Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Books for August



Now that the Summer Reading Challenge is over (I read, from a pool of 15, 11 of the books I committed to reading at the end of May, and I only had to read ten to finish the challenge successfully), I think I'll go back to selecting material on a monthly basis. I usually get sidetracked by something else, but I do enjoy having a stack of books that I'm supposed to be reading from.

August's selections are:

Lord Jim. I so enjoyed the two back-to-back Patrick O'Brians that I read last week, that I thought I'd trick myself into reading some Joseph Conrad. I don't know how much of this one takes place on a merchant vessel, but I'll be back at sea for a little while.

The Unvanquished. Okay, since The River Wife turned out to be Southern lit I technically don't need to read any more to finish the Southern Lit Challenge, but if there's a better month for reading Faulkner than August. . .

Tristram Shandy. I've been neglecting this one. It disappeared for several days, but then I found it again. Tristram isn't born yet.

The Used World. Haven Kimmel's latest! It'll be out in September! This ARC is what I currently have in progress.

Highway 12. Christian Probasco's guidebook about the part of Utah where we'll be horseback riding and camping in September.

The Looking Glass War and Seeing Red. I received an ARC of Frank Beddor's second-in-the-trilogy a couple weeks ago, but I need to read the first one first, don't I?

The Three Roosevelts. Already in progress, but not very. I've completed only the first chapter (59 pages).

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:57 AM

    I've had my eye on The Looking Glass War since it was first released in England. And then I forgot about it. I thank you for the reminder and look forward to reading your thoughts on it. It sounds like a fun read.

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  2. Anonymous11:56 AM

    I read one of the books I chose for the summer reading challenge. I think I should give up on those. But they always sound so fun at the beginning.

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  3. Tell me if you see a big doppleganger in the Conrad. I adore that book.

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  4. Anonymous5:53 PM

    I got an arc of Seeing Red too and hope to get to it in August as well. Tristram Shandy seems to be taking you a long time. I am still hoping to read that sometime this year. Is it just a slow read?

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  5. What a wonderful to do list for August! Tristram is lurking amongst my goals for the fall, as is a Faulkner, but as soon as you mentioned reading Faulkner in August, I was filled with envy.

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  6. Maybe we could get an impromptu group together to read the Beddors? Sort them mid-month?

    Brian, if it hadn't been for you mentioning Lord Jim a couple months back I'd have probably have selected Harry Thompson' This Thing of Darkness for my next "at sea" read.

    Danielle, I try so hard to meet the challenges that I enter that it really messes up my "read at whim" preferences. If I go back to monthly lists I know I won't feel so bad when I deviate--there's always next month. But if I mess up several months worth of reading I wind up feeling so guilty. . . it just isn't worth it.

    Tristram Shandy is slow moving, but it went missing for awhile on top of that, and then I ignored it while I finished books for the challenge. I need to work on it steadily instead of in fits and starts.


    Pour of Tour---grab a Faulkner! The month is young! Tristram will read much better in the fall.

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  7. Anonymous12:18 AM

    Of all the Faulkner I HAVE read you pick one I haven't! I can't wait to see what you think. (My personal favorites, however, are Light in August and The Wild Palms.)

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  8. I can remember you writing about them! I don't think I'd ever heard of The Wild Palms before. What do you think of Sanctuary? I started that one and hated it so much that I gave it away. My fav is As I Lay Dying--another dead mule book.

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  9. Anonymous1:58 PM

    Ooh I didn't know Haven Kimmel had a new book coming out. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on that one!

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  10. That's a great stack of books, and looks like August is set for you! It all looks really interesting--enjoy!

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  11. I was very impressed with The Looking Glass Wars. It was fun and clever. I'm looking forward to read the 2nd in the series.

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