Another Lean Month

So I managed to read nine books in August - one more than my tally for July. And I managed that by reading very short and disappointing works by Margaret Atwood and Colm Toibin. I also blame National Family History Month where I presented at some events and listened to quite a few webinars. Then there was the guest blog post that took a few hours. 

At least I am now only two books behind schedule. The good news is that I have a few partially read titles that may help my September tally (if I finish them).

I really enjoyed my first Sarah Clutton novel set in Tasmania and a further two titles by Louis Scarr. I'm pleased there are several Scarrs available through Libby. 

Thanks to my granddaughter for suggesting Replaceable You, I had loved Mary Roach's book Stiff so took Em's advice and purchased the eBook of Replaceable You. I'm now on the hunt for more of Mary's works. They don't feature in the collections of libraries near me or in their Libby collections - I can see my birthday book voucher being put to use if I can't source them elsewhere. Must try Brotherhood Books first. 

Four Behind Schedule

I now find myself four books behind schedule in the 2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge. 

What should I do? Change my goal or plug on? I am now ignoring longer books in an effort to catch up thereby denying myself some very good reading experiences. I've also read a couple of titles that aren't in the Goodreads database. I submit their bibliographic details to the volunteer librarians but they are overwhelmed with requests. As a former librarian I could perhaps apply to become one of these volunteers and add those missing titles to the catalogue.

We've still five months of the year remaining so I'll try to read more (and pull back on my French lessons?) and assess the situation again in September.

My Books Read in July

Of the eight books I attempted in July my standout was A Mudlarking Year by Lara Maiklin. I have been following Lara on Facebook for several years and have been captivated by her adventures on the Thames. From the book I not only learnt about Laura's personal life and history, I gained an insight into London lives in earlier times.

I love detective/murder/thriller novels so was pleased to read my first book, Nowhere to be Found by Louisa Scarr, it won't be my last. I'll also seek out more titles by Sarah Clutton, it was interesting to see the use of DNA in the story.

While I was looking forward to Noni Hazlehurst's biography I found it tedious. I read 47% of this book and now have an understanding of Noni's views on politics and the environment. While the people and places in this work are familiar I just didn't have the commitment to read all the fine details of Noni's professional engagements.  I kept on thinking if the book was another performance by an accomplished actor,. It was a Did not Finish.

Falling Behind

I have fallen behind in the GoodReads Reading challenge. I read nine books in May before and on the first few days of our recent cruise. 

Of my May reads I enjoyed and learnt so much about recent Sydney history in The Man who couldn't wait: the true story of Australia's first political assassination. While I found the content in The Kerry Girls most interesting I found it a drag to read, perhaps it needed more editing.

Towards the end of the cruise I fell ill with pneumonia and, on disembarkation, was  admitted to hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. While I had a lot of potential reading time on my hands conditions there prevented me from using it to read. One arm was hooked up to a drip, the other arm was tied by leads to a beeping monitor and I was masked in regular sessions on a nebuliser so I couldn't easily read a real book or an eBook on my phone. I could have tried audio books but I couldn't be bothered. 

After getting out of hospital and unhooked from gadgets I read four books in June. I found the true crime story London Falling unputdownable and A Land Rover named Lucy  a most readable and humourous travel tale.

Keeping Up

I only managed to read seven books last month. One was a long tome that required a great deal of concentration. That was not surprising as I was otherwise involved in the April AtoZ Blogging Challenge that I managed to finish on time. Reading other entrants' blogs chewed up a lot of my reading time.

I'm quite pleased with my 2026 Report Card from Goodreads.

2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

books completed

1 book ahead of schedule

33/100 (33%)

View Challenge

The good news was that I really enjoyed six of the seven books I read. Animal Farm didn't resonate. 

A Score of Ten

 Pleased to report that I'm back on track in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. 

My Progress

We've no travel planned this month so I hope add a few more to the tally. Here are the covers of the books I read. I'm trying to read a few classics but wasn't too impressed by 1984. Apart from that I'd recommend the rest of the following titles I read in March.

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