After having not posted one of these since September, I deemed this month worthy enough, receiving-wise, to reintroduce the format. This is the “month of the review”.

Amelia Edith Barr: A Daughter Of Fife – Looking online for public domain books, this Victorian-era novel caught my eye.

Ella Drake: Silver Bound – Having not quite reached my goal of reading outside of my comfort zone, I thought I’d give this book a try. It appears to blend sci-fi with western.

Elle Newmark: The Sandalwood Tree – For review from the author, a novel about colonial India.

Elizabeth Chadwick: Lords Of The White Castle – It was about time I read another Chadwick, having read my first and only two years ago. I’m particularly interested in this one for research purposes.

Katharine A. Russell: Deed So – For review from the author, a historical novel sent in the 1960’s, a decade I’ve not yet conquered in books.

Kimberly Derting: Desires Of The Dead – From Headline publishers, this was a lovely surprise to receive as I’d read and reviewed the first book in the series, The Body Finder.

So a semi-eclectic mix this month, and many books to look forward to reading. What have you bought/received recently?

While I have been getting through my TBR pile, I will have a few papers to read before my course starts in October so you may find I talk less about books than other subjects in the next few weeks. I do have a photo post coming up soon which I hope I can make interesting and I intend to participate at least somewhat in the 24 hour readathon in October.

Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre – I have been craving this book since getting through a couple of Austen’s works, because when I first decided it was time to read the classics I couldn’t choose who to start with – Austen or a Brontë sister? Once I’d decided I’d read enough of Austen to warrant starting on another author I had to pick from Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, and in the end Charlotte won. I want to know what this love story is all about.

Duane W Roller: Cleopatra – For my degree. I chose this, which is published by Oxford University Press, because I’d like to think that being published by one of the top universities in the world it will be excellent.

Rosy Thorton: The Tapestry Of Love – Received for review, this is my current read. I was very pleased to accept it because I’d added it to my wish list due to reading other people’s reviews.

Thomas Hughes: Tom Brown’s Schooldays – Won in a competition by Oxford World Classics. I intend to review this as it’s a book I remember seeing (but not reading) in my childhood.

Have you read any of the books listed here today? And for anyone who has read Brontë (all sisters included in that), which book is your favourite?

I can at least say this month that I haven’t bought many books. I bought two, and was given four, one of which was an ebook. One of those bought was a coffee table book for my personal studies. So, in a way, I only really bought one book. And that wins Statement Of Convenience Of The Month. I will not be including the two Transworld books (The Wish and Second Hand Heart) that I’ve already reviewed in this post because that’ll be overkill as they are due to be listed in my August roundup.

Claudia Gold: Queen, Empress, Concubine – A coffee table book featuring a broad selection of women rulers from around the world and throughout history. Bought for self-imposed study.

David Nichols: One Day – I’ve been after this book ever since the hype. Being stranded in a hospital without a book and with a possible long night ahead of you does bad things to a person, like causing them to find a reason to buy a new book. Then Sod’s Law sets in and you’re sent home to wait out your sister’s labour in front of the TV.

Julie Buxbaum: After You – My fourth Transworld book, more on that later.

Molly Roe: Call Me Kate – For review and discussion in October, a YA historical novel.

I will probably not be reviewing the coffee table book because my emphasis at The Worm Hole is on lengthy stories, but so far I am very pleased with it. The writing is not great but it is certainly a good book for gaining basic information, enough information for you to decide which people you might like to study further.

I actually currently have three ebooks to read, though until Call Me Kate arrived the ebooks were in a kind of “if I have time maybe one day”. It made sense to accept the digital version of Call Me Kate by Molly Roe from the publisher, however, so yes, within a couple of months I will have read my first ebook. No doubt I will be spurred on to read the other two as well, Dan Holloway’s self-published Songs From The Other Side Of The Wall, and My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey which I downloaded from the publisher’s website thanks to Dot’s announcement.

Will I be a convert? Not likely, but I will be a little more open to reading ebooks as a last resort.

