You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

I thought it might be fun and handy to have little overviews of what we all plan to read in the near future. What are your reading plans for the coming month?

August:
Dragonfly in Amber - chunkster challenge (currently reading, but I'm sure I won't finish it this week)
The Firebird - buddy read / chunkster challenge
A Thousand Splendid Suns - ylto group read / around the world challenge
Like Water for Chocolate - ylto challenge / around the world challenge
In the Land of the Long White Cloud - chunkster challenge

I haven't got that far in planning August yet. I have a whack of gophering to do!

So far, I think I may be reading:

Fool Moon for the Toppler
The Valley of Amazement for chunkster challenge, left over stew challenge
When Bad Things Happen to Good People for real life book club
Snowblind for another group's group read

It could all change once I start gophering.

I'll be reading:
Lolita
The Divine Comedy
1984
The War of the worlds
Ghost Story
Del am or y otros demonios

My break is over next month, so I'm not really hopeful that I'll finish all these.

July has been a really bad reading month for me so I am hoping to do a lot better in August. My plans so far are shaping up like this:

The White Princess - chunkster challenge (currently reading but definitely won't finish it by the end of the month)
Blood and Beauty or Inferno - YLTO monthly challenge
The Book of You - just for fun
The Wine of Angels - chunkster challenge
The Canterbury Tales or Blood & Roses - just for fun (I probably won't finish whichever one of these I pick up in August but I hope to make a start).

I don't plan but I will read Fool Moon for monthly ylto read

My current stack of books and holds at the library tell me I'm going to be reading these:

All my audiobook choices for the month:
Take, Burn or Destroy
Ramses: The Eternal Temple
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
A Pocket Full of Rye

for the chunkster challenge:
Luminous Chaos
Memnon
The Map of Time

Interlibrary Loans that are waiting on hold and must be read in 2 weeks:
The Praise Singer
The Awful Secret
A Potion for a Widow
The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz
Shroud for the Archbishop
The Outcast Dove

And random other books that may or may not be read before having to go back to the library:
The Hippopotamus Marsh
Tyrant
A Place Called Armageddon
The Ruby in Her Navel
An Evil Spirit Out of the West
The First Man in Rome

Most choices subject to change based on whim and fancy!

My plan for August:
- Cloud Atlas - YLTO Group, Buddy Read & Chunkster Challenge
- Snowblind - SAI King Group Read

I also have some reviews I need to write for the following so hope to read at least two of them:
- I, Morgana
- The Queen of the Tearling
- The Monster's Wife
- The Steampunk Trilogy

I need to add the toppler and the monthly challenge books in there too but haven't decided which ones to read. I also REALLY want to read The Daylight War

I will read Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Veniss Underground, Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Hit List, Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷA Discovery of Witches and Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷThe Monkey's Raincoat
because I compulsively order books from the library when my "plate is already full"!

I plan to finish The Terror for the July/August Stephen King Recommends Group read.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷCloud Atlas a YLTO! Buddy Read
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Appointment with Death, YLTO! August Challenge
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Bird Lake Moon, YLTO! August Group Read 12 Aug
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Chocolat, YLTO! August Toppler 10 Aug
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ In the Company of the Courtesan, Left Over Stew Challenge 31 Jul
Memoirs of a Geisha, In a Land Far Far Away Challenge
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Sock Hop Challenge 1 Aug
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ The Stolen Child, Yearbook Challenge 26 Jul

Although I've completed Buzz Lightyear chunkster section, I am continuing TO INFINITY AND BEYOND with that list of books as my guide. So from that I want to read:

Lucky Bastard, Deborah Coonts
The Republic of Thieves
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1: The Absolute Edition
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ The Museum of Extraordinary Things
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 2
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Red Seas Under Red Skies 6 Aug
Sea of Poppies
The Sex Lives Of Cannibals

Dawn my library books are drowning me too because I feel the time crunch
My August library books are:
Mr. Mercedes
Missing You
Everything I Never Told You
The Silkworm
The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee
The Good Girl
Dear Daughter
The Cruelest Month

Plus the group reads, challenge, etc...

