April 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

May 052013

In April I read a total of 14 books, 9 of which were print/ebooks and 5 of which were audio. This ended up being a total of about 2800 pages and 54 hours of audio. This is a bit disappointing after the old days of getting to 15 or 16 print/ebooks and 5 or 6 audios, but it does mean that I’m now keeping up with my new posting schedule, so if I can keep this up and this schedule allows me enough time to do my job then the blog is in a good place. I would really hate to have to cut back to only 2 total reviews per week, instead of the three (two print and an audio) I’m doing now. How was your month?

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer, narrated by Angela Brazil and Stephen R. Thorne
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, narrated by Fenella Woolgar
Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, narrated by Scott Brick

Fiction
Life after Life by Kate Atkinson
The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout
The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
End Me a Tenor by Joelle Charbonneau
Angelopolis by Danielle Turssoni

Historical Fiction
The Liars’ Gospel by Naomi Alderman
The Edge of the Earth by Christina Schwarz
A White Wind Blew by James Markert

Other Posts:
So is it a Fantasy? – Guest post by Beverly Swerling, author of Bristol House
BOOK CLUB – The Liars’ Gospel by Naomi Alderman
The Attraction of Cults – Guest post by Peggy Riley, author of Amity & Sorrow
D.E.A.R. – April 2013
On Audiobook Week

Pick of the Month:

Considering the number of books I reviewed this month I should, by rights, only be picking one book here, but I read and reviewed so much this month that was truly phenomenal that I just can’t help myself. Here are my (far too many) picks of the month:

March 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

Mar 312013

Oh, hey, reading, I sort of miss you. I read a total of 12 books in March, including 3 audiobooks for about 3000 pages and 29 hours of audio. But this month was extra crazy because it was the launch not only of Foreword Literary Agency, but also of Bloggers Recommend. I’m guessing Bloggers Recommend will be interesting to more of you, so for those of you who are looking for a literary agent, I’ll just tell you to see my Submissions page.

Bloggers Recommend is another project that Nicole and I started. Basically it is an aggregate of bloggers, well, recommendations for the best new books coming out in a given month. The March newsletter was primarily recommendations from myself and Nicole, but the April newsletter showcases much of our advisory board. Readers, we’d love for you to subscribe and get our future (once a month) email lists; bloggers, we want your recommendations (by April 20th for the May newsletter)!

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman, narrated by Kathe Mazur
The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson, narrated by Robin Miles, Charlotte Parry, and Tim Gerard Reynolds
Heft by Liz Moore, narrated by Kirby Heyborne and Keith Szarabajka
Hand Me Down by Melanie Thorne, narrated by Ali Ahn
Jungeland: A Mysterious Lost City, A WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure by Christopher S. Stewart, narrated by Jef Brick

Fiction
The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper
The Crooked Branch by Jeanine Cummins

Historical Fiction
Above All Things by Tanis Rideout
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau
Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear

Nonfiction
The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? by Jared Diamond
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Other Posts:
Bloggers Recommend
Announcing: Foreword Literary Agency
Bookish Pretties – Custom Ereader Cover from Honeysuckle Salvage
D.E.A.R. – March 2013

Pick of the Month:

February 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

Feb 282013

So I read 13 books this month, including 5 audiobooks. This was a total of 2700 pages and about 57 hours of audio. I could have easily finished one more book in print, but I had to stop myself so I could get some work done. I’m hoping March – when I’ll have more day-to-day help with the kids – will mean more work getting done during the day and thus more reading done in the evening.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch, narrated by Dan Bittner
Parlor Games by Maryka Biaggio, narrated by Leslie Carroll
The Good House by Anne Leary, narrated by Mary Beth Hurt

Fiction
The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley
All This Talk of Love by Christopher Castellani
Every Trick in the Book by Lucy Arlington
The Comfort of Lies by Randy Susan Meyers

Historical Fiction
Shadow on the Crown by Patricia Bracewell

Nonfiction
Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors by Andrew Shaffer
Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelon

Other Posts:
D.E.A.R. (D.E.A.L.) February 2013 – Sound Bytes
D.E.A.R. – February 2013

Pick of the Month:

January 2013 Reading Wrap-Up

Feb 032013

So, I finished 13 books this month. That is down quite a bit from my averages over the past year or two, but I am guessing that this is probably my new normal with agenting (although the fact that I watched all 7 seasons of The West Wing this month probably didn’t help either). This is why I am transitioning to only two print/ebook reviews per week, plus an audio review. I will occasionally have other content as well, but those of you who do not use RSS to read my blog should count on posts Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday (review, review, audiobook review, Sunday Salon).

