Looking ahead to June

I read 17 books in May. This put a decent-sized dent in my determination list fior the month but left me with 9 books from that list to carry over into June. Given the original length of my June list as composed several months ago, this makes the list all but impossible to accomplish but as I've mentioned before, I do love making the lists so no matter how unwieldy it gets, I will continue to put it out there. ::grin:: So without further ado, here's my June determination list, a mere 28 books strong:

With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Prague by Arthur Phillips
The Day My Butt Went Psycho by Andy Griffith
Instances of the Number Three by Salley Vickers
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
Divided Lives by Elsa Walsh
Polly by Freya North
The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker
Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland
A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher Wren
The Mapmaker’s Wife by Robert Whitaker
Mr. Darcy’s Daughters by Elizabeth Aston
100 Shades of White by Preethi Nair
A Strong West Wind by Gail Caldwell
The Bloody War, Mate by John Mantle
Signora de Vinci by Robin Maxwell
The Dairy Queen by Alison Rushby
The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell
*The Lady Flees Her Lord by Michele Ann Young
The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye
The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri
Looking After Pigeon by Maud Carol Markson
Perfection by Julie Metz
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell

On the plus side, last month I did a decent job of reviewing. I'm still behind but not nearly as behind as I was when May started. I'll take my small triumphs as they come, thank-you! (Especially since completing a reading list isn't going to happen any time soon.)

May Day book round-up

The first of the month always seems to hold such potential reading-wise. As I did last month, I created a list of books I want to read in May but before I list those, a look back at what I managed to read and review in April. I had 12 books on my April determination list and I read 18. Of course, that doesn't mean I read all of the original 12. Sort of like Nick Hornby's lists in his three collections culled from his columns for Believer magazine, my lists rarely tally very neatly. Of my original 12, I did read 8, leaving 4 to be carried over to this month's list. I reviewed hardly anything at all so there's still a massive backlog on that front, not helped by the fact that I read so much this month (not that reading so much is a bad thing, mind you)! I also have bookmarks sitting dormant in 2 books I'd like to get back to and moving slowly through one book of essays which I'd also like to get back to on a more consistent basis.

Towards the end of the month I had a rather appalling bout of retail therapy and added stacks and stacks of books to my already overloaded shelves (yes, too many to list, as shameful as it is to admit that) but I have a rather large stack I am taking to the Habitat for Humanity bookstore and cafe when my bookclub meets there this month so maybe it'll negate my purchases a bit. Probably not since it'll be a minor miracle if I can leave there without more books of my own. In any case, my overly ambitious month of May is currently set to look like this:

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
Crazy for the Storm by Norman Ollestad
Godmother by Carolyn Turgeon
With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
Prague by Arthur Phillips
The Day My Butt Went Psycho by Andy Griffith
The Dogs Who Found Me by Ken Foster
Marriage: A Duet by Anne Taylor Fleming
Presumption by Julia Barrett
Instances of the Number Three by Salley Vickers
East of the Mountains by David Guterson
Divided Lives by Elsa Walsh
Polly by Freya North
The Golden Tulip by Rosalind Laker
44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith
Duke Most Wanted by Celeste Bradley
Sunlight on the Lawn by Beverley Nichols
The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez by Judy Goldschmidt
Do-Over by Robin Hemley
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Angels of Destruction by Keith Donohue
Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy

Yes, you counted correctly. There really are 24 books on that list. Not terribly likely, I know but as you've already discovered, I like a blueprint from which I can then cheerfully deviate, especially when review books come dropping into the mailbox. Any bets on how many books I'll have to carry over to next month? Maybe I should start a betting circle on how many and which ones. You'd all pay to play right? And hey, that would make me an official bookie. I'm kinda liking this idea! Of course, running an illegal betting operation would cut into my reading and reviewing time and heaven knows I'm already going to need Hermione's time turner to accomplish my self-imposed Herculean task for the month. Better get reading!