So I made the mistake of walking into a bookshop. It was a mistake because in this bookshop, right in front of me, were a myriad of books I wanted to read: some I’d simply seen the cover of and been intrigued, many I’d seen on blogs and I wouldn’t have heard of them otherwise (the first time I’d seen so many new books I’d read about – and anyone who says book bloggers don’t get books sold is lying) and others that I’d been in awe over, due to blogs, but wasn’t really sure what they were about. It was a mistake because I bought quite a few. But I now know exactly where to go to get the books other blogs are talking about. I am done – I will not go to a bookshop again until I have depleted a good number of books from my list, and I will stick to this because I am vehemently against letting my pile hit another decade number. This is the task I have set myself:

Danielle Trussoni: Angelology – Recommended by Dot and Swapna, I probably wouldn’t have noticed this if not for the reviews.

Janice Y K Lee: The Piano Teacher – I saw the cover of this some time ago on a blog and loved both the title and the cover. I read a lot of East Asian historical fiction so this had been an immediate addition to my wish list.

Katherine Webb: The Legacy – Amazon had this on one of those “if you liked this you’ll like…” lists and the cover just screams summer.

Kenneth Cameron: The Bohemian Girl – Although I don’t read much crime fiction I walk past the genre section sometimes and this beautiful hardback caught my attention. I’ve actually bought the paperback because it was a lot cheaper but if I like the book I’ll probably buy the beautiful version.

L J Smith: The Forbidden Game – This is three books in one and was very cheap. I’d never heard of it before but want to better expand my reading horizons. I don’t think I’ve done the YA paranormal genre justice by just reading Twilight.

Lauren Kate: Fallen – I loved the cover and premise of this when I first read about it and it’s been featured on many many blogs, namely Kristi’s (The Story Siren – no longer online). It felt like Christmas when I saw it on the shelf and for half it’s regular price.

Lisa See: Shanghai Girls – I’ve read Peony In Love and On Gold Mountain, I feel I should carry on.

You’ve probably gathered by now that the reason I bought so many at once was because they were all very cheap. I was tempted by Natasha Solomon’s Mr Rosenblum’s List (thanks to Simon), Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna (because of hearing about the awards) and David Nicholls’ One Day but they will have to wait.

At the time of writing this I have finished The Piano Teacher in double-quick time. Here’s hoping I can be just as fast with the rest.

Have you read/do you plan to read any of these books? And if you’ve read them, what did you think of them?

I said to myself I would not buy or borrow any more books until I’d read at least several of the ones I own – and, surprisingly, for that promise seems rarely kept by us booklovers (and we can all understand why), I kept to my word. So having checked off quite a number of the titles on the list I let myself get a few more.

The bookstore at which I bought some of the ones below is closing soon. I love Waterstones but we need these little bookstores. Waterstones provides the famous titles, the local stores provide the quirky ones you’ve never heard of, and as you now know I’ve developed a taste for random books. We don’t even have Borders anymore.

Gayle Forman: If I Stay – I’ve wanted to read this book for ages, ever since I found it through recommendations on Amazon. It has done the rounds on blogs but the subject has kept my interest. I’m reading Before I Fall at the moment however so If I Stay probably won’t be my next choice as the subject matter is similar.

Irene Nemirovsky: Suite Française – I found this online when I was searching for something else. The fact that it’s incomplete drew me in instantly and I’ve been going through a phase of craving books set in early-mid 20th Century for a year or so. I almost didn’t pick up this book, it was on a step at the back of the shop. I think I was meant to find it as it was the last one and very cheap.

Julith Jedamus: The Book Of Loss – It will become apparent after I’ve had this blog a little longer that I love fiction set in Eastern Asia, specifically historical fiction. I saw this book in the shop, liked the cover, and am interested in reading what the reviewers say on the back is “heady stuff”.

Lauren Oliver: Before I Fall – Three cities I searched before I discovered a copy of Oliver’s debut, and it was all down to misplacement on the bookseller’s part. But I’ve got it now and am enjoying it.

Vikram Chandra: Red Earth And Pouring Rain – A random find, I liked the title and a brief flick through looked promising.