This month’s breakdown includes 8 print or ebooks for a total of about 2900 pages and 4 audiobooks for a total of about 38 hours. Below you can see the books I reviewed this month, followed by the other books I read this month.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis, narrated by Adenrele Ojo, Bahni Turpin, and Adam Lazarre-White
The Confidant by Helene Gremillion, narrated by Ellen Archer
The Bro Code for Parents by Barney Stinson and Matt Kuhn, narrated by Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris)
Habits of the House by Fay Weldon, narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Fiction
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Start of Everything by Emily Winslow
Fonduing Fathers by Julie Hyzy
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka

Speculative Fiction
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
Blackout by Mira Grant
Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Historical Fiction
The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin
The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan
The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier
The Italian Woman by Jean Plaidy

Nonfiction
The Tiger by John Vaillant
History in an Hour: Henry VIII’s Wives by Julie Wheeler and 1066 by Kaye Jones

Other Posts:
2012 Wrap-Up, Ahead to 2013
Interview with Bernard Cornwell, author of 1356

Pick of the Month:

2012 Wrap-Up, Ahead to 2013

November 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Dec 022012

YOU GUYS. IT IS DECEMBER. W.T.F. By about 1/3 of the way through November, I actually finished reading everything I planned to review in 2012, so I read mostly books from my shelves that I’ve been wanting to get to for a couple of weeks and have now started on 2013 books. You’ll be able to check out my top books of (top books reviewed in) 2012 in just a few short weeks on December 18th.

I’m not even going to play around, I totally rocked my reading in November, 19 books finished. Only 4 were audio, though, and I only listened for 32.5 hours, which is way below my normal. I haven’t finished an audiobook since November 20th, evidently Thanksgiving time is not good for my listening. Print and ebooks, though, dang, I can’t complain about getting through 15 of them. Actually, I’m so far behind on reviews that my print AND ebook right now are both rather involved nonfiction. I don’t want to keep finishing at such a quick pace until I get a bit caught up.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Sutton by J.R. Moehringer, narrated by Dylan Baker
NW by Zadie Smith, narrated by Karne Bryson and Don Gilet
Happier at Home: Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon a Project, Read Samuel Johnson, and My Other Experiments in the Practice of Everyday Life by Gretchen Rubin, narrated by Kathe Mazur
A Lady Cyclist’s Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Johnson, narrated by Susan Duerden
Astray by Emma Donoghue, narrated by Kristine Hvam, James Langton, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren, and Dion Graham

Fiction
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Changeless by Gail Carriger
A Royal Pain by Megan Mulry

Young Adult/Middle Grades Fiction
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Historical Fiction
Illuminations by Mary Sharratt
The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams

Nonfiction
Woe is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Connor
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and How We Eat by Bee Wilson
Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky

Other Posts:
What Hildegard Means Now – Guest Post and Giveaway from Mary Sharratt, Author of Illuminations
BOOK CL UB - The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe
2012 Holiday Gift Guide

Pick of the Month:

October 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Nov 042012

I am SHOCKED, but I actually ended up finishing 17 books this month. That is a fairly typical month for me, if perhaps ever so slightly on the low side, so why am I shocked? Well, the beginning of this month had me reading like molasses. By the 10th I had only finished 3 books. I was pretty sure I was in store for a terribly slow month and that there was no chance I’d finish my books for 2012 and make it to reading my own books in November.

Not that I totally made my goal. As of Halloween night I’m about 100 pages away from the end of one book and still have one more in print and one more egalley to read to finish out this year, but I’m hoping I can finish those in the next few days. I also have one 2013 book I have to read in early November, but I’m hoping I can spend at least 3/4 of the month reading my own books (not counting audio), so maybe I’ll knock 7 or 8 books off of the great TBR.

Of the 17 books I finished in October, 6 were audiobooks for a total of 56 hours and the other 11 were print or ebooks, for a total of about 4100 pages. I reviewed 14 books, including 4 audiobooks this month, as well as posting one Saturday Story Spotlight.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller, narrated by Mark Deakins
The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santo, narrated by Karen White
City of Women by David Gillham, narrated by Suzanne Bertish
How Children Succeed by Paul Tough, narrated by Dan John Miller

Fiction
The Mermaid Collector by Erika Marks
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio
The Other Half of Me by Morgan McCarthy
The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen
The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro

Historical Fiction
A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir
In Need of a Good Wife by Kelly O’Connor McNees
Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow by Juliet Grey
Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society by Amy Hill Hearth
The Second Empress by Michelle Moran
Sacred Treason by James Forrester

Mystery
Skating on the Edge by Joelle Charbonneau

Nonfiction
Medusa’s Gaze and Vampire’s Bite: The Science of Monsters by Matt Kaplan

Saturday Story Spotlight
Frankenstein by Ludworst Bemonster

Other Posts:
Historical Halloween Treats

Pick of the Month:

September 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Oct 032012

I finished 20 books this month and I have NO IDEA HOW. Six of them were audio for a total of about 70 hours, and 14 were print or ebooks for over 4000 pages. Don’t ask how I did it, I don’t know either, particularly as the last week or so of the month was pretty slow.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
A Hundred Flowers by Gail Tsukiyama, narrated by Simon Vance
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Line of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein, narrated by Peggy Orenstein
Liesel & Po by Lauren Oliver, narrated by Jim Dale
The Map of the Sky by Felix J Palma, narrated by James Langdon

Fiction
Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures by Emma Straub
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
This is How You Lose Her: A Novel in Stories by Junot Diaz
Redshirts by John Scalzi
When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories by Molly Ringwald

