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Reading report for August 2008

I was slightly above my average reading level in August, with 14 books, perhaps subconsciously trying to make up for June and July. I started all but one of the books I finished within the month, which is unusual. The exception was the Heyer biography which I had been reading on and off for more than a year.

I have been on a travel book kick lately, finishing 3 within the month and I have started 2 more which I expect to finish in September. I also added 2 more authors to the reading challenge. Susan Dunlop I have already reviewed, and I am planning to read a couple more of Charlotte MacLeod’s books before I post a review. I am beginning to see a light at the end of that particular tunnel and will hopefully finish the challenge by the end of the year.

Ideas for a new challenge are welcome. I am leaning towards a travel book challenge, but it may be difficult to implement as I want to read about a new country every week and don't want to read guide books.

In the months to come you may notice books featuring Egypt in some way popping up on these reading lists, and for good reason: I am planning to go there, either next year or in 2010. Any recommendations are welcome – not just for guides but for travelogues (books or blogs), history, archaeology, novels, cookbooks, websites, movies and TV shows, and in fact anything you can think of that can help me plan my trip and keep up my enthusiasm for it.

The Books:
Mary Higgins Clark: My Gal Sunday (short crime stories/mysteries)
Jennifer Crusie & Bob Mayer: Agnes and the Hitman (romantic thriller)
Deborah Donnelly: You May Now Kill the Bride (murder mystery)
Susan Dunlap: Karma (murder mystery)
Joann Fletcher: Ancient Egypt: Life, Myth and Art (popular history/archaelogy)
Jane Aiken Hodge: The Private World of Georgette Heyer (biography)
Charlotte MacLeod: The Family Vault & The Withdrawing Room (murder mysteries)
Larry McMurtry: Roads: Driving America’s Great Highways (travel)
Mary Morris: Nothing to Declare: Memoirs of a Woman Traveling Alone (travel)
Eric Newby: Slowly Down the Ganges (travel)
Ellis Peters: Black is the Colour of My True Love's Heart & Never Pick Up Hitch-hikers (murder mysteries)
Nora Roberts: Sea Swept (romance)
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