Saturday, October 31, 2009

October Reading in Review


 Happy Halloween Everyone!

How was your October?   We had some pretty terrific weather here, and a great month reading-wise (thanks to the 24 hour Read-a-thon). Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), I acquired more books than I donated or read. This is something that is going to be a major project for me to work on in 2010. I am going to get rid of books that I do not think I will read, and hope to only acquire books that I plan to read.

In October I read (20) books (6 during the read-a-thon)). The quality of my reads was pretty good.  My favorite book was, Abraham Verghese's: Cutting for Stone .


Of the (20) books I did read, (7) were review books. I read (4) non fiction books and listened to (2) audio books. (11/20) books were from my stacks, and 9/20 came from the library. Here is a summary:

October

150. A Change in Altitude ; Anita Shreve- 3/5 (review) 
151. No Time to Wave Goodbye; Jacquelyn Mitchard - 4/5 
152. The Brutal Telling; Louise Penny - 4/5 (review)
153. What the Dead Know; Lippman (audio) 4/5
154. The Magician's Elephant; Kate DiCamillio - 5/5
155. Evil at Heart; Chelsea Cain - 4.5/5
156. Tortilla Flat; John Steinbeck - 4.5/5
157. Mathilda Savitch; Lodato - 4/5 (review)
158. Baking Cakes in Kigali; Parkin - 4/5 (review)
159. Solace: Finding Your Way Though Grief; Temes - 4/5 (review)
160. A Duty to the Dead; Todd - 4.5/5
161. Gift from the Sea; Lindbergh - 5/5
162. Zen and the Art of Happiness; Prentiss - 4/5
163. Runaway Mummy; Rex - 4.5/5
164. Miss Smith and the Haunted Library; Garland - 4.5/5
165. Sworn to Silence; Castillo (audio) - 4/5
166. Haunted Island: True Ghost Stories from Martha's Vineyard; Nadler - 3/5
167. Cutting for Stone; Verghese - 5/5
168. The Time of My Life; Swayze and Niemi - 4.5/5
169. The Recipe Club; Israel and Garfinkle - 4/5 (review)
170. The Christmas Cookie Club; Pearlman - 3/5 (review)


Completed Challenges (October)

  • John Steinbeck Mini Challenge
  • RIP IV Challenge
Open Challenges

  • A-Z Challenge - 24/26
  • Read Your Own Books Challenge - 95/100
  • War Through the Generations WWII - 3/5
  • Fall Into Reading Challenge – 6/15
  • Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge - 11

    Hope you had a good month as well!
 
Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween Everyone!
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20 comments:

  1. Thomas HogglestockOctober 31, 2009 at 10:35 AM

    If you didn't like Stuart Woods' Loitering With Intent, you should try one with the same title by Muriel Spark. It is great.

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  2. Beth FOctober 31, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    I am so impressed with your book list. Wow! You had a fabulous month.

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  3. UnknownOctober 31, 2009 at 11:04 AM

    I am almost tempted to go and buy a copy of Cutting for Stone now. I wonder how long I can resist for?!

    I love the way you have kept your marks out of 5 for the summary post - I was missing those.

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  4. Book Bird DogOctober 31, 2009 at 11:05 AM

    Happy Halloween! Check out my Halloween list at Halloween Reads.

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  5. Nise' October 31, 2009 at 11:35 AM

    Great reading month! I've got The Magician's Elephant sitting on my stack.

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  6. StacyOctober 31, 2009 at 1:24 PM

    Happy Halloween! Yea for the read-a-thon. Helped October to be a great reading month for me too.

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  7. SukoOctober 31, 2009 at 6:53 PM

    You had a great reading month! I've read: #156, and #161. Others from your list are on my TBR list.

    Have a safe and happy Halloween!

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  8. Peter S.October 31, 2009 at 8:16 PM

    Hi, Diane! Wow, you've read a lot for this month! And I see that you've read cookbooks as well!

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  9. LisaNovember 1, 2009 at 12:42 AM

    You had a great month!

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  10. RobNovember 1, 2009 at 2:06 AM

    Congrats on reading 20 books! That's about how many I took in from library sales. My output was negative. I won't even go there. Aloha from Rob

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  11. KristenNovember 1, 2009 at 8:44 AM

    I keep seeing raves for Cutting for Stone. I really mus pick it up one day and see for myself!

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  12. HarveeNovember 1, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    Impressive list of books. Here's my weekly wrap up at Sunday Salon

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  13. AnonymousNovember 1, 2009 at 5:32 PM

    I agree that your reading list is impressive, Diane. I wish I was a faster reader, but I have a tendency to dawdle.

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  14. StaciNovember 1, 2009 at 6:06 PM

    Your October was stellar!!!

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  15. JennersNovember 1, 2009 at 9:54 PM

    I'm standing up and clapping for you! Great reading ... I'm impressed! You should feel good about what you accomplished.

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  16. AliceNovember 2, 2009 at 12:21 AM

    20 books?! *fainted*

    I'm very, very impressed. I managed only 6 and the rest of the time was spent behind my camera.

    ReplyDelete
  17. DCMetroreaderNovember 2, 2009 at 1:53 PM

    Very impressive! Next year I might join in a challenge, but where do you find them?

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  18. DCMetroreaderNovember 2, 2009 at 2:16 PM

    Ignore my question b/c I see that you are hosting a challenge that I might join. Thanks!

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  19. IlianaNovember 3, 2009 at 4:24 PM

    Sounds like another great reading month for you! I think I read my usual average of 8 books or so. Lots of good reads so I'm happy about that! :)

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  20. AnnaNovember 5, 2009 at 9:57 AM

    Wow, great stats! I thought I did great with 15 books. I'm in awe of your 20. ;)

    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.


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