October Book Warp Up 2021

Monthly reading review – October 2021

This October I have read:

Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola ★★★★

Bite by Laurell K. Hamilton et al ★★★

Alien ( Alien Movie Novelizations #1 ) by Alan Dean Foster ★★★

Stoner by John Williams ★★

Jebo sad hiljadu dinara by Boris Dežulović ★★★★

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

I decided to count in one book I finished in November here and my book total with it is 5 books. This is obviously less than I had hoped but thinking on the at least two weeks of no reading at all in October I am unusually OK with this number. I remember when I would be a lot more upset with myself for reading only 5 (4,5) books for the whole month.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in October? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

Hellboy Volume 1: Seed of Destruction and Wake the Devil by Mike Mignola was very impressive. I did not expect to like it so much at all. At first glance the artwork seemed dark and heavy but for some reason it strangely fit – maybe October mood had something to do with it. The forewords to both chapters, the artwork guide and all the extras that went with the edition I have are really adding value to my reading experience.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

Stoner by John Williams was the first book of the month and a book club reading pick. I did not appreciate the heavy and depressing setting of the book. It was a real downer and I never like those in general. Its not my type of a story and I look for a little bit more magic in my book picks.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

All the books I have read in October were part of a reading challenge plan. The obvious thing is I had planned for more. I am torn between wanting to add more diversity into my reading or adding more comfort picks. Lately it seems like I miss comfort picks and random reads more and more. This is making me rethink my plans for the end of the year as well. I have been left with 3 not read books out of 8 books I have planned to read in October.

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

I started with reading Hellboy finally! I am now more motivated to get the rest of them as well. I am happy with getting them at a slower pace. All other many book series I am currently reading I did not manage to fit into this October…

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

Lately I have been pulling out some books that were hidden and forgotten on my bookshelves as well as reading some library books that were on my TBR for ages. Now I have four books I am in the middle of reading of and my interest in them varies from time to time. The book look very Autumn appropriate in color. I can see my tastes books changing and I am glad for that. My recommendation based on October is to question the books on long TBR often and read the quirky books more!

Final thoughts on October 2021 reading

I am not entirely pleased with my reading total this October. I had plans for more but am trying to look at it from a positive perspective and focus on the genres of the books I have read. My reading piles include more and more library books, and even with that I still have some books from my own bookshelves that are filling me with a sense of accomplishment. The only thing that really worries me is that the book Empire of the Vampire ( Empire of the Vampire #1 ) by Jay Kristoff that I foolishly expected back in September has still not arrived. I keep including it in my reading plans for two months in a row and it feels demotivating. I keep giving it more time to arrive but will probably have to write back to Book Depository and ask what happened. I keep stalling for this because I don’t want my money back – I want the book to be here!

As the year is almost done I am trying to make some plans and review my reading goals for the 2021. I make take a one month break from Bookopoly in November and use that time to make a list of books I want to read by the end of the year. More on those plans in a separate post soon. At the moment I have a bigger pile of the books I am in the middle of reading than the pile of the books I have read in October!

September Book Wrap Up 2020

• 

Monthly reading review – September 2020

This September I have read:

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur ★★★★

Snow: A Reverse Harem Fairytale Romance Series by Plum Pascal ★★★

Push by Sapphire ★★★★

Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #9) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★

Father Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #6.5) by J.R. Ward ★★★

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma ★★

• 

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

This September I have read six books. My reading has dropped last month to almost half of my reading pile from August. September was slow reading month and I don’t feel good about that at all…

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in September? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

As it turned out the book that I gave the highest rating this September was the only book I’ve read this month that is from my own bookshelves and it is also my second reading of the said book: Obsidian Butterfly (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, #9) by Laurell K. Hamilton. I enjoyed reading this book most and the only thing that made a bad impression was the random chapter preview for the next book at the end of Obsidian Butterfly. The random chapter for the next book was so out of sync with everything that happened in Obsidian Butterfly that made me reluctant to pick up the next book of the series in my rereading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series project!

• 

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

This September a friend from book club provided me with some books from the library since I’m not a member of the library anymore. I am unemployed and paying my library membership is way outside of my budget for now. Half of the books I’ve read this September were from the library, only one of them was for my book club assignment: The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. I rated it two stars because I felt totally disconnected from the characters or the plot. The crude and brutal details of the book put me off and I could not understand most of the book at all. I hope book club discussion sheds some light on things that I missed out on…

• 

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

What I did in September was try out the Becca’s Bookopoly Readathon with my bookish friend. You can check out Becca’s announcement for the readathon and give her some love HERE. I actually made a board for the game myself while she printed out Becca’s board. We even used Discord for a video chat and a second camera phone to throw dice for each other! We both rolled five times to get five books to read in September and all five books were the one’s I’ve read while the sixth book was the book club assignment! While I went with the plan by the letter I can’t help but feel a bit deflated with my reading in September.

