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Monthly Update – November

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Some time in October, I started listening to books on my iPod during my commute.  I ride in a van pool/commuter bus and it isn’t very conducive to reading.  I looked on-line, and  discovered that I can check out  and download audio books from the local library.  My plan, at this time, is to listen to books I’ve already read, though maybe not recently.  And, so far, I have been pleased with this new set up.   So much so, in fact, that I’ve signed up with Audible.com, so I can purchase books that I want to listen to over and over again — like the Austen novels, for instance.

When I started listening to the books, I did not plan on keeping any notes or doing any formal write ups.  However, I’ve since re-thought this and decided that it might be a good idea to do something.  I just haven’t figured it  all out yet (monthly roll ups  vs. individual posts).  Two things I know for sure that, no matter what route I take,  I want to include are the number of pages the paper version had so that I can add it to my pages read total (I’ll also cite which copy/version I got it from), and give my thoughts about the narrator.  I’ve set up a separate page to keep track of what I’ve listened to monthly.  The page can be found under the “INDEX” tab — it’s the last item on the list.

The Books:  Below is the list of books that I finished reading/listening to in the month of November.  I want to point out that, by listening to Sense and Sensibility, I’ve successfully reach my goal to “re-read” three Austen novels by the end of the year.  Also, thanks to the audio books, this has been one of the better months for me in terms of  the number of books and  “pages read” (see the bottom of the page for page total).

Read/listen to this month:

  • Sense and Sensibility (Austen, Jane) — (pgs. = 453) AUDIO
  • Moon Called (Briggs, Patricia) — New Author,  101 Fantasy
  • Bellwether (Willis, Connie) — (pgs. = 247) AUDIO
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, Roald) — (pgs. = 155) AUDIO
  • Regency Christmas Proposals (Anthology) — Romance Reading,  Holiday Reading, Pub 2010

The Backlog:  Another accomplishment for me this past month: Finally — FINALLY — wrapping up the last of the 2009 reviews. I chose to forgo writing anything about a pair of short stories. One, I’ll re-read if/when I start Meljean Brook’s Guardian series. The other was a “prequal” to a series I decided not to read. I guess this was also a good month for me as far as posting my scribblings.

2010 Backlogged Reviews

The backlogged 2009 reviews posted: <— FINISHED!!

What’s still pending –  2010 Reads:

  • The Battle Sylph (McDonald, L. J.)
  • Magic Bleeds (Andrews, Ilona)
  • Secretive Stranger (Greene, Jennifer)
  • Winter Kiss (Cooke, Deborah)
  • In for a Penny (Lerner, Rose)
  • Prospero’s Daughter (Butler, Nancy)

The Challenges:  The one area that I haven’t been doing well in, as the statistics below will attest to, is challenges.   The good news is that I’ve finished one with 31 days to spare.

Dismal statistic have not prevented me for signing up for more challenges.  However, I’m being more selective.  I’ve already decided not to sign up for What’s in a Name 4.  I will be signing up for New Author Challenge and the Harlequin/Silhouette Challenge.  There will be other challenges from the Good Read groups and I still plan to do a few personal challenges.

Challenges Completed this month:
Pub 2010: 10/10

Incomplete (Ended in November):
Fall 2010: 4/15

2010 Challenges:
Contemporary Romance: 2/10
Harlequin/Silhouette: 1/6
“In Death” Challenge: 0/??
New Author: 6/20
Romance Reading: 4/5
What’s in a Name 3: 3/6
Year of the Historical: 4/12
Holiday Reading (1-5 books): 1/? <— NEW!!

2010-2011 Challenges (started):
The Christmas Spirit (ends January): o/? <— NEW!!

2011 Challenges (not started)
1st in a Series: 0/6 < — NEW!!
2nds Challenge: 0/12 <— NEW!!
Men in Uniform (6-10 books): 0/? <— NEW!!
Off the Wall: 0/30

Perpetual Challenges
101 Fantasy Challenge (Month): 1
101 Fantasy Challenge (Year): 3
Grand Total since 2009:  3
~~ & ~~
Georgette Heyer (Month): 0
Georgette Heyer (Year): 1
Grand Total since 2008: 2

Romance Readers Reading Challenges (RRRC) (Good Reads)
Read-the-Season (Autumn): 2/7
Toy Stories: 0/12 <— Now under correct heading

Serious Overload of Series (SOS) Challenges (Good Reads)
I Spy: 2/24
Resolutions: 0/24 < — New for 2011

~~ & ~~

Total (Month): 5
Grand Total (Year): 25

Total Pages Read (Month): 1,427
Grand Total (Year): 7,978

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