July 2010

And I’m back.

The whole of July was spent house-sitting for my parents and visiting friends, which meant that it was a very pleasant month indeed.  Among the delights of visiting McNellie’s and the Melting Pot, I also include seeing Despicable Me and Inception, the latter of which has become my ultimate heist movie.  And last but by no means least, my husband and I celebrated our second anniversary.

My top reading priorities were to read A Wizard of Earthsea for an informal book club that never materialized and the five books of the Temeraire series, by Naomi Novik, which belonged to my parents and necessarily must remain with them.  Temeraire is a dragon, and his captain is Will Laurence, and they are in the British Aerial Corps fighting Napoleon.

So without further ado, here’s the stuff I’ve been reading in July.

1. Jennifer Government by Max Barry  (a funny book we read in the car, which ought to be a film)
2. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (because I’ve always been interested it, though it wasn’t at all what I thought)
3. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin (for the book club)
4. His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #1)
5. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower (60%) (a collection of short stories by a much-lauded new writer whose work I found well-written and depressing)
6. The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams (a collection of short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes and, once, Cthulhu)
7. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #2)
8. Fire Watch by Connie Willis (a collection of short stories featuring the award-winning title story, which is sad and lovely and brilliant)
9. Black Powder War by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #3)
10. The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (20%) (I thought this would be a quaint country-house mystery, but it wasn’t quite, somehow)
11. Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon (a collection of short stories recommended by a professor, which I admired but don’t love)
12. Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #4)
13. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (one of my top three favorite books)
14. Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (Temeraire #5)
15. The Knight of the Rose by C. A. Cole (a JuNoWriMo novel, sequel to The Faerie King)

And that, my friends, is that: five books in a series, three and a half short story collections, and fairly long works otherwise.  As for blogging, I didn’t write a single post, but I did sleep a lot, watch TV, hang around with friends, write some fifty-odd-pages, and read fifteen books: so I don’t feel guilty at all.

Though I will probably resume semi-regular posting.  At least until the semester begins.