Too many good books to read...I need to work the hold system at my library better!

Be waiting to see how you enjoy League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I thought I wanted to read it but my experiences with GN done by Alan Moore have not been good. I've passed on Cloud Atlas in a few different group reads but maybe I'll give it another look and then probably pass on it again.

Sex lives of Cannibals. Wonder if they do any friendly nibbling or maybe I don't want to know.

Wow! Some good books listed on here for August!

Travis of NNY wrote: "....Sex lives of Cannibals. Wonder if they do any friendly nibbling or maybe I don't want to know. ..."

lol. One reviewr wrote:
"... why a misleading title is a bad idea. It's eye-catch-ability may sell a few more copies, but it will disappoint when the reader discovers there's no sex and there's no cannibals, and hell the author isn't even adrift, he's on a bloody island! "

Travis of NNY wrote: "Be waiting to see how you enjoy League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I thought I wanted to read it but my experiences with GN done by Alan Moore have not been good. ...."

I'm pretty new to graphic novel reading, "Graphic" being the operative word! But I so enjoy artistic talent. We'll see how this goes.

Travis of NNY wrote:I've passed on Cloud Atlas in a few different group reads but maybe I'll give it another look and then probably pass on it again...."

I've had Cloud Atlas in my physical library for a very long time. Frankly it kinda scares me. Reviewers allude to a lot of confusion...some like it, some not. It's a Marmite book!

I am going to stop planning! It seems like when I write things down, it all goes out of the window. It is 3 days to the end of the month and I haven't finished all of the books I started in July except one for the Group Read. I did read a lot though.... I cannot do anything until I finish the last 162 pages of The Book of Life. I may need a vacation day to finish my last two short stories for the Underrated challenge. I have to let the Ian what's his name Guide Books go back to the library.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I don't plan but I will read Fool Moon for monthly ylto read"

Good idea! I can double dip with this book. Toppler and group read.

Dawn wrote: "My current stack of books and holds at the library tell me I'm going to be reading these:

All my audiobook choices for the month:
Take, Burn or Destroy
[book:Ramses: The Eternal Te..."

What intriguing titles! My finger is itching to click on the infamous green icon.

Almeta wrote: "I plan to finish The Terror for the July/August Sai King group read."

That reminds me that I was going to go to the library today and get Snowblind.

Sarah wrote: "Wow! Some good books listed on here for August!"

I agree! This is a dangerous thread.

Thank goodness Almeta showed up and made a list as big as mine! :)

In September I'll be reading:

Rose of Sarajevo: buddy read with Sarah and netgalley review (although we actually start at the end of August)
Hounded: monthly group read
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch: monthly challenge
Neverhome: A Novel: also for netgalley

And at least one book for my Tasmanian Devil milestone, although I'm not yet sure which one. Maybe The Tea Rose or The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion.

I'll finish up my August reads, which did not go as planned. Surprise!

H. Rider Haggard’s King Solomon's Mines for the YLTO! Be My Buddy Challenge
The Wine of Angels for a YLTO! Buddy Read
Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican for a Stephen King Recommends Group Read
Double Indemnity for a ShortCut Challenge
The Last Werewolf Sock Hop Challenge (to fill-in for The Leader of the Pack entry)
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax for In A Land Far Far Away Challenge
The Golem and the Jinni for Left Over Stew Challenge
Shades of Grey for YLTO! First in a Series Challenge
Night Passage Home Alone Challenge
The Witches & The Witch's Grave Connection Challenge
Double Feature, Owen King for the Yearbook Challenge
The Misremembered Man Dewey's Decimal Challenge

AND

Dead Until Dark because at one time it was "next" in my Chunster Challenge and got pushed way down the list!


The Cuckoo's Calling Infinity and Beyond
The Providence Rider Infinity and Beyond

ETA: Also looks as though I have a Special Speed Date with Donald E. Westlake!

