July has been a hard slog in real life – work taking centre stage – so while I’ve done plenty of reading, I’ve not stayed on top of my reviews. This is unlikely to change any time soon – I’m nearly at the end of my extended trip to the US, but I’m hoping to take some actual holiday off the grid when I get home, so it could stay fairly quiet here for a while.
June saw me move to the US for 2 months, which is the sort of major upheaval that can really interfere with reading and reviewing. However, living in a strange city is quite good for spending nights with a good book (in spite of my workload) and some trans-American flights have helped keep reviews trickling in. This may be less true in July, where workload is due to hit truly epic proportions.
May has been the month of relatives visiting from overseas, rapid increases in workload and – thankfully – some lovely sunny days. I got a lot of reading and reviewing done early in the month, but I’m on the slow train through summer from here (that’s so untrue: I’ve got loads of long flights in June, so hopefully I can catch up on recent reviews and fall behind on a fresh batch!)
April started with what felt like a readathon as I raced to catch up with read-alongs and review obligations. It promised to be a month of series finales, but life got in the way before I could grapple with The Hydrogen Sonata, delaying the end of my Culture reread and interrupting my usual blogging schedule. As life remains overpowering, blogging will likely be sporadic through May and June.
March was always going to be largely defined by jetlag, as it saw the start of big project at that work that is turning me into a transatlantic yoyo. My grandiose plan to read ALL THE BOOKS on flights was replaced by a bleary-eyed reality of bad sleep and poor concentration… while I seem to have somehow got through more than I realised, it will some time to catch up on reviews!
February is short and my reading was constrained by a blogging backlog and a surge in real life commitments. However, I found time to sort out my library membership, which predictably means a HUGE tower of books by my bedside – and it was my birthday, so any chances of keeping my own book hoard under control was a pipe dream.
I had so many good intentions for 2017. No, that’s not true. I had a few intentions that were meant to keep me honest. Hands up who would be surprised if the ones relating to acquiring books didn’t survive the first week of the year… At least I’m doing well on my reading goals.
I like to pretend I have structure, so I’m once again setting some goals for my reading – and blogging – this year. As usual, I’ll keep track of how I go in my monthly redux.
December’s dark days should have been the perfect excuse for reading, but sadly a lingering cold shot my concentration. Thankfully, I had some bite-sized books on hand to cheer me up. It also gave me some time to reflect on the year overall and what I want to tackle next year; although I reserve the right to change my mind. Constantly.
It’s been another glorious SciFi Month – always a great way to brighten up November as the nights draw in and the clocks go back. Cold weather and wet days make good reading days, and with the state of the world knocking my concentration and peace of mind for six, it’s been wonderful to contrast it with some great stories, some geeky discussions and our very first guest post from Lesley Conner and the Apex slush team!
Today is x+1’s first blogiversary – and I’m delighted to say there’s still always room for one more. And then some. I’ve been casually writing reviews for years, but it’s been an interesting journey learning to do so more consistently and regularly. Thank you for joining me on my odyssey through fantasy, scifi and speculative fiction. I hope you’ve been enjoying it as much as I have – and I hope you’ll stick around for more book-related shenanigans in the future.
To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of Yoon Ha Lee’s stunning debut, Ninefox Gambit. And I’m delighted to say the winner is Avada Kedavra!
There’s always room for one more has been a byline in our household for years (which I can’t take credit for, I hasten to add), and it’s nearly a year since I realised it described my reading habit perfectly and stole it for my book blog.
I like the hobbit approach to birthdays as a time to give gifts to others, and as it’s SciFi Month it seems a no-brainer that I should give away one of my favourite SF reads of 2016 to celebrate this first year at x+1. So I have a shiny new copy of Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel Ninefox Gambit to put in the hands of one lucky winner.
The giveaway is open internationally. The winner will be drawn out of a pirate hat on November 26th, the day x+1 turns one.
