Literature: October Books

Instead of writing individual reviews for all the books I have read, I am just going to condense them into what I have read each month.

At the beginning of 2019, I set myself the task on Goodreads to read 120 books this year, which means I need to read about 2 a week. Between January and September, I managed to read 115 books.  And in October I managed to read 8, which now brings me up to 123 which means I have hit my target of 120! Which is fantastic – wonder how many more I will read in the last two months of the year.

In July I listed the books my genre as I had read so man books, and have decided to do the same again.

Autobiography

Open Door by Maud Kells

Science Fiction

Emergency Skin by N.K Jemison

Crime / Thriller

Penshaw by L.J Ross

The Devil’s Work by Mark Edwards

Borderlands by L.J Ross

A Lovely Way to Burn by Louise Welsh

Children

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robyn Talley

Fiction

At the Wedding by Matt Dunn

My favourite book this month was Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robyn Talley – this is a book about racism in The 1950s which focuses on two girls –the first one is a black girl who is part of a group of 8 who start to attend an all-white school and the second girl is one of those pupils in the all-white school who opposes the ‘negroes’ coming into their space. This book talks of hardship, friendship and the crossing of lines. It is a very well written brave book and one which I would recommend to others to read – both adults and children.

Literature: September Books

Instead of writing individual reviews for all the books I have read, I am just going to condense them into what I have read each month.

At the beginning of 2019, I set myself the task on Goodreads to read 120 books this year, which means I need to read about 2 a week. Between January and August, I managed to read 108 books.  And in September I managed to read 7, which now brings me up to 115 which means I have only 5 more to read till I hit my target!

In July I listed the books my genre as I had read so man books, and have decided to do the same again.

Christian

7 Myths of Singleness by Sam Allberry

Science Fiction

Ark by Veronica Roth

Summer Frost by Black Crouch

Crime / Thriller

Beware of the Past by Joy Ellis

Five Bloody Hearts by Joy Ellis

Children

The Inca Trail by Vivien Whitfield

The Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris

There is a new genre which has popped up this month – Science Fiction. I don’t normally read this genre as I don’t really like, but I came across a series called Forward Collection which has been described on Goodreads with the following:

“For some, it's the end of the world. For others, it's just the beginning. With brilliant imagination, today's most visionary writers point to where the future is headed-whether plotting a high-tech casino heist, exploring the boundaries of a video game, or debating the very definition of identity. From the darkly comic to the chilling, they share common DNA. They all look forward”

Ark & Summer Frost are the first two books in the series with the former focusing on the destruction of the Earth and the latter focuses on a game developer who gets obsessed with one of his characters who he brings to life.

They were both interesting reads and an introduction to the genre of Science Fiction. There are 7 more books in the collection, so will continue to read them to see what happens.

Literature: August Books

Instead of writing individual reviews for all the books I have read, I am just going to condense them into what I have read each month.

At the beginning of 2019, I set myself the task on Goodreads to read 120 books this year, which means I need to read about 2 a week. Between January and July, I managed to read 96 books.  And in August I managed to read 12, which now brings me up to 108  - so only another 12 til I reach my target!

In July I listed the books my genre as I had read so man books, and have decided to do the same again for August, so here goes:

Christian

A Reasonable Faith by Tony Campolo

The Everyday Gospel by Tim Chester

Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler

Decisions Made Simple by Tim Chester

One Hour Bible by Philip Law

Fiction

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

The Spinster Wife by Christina McKenna

Crime / Thriller

The Lucky Ones by Mark Edwards

The Stolen Boys by Joy Ellis

The Fields of Grief: Giles Blunt

Children

Joe All Alone by Joanna Nadir

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan

The weirdest book I read in August was Matt Haig’s “How to Stop Time”, I very nearly gave up on it, but hate not finishing books so I persevered. It was really weird I still don’t really know what to make of it, but I won’t be recommending it to others or reading it again.

My favourite book was Sarah Crossan’s “The Weight of Water” – this is a children’s book written in the voice of a girl who has come to England with her mother from Poland to seek a better life. However it wasn’t written in prose, it was written in verse and the story flowed so well through the different pages which made it feel like one big poem instead of stilted verses. I will definitely recommend this to others – children and adults alike.