Sunday 2 September 2007

August books & RIP update

Can it really be the 2nd. September already? Answer: yes it can. August was incredibly busy and I'm rather hoping that the busy spell is now at an end. I did manage to read a few books but less than usual - five instead of my average six to eight. Never mind, it's quality not quantity and I enjoyed what I did read. And those titles were:

Lighthouse by Tony Parker
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
Mistress of the Art of Death by Arianna Franklin

I'm now reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. Not for my RIP challenge but so that I can read The Historian for said challenge. I had a feeling it might be useful to do so and had that feeling confirmed by Booklogged. Anyway, Dracula, which I thought I'd read but have decided I haven't, is such a good read that I'm having trouble putting it down.

I've also added a further title to my RIP book pool and that is The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. Added because I keep hearing so many good things about it (and couldn't resist). I now also own The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker, a book I'd never even heard of before now so hope to be able to fit that in at the end of the challenge.

Anyway, I'm hoping for some really good reads now that autumn is well and truly on the way. The weather here in the UK has turned very autumnal indeed and that's okay by me, I love this time of year more than any other.

6 comments:

Booklogged said...

I'm happy to hear you are enjoying Dracula. I was surprised at how much I liked it. Autumn is my favorite time of year, too. We're still pretty warm, but night's are cooling down. The harvest has been great and we've enjoyed the tomatoes, squash, corn, etc. We even had a wonderful cantaloupe from a neighbor's garden today. A couple of trees have leaves with edgings of yellow.

Cath, I have tagged you on my In Seasons blog. You can come over and read the rules. If you don't want to do it, please don't feel presured.

Cath said...

I too am very surprised at how much I'm enjoying Dracula. It's just so readable - creepy without being gorey or nasty which is the kind of horror reading I don't really like.

We've had a very good crop of greenhouse tomatoes but we've had so much rain this summer that outdoor veggies have been very hit and miss. Our sweetcorn is good, courgettes (zuccini) too but they took a while, beans and some soft fruitnot bad. Beetroot and outdoor tomatoes - terrible. We're also growing squash and pumkins and they seem to be doing okay. I bet that cantaloupe was very tasty!

The trees here in Devon are just starting to have that yellowish haze, a few weeks and they'll start to turn I expect. I must get around to putting up some photos here.

Thank you for tagging me... I like doing memes so will get that over the next couple of days.

Anonymous said...

Very pleased to see you're reading The Book of Lost Things for the challenge! Hope you like it.

Glad to read that you're enjoying Dracula. I can't wait to get round to my re-read. If you're enjoying Dracula, then I think you will probably like The Historian when you get to it.

Re. veggies - our veggies over at the house in Wales (looked after by my mother) have been very hit and miss this year too. The tomatoes (outdoor) just didn't do well at all. I think the beans are doing ok, and the peas maybe...Has been an odd summer!

Cath said...

The Book of Lost Things sounds like my kind of book so I'm resonably confident I'll enjoy it. I've ten books in my pool now and although it's only required to read four I suspect I'll be reading more than that.

I'm *really* enjoying Dracula and am having trouble getting your lovely new copy out of my head. (We *wants* one...)

You're telling me it's been an odd summer. No summer at all really, though admittedly I do prefer a cool summer to a stinking hot one. Our outdoor tomatoes just rotted and that's the first year that's ever happened to us. Mind, we do rely more on the greenhouse ones for our freezer supplies. Which is just as well really...

Tara said...

I noticed you weren't crazy about the Geras...If you think you'd ever try her again I would recommend Facing the Light which I liked.

Cath said...

Tara: I think it was the people in Made in Heaven that annoyed me. There's a certain type in this country, too much money, too much time on their hands, not too many brain cells... I found it hard to identify with most of them to be honest and they're certainly not typical of British people. I'll certainly try Geras again - I like the sound of her latest book that Elaine on Random Jottings was enthusing about. Will also keep an eye out for the one you mention.