This month did not start well. I had very few books finished until just this last week. It was a bit as a result of reading long books, but I could feel that part of it was due to school and job stress as well. However, I pulled it out at the end and I can now say I’m pretty happy with what I was able to get through in this busy month. You can look at my progress at any time on my challenge page.
Books finished in April:
The Spectacular Now // Tim Tharp
Harry Potter y las Reliquias del Muerte // J.K. Rowling
The Nightingale // Kristin Hannah
Drop Dead Healthy // A.J. Jacobs
The Buried Giant // Kazuo Ishiguro
I can deal with this. I need to start reading some shorter books, though! Like I said, many of these were finished in the past week or so and I’ll be catching up on reviews this week and next.
7/12
One more down but now I have the hard time periods to go. I counted The Buried Giant as a Pre 1500s book because it takes place just after the reign of Arthur. Yes, it’s not exactly historical fiction, but it’s close enough! I’ll have to purposefully pick some books going forward to get those harder time periods.
17/55
Oh man, I’m right on pace! These chunkster books are really keeping me back, haha. I’ve got a few shorter titles already in mind for May so I’ll be hoping that I’ll get a little ahead this summer when my reading tends to pick up anyway.
Book of the Month
This is really hard this month. It seems like cheating to pick Harry Potter so I won’t. Among the others, I have to pick The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp. I flew through that book once I got into it. I had trouble putting it down to go to work! The voice took a while getting used to but it grew on me fast and I loved enjoying a YA book after so long away from the genre.
Added to my TBR
OK, I finally broke the streak. After three months of not adding books, I added three this month. They’re both upcoming book club selections so I’ll be getting to them pretty soon. I’m still under 100, but just barely, at 98.
- The Sellout by Paul Beatty. My other book club read this one a while back and I missed the meeting so I’m excited to get a second crack at this one and have a group to discuss it with.
- Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. I know nothing about this book (my favorite way to read a book!) so I’m excited to see why it got added to our list.
- The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Again, I know nothing about this one. I believe it’s our non-fiction for the year but, honestly, I don’t even know that much! It’s a title I’ve heard many times but have not had the motivation to pick it up. We’ll see how this goes!
Personal Challenge
I used these monthly posts to keep myself accountable to my personal goals for 2017 and I’m excited to do that again this year. You all were so supportive before.
- Graduate and keep my 4.0- My class ends next week but so far it looks like I’ve got a 4.0! Woo!
- Travel to Europe with my husband- About half of our fun things are booked. I still need to schedule a bike tour of Amsterdam, the Anne Frank House tour, Park Guell, La Sagrada Familia, and puffin/whale watching in Iceland. OK, maybe that’s more than half.
- Complete a race per month- This month was state meet for swimming. I did OK. It’s hard to compare myself to others in my age group because most of them swam in college and are still in shape for that while I am not. I did well in my heats which is what I keep thinking about.
- Complete a 2018 Weather Blanket- I’m about a month behind right now, unfortunately. That’s something I can make up in three days if I want to, so I’m not too worried, I’m sure I’ll still make it!
How are your challenges going so far? I hope you’re off to a good start If you love historical fiction, give some thought to my challenge for 2018, it’s fun!
Until next time, write on.
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Taking On a World of Words 