I have had a much better reading month during August than I did in July. I should end up finishing five books, four of which were planned and one which was spur-of-the-moment.

In September, I will (hopefully) be reading:

BOOK:

The Name of the Wind - chunkster challenge/buddy read
Mr Mercedes - YLTO monthly challenge
Prince of Thorns - buddy read
The Magician - Just for fun
The Kite Runner - Just for fun

AUDIOBOOK:

The Eagle of the Ninth: A BBC Full-Cast Radio Drama - just for fun
Hounded - YLTO group read

Lisa wrote: "I have had a much better reading month during August than I did in July. ..."

Glad that you had a good August. I failed miserably in meeting my August goal. I usually read Waaay more than I did!☻

August was great - This is what I accomplished:

Audiobook:
Fool Moon (YLTO toppler, YLTO group read)
Inferno (chunkster)
Lover Revealed (chunkster)
The Valley of Amazement (chunkster, abc-leftover)
Hexed

Book:
The Fire-Dwellers (cross canada - BC)
Snowblind (Sai King)
Appointment with Death (ylto challenge, ATW - Jordan)
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Syndicate)

Ebook:
The Giver
Swan

[X]1 Chunkster: - Infernal
[X]1 Chunkster: - Lover Revealed
[X]1 Left Over Stew: - The Fire Dwellers
[X]1 Left Over Stew: - Appointment with Death (Jordan)
[X]1 Monthly Challenge: - Appointment with Death
[X]1 Group Read: - Fool Moon
[X]1 SAI King/1 Sydicate: - Snowblind /When Bad Things Happen

This is what I have planned for September - so far (not finished planning):

Audiobook:
Pines (YLTO Challenge)
The Ghosts of Belfast
My Life as a White Trash Zombie
The Woman in Black
Tiger's Curse Preview

Book:
The Girl with No Shadow (Buddy Read) *currently reading*
Brutal Youth (Sai King)
The Gunslinger (YLTO Group)

Ebook:
The Wine of Angels (Buddy Read)*currently reading*

[ ]1 Chunkster:-
[ ]1 Chunkster:-
[ ]1 Left Over Stew:-
[ ]1 Left Over Stew:-
[ ]1 Monthly Challenge: - Pines
[ ]1 Group Read : - Gunslinger
[ ]1 SAI King/1 Sydicate: - Brutal Youth

Funny that I found this thread today while doing the same thing in another group so I'm posting it here too. :)

September

When the Lion Feeds (HF/Chunkster challenges, will finish RR for YLTO!)
The Pagan Lord (YLTO Monthly Challenge)
Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II (Monthly read in another group)
Winter Garden (monthly read in another group)
The Observations (monthly read in another group)

***Need a chunkster to get Taz started***

August is turning out to be an ok reading month for me. The Outlander books have been consuming most of this summer. I'm a bit conflicted about whether that's a good or bad thing as the last book seemed to drag on forever.

August Read
The Fiery Cross (YLTO yearlong)
The Dark Mirror (YLTO yearlong)
Blade of Fortriu (YLTO yearlong)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (YLTO August challenge)

August To Read Still...
The Well of Shades (YLTO yearlong)

If the library hold system works its magic, then I'm hoping to read the below for September.

September Potentials
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (YLTO yearlong)
All the Light We Cannot See (group read for another group)
The Book of Night Women (YLTO September challenge)
Shades of Grey (YLTO group read)
The Book of Life (YLTO yearlong)

Janice wrote: "August was great - This is what I accomplished:

Audiobook:
Fool Moon (YLTO toppler, YLTO group read)
Inferno (chunkst..."

What's leftover stew?

Left Over Stew is what I didn't complete for previous years' challenges. I have books left from my ATW challenge, Alphabet challenge, and cross Canada. I threw them in the pot and calling them left over stew.

