June Reading Reflections

After a slow reading month in May, unfortunately things didn't really pick up all that much for me in June. Last month I attributed the slow month to the fact that I was reading Brothers of Gwynedd. This month I am still reading that book, and have added War and Peace into the mix as well, and so yes, not that many books finished! The sense of accomplishment will be so worth it when I finish both of those books! So what did I finish?

Emma Vol 3 by Kaoru Mori 4/5
A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware 4/5
Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos 5/5
The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen 3.5/5
The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley 5/5
The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey 4/5
Mort by Terry Pratchett 4/5
For the King by Catherine Delors 4/5
Fire by Kristin Cashore 4/5

Less books read means less progress on challenges as well unfortunately!

Let's start with the Period Drama Challenge. When I signed up for it, I said that I would watch 4 movies/series etc in one year. Shouldn't have been that difficult really. In the end I managed to watch one whole movie which was Sense and Sensibility and started to watch North and South (the US mini-series starring Patrick Swayze not my normal North and South). I think I watched the first disc but I definitely didn't finish it!

The book that I read for the Year of the Historical in June was Emma Vol 3 by Kaoru Mori, and that was one of my final reads for this years Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, along with Yellow House by Patricia Falvey. I have now finished this challenge!

I haven't been reading very many romances over the last few months, and I actually am beginning to feel like I NEED to read one. The only book that I read this month that counted for the Romance Reading Challenge was The Making of a Duchess by Shana Galen.

I finally got to read books for challenges that I hadn't previously started. For the King counts for the French Historical Reading Challenge, and The Yellow House counts as one book read for the Ireland Reading Challenge.

In addition Burned counts for the Vampire Reading Challenge, and Mort was a book that I read for the Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge.

I also joined in a new challenge this month - the Amy Einhorn Perpetual Reading Challenge. I have got my next read from the library for this one.

The final challenges to update are the 100+ Reading Challenge, of which I have now read 69 books, and for the Support Your Local Library Challenge I have now read 47 books.

December Reading Roundup

Whilst it is really time to do some kind of summary of my whole 2009 reading year, first I am going to do my regular monthly round up.

In December, I managed to read 13 books. I think my days of reading 18-20 books in a month are gone, mainly because of the reduction in my commute time, so I am pretty happy with 13 books. I think it is more like my new normal than anything. Here's what I read:

Black Hills by Nora Roberts 4/5
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts 4.5/5
Bones of the Hills by Conn Iggulden 4.5/5
These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer 4.5/5
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare 4/5
The Conquest by Elizabeth Chadwick 4.5/5
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig 4/5
To Desire a Devil by Elizabeth Hoyt 4/5
This Duchess of Mine by Eloisa James 4/5

Hmm, lots of romance in there! Definitely was feeling the need for comfort reads during December apparently.

So how did I go on reading challenges for December then? How many challenge fails?

As I mentioned in last month's roundup, I didn't complete the Art History Reading Challenge. The idea was that I was supposed to read 6 books during 2009. In the end I managed to read 3. Of course, failing at it this year hasn't stopped me from signing up for the challenge again this year!

I am thinking that I am probably not going to finish the Harry Potter Reading Challenge either. There's still 7 months to go, but I haven't read anything. I will leave it for another month or two before officially declaring

I finally have the first book in the Vampire Diaries series out from the library, so I might actually be able to start that challenge.

You may note that there are no Pratchett books in that list! That's right, I didn't manage to read any books for my own challenge!


The one challenge that I did make progress on this month was the Period Drama Challenge. The other night I watched Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman etc, and I enjoyed it very much! I don't know why but I haven't seen many of the favourite classic adaptations over the year. For instance, I have never seen all of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth. I know, it's a travesty. Almost as much of a travesty as the fact that I have never read any of the Austen books either.

I have to say though that the big romantic scene in Sense and Sensibility was not quite as romantic as it might have been if I had not recalled this scene from the Vicar of Dibley so clearly. It's hard not to remember so clearly given how many of times I have seen these particular episodes. And, no this is not just and opportunity for gratuitous Richard Armitage. Really!



Of course, now that I have showed that scene, I really have to show this scene as well:



This one is just for a gratuitous Richard Armitage video! It's the promo for Strike Back which is going to be on in the UK later this year!







Now I need to go and work on my end of year post, my beginning of year post, and you know, maybe do some blog tidying up or some cleaning or reading, or maybe I will just watch these videos again because they make me happy.

Not a reading challenge!

But a challenge none the less!

The lovely ladies at Lights, Camera...History have come up with this challenge where the idea is to watch between 2 and 12 period drama movies in the twelve months from 1 July 2009. You can choose between a variety of different levels and a variety of different themes. For full details click here.

At this point I have said that I will choose the Becoming Interested option, with my themes being Victorian Mist and Kings and Queens. I probably will try to fit in a Bonnets and Hessian viewing as well (Regency).

I am half considering combining this with the Everything Austen challenge, because I still haven't managed to read any Austen yet and there is a movie component in that challenge as well. I haven't yet decided to commit to this one, but there is every possibility that I will!