• 

• 

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

From the six books I’ve read only two were part of the series. I am glad I finally got to read a novella Father Mine from the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I got the first four books from the series long time ago and did not like it enough to decide to continue the series. I was very interested for this novella because it featured the only character from the series I liked – Zsadist. Obsidian Butterfly was a part of my rereading the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series and it has kinda put that project on hold for now

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

I’m glad I finally got to read some books from the library I was interested in but not enough to actually buy them. I remembered how much I like reading poetry and should explore more of it. Every reader should try to read poetry from time to time. I have some favorite older authors like super melancholic Ana Ahmatova and tend to be a bit cautious with new poets.

Final thoughts on September 2020 reading

September was a very slow month for me both in creativity and reading. My posts were nonexistent and while I kept myself busy I just could not summon inspiration for posting any content. I hope to get more of the books from my own bookshelves in for October. I feel that reading books from my own bookshelves makes me more content with my reading and inspired to produce more content. It is strange that now that I am not a member of the library I have read more books from the said library than in the few month when I actually was a member of my local library! Also half of the books I’ve read this September were Croatian translation and I mostly read books in English!

February Book Wrap Up 2020

Monthly reading review – February 2020

This February I have read:

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje ★★★

Black Butler Vol. 3 by Yana Toboso ★★★★

Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake ★★★

Serpent’s Kiss (Elder Races #3) by Thea Harrison ★★★

The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels #4) by by Robert Venditti, Rick Riordan ★★★★

Seize The Night (Moonlight Bay #2) by Dean Koontz ★★★

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and Seize The Night (Moonlight Bay #2) by Dean Koontz were library copies and I already turned in one of them.

1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read? 

In February I’ve read total of six books. The amount of books does not make me all that happy but considering some of them were a bit more challenge than usual I think I did OK.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in February? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

Strangely the book I most enjoyed in February was a Black Butler manga. This was the third in the series and last I have on the shelf but the drama and familiar characters were entertaining and made me reconsider buying some more volumes.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

Most of my reading month was OK, just OK. Nothing too thrilling or too bad. This mediocrity was kinda bland in contrast to January reading. I read some books in February that were almost a milestone for me and were on my reading list for a while now. Serpent’s Kiss (Elder Races #3) by Thea Harrison had the all elements I usually enjoy in an urban fantasy book series but this was the second time I tried reading it and had very little fun in reading it. My February reading felt a bit oppressed by Seize The Night (Moonlight Bay #2) by Dean Koontz as well. It was the last book I was reading in February and took me a third of the month to finish it.

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

I managed to read four of the books for my reading challenges and in February I’ve read two books for my book club assignment. This has made all my reading in February fit into some plans. I already strive to deviate a bit more from reading plans in March.

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

Three out of six books I’ve read were continuation on a book series. One was urban fantasy, one manga and one graphic novel. All three mentioned were the last of the books I already owned and would need to get next parts to finish. Getting new books is low on my priority lists and I will not be continuing these anytime soon.. I managed to finish one duology besides before mentioned book series – Girl of Nightmares (Anna #2) by Kendare Blake

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

Dean Koontz was and interesting new author to read. I think I would have probably liked it more if it was my own choice instead of a book club assignment. Half of the books I read in February featured some kind of love relationship and could be categorized as romance of some sort. With that in mind my February reading felt a lot less romantic than the previous month of January. I guess I read romance all year round and this February was actually a bit low on romantic reading.

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje I was reading at the start of February.

 

August Book a Day overview

Here is the complete list of all the books I’ve covered in this year’s August Book a Day countdown. All the books I’ve posted about were books I’ve read for a book club reading. I used this opportunity to evaluate my book club experience for the last four years. These are only some of the books from the long list of books I’ve read for the book club and the whole list is a lot longer since for the last few years I was a part of more than one book reading groups.

1. Book a Day – Middlesex
2. Book a Day – Blindness
3. Book a Day – Bonjour tristesse
4. Book a Day – Unterstadt
5. Book a Day – Frankenstein
6. Book a Day – The Uncommon Reader
7. Book a Day – Little Women
8. Book a Day – Soumission
9. Book a Day – Lord of the Flies
10. Book a Day – Women Who Run With the Wolves
11. Book a Day – Norwegian Wood
12. Book a Day – A Christmas Carol
13. Book a Day – Steppenwolf
14. Book a Day – Factotum
15. Book a Day – The Shadow of The Wind
16. Book a Day – Cosmétique de l’ennemi
17. Book a Day – La Dame aux Camélias
18. Book a Day – Tess of the D’Urbervilles
19. Book a Day – Cat’s Cradle
20. Book a Day – The Elegance of the Hedgehog
21. Book a Day – A Brief History of Time
22. Book a Day – A Mercy
23. Book a Day – The Turn of the Screw
24. Book a Day – Mrs Dalloway
25. Book a Day – Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
26. Book a Day – The Circle
27. Book a Day – Therese Raquin
28. Book a Day – And the Mountains Echoed
29. Book a Day – To Kill a Mockingbird
30. Book a Day – Bizarij
31. Book a Day – A Doll’s House

I will soon have to make a short pause from my book club activities due to some work related obligations. While most of these books I would not pick for myself I’m glad I had the opportunity to read them and discuss them in good company. Book club groups are a treasure and a source of good friends and good books. I deeply recommend this experience to every reader out there!

