I read 15 books in January.  Which is, by any measure, a respectable number of books.  Except my Januarys are always a book buster month, because school holidays Down Under are in December and January, so I generally don't have to work, which means I can loll about alone with my books.  I read 33 books in January 2018 and 35 books in January 2017.

2019 was not blessed with this decadence; I started work again right after the New Year, while the schools were empty, trying to get ahead of a number of massive networking projects that all came together at the same time.  And the iPads.  OMG, the iPads.

Unfortunately, I didn't get ahead of any of them, really, and work got steadily busier as the month progressed, with me working almost 44 hours more than I was contracted to in the last 2 weeks.  This has sent my narcolepsy spiralling out of control, which means if I'm not moving, I'm sleeping.  I'm pretty sure there were a couple of times when I was moving and sleeping.

I'm sharing this little whinge-fest with you all not because I'm doing a (back of hand against forehead) woe is me!; I'm not - my life is very good, all things considered, and this hellish period will pass.  As I told a teacher who said to me with a look akin to pity that she hoped my day would get better: "well, it will end."  This will end too.  

But I am super disappointed with my reading this month.  The craziness/narcolepsy has left me too tired to read more than a page or two, and the constant fatigue has left my feelings too close to the surface to be safely allowed to socialise.  So not only is my reading down, but so too is my participation here, as a blogger, buddy reader, group moderator and librarian (::shudder:: don't ask me about the librarian queue - I'm afraid to look at it).  I was really looking forward to the Pymalong and I just couldn't keep up - words I have never once said about reading in. my. life.   In the grand scheme of things, it's nothing; no big deal.  But, it sort of is, to the part of my psyche that defines my sense of self as a reader first, and pretty much everything else second.

So, I'm not a happy camper; this, too, will pass.  Of the 15 books I did read, the best were all non-fiction.  Some reference-types, some books about books, and a collection of science experiments to do with kids at home.  

Moving along, My TBR Project is going well.  For every two books I read, I can buy a new one the next month.  For January I started with a book budget of 19 books (based on the average # of books I read per month last year).  

* I round up to nearest integer.

Onward, February!

Well, I needed to read 22 books this month if I was going to pull myself out of the TBR-reducing-hole I'd dug for myself in June, and thanks to a reading binge, I pulled it off.  My total this month was 28 books.  6 of those were re-reads, but either way you interpret the parameters of my challenge, I still pulled it off.

I had 1 5-star read this month: Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science-and the World by Rachel Swaby and I recommend it to anyone - in either print or audio - that has an interest in women, history or science.  The bios are brief, but 90% of these scientists are ones you're likely to have never heard of before, so it's all new stuff and well-written.

I had 4 4.5-star reads too, including one Man Booker Prize winner; a first for me.  Lincoln in the Bardo was also the only fiction to make the cut this month.  

For July, since I was feeling chart-y this month:

(I just realised that second chart is mis-labeled; it should read "fiction/non-fiction" but I can't be bothered opening the program back up and fixing it.)

TBR Challenge update: 

July budget: -11

Books bought in July: 3

Books read in July: 28

Deficit brought forward to August: 0

# of books pre-ordered for August: 6

August budget: 7*

*: by my admittedly dodgy mental rules, because I went into July at a deficit, clearing it should start me back at zero, as though I'm starting over. So this month's budget is based on half the number of books I read in July *after* clearing that deficit.

So it would appear I have 1 book left to buy in August, except I don't.  I've placed an order for 5 books from Mysterious Books, which means I'm in the hole again by 4 books.  So far.  Hopefully it'll stay at 4; Halloween Bingo is coming up, but I have loads of books on my TBR I should be able to make work, so I'm semi-confident I won't need to buy any - at least until September.

How was your month?  :)

I seem to be in a recurring/remitting slump.  Last month was my low point so far, but if not for a concerted push over the last week, June wouldn't have been much better, but I did manage to pull out 21 reads.  A very respectable number for anyone except the person who's just gone on a mother of a book buying binge - but more on that later.

Of those 22 titles, only 1 was a five star read: At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails - Sarah Bakewell  which I listened to on audio and it was truly outstanding.   Two 4.5 star reads: Book: A Novel - Robert Grudin  and Elizabeth and Her German Garden (The Penguin English Library) - Elizabeth von Arnim.  No real bombs, but a fair sprinkling of mediocre books; I was probably due some mediocrity, as I've had some pretty fantastic luck this year overall.

Some basic stats:

14 women authors

7 male authors

7 were easily classified as mystery

3 were science

the rest were all over the place

My TBR project:

In 2018 I decided to try reducing my TBR by allowing myself to buy half as many books in a month as I read off my TBR the previous month.  If I bought less, the difference could carry over.  This was working far better than I expected until I decided to give the finger to the Australian Tax Office and go on an unprecedented (to me) buying binge before new taxes kick in (tomorrow).  Most of these are pre-orders, so they'll go against my 'budget' for the month they're released in, but I also bought a fair number of books currently available - enough to completely derail my June budget of 14 books.  Which means I'm in the hole until I read myself out of it.  That hole is 21 books deep.  So the math ends up like this:

Books bought in June: 35

June budget: 14

Deficit brought forward to July: 21

# of books pre-ordered for July: 1

July budget: 11 (half of 21 books read in June - rounded up.  Don't judge!)

July deficit:  -11 

What this means for my project?  I have to read a minimum of 22 books in July to "break even" - doable if I can knock this slump out for good.  Luckily I'm on 2 weeks break from work starting Monday, which may, or may not, help.  

Nothing like a little pressure; I blame the government.

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!

23 books read this month.  A very happy surprise for me; had I been asked to guess, I'd have said no way would this be a great reading month by numbers.  My Christmas subscription of NewScientist magazine started arriving at the end of March and I read each weekly issue cover to cover - some articles more than once (*cough*quantum time*cough*).  

MT has also had a spectacularly bad run - even by his standards - of small, non-serious, but debilitating injuries: first minor surgery to his left wrist, immediately followed by an injury to his right wrist; just after the dr.'s all-clear, he sprained his ankle.  A day or two later, he severely sprained his right wrist (and arm) dragging a heavy trolly uphill.  As these injuries ALWAYS happened on Thursday or Friday, a girl could be forgiven for giving him the side-eye at this point, but it really is bad luck.  Both his and mine, because I am picking up the slack, including laying down a stone pathway that has to be done before we have a new garden fountain delivered.   For the record, I've always excelled at doing nothing, so I'm knackered!  But proud (about the path - stuff the housework).

All of that excess of info to say that I can't believe I read 23 books!  1 5-star read and 4 4.5-star reads amongst the lot. A few disappointments, but no outright bad books to speak of.  

Two charts this month - all the books were printed except 1 Audiobook:

My TBR project:

I've set a book buying budget for each month that = 50% of the total books I read the previous month.  Any books not bought carry over to the next month.  

I have to cry Force majeure for May, because this happened, and since I make up the rules for this little experiment, those books don't count. 

Moving on...

Last month I bought 14 out of the 16 budgeted, leaving me with 2 to carry over to May.  My total books read in April being 23 leaves me with a budget of 11 (rounding down for a  small error of margin). 

total books I can buy in May:  13