August 2011 Reading Round-Up
Posted 1st September 2011
Category: Round-Ups Genres: N/A
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What a month. I’ve gone from sitting in a lecture theatre scribbling notes as fast as I can and working on an essay until late, to having to remember what my previous routine entailed, to getting round to reading a good few books. I never realised just how dazed working hard at study and then suddenly stopping can make a person. I spent a good week or so trying to remember why I liked reading before picking up a book. But I managed to get through five and am half way through North And South. I have even restarted my venture to Hogwarts and am currently wandering around Diagon Alley via Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone. As much as I love summer, I’m rather glad September is here.
The Books
Non-Fiction
Antonia Fraser: Marie Antoinette – The Journey – Fraser delivers an objective if wistful account of the life of the woman damned in France from the start. Very good, but influenced by Fraser’s romantic dreaming.
Lynne McTaggart: The Bond – The idea that everyone and everything is connected and thus we need to live as one force and as a community is backed up by lots of research. A very good book and full of information.
Fiction
Alois Hotschnig: Maybe This Time – A collection of short stories focused on identity. Mundane on the surface but scratch that surface and unveil a very clever book.
Louise Douglas: The Secrets Between Us – Sarah goes to live with the mysterious Alexander after her previous relationship has shattered and Alexander’s wife goes missing. But the past won’t stay away. Brilliant, fantastic, must-read book.
Shannon Stacey: Exclusively Yours – Keri needs to interview author and ex-boyfriend Joe if she’s to keep her journalist job, but Joe’s not going to make it easy for her to leave a second time. Almost as good as Yours To Keep and certainly one not to be missed.
My favourite this month was without a doubt The Secrets Between Us. It is a spectacular novel than spans several genres and I flew through it. I can’t really say any book this month was bad, sometimes there was a strange focus, this in the case of the non-fictions, but there will be no negative reviews to come out of these five.
Quotation Report
In Exclusively Yours, Keri muses over the idea that if her old cheerleading squad hadn’t used curling irons and aerosols, global warming might not have happened.
I’m glad with what I’ve achieved this summer and the experiences I have had. And with only four months to go before 2012 I’m hoping to cram as much reading in as possible.
September 12, 2011, 8:43 pm
I’ve added Louise Douglas’s The Secrets Between Us to my wish list: I love suspenseful stories! :D
Charlie: Yep, this is definitely one of them!
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September 4, 2011, 10:06 pm
Ooh, Harry Potter is one series I would definitely love to revisit sometime. Even though I eagerly anticipated each new installment, I’ve still only read each volume once!
Charlie: I can see why you’ve only read the series once, the fourth is looking at me ominously! Love the humour and plots.