I went totally book-berserk this month. I've read 23 books with a total of 8508 pages - This is about 5 times as much as any other month in 2012 so far. Thank God for holidays. My pile of unread books also got some newbies, there was a sale on amazon I couldn't resist, one of the bookstores in the surrounding area upgraded their "English Book Corner" and of course there were books I just HAD TO HAVE this month: Pictures below!
Then there was Potterthon... it was an amazing idea and so much fun to participate in, I managed to read up to book 4 of the series and I'm determined to read the other ones until the end of the year, providing that my new job leaves enough time for reading at all. Starting August 20th, yay....
Enough with the talk, here goes the list - this is what I've read in July:
- Riordan, Rick - The Battle of the Labyrinth (361)
- Gaiman, Neil - Smoke and Mirrors (384)
- Preußler, Otfried - Die kleine Hexe (127)
- Tolkien, J.R.R. - The Two Towers (439)
- Pullman, Philip - Der Goldene Kompass (410)
- King, Stephen - Salem's Lot (653)
- Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (332)
- Nuyen, Jenny-Mai - Nocturna: die Nacht der gestohlenen Schatten (542)
- Carroll, Lewis - Through the Looking Glass (173)
- Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (366)
- Blake, Kendare - Anna Dressed in Blood (316)
- Gaiman, Neil - Fragile Things (433)
- Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (468)
- Boyne, John - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (216)
- Rowling, J.K. - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (796)
- Hodkin, Michelle - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (452)
- Terry, Teri - Slated (439)
- Hemmingway, Ernest - The Old Man and the Sea (99)
- Carroll, Lewis - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (152)
- Oliver, Lauren - Pandemonium (375)
- Adler-Olsen, Jussi - Schändung (460)
- Aiken, Joan - Die Lady aus Cornwall (127)
- Murakami, Haruki - Norwegian Wood (388)
A total of 23 books, 8508 pages, 7 reviews.
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---> 19 Newbies in July <--
- Pratchett, Terry - I Shall Wear Midnight
- Hill, Susan - The Woman in Black
- Rossi, Veronica - Under the Never Sky
- Boyne, John - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
- Hemmingway, Ernest - The Old Man and the Sea
- Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
- Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Traveler's Wife
- Oliver, Lauren - Pandemonium
- Murakami, Haruki - Norwegian Wood
These were the books on sale at amazon.de - 3 for 15€! 'Under the Never Sky' was a book I found while surfing on youtube - Some girl talked about it in a video and dubbed it as her one and only must-read-before-you-die and when I found it on sale, well, what can I say.... 'Pandemonium' was on sale, too, which is extremely fortunate because I've been dying to read on after 'Delirium'. The other books can be categorized as curiosity purchases - yes, I confess, I've never read either 'To Kill a Mockingbird' or The Old Man and the Sea, at least until this month.
- Kozlowski, M.P. - Juniper Berry
- Blake, Kendare - Anna Dressed in Blood
- Terry, Teri - Slated
- Hodkin, Michelle - The Umbecoming of Mara Dyer
These are my must-have-purchases in july. 'Slated', 'Anna Dressed in Blood' and 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer' are books I ordered because of blog reviews while 'Juniper Berry' is supposed to be one of those wickedly altered childrens books I love so much. I'm reading it right now and enjoying it so far - beautiful artwork.
- Gerber, Michael - Barry Trotter and the Shameless Parody
- Gerber, Michael - Barry Trotter and the Unnecessary Sequel
- Gerber, Michael - Barry Trotter and the Dead Horse
Yeah, well, what can I say... After reading so much of Potter lately I ordered them from one of those second hand websites you can access over amazon. I was always curious about this parody and what the heck, the only cost 30 cent a piece.
- Carroll, Lewis - Through the Looking Glass
- Gaiman, Neil - Fragile Things
- Lindsay, Jeff - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
You probably all know the feeling - whenever you set foot in a bookshop you HAVE to buy SOMETHING. It just doesn't feel right without it. So I'm trying to keep my visits to bookshops at a minimum because, let's face it, internet purchases are less expensive, but once a month there's just no getting around it. These were my purchases that one time in July. This month there will be more bookshop visits for me though, they give 15 % off all english paperbacks in august!
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Top of the month
Yes, I am an incurable Potterhead. Yes, I a proud of it. For me there is probably no better book in the series than Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The plot is great, the characters start to gain certain expiriences and develop during the story, it's full of surprising twists and turns and it starts to get really serious here. I'm surprised that I've read this book not nearly as much as the other ones when this is the one I enjoy most of all whenever I read it. Thanks to Potterthon though, I experienced this once again and hopefully not forget about it. A review of this book is in progress although I am currently working on a review of 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' and 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban', too, so it may take a while for me to finish with it. But I intend to review all of the books until the end of this year if I find the time between adjusting to the new job and finishing my papers for school on time.
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Flop of the month
I actually rated some books even lower than 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer' this month, but this book totally crushed my expectations and even ruined my mood to read any YA-novel for a long time. It simply sucked. I couldn't warm up to Mara or any of her behaviour, half of the time I didn't even understand if she was dreaming, having hallucinations or if that was actually real and If I would have known that there was this supernatural theme in it I'm not sure if I would have bought it at all. I can't explain it rationally but this book just didn't fit in any way. Actually there were a lot of books I wanted to choose for this months flop, 'Pandemonium' also among them because WTF was up with that new boy? And could someone please explain to me why every cliffhanger I read in the last few YA-novels seems to consist of someone coming back from the dead? Individualism is dying, my friends.......... Too many authors jumped on the YA-train, now we have to bear the mess.
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Author: Kendare Blake
