I had mixed feelings about my June reading – there were some books that I loved and others that I didn’t enjoy very much at all. I read 13 books and 7 were by authors who were new to me. My reading took me to Sweden, England, Sierra Leone, America and Italy. As usual I haven’t had time to post my thoughts on all of these books yet, so if there are any you’re particularly interested in please let me know and I’ll try to make those reviews a priority.

Favourite books read in June

I enjoyed Dr Thorne by Anthony Trollope as much as the other two Trollope books I’ve read and I’m now really looking forward to Framley Parsonage, the next in the Barsetshire series. On Wednesday I explained why I loved Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir – definitely one of my favourite books of the month! And I finished The Darkest Room by Johan Theorin just in time for it to be included in my June summary. Hopefully I’ll be posting my review of this wonderful Scandinavian crime novel within the next few days.

Other books read in June

The Map of Time by Felix Palma
Rule Britannia by Daphne du Maurier
Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
Daphne by Justine Picardie
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Flight of the Falcon by Daphne du Maurier
Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie
The Small Hand by Susan Hill
Grace Williams Says It Loud by Emma Henderson

Did you read any great books in June? What are you looking forward to reading in July?

Here we are at the end of another month! I didn’t read as many books as I have in previous months, but where books are concerned, quality is more important than quantity and I loved almost everything I read in May.

Favourite books read in May

Choosing my favourites was difficult this month because, as I said, I enjoyed all nine books that I read. However, there are two that stand out from the rest: the first was Gillespie and I by Jane Harris (I posted my review yesterday) and the other was The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, which I hope to be posting about soon.

Other books read in May

Touch by Alexi Zentner
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor
Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie
The Report by Jessica Francis Kane
A Word Child by Iris Murdoch
Orlando by Virginia Woolf

I’ve also been reading Dr Thorne by Anthony Trollope, a few chapters per week, and although I’m only halfway through I’m enjoying it as much as the other Trollope books I’ve read.

How was your month? Did you read any good books in May?

I can’t believe it’s May already! Looking back at the books I read in April, it was probably my best month so far this year. I read fifteen books (plus a few children’s books – more on that later this week) including six from the Orange Prize longlist, two classics and my Persephone Secret Santa present.

Favourite books read in April

I loved Persuasion and now Sense and Sensibility is the only Austen novel I still haven’t read. I also enjoyed North and South – and as I’ve now read two works by Elizabeth Gaskell this year it means I’ve completed the Gaskell Reading Challenge. I thought Jamrach’s Menagerie was a very entertaining read. And Alas, Poor Lady has become one of my favourite Persephones so far!

Other books read in April

The Seas by Samantha Hunt
Naming the Bones by Louise Welsh
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Song Before it is Sung by Justin Cartwright
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Darkside by Belinda Bauer
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
The Echo Chamber by Luke Williams

I enjoyed all of these apart from the Justin Cartwright book. Reviews will be coming soon, I promise! They’ve all been written and it’s just a case of scheduling the posts. I don’t really like posting more than three or four times a week but it might be necessary for a while until I catch up.

I hope you all had a good April. Enjoy your reading in May!

I was intending to post my March Reading Summary yesterday but the day turned out to be busier than expected, which is why I’m posting this later than planned!

March was another good month. I read seven books by men and nine by women – all but four were new authors for me. I read books set in France, England, Spain, Italy, USA, Sweden and the former Czechoslovakia (only one was a translation, though). And unfortunately I’ve only had time to post my thoughts on five of them so far, which means another month of trying to catch up!

Favourite books read in March:

After years of thinking I wouldn’t like Life of Pi, I’ve read it at last – and loved it! I also loved Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome and in And Then There Were None I’ve finally found an Agatha Christie book that I really enjoyed.

Other books read in March:

Ann Veronica by H.G. Wells
Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin
Far to Go by Alison Pick
A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde
Echoes from the Dead by Johan Theorin
The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley
The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin
The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen
The Lost Book of Salem by Katherine Howe
13, rue Therese by Elena Mauli Shapiro
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

As I mentioned earlier, I still have a lot of these books to review, although I do have most of them drafted and ready to post soon. I might have to try some of those multi-book posts that I’ve seen other bloggers use so effectively!

