Month in Review: August 2013

Well, the summer is slowly dwindling away and while I’m sad that the long days are slowly becoming a thing of the past, I do admit I love the fall – crisp weather, pumpkins and falling leaves – and the perfect excuse to curl up on my porch with a blanket while reading. 

In August, I participated in a month-long ban on buying new books and as tough as it was, I can proudly say I was successful!!! The event, thanks to the brainstorming of Tamara at Traveling With T and some other twitter book friends, was known as Conquering the Book Stacks
– and I managed to read 6 books from my own stacks that had been sitting on my shelves since before the start of this year. I would have gotten to more, but had some review books that needed to be read during the month as well as some library books that needed to get back. I’m hoping to continue this streak of reading more of my own books as the year continues.

Here are my reading stats for August!

• Books read:  14

Books I read (reviewed ones have * and link to review; books not yet reviewed will be linked up once review is posted.)

1. The Tudor Conspiracy*  — C.W. Gortner
2. Hunting Eve — Iris Johansen
3. Vanish*– Tess Gerritsen
4. The Witness — Nora Roberts (audio)
5. The Perfume Collector* — Kathleen Tessaro
6. Big Sky Wedding* — Linda Lael Miller (e-book)
7. Cloaked in Malice — Annette Blair
8. Three Little Words* — Susan Mallery
9. The Comfort of Lies — Randy Susan Meyers
10. The Mephisto Club — Tess Gerritsen
11. A Fitting End — Melissa Bourbon
12. Banana Split — Josi S. Kilpack
13. Sense & Sensibility* — Jane Austen
14. The School of Essential Ingredients — Erica Bauermeister

Favorite Book of August:   

• The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

2013 Challenge Update:

•  Read-a-Latte Reading Challenge — Books Read: 83/100
•  Library Books Reading Challenge — Books Read: 38/50
•  Off the Shelf Reading Challenge — Books Read: 11/30
•  Tea & Books Reading Challenge — Books Read: 0/2
•  First Reads Reading Challenge — Books Read: 29/11+ (COMPLETED)
•  Classics Reading Challenge — Books Read: 1/3
•  Historical Fiction Reading Challenge — Books read: 20/25
•  E-Book Reading Challenge — Books Read: 26/25 (COMPLETED)
•  1st in a Series Challenge — Series started: 5/10 + 5
•  Finish the Series Challenge — Series completed: 0/3 + 1
•  Cruising Thru the Cozies Reading Challenge — Books Read: 7/13+
•  Audio Book Challenge — Books Listened To: 25/26
•  Reading Challenge Addict Challenge – Challenges Finished: 2/12