Planned for September:
✓Shades of Grey (YLTO group read)
✓From a Buick 8 (YLTO challenge)
✓The Wall (to complete Tasmanians)
✓Awaken (to complete Tasmanians)
✓What the Night Knows (to complete Tasmanians)
✓The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (have it as a quick loan - 2 weeks only - from the libary and have to return it by 8th Sep)
✓Games to Keep the Dark Away (planned to be part of Buzz's; have to return to library by 15th Sep)

Additional reads (in addition to what I planned):
✓ Irlantilainen aamiainen : kertomuksia vihreältä saarelta
✓ Suojattomat
✓ Welcome to My Country
✓ Losing My Faculties: A Teacher's Story
✓ The Maze Runner

Audiobooks during drive to/from work:
✓ Mikael Hakim
✓ Fahrenheit 451 (re-read, I've read this as a teenager and feel it's time to read it again)

Managed to finish my August reads. Time really flies.

September plan
Ghost Story
Jane Eyre
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories
The Age of Innocence

Doubt I'll be able to finish all these, though.

Janice wrote: "Left Over Stew is what I didn't complete for previous years' challenges. I have books left from my ATW challenge, Alphabet challenge, and cross Canada. I threw them in the pot and calling them l..."

Haha. That's a good name for it. I thought that there was a challenge that I was missing. Lol.

I just hope I don't have any left overs from the left over stew!

Janice wrote: "I just hope I don't have any left overs from the left over stew!"

Well, remove from the pot, add to the pot.... You may have stew renewal.

I am almost finished with my last August book and my plans for September are
The Rosie Project for Be My Buddy and my Australia AtW challenge.
Hounded for the alternate group read and buddy read
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - buddy read with Peggy
The Girl with No Shadow/Peaches for Father Francis continuing Chocolat Series buddy read and last two books to finish my Mickey Mouse chunkster section.
I have two audio books on my iPod, Noah's Compass and Sarah's Key to listen to after I finish The Magician - just because they sounded interesting and were available on Overdrive - while I am waiting for Cress, which will be the 1st book in my Road Runners chunkster chanlenge section. If I finish the two Chocolat books before Cress arrives, I will start reading American Gods

Nice plans Cherie! Sarah's Key was quite the hype around here one or two years ago (or even longer ago maybe? I see the book was first published in 2006, and in 2008 in the Netherlands), but I didn't read it yet and added it to my tbr only recently. Let me know when you start listening and if I can fit it in, I might read along with you.

Do you have any idea when you want to start Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch? I'm flexible but I prefer to start no later than the last week of September, so that I can surely finish it in time. It's a little over 400 pages, but I think it will be a pretty fast read.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on The Rosie Project and I'm curious to hear what you think of American Gods too.

Good Omens is a reasonably fast read. If you've not read Pratchett before Peggy, be sure to check out the footnotes that he includes as they are funny. He uses footnotes in his Discworld novels too. When I've read books with footnotes before I've often started off reading them then abandoned them but I would NEVER do that with Pratchett's because they are funny and well worth the time. I am looking forward to seeing what you and Cherie think of it.

Thanks for the tip Sarah! I hope the footnotes are also present in my e-book. Hm, perhaps I should order a hardcopy of the book after all.

Peggy wrote: "Thanks for the tip Sarah! I hope the footnotes are also present in my e-book. Hm, perhaps I should order a hardcopy of the book after all."

I'd have thought so but I think when I've read books with footnotes in on a ereader it provides a link you have to follow then you press back to go back to the main text of the book.

I ordered a second-hand copy of the book. Cherie, I'm now not sure when I can start reading. It's being sent from the UK so it shouldn't take more than a week to arrive. The estimate I got in the confirmation email is between the 3rd and the 12th of September. I'll let you know when it arrives. But you planned your own challenge read first anyway, right?

In my list I have:

Griffintown (buddy challenge)
Oryx and Crake, or, if is does not come available The Warded Man for the monthly read
The Martian for another group read

Then books from the chunckster challenge.