Historical Fiction
The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis
Hemingway’s Girl by Erika Robuck
A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields
The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Nonfiction
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy
The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

Pick of the Month:

August 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Sep 022012

So, I finished 14 books (11 print/ebooks and 3 audio) this month. While this is by no means the most I’ve ever finished in a month, I now have all 3 kids home with me AND had to catch up on a bunch of writing, so I’m pretty darn happy about it, particularly because the quality of what I read was quite high this month as well. Of course, you have only seen one re view this month of a book I actually read this month (The Kingmaker’s Daughter), thanks to me getting really ahead before the girls were born. This is actually allowing me to up my reviewing to 4 days a week come September. I will be posting print book reviews Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday with audiobook reviews on Friday. The exception will be when the US has Monday national holidays (like, say, tomorrow). Then reviews will probably run Tuesday – Friday.

In September I will also be continuing with the Fat Mum Slim photo-a-day- challenge. You can follow along on my tumblr.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, narrated by Robertson Dean
I Am Forbidden by Anouk Markovitz, narrated by Rosalyn Landor
The Unruly Passions of Eugenie R. by Carole DeSanti, narrated by Kate Reading
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks, narrated by Matthew Brown
The Legacy by Katherine Webb, narrated by Clare Wille

Fiction
The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway

Mystery/Thriller
Jack 1939 by Francine Mathews
Harry Lipkin, Private Eye by Barry Fantoni
The Survivor by Gregg Hurwitz

Historical Fiction
Her Highness, the Traitor by Susan Higginbotham
The Mirrored World by Debra Dean
The Kingmaker’s Daughter by Philippa Gregory

Nonfiction
A Calm Brain by Gayatri Devi, M.D.
The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir

Other Posts:
BOOK CLUB – Dare Me by Megan Abbott

SheKnows Book Lounge articles:
Now in paperback: August picks
Historical fiction beyond Anne Boleyn: The Wars of the Roses
SheKnows book review: The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams
Red Hot Book of the Week: The Second Empress by Michelle Moran
SheKnows book review: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Pick of the Month:

July 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Aug 052012

Well, the girls are here! They made their appearance on Monday, July 9th, so unsurprisingly I didn’t read quite as much as most months. Even so, I’m actually still pretty impressed with the number of books I read (although I wish I’d done a better job getting to audiobooks). I read a total of 12 books: 9 in print or ebook for a total of just under 3000 pages and 3 in audio for a total of about 30 hours.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, narrated by Simon Vance
The Red House by Mark Haddon, narrated by Maxwell Caulfield
Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Fiction
Game of Secrets by Dawn Tripp
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer

Mystery
Murder for Choir by Joelle Charbonneau
Dare Me by Megan Abbott

Historical Fiction
The Absolutist by John Boyne
The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian

Nonfiction
The Perfect Gentleman by Imran Ahmran

Other Posts:
From here on out
D.E.A.R. – Audiobook Week-Inspired TBL Pile (Sound Bytes)
Interview with Kristina Riggle, author of Keepsake

Picks of the Month:

June 2012 Reading Wrap-Up

Jul 012012

I have to say, I thought I would read more in June than I did, since I only worked half of the month. However, getting the house and blog ready for the girls, getting ahead on freelance writing, and, well, Audiobook Week, which was amazingly fun, but also very time consuming. Somehow I actually finished MORE books before I stopped working than after. In total this month I finished 20 books, the first book I finished this month brought me to 100 for the year. Of these 20, 14 were print or ebooks for a total of about 4500 pages. The other 6 were audiobooks, for a total of over 61 hours listened.

What I Reviewed:

Audiobooks
The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudczy Lupescu, narrated by Xe Sands
Gilt by Katherine Longshore, narrated by Jennifer Ikeda
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, narrated by Frazer Douglas
GirlChild by Tupelo Hassman
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You by Peter Troy, narrated by John Keating, Barrie Kreinik, Allyson Johnson, Adam Lazarre White
Changeling by Philippa Gregory, narrated by Charlie Cox
Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman, narrated by Abby Craden
Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the ’60s and Beyond by Jane Maas, narrated by Coleen Marlo
A Bigamist’s Daughter by Alice McDermott, narrated by Tavia Gilbert

Fiction
The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier
With My Body by Nikki Gemmell
Keepsake by Kristina Riggle
A Bitter Veil by Libby Fischer Hellman

Mystery
Grace Among Thieves by Julie Hyzy
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Historical Fiction
The Far Side of the Sky by Daniel Kalla
The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
The Queen’s Vow by C.W. Gortner
An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd

Audiobook Week
Listen Up! Audiobook Week 2012 Details and Discussion Topics
Audiobook Week 2012 Prizes
2011-2012: Your Audiobook Year
So You Want to Review Audiobooks…
Mid-week Audiobook Week Meme
What Makes a Good Narrator?
Listen Up!

Other Posts:
Oh, D.E.A.R. – Pre-baby Reading
BOOK CLUB – With My Body by Nikki Gemmell

What I Reviewed:

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