

    fantasy novels only seem to come in long series, don't they?! in fact, it's something of a relief when you realise that a series is only 3 books long :)

    that's what i've seen, although i haven't read all that much fantasy. but the ones i see all seem to be part one of many.

    what would you say the ratio of series fantasy books to stand alones is? are the overwhelming majority series?

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  5. **Debi: Kelly needs to catch-up on her reviews... I am going to make a real effort to get some written this week!

    **samantha: Thanks!

    **Care: Ella Minnow Pea actually started to hurt my head by the end. The more letters that were taken out, the harder it was to read... Not that it wasn't well done, but you have to make words out of not-words.

    **JP: Everything is a series nowadays. It's daunting! I would say the majority are at least trilogies if not series. There are very few standalones and many that exist came out years ago.

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