Peggy wrote: "I ordered a second-hand copy of the book. Cherie, I'm now not sure when I can start reading. It's being sent from the UK so it shouldn't take more than a week to arrive. The estimate I got in the c..."

Don't worry, Peggy, I can wait for you to get your book. I was planning on starting The Rosie Project on the 1st.

I only downloaded Sarah's Key because it was available, short, and I liked her other book that I read for the Bingo toppler, The House I Loved.

I agree with Sarah's comments about Pratchett's foot notes. I have read a lot of his books in the past, but none for a long time. I started the Discworld series years ago, but lost interest. I have been waiting a long time to read American Gods but I can put it off, if needed.

Sarah was right about the ebook foot notes. Most of the time they have a link. Depending on your eReader
and the format of the book they work. .pdf formats are the worst because they usually do not have links and footnotes do not show up sometimes. It depends on how the book was copied. Scanned books are the worst! Sometimes the text is so tiny that even on the largest font they cannot be read.

I have a few must reads for September but hope to fit others in around these:
- Memoirs of a Geisha - Monthly challenge
- Shades of Grey - Group read
- Prince of Thorns - Buddy read
- Lolita - Group read

For September, my list includes

To finish -
-Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (started but won't be finished in August. Dang seminar!)
-The Language of Baklava: A Memoir (started for August challenge but can't finish)

To start-

-The Room of Lost Things - monthly challenge
- White Teeth - buddy read with Erica {reading}
- The Selection - month theme
- Daughter of Smoke & Bone - chunkster
- Finnikin of the Rock - chunkster
- The Name of the Rose - for fun
- The Queen of the Tearling - review

"Sarah wrote: "I have a few must reads for September but hope to fit others in around these:
....
- Prince of Thorns - Buddy read
- Lolita - Group read"

I there a group read for Lolita?

Mariab wrote: ""Sarah wrote: "I have a few must reads for September but hope to fit others in around these:
....
- Prince of Thorns - Buddy read
- Lolita - Group read"

I there a group read for Lolita?"

I think she is reading it in another group, Mariab, not one in YLTO.

Yes it's in another group I'm in. I don't usually join in there group reads but as it's a book I've wanted to read for a while, I thought I would.

Planned for October
Bedlam: London and Its Mad (carried over from September, started for speed dating)
✔Children of the Night: Stories of Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves, and Lost Children for Madame Tutti Fruiti & Halloween Theme Read
✔Teräsarkku for Madame Tutti Fruiti
Holiday in Death for Madame Tutti Fruiti
Pikajuna Mumbaihin: matka Intiaan for Madame Tutti Fruiti
✔Piippo ja verhotut totuudet for Madame Tutti Fruiti
✔The Witch's Daughter for Halloween Theme Read & Toppler
✔Of Metal and Wishes for another group's challenge
✔American Gods Chunkster
✔A Tap on the Window Chunkster
Doomsday Book Chunkster
✔Riptide Chunkster
✔Dark Life Chunkster
✔Mirage Chunkster

Additional reads (in addition to what I planned)
✔The Final Frontiersman: Heimo Korth and His Family, Alone in Alaska's Arctic Wilderness Toppler
✔Ladies' Night Toppler
✔Hex Hall

Audiobooks
✔Leonardo's Swans
✔The Accident

I'm not planning for OCtober as I'm not doing to well with sticking to my schedules at the moment. I have 4 must reads but we shall see what happens:
Horns - group read
A Discovery of Witches - buddy read & chunkster
Odd Thomas - Madame Tutti Fruiti's choice
Swan Song - buddy read & chunkster

If I do manage any other books then I am aiming for them to all be spooky/halloween linked in some way. Then we have the toppler books to add in!

Not much for October:
The Age of Innocence (from September)
Anna Karenina
Little Women
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Murder on the Orient Express
Rage

Sarah wrote: "Then we have the toppler books to add in!"

I'm hoping to be able to use some of my currently planned books for the Toppler. Especially the Tutti books are all quite quick reads.