September 2019 Reading Update

End of September Update

I remember in August, when I realized I was pushing through books like crazy. I thought there was no way I could keep that up. Well, boy have I set some pretty unattainable goals. 15 was my goal. I got it. I changed that to 20. I got that. Now I am thinking 29 the year I turn 29. Next year maybe I can do 30 x 2 (if I can keep it up). This month I have read 10 books. I thought 5 would be a lot, 7 books ago. Clearly, I can’t keep this up (probably), but I don’t have to. I am learning how to find more reasons to read (I like to talk about the books obviously), but there are more ways as well.

I came across this amazing thing called BookTube, which is just a cheesy name for YouTuber’s who talk about books. I never much cared for YouTube, but needless to say it is growing on me. Not only has it given me ideas (readathons: spookathon and kingathon), it has also shown me that I am not the only random person talking on the internet to now one about books. My favorite blogger is probably BooksandLala for two reasons. 1) great content (i.e. see this absurd bit of book fun below) and 2) we have similar book tastes. I have a lot of books I want to read now.

A big problem for me in Booktube is that a lot of the most popular people aren’t into the darker, more mature adult fiction and/or fixate on YA (young adult) books. Luckily there are a few exceptions (like here). I love the readathons and I love Bookstagram (i.e. posting pics on Instagram of books and reading). I don’t get the impression many people care, but I like doing it anyway. I decided to try my own readathon with #kingathon which I hope to make a yearly thing for King’s birthday. I read several books that I was not particularly interested in because it was bit of an experiment for binge reading. It was a very positive experience, and I came away enjoying much faster speeds (1.8x vs <1.3x, another thing I got from BooksandLala). Also, who knew bookoutlet.ca was a thing?

October TBR (To be read)

So I have had a TBR for the year, and it continues to change, so I am going to start looking at a list of TBR on month to month basis. I will start with #spookathon because that is the most obvious. I want to get through a couple anthologies I have (starting with Fearful Symmetries), and I need a break from books for a bit. I am also going to make a point to read books I already own on hard copy. I think 2 to 1 ratio of owned to not is good because I have so many books I haven’t read.

I need to finish Gather Together in My Name; #kingathon kept me from reading it at all. The readathon was a my focus. I intend to finish it, so I guess that will back it an October read. For the rest of the month, I may read Kindred Graphic Novel or short stories in Weird by the Vandermeers. I won’t list weird because I don’t intend to finish it this month.

Update: I have decided to do a month long reading challenge alongside #spookathon. Check out my post to see how that changes my October TBR.

1. Gather Together in My Name, Maya Angelou
2. The Institute, by Stephen King (#spookathon)
3. The Ancestors, by Brandon Massey (Anthology) (#spookathon)
4. Summer of Night, by Dan Simmons (#spookathon)
5. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury (#spookathon)
6. White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi (#spookathon)
7. Fearful Symmetries, by Ellen Datlow (Anthology)
8. Mongrels, by Stephen Graham Jones
9. The Dark, by Ellen Datlow (Anthology)
10. A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay
11. Kindred, Octavia Butler (Graphic Novel)