Challenges and goals update: How did I do in September?

September turned out to be a better reading month that I expected, and once again I’m surprised since I’ve been almost living in the lab lately. At the same time, that means a lot of commuting time, so yeii for public transportation reading! So what exactly did I read in September? Well, I started 11 books, DNF only one of them and another one I am loving but to be fair I started it on the 28th, so I haven’t been able to finish it. So I’m going to do stats only on the 9 books finished. Let’s see:

Diversifying 2015: Of the 9 books I read this month, 2 had a POC author and both had POC main characters. This pushed my percentage to under 30%, but I’m still happy with it, I want it to be at least 30% by the end of the year. The books I read were: Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson and The Round House by Louise Erdrich. The book I DNF was Origins by Neil de Grasse Tyson, but it turned out to be way too much physics for me. My boyfriend read it and loved it though.

Read Harder: For this challenge I tackled the "A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture" part with The Round House by Louise Erdrich. I enjoyed it quite a bit, albeit sometimes it felt a bit slow for a mistery.

My goals:

Read at least 1 POC author per month: As I mentioned, I read 2 this month.

Read at least 1 book in Spanish per month: I read Lo que escondian sus ojos by Nieves Herrero. It was interesting as I learned some about the Franco era in Spain, but it was oh so slow! The subtitle is The hidden passion of the de Llanzol marquess but the romance part took forever to actually develop and even then things kept going to a glacial pace. I guess it was just not for me.

Read CanLit book per month: The Hello Hemlock book club chose Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson for this month read, and I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect with it, but I was pleasantly surprised. More of a fantasy set in a dystopian (?) Toronto it was also full magic.

Read at least 1 book of nonfiction per month: Headstrong by Rachel Swaby. This book was an amazing even if it infuriated me several times; reading about so many women disregarded in science was not easy! I am working on the review and should be coming soon.

Finished series: The only book I read (well listened to) this month was The Heir by Kiera Cass, which makes part of the Selection series. As always it was a bit predictable, but entertaining even if the characters get my eyes rolling on constant bases. It was perfect while taking a bath though. As it turns out, it's not the end of the series but a new spin for a trilogy.

Read more already owned books: Off the 9 books I read this month 6 were my own, the other 3 came from the library.

Read the picks of the month for each book club: The Sword and Laser pick for this month was A Canticle for Lebowitz by Walter M Miller. Since it’s an old SciFi book there’s some parts that felt dated but I liked what he did with the story and how he depicts humanity. However the first part was very slow-paced and at times I considered quitting it. I am happy I didn’t! As I mentioned, the Hello Hemlock book club chose Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson for this month read.

Besides the books I already mentioned I also read Life of Pi by Yann Martel and I have to say I was disappointed. I don’t know if it’s a book that suffers from all the hype it got, but I was left with a “meh” feeling by the end of it. I also read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and again, was disappointed. I liked The Time-Traveler’s Wife, but this one had way less whimsy and the end was unsatisfying. I finally got my hands on Ms. Marvel Volume 3. Amazing as always. My last read of the month was Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell and that one was fantastic. It’s her debut novel and I am looking forward reading more from her; it was the perfect read for the Readers Imbibing Peril X challenge.

Well that was it for September. How was your reading?

What am I reading this month: September and R.I.P X

Hello everyone. I noticed I hadn't done one of this since June!. But today I had the time and also I am using this post as my oficial R.I.P registration, so, let's get into it.

For my reading more in Spanish goal I will be reading Lo que Escondian sus Ojos (What was hidden in her eyes) by  Nieves Herrero. Now, I've tried to keep to Latin American authors for my Spanish reading, mainly because there are a lot of expressions that change, but I've heard good things about this one and it was available at the library, so here we are.
For the Sword and Laser Book Club, we will be reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. I am intrigued by this one, since in their last podcast they mentioned this is one of the first "post apocalyptic" books, so that's definitely interesting.
For my "reading more CanLit" goal and the pick for the Hello Hemlock book club, we will be reading Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, which will also go towards my Diversifying 2015 challenge (you can sign up here). I will also be (finally) reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel as a Canadian author.
On nonfiction, I am reading (well, listening) to Origins by Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love the author and the work he does in vulgarization of science, so I am quite exited to listen to this one.

