Bought several types of books in July – 4 novels, 11 short stories, and 3 technical books. So, I guess you can say that June was a great month for book buying (not so much for saving money though).
I read about 3 books back in July: Austerlitz (W.G. Sebald), which I read with 2 book buddies, Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie), and To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) in preparation for To Set a Watchman. From mid July onward, I got a bit sidetracked with reading technical books – technical only because they are about cameras and photography.
Without further ado, my July Book Loot:
Novels:
1. The Book of Strange New Things – Michael Faber
2. The Winter People – Jennifer McMahon
3. The ABC Murders – Agatha Christie
4. Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee – Currently reading. I’m about more than halfway through, and I find it surprisingly interesting, despite all the bad reviews it’s been getting.
Penguin Little Black Books:
From my previous post:
- No. 7- Wailing Ghosts (Pu Songling) – A collection of traditional Chinese ghost stories.
- No. 16 – Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls (Marco Polo) – An excerpt from the author’s collection of tales from his travels.
- No. 22 – How a Ghastly Story Was Brought to Light by a Common or Garden Butcher’s Dog (Johann Peter Hebel) – A collection of traditional German folk tales.
- No. 33 – Beautifull Casandra (Jane Austen) – A collection of funny short stories.
- No. 39 – The Old Nurse’s Story (Elizabeth Gaskell) – 2 stories in 1; a ghost story, and a re-telling of a classic fairy tale.
- No. 42 – The Yellow Wall-Paper (Charlotte Perkins Gilman) – A classic short story about a woman battling mental health issues.
- No. 44 – The Meek One (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) – Based on a news story about a man who drives his wife to despair and suicide.
- No. 63 – The Night Is Darkening Around Me (Emily Bronte) – A collection of poems.
- No. 73 – The Fall of Icarus (Ovid) – From Daedalus and Icarus.
New additions:
- No. 61 – The Dolphins, the Whales and the Gudgeon (Aesop)
- No. 68 – The Robber Bridegroom (Brothers Grimm)
Since my original post about these Little Black Books, I’ve managed to finish reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s The Old Nurse’s Story (No. 39), and Pu Songling’s Wailing Ghosts (No. 7).
Technical Books on Photography:
1. The Digital Photography Book Vol. 2 – Scott Kelby
2. The Ditigal Photography Book Vol.3 – Scott Kelby
3. The Digital Photography Book Vol. 4 – Scott Kelby
I got a bit carried away with these books, and perusing through them, they are not as useful as I thought they would be. The tips in these books are mostly the same as tips you can find online from photography sites. These are allegedly one of the bestselling digital photography books out there, but if you are not a beginner in photography, or don’t have plans on setting up a physical photo studio, I would skip these books.
So, how’s your bookshelf looking these days?
The Misanthropologist 
Are you collecting the Little Black Penguins? I know they look lovely on the shelf; unfortunately, it’s one of my perennial problems, haha. Shelf space.
Not really….I’m just buying ones that seem interesting.
I’ve long given up the concept of shelf space 😛 Boxes are the way to go!
Hey! I have nominated you for the Liebster Award! – https://rwh92.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/liebster-award/
What’s the deal with those Penguin black books? I’m confused because I thought you didn’t like short stories. I saw them at FB. I was like, meh (I’m limiting my book shopping now to stuff that I’d immediately read).
I generally don’t, but sometimes they’re ok. The little black books just look interesting. I’ve actually just read two of the 11 I’ve bought.
I’ve read most of Marco Polo for research purposes and have to say you’re probably wise to tackle it in small doses. I only just read The Yellow Wallpaper for discussion at my writer’s group. The ABC Murders is, I think, one of Christie’s best.
I look forward to seeing your final thoughts on Go Set A Watchman – [I posted my review last week.]
Yep, I saw your review on Watchman but I just scanned it because at the time I was still reading it. Surprisingly, I liked it more than I thought I would.