Book a Day – A Doll’s House

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

I decided to finish my August Book a Day journey with one rather recent book my book club read – A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. This was our book for May this year. We try to be careful with books that are required reading in schools. Those are not always available when students need them.

We were very active during our meeting and debated on life choices women face regarding family and work. Expectations and realities crashed. At one point we even dubbed Nora, the main character, a gold digger! This book stuck out as one of the most thought inspiring for me from all the recent book club reading choices.

The reason I picked this book to talk about last is the sense of promise and possibility it made me feel at the end. I decidedly enjoyed reading this book and found it to be very optimistic. This stuck out even more when we discussed how the book was received trough the years.

Book a Day – Bizarij

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

Bizarij by Jasna Horvat was the book I read for my very first book club meeting. I do not read Croatian authors often and this was an excellent opportunity to pick up the slack. The title of the book translates into “bizarre” and it deals with some little known historical details and quirks of real people from the past. I wanted to fit in so I made an effort with this book.

I was pleasantly surprised with the topic. It is a string of chapters where each is based on an actual person or time in the history of my hometown Osijek. I feel like I need to point out that the first time Osijek was mentioned in historical documents was over 800 years ago. We also have a lot of old local historical sites from the times of ancient Rome and the city of Mursa that used to be here.

And just little to the east there are excavations that date around 3000 years BC. A lot of interesting history to learn about indeed. We were all kinda shamed for all the things we did not really know about. The author Jasna Horvat tends to dip all of her books with themes inspired with history and real past events.

The Excavations of Roman city of Mursa in the park in front of the city hospital in Osijek

I remember it was a meeting at the start of October in 2015. It was also a first meeting for one other book club member I later got really close to. I have fond memories of this book and my introduction to the book club.

Book a Day – To Kill a Mockingbird

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

One of the book we read in April 2015 was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. At the time the author had only recently published another book with the title: Go Set a Watchman. These books are connected by plot but I’m still somewhat confused as to which book was supposed to be the first one chronologically.

While the book was mostly easy to read the themes were quite serious and relevant today so we had no choice but to get a lot of cookies and sweets while we were busy debating. The topic we were especially reflecting on were the parenting skills of the main character.

I found come characters endearing but I was not pleased with the tone of the book. It reminded me of style of Mark Twain which I don’t like. While the book has a certain value it was not one I enjoyed reading.

Book a Day – And the Mountains Echoed

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

I enjoy it when readers from my book club suggest a book by an author I have not read. This way I have a reason to venture out of my reading comfort zone more. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini was a book we read for May 2016.

I read the Croatian translation and was actually pleased with it. The story was bittersweet as is much of the authors opus as I’ve learned at our meeting. The tale twisting on how our choices affect us and those close to us was something we all agreed was expertly written.

There was much sadness and tragedy in the book but there was hope also. Our thought on the book were mostly positive but some readers who are fans of the author decidedly commented that this was not his most representative work.

 

Book a Day – Therese Raquin

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

Our group read Therese Raquin by Emile Zola last year in April. Apparently April was a very busy month and there were only a few of us attending the meeting. My thoughts from Monthly reading review can be found HERE.

While we all agreed that the book was kinda depressing some of us were more pleased by the choice than others. We even went into some lengths and came up with our own alternate endings.

While I am in no way a fan of Emile Zola works I’m glad we went with this choice and not Germinal. I am also pleased to have gotten trough another book I missed out on in high school.

Book a Day – The Circle

Book a Day I read because of my reading club – August 2018

When I went back and found out that my book club read The Circle by Dave Eggers way back in October 2015 I was more than a little surprised. We did read it before we knew anything about the movie adaptation and one other group in our book club read it again after that.

The Circle is an excellent book for discussion and I loved how it was written. There are many thought provoking ideas any book club can tackle in this book. It is one of the rare books I enjoyed reading in Croatian translation as well. I remember wanting to go back and make a review afterwards but I did not find time right after reading and latter it slipped my mind entirely.

I still did not watch the movie either even though I was interested about it when I heard it was made. I would like to recommend this book for everyone since it speak about the topic that is very current and real for many who can’t seem to find a balance using mass media platforms and apps. I like how it reminded of some of the older SF masterpieces.