 

Besides those, I will also read Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffeneger. I got this book on a library sale right after I had read The Time Traveler's Wife but I hadn't put myself to reading it.

 

On the other hand,  in case you missed it, this year R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X will be hosted by The Estella Society and off course I am participating. However, unlike on previous years, I think I am going to play it safe and just go with 2 books, which is Peril the Second.

 

My choices are: Before She Dies by Mary Burton, a mystery that has been sitting on my shelf for years now; and Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell, another mystery but a YA this time. Usually I manage to read a bit more than 2 books for R.I.P X, specially with the Read-A-Thon coming on October, but most of the books I am choosing this month are print and fairly big which reduces my commute reading. But we will see.

Anyway, those are my future reads as for now. What are you reading this month? Let me know in the comments and have a nice week!

Sunday Salon: Getting ready for September

Ok, ok, so September is already here but I was away on vacation so bear with me. This is going to be a very busy month, both in my reading life and my personal life, so I figured I will tell you a bit about it.

First off, we have the Readers Imbibing Peril IX. You can check my sing post here and there you will also find the titles I plan to read. This gives me my first September read: The Haunting of Hill House. My dearest Andi from Estella Society is hosting the readalong. I will also have to at least tackle on of the books from my list. Since the R.I.P Challenge coincided with the Read-a-Thon in October I am not überly nervous about managing my reading for this challenge, but still, I cannot leave the 4 books for October only.

Now, September is also NetGalley Month, an event hosted by Tay at Chicks that Read. For this event I want to read and review the following books: Sudden Light, Mademoiselle both coming out on September 30 and maybe The French Executioner, but this is a maybe, since I have a bit more time for it. Right now my NG ratio is 62.5% and that's with Sudden Light already reviewed. I would love to increase my ratio, but since I am certainly not lacking books to read, I won't be asking anymore books from NG until October probably.

This is also the month for A More Diverse Universe or Diversiverse, an event organized by Aarti from Booklust.

For those who have not heard about #Diversiverse before, it's a very simple challenge. For those of you who have participated in the past, it's even easier this year. The criteria are as follows:

Read and review one book

Written by a person of color

During the last two weeks of September (September 14th - 27th)

I have two candidates for this being: Stories of your life and Others by Ted Chiang, which incidentally is the month's pick for the Sword and Laser book club and Adulthood Rites by Octavia E. Butler, but once again, the second one is a maybe IF I manage to get to it.

That takes us to at least 4 books this month doesn't it? Well, the thing is I've been a bit behind with all my reviews, and this off course affects future reviews. So after trying it 2 times I've decided to start doing some Mini reviews. I believe there is always something to say about a book, but sometimes since I have very little to say (for example with certain sequels) I postpone the review in hopes I will get more to say later...but I don't. I don't think I will go back to write mini reviews for some of the books I've finished but haven't reviewed but you never know.

In the matter of my 2 year long challenges "Where in the world are you Reading" and "Sequel and Prequel Challenge" I think I am doing well. You can see my general progress in their respective tabs.

So that's it for the Blog life. Now for the personal part. This month A and I will celebrate 5 years together. I am so very lucky to have him, he is sweet and supportive and a big geek. It is also the first month that he is officially out of the lab. He still has to finish writing up his thesis and we are waiting for news on a job he interviewed for before we left for a week.

It will also be (hopefully) the month when I finally get my driver's license...well, I have mine from Colombia, but it took me a while to do the process to change it for a Canadian one because...I really don't like driving, guys. But with A no longer going to the lab with me, and the winter coming, we both agreed it will be who might be needing the car more often and so, here I am, getting ready for my driver's exam.

Now I am off to read. Happy September everybody!