October Book Update

So, in 2018, I'm taking a slightly different approach to blogging about my reading - I'm not really worrying about the in/out balance or how many books I read each month versus how many have been removed from the list. My only goal in 2018 is to read at least 100 books (as usual), so I'll be counting towards that, and noting books I read, acquire, get rid of, etc, but only for interest. I'm tired of feeling guilty if I acquire new books!

In January:  books read: 7; books otherwise removed: 3; books in: 7; books on windowsill: 62
In February: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3;  books on windowsill: 61
In March: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 5;  books on windowsill: 60
In April: books read: 13; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 6; books on windowsill: 61
In May: books read: 10 ; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 58
In June: books read: 10; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 58
In July: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 5; books on windowsill: 62
In August: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 63
In September: books read: 9; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 4; books on windowsill: 67
In October: books read: 9; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 62

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I read one book which Geoff passed on to me - he's been reading various crime fiction series set in Italy, and the Inspector Montalbano series was recommended to him. (The Shape of Water by Andrea Camelleri)
• I read one book which was a Christmas present from Sarah last year - it was a highly rate YA fantasy title, and it was very readable - I whipped right through it and bought the second in the series straight away. (Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas)
• And speaking of YA fantasy series, I remembered after reading the above and having a quick look at my windowsill, that I had the third (and final) part of the Rebel of Sands series waiting for me, so I read that (Hero at the Fall, Alwyn Hamilton)
• I bought three books in Waterstones - the second the Sarah J Maas series, plus the first in another series of hers. Plus I saw Winter by Ali Smith lurking near the tills - I recently read Autumn, so of course I'm going to have to read the rest of the seasons...
• I read one book which I picked up with an eye towards putting it in my classroom (Song of Seven by Tonke Dragt) - now that I've read it, I will definitely have to go back and read The Letter for the King, which Alex has on his shelf - not that they are connected, but I'm sure it's a great read.
• Then I went into "now for something completely different" mode and pulled out a non-fiction title which has been lurking for a while and read that (The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry)
• About halfway through, I got distracted by the second in the Court series by Sarah J Maas (Court of Mist and Fury)
• I had a try of one of the books on my list, read about 30 pages or so, but just didn't really like the tone (Three Sisters by Bi Fieyu), so it will go back to the charity shop
• I read a book on the train to & from Birmingham (and a little while in Brum, but mostly on the train) (Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor)
• I read another couple of books from my shelf (The End We Start From by Megan Hunter; How to Stop Time by Matt Haig)

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2018. These are the books hanging out on my windowsill upstairs, waiting to be read. Or discarded. But hopefully, read. I started the year with 60 books on this list - you can see how long the books have been knocking around by the dates in brackets.

1. Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End (Nov 2012 - birthday present - bought after the BBC adaptation - but I knew I wouldn't read it straight away as I wanted to let time pass from the adaptation.  Enough time has probably passed now...)
2. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)
3. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (would be a re-read, bought shortly after his death - spring 2014 - as I was reminded how much I enjoyed it and I didn't seem to own a copy - think my old one fell apart, probably...) 
4. Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
5. Daphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
6. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
7. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
8. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016) (This book isn't technically on my windowsill, it's downstairs because I keep thinking I might have a go at reading it, but haven't really got around to it yet...)
9. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
10. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
11. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
12. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
13. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
14. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
15. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
16. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
17. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
18. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
19. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
20. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
21. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
22. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
23. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
24. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
25. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
26. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
27. Clare Vanderpool, Moon over Manifest (was in the house, moved to my shelf Feb 2018)
28. Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
29. Mohsin Hamid, Exit West (Waterstones Wimbledon, Feb 2018)
30. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
31. ed. Tracy Chevalier, Reader I Married Him (Waterstones online, March 2018)
32. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
33. Diana Rosie, Alberto's Lost Birthday (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
34. Jojo Moyes, The Last Letter from your Lover (Charity Shops, March 2018)
35. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
36. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
37. Marcus Zusak, I am the Messenger (Charity Shops, March 2018)
38. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
39. Margaret Atwodd, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
40. The Killing Moon, N K Jemisin (Waterstones online, April 2018)
41. If we were Villains, M L Rio (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
42. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
43. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
44. March, Geraldine Brooks (Abe Books, June 2018)
45. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (charity shop, June 2018)
46. Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2018)
47. The Disappearances, Emily Bain Murphy (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
48. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
49. Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
50. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
51. The Same Sky, Amanda Eyre Ward (discount shop in US, August 2018)
52. The Murder of Mary Russell, Laurie R King (Abe Books, August 2018)
53. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
54. The Terracotta Dog, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
55. The Snack Thief, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
56. Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
57. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
58. Scythe, Neil Schusterman (Waterstones Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
59. Alice, Christina Henry (Waterstone Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
60. Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
61. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
62. Winter, Ali Smith (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)