What I Read Last Month (September 2013)

I love reading. A couple of years ago I bought a Kindle and from there joined Goodreads and the combination has boosted my reading almost to high school levels (I worked in a book store and used to devour a book a week). Each year I set lofty reading goals for myself. This year my aim is to read 36 books and while I'm a little behind my goal, it still has me reading a few different titles each month. So how did September fare?

William-Sonoma: The Wine Guide 

At the beginning of the month, I was studying for a wine exam. After finishing my course books, I thought I'd crack into some other wine books I had gotten as gifts. The William Sonoma Wine Guide gave a good background on wine from the prominent wine regions and varietals to helpful food pairings. In fact, long before I read the book all the way through, I would use it to figure out which wines to have with dinner and it's responsible for much of my pairing knowledge.

I found a little bit of difficulty when I got to the A-Z guide section which reads like a giant glossary. While helpful for someone looking up a specific wine term, it was extremely boring to read through. Imagine reading through the dictionary - this was basically the same thing. Sadly, that made it hard to focus and unfortunately, some of the terms that I'd glossed over ended up being on the test.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

I really loved this book. When I read the description, I thought it was going to be a little heavy but the book was actually pretty lighthearted and added some comedy to some serious areas.

I would best describe the book as a mix between X-Men and The Bourne Identity. Despite having a lot of similarities with other fantasy books, there were a lot of really unique powers and abilities, not limited to the antagonists (which we'll leave out for spoiler reasons).

Despite the supernatural elements, the book actually gave a realistic portrayal of bureaucracy and a very realistic female lead. In fact, it was great to see a female lead who was strong, smart, friendly, and not just chasing a man. I couldn't put this one down and I'm really looking forward to the sequels!

What's on Schedule for Next Month?

I'm currently reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay which I've only heard fantastic things about and I'm excited to see it unfold. My book club is planning on reading The Casual Vacancy so I will be as well. I'm hoping that's a quick read because I read an excerpt from The Circle by David Eggers and I instantly pre-ordered the promising novel.

To keep up with what I'm reading each month and my 36 book goal, you can follow me on Goodreads.