August has been the month of I’d Like To Be Reading But I Just Need To Do This Other Thing. Some of those things have been work; some have been amazing (come to the Nine Worlds Geekfest next summer! Make it your Worldcon warm-up!); and some have been distressing (although thankfully all’s well that end’s well).
September looks set to be mightily busy at work, so the reading (and blogging) is likely to continue to suffer. Read-alongs will be getting most of my love, with the Temeraire Tweet-along recommencing this weekend, and the Raksura Read-along starting next Wednesday.
Reading round-up
- A Little Knowledge – Emma Newman
- The Republic of Thieves – Scott Lynch
- The Stars Seem So Far Away – Margret Helgadottir
- Tremontaine (Season One) – Ellen Kushner et al
Bite-size book reviews
Even bite-size books have taken a back seat, with my focus on slush rather than on stories I can talk about. However, I did squeeze in the excellent
- You’ll Surely Drown Here If You Stay – Alyssa Wong
Stacking the shelves
I was very good in July, so I made up for it by picking up loads at Nine Worlds – and I was kindly sent review copies (including a physical copy of the gorgeous African Monsters – today is the LAST DAY in the giveaway if you want a chance at one). Err, and then I realised I didn’t have my shelves in order for my autumn read-along commitments. TBR? What TBR?
Why yes, I did buy a physical copy of Ninefox Gambit to grace my bookshelves.
Conscious demographics
My challenge to myself is to read diversely and to love every book. This tracker is intended to help me stay mindful of how I’m doing with that. I’m reasonably happy with my progress here, although I need to keep an eye on it.
- 21 male (44%) / 22 female (46%) / 3 trans, non-binary or genderfluid (6%)
- 8 (17%) – by people of colour
- 6 (13%) – by non-het people / 10 (21%) featuring non-het protagonists
Actual challenges
- 48 / 75 books (excl. this month’s bite-size reads as so short)
- 18 (38%) – towards the Backlist Challenge (excl. re-reads)
- 9 / 20 – #20BooksofSummer (guess I’ll only make 10 this year!)
- 3 / 4 – plus a DNF and a WIP for ARC August
onemore.org 