Other reading/blogging events:
During the week of 14-20 March, I took part in the Irish Short Story Week which was hosted by Mel U of The Reading Life. The story I chose to read was Laura Silver Bell by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. Although I didn’t think it was a fantastic story, it was still enjoyable and good enough to make me want to try some more of Le Fanu’s work soon.

How was your March? What are you looking forward to reading in April?

I had another good reading month in February. I read thirteen books and enjoyed most of them, although a few were slightly disappointing.

February Stats:

Books read: 13
New-to-me authors: 10
Male to female author ratio: 2:11
Publication dates: 19th century – 1; 20th century – 3; 21st century – 9
Countries visited in my reading: England, USA, Guernsey, Scotland, Spain, Egypt, France

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Favourite books read in February:

South Riding by Winifred Holtby
I loved this – and managed to finish it just in time for the start of the new BBC adaptation!
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I realise I’m one of the last people in the world to read this but at least I’ve read it now and can see why so many people seem to love it so much!
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
One of the most emotional books I’ve read for a long time.

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Other books read in February:

We Had It So Good by Linda Grant
Sacrifice by S.J. Bolton
By Fire, By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan
The Moorland Cottage by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt
The News Where You Are by Catherine O’Flynn
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
The Anatomy of Ghosts by Andrew Taylor

As you can see, my reading rate has overtaken my blogging rate so I still have a lot of February books to review. I’d like to catch up with these over the next couple of weeks before I get much further behind.

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Challenge progress:

Victorian Literature Challenge: 3/15
Gaskell Reading Challenge: 1/2
Historical Fiction Challenge: 5/20

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Other reading/blogging activities in February:

This past weekend was Persephone Reading Weekend, as many of you will know. Little Boy Lost was the only Persephone I had time to read and review this weekend, but I enjoyed reading everyone else’s posts. I was even lucky enough to win a copy of Family Roundabout by Richmal Crompton in one of the giveaways!
I also took part in a group read of Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Moorland Cottage in February. This was the first of Gaskell’s works I’ve read (apart from a short story) and I’m looking forward to reading one of her other books soon.

In February I read a lot more contemporary/21st century books than I normally do. In March I’m hoping to have more of a balance between classics and newer books. Also in March I’m planning to take part in Irish Short Story Week, which will be hosted by Mel of The Reading Life from 14-20 March. If you’d like to participate too, there are plenty of classic short stories by Irish authors available online – so no need to buy any new books!

How was your February?

January has been a great reading month for me – much better than last January. I read twelve books and although I had mixed feelings about one or two, most of them were wonderful!

January Stats:

Books read: 12
New-to-me authors: 8
Male to female author ratio: 3:9
Publication dates: 19th century – 2; 20th century – 5; 21st century – 5
Countries visited in my reading: England, Ethiopia, USA, Italy/Ancient Rome, Croatia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany

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Favourite books read in January:

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
From my review: …even though it’s still only January, I can’t imagine I’ll be reading a lot of books this year that are better than this one.

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
From my review: Our Mutual Friend is such a big, complex novel it does require the reader to invest a lot of time and effort in it, but it was definitely worth it for me!

The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier
From my review: …a strange and unusual book which blends historical fiction, science fiction, time travel and psychology. I loved it!

Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
I haven’t reviewed this yet, but I can tell you that it was an excellent book and one that I would highly recommend!

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Other books read in January:

Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pyjamas by Judy Parkinson
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim
Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran – Review to follow
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic – Review to follow
The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier – Review to follow
Villette by Charlotte Bronte – Review to follow

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Challenge progress:

I haven’t made a lot of progress in any of my challenges this month, but I’m not too worried about that as I have plenty of books for all three challenges on my tbr pile and am planning to read some of them in February.

Victorian Literature Challenge: 2/15
Gaskell Reading Challenge: 0/2
Historical Fiction Challenge: 1/20

This month I’m participating in a group read of Elizabeth Gaskell’s novella The Moorland Cottage hosted by Gaskell Blog, which will count towards the Gaskell Reading Challenge.

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Other reading/blogging activities in January:

I took part in Bloggiesta the weekend of 21-23 January and although I wasn’t able to spend as much time on it as I would have liked, I still managed to accomplish a few things.
24-30 January was Virago Reading Week. I read The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim and The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West and enjoyed them both. I had fun reading everyone else’s posts and adding lots of Viragos to my wish list!

Was January a good month for you?