14 books read this month.

This month's relatively low number is a direct reflection of RL distractions, stress and what I hope is a mini-slump.  Things are looking up; here at the house of feathers, fur, and fins we had some medical uncertainty last month, but now have names to hang on everything, and treatment plans in place, so I have high hopes that June will be more SOP, and I can get back to avoiding real life by hanging out in books.  Also, a trip to Uluru next weekend is MUCH anticipated.  There will be camel-riding, an art exhibit and if I'm really lucky, I'll get to see one of these little guys:

A thorny devil, and it drinks with its feet. It places them in a puddle and water moves up by capillary action along grooves to the corner of its mouth.  How cool is that??

Quick stats (no charts this month):

Four 4.5 star books, but no 5 star reads this month.

6 male authors

8 female authors

6 mystery

6 non-fiction

1 audiobook

2 re-reads

TBR Project

My experiment in TBR reduction:  I can only buy 1 new book for every 2 I read off my TBR piles, tallied monthly.

I bought 6 books this month out of my allotted 13.  So I carry 7 books over to add to my 7 books budgeted for June (50% of books read the previous month - May).  Total book buying budget for June:  14 books. 

Hope everyone is pleased with their reading for the month - and bring on June!

An excellent collection of essays from writers all over the world, all centering on the bookshops that have most impacted their lives, shaped them, or are just plain favorites.

Writers from nearly every corner of the globe (no Aussies or Antarticans) tell their stories and of the entire collection, only one - Iam Sinclair - failed for me.  While all the others wrote odes to bookshops, Sinclair seemed more content to use bookshops as a front for his diatribe against politics.  His essay, his right, but in the company of the other authors in this book, it felt brash and strung-out.  I found his writing florid and at times incomprehensible too.  Having never read his other works, I have no idea if this is congruent with his style, or a one-off; either way, it was the only speck on an otherwise perfect collection.

Because I enjoyed the rest so thoroughly (ok, Dirda's essay was just ok) it's impossible to pick a labourite.  If you feel your soul sing when you walk into a bookshop, I think this collection is well worth investigating.  

A book lover's dream come true!  A German book blogger decided to travel around the world, one city and its bookstores at a time ... and actually made good on his idea. 

He shares his impressions on  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bookshops.Around.The.World.  The text is mostly in German, but the images alone are enough to send any book lover drooling ...

Video Trailer