August 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Amazingly, we have now hit the end of August.  As I’m again going to be working into tonight, I doubt I’m going to be reading any more books, so it’s the perfect time for my regular reading wrap-up.  As usual the breakdown is completely arbitrary as I try to figure out what I’m reading the most of.  I managed an astonishing 24 books this month; I blame the YA.  While most of them were thought-provoking and complex reads, there’s no denying that I do read them faster than adult books, even when they’re enormous chunksters.

Historical Fiction

• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
• The Red Queen, Philippa Gregory
• Coventry, Helen Humphreys
• Mr Rosenblum’s List, Natasha Solomons
• Dracula in Love, Karen Essex
• Lady of the Butterflies, Fiona Mountain

YA (all genres)

• The Shadow in the North, Philip Pullman
• Infinite Days, Rebecca Maizel
• The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness
• Monsters of Men, Patrick Ness
• A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly
• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

Nonfiction/Memoir

• Wu, Jonathan Clements
• Bess of Hardwick, Mary S. Lovell
• A Castle in Spain, Matthew Parris
• Notes from a Big Country, Bill Bryson
• Stealing Water, Tim Ecott

Mystery

• Grave Sight, Charlaine Harris

Women’s Fiction

• Maybe This Time, Jennifer Crusie (I actually have no idea where to categorise this)

Literary Fiction

• Red Hook Road, Ayelet Waldman
• Bombay Time, Thrity Umrigar

Christian Fiction

• How Dolly Parton Saved My Life, Charlotte Connors

I’m surprised to say that my reading was pretty evenly split between the first three of my categories.  It’s almost amusing considering just the other day I said I didn’t read much YA!  I have proved myself very wrong there.  I’m also glad to see how much non-fiction I’ve read; as I finished my MA dissertation nearly a year ago now, I’m absolutely craving interesting information.  I’m actually finding myself more drawn to non-fiction than some fiction and reading it almost as quickly.  I miss learning.

I would also like to report the first success of my scheduled reading project.  I spent all of August reading one review book, one own book, and then one library book, which I planned out for myself in advance.  I did break away from that to read all the Hunger Games books, but I’m right back to it now.  I feel surprisingly accomplished as the pile changes, and it helps a lot that I mix up must read NOW books with interesting non-fiction and slower review books I might otherwise put off.  I’m achieving a greater balance than I was and reading more of what I feel I want to read most rather than just those books which catch my eye or are short enough to read in a day.

Finally, I’m thrilled to be shortlisted for Best Historical Fiction Blog in BBAW 2010!  I didn’t even know the shortlists were out but I received a lovely email this morning with this fantastic banner:

Thank you!

How was your reading month?