Raw Data:
14 Books
4828 Pages
3.25 Average Rating
The Bad:
A Path to Coldness of Heart – 2 Stars (for the Pedophile wizard)
Critical Failures – 2 Stars (profanity and not one likeable character)
The Dead Town – 2 Stars (zero tension and not much plot)
The Good:
War Masters Gate – 5 Stars
Play the Man – 4 Stars (non-fiction. First one of the year!)
Heir of Sea and Fire – 4 Stars (Mckillip. ’nuff said)
Queen Bitch – 4 Stars (pure fun despite the rather appalling title)
Graphic Novels and Manga:
Path of Doom was the only visual medium for this month. While I enjoyed reading about a Superman who was a real Super Man, this graphic novel also drove home that my comic times are mostly behind me. I don’t plan on buying any more comics and any reading of my own will probably have some other purpose. For example, I am planning on re-reading Frank Miller’s Daredevil: Man Without Fear next month and try to get a VERSUS post out of it the month after that.
Miscellaneous And Personal:
Oh man, where to start. Let’s get the bad out of the way I guess. My boss’s son passed away in July so my boss was MIA for all of July but started the recovery process in August. Unfortunately, he was still pretty out of it (as you can imagine) and this led to some pretty big math errors in the office, which had real world results, which were bad. I was caught in the middle, as I was the guy the contractors saw doing the work. Having to go back to a site and change things which put off their schedule by a week and a lot of money was not fun. Plus it was a bloody hot August so 3-4 liters of water a day while at work was just normal. It made for long days where I’d just come home, clean up, sack out and be in bed by 9pm. I think we’re on the other side of that whole situation though and I think it was a wake up call to my boss about how he’s still being affected so now he just won’t brush it off.
Only wrote a couple of non-review posts but I have to admit, I was proud of the reception that my Honesty & Book Reviewing post received. It led to almost 100 comments (Whoo!!!) and gave me the perfect setup for another in September about DNF’s. It is also now my second most “liked” post, tied with A History of…Reading and only beat out by my rant on that execrable piece of trash, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I guess honesty still pays dividends in the book world!
While I gave up on Culling those who follow me, I had to stop following a couple of people who hadn’t posted in over a month. That is my cutoff point. If someone just disappears without warning for a month, best of luck but I won’t be sticking around to see what happened. Now, on the other hand, if you let your followers know you’re going to be MIA, then heck, I’ll gladly stick around. But I just hate having my chain yanked all over. You are not the center of the Universe.
I managed to write about another trilogy of books that I loved in Thriving on a Good Book – Grimnoir Chronicles. It really shouldn’t be so difficult to write about the books I love but talking about them years after the fact is surprisingly not easy. I need to keep practicing so I get better at it.
My Side Project is done. I’m hoping to put the results, 50 books I have hated and 50 books I have loved, up tomorrow in a single post.
Cover Love
If the book Fortress in Orion had been half as awesome as this cover suggests, it would have been fantastic. At least I got an awesome picture out of it.
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
It sounds like a mixed month for you reading wise. I’m lucky I only had two that I DNFed so that was a good month! Sounds like a pretty rough time at work too. Hopefully that’ll get better soon.
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Thanks. 3.25 is a pretty average “average” for me, so I was ok with the mixed bag. Most months really are a mixed bag in terms of reading. I’m always jealous of bloggers who seem to lead charmed lives and have almost all 4 star books most of the time.
But the cynical part of me says they’re just shallow and surface readers so OF COURSE they’re going to think everything they read is great 😀
Work is something else right now for sure. Just gotta keep “hanging in there” I guess
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I am sorry for your boss – what a terrible thing to go through. Literally makes me feel cold. I have a question though, at what point in a book so you give up as a bad choice? How far to you read before you give up?
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Thank you. It wasn’t unexpected, as Ian was a “special needs” in almost every area. With the care and love he received he actually lived a decade longer than the doctors and specialists thought he would. But that doesn’t make it any easier on my boss. No one should EVER outlive their children 😦
As for DNF’ing, I’m actually writing up that post AT THIS VERY MOMENT!!!! (almost like you read my mind) and it should be up next Saturday. My quick rule of thumb is the Perl Rule of 50. I’ll go a lot more nuanced in the post. Look forward to it!
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I definitely will – thank you 😊
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Sounds like a mixed month overall, hopefully September is a better one for you. I’m looking forward to reading your DNF post!
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I’m hoping September is better too.
I just finished the DNF post and it is now scheduled for next saturday. Now I just have to keep my hands off of it and not change stuff every other day…
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Haha good luck with that 😂
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That is one of the “unexpected side effects” to scheduling stuff. I never realized just how grabby I am with my posts until I suddenly had time to mess with them. It’s a Real First World Problem 😉
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You had a pretty good month, I think – lots of 4 stars and above, and I don’t recall seeing as many 1 stars lately, lol! And bonus points for using a Frasier meme. I love that show.
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Yeah, it was a decent month. Having a 5star read always helps 😀
I didn’t watch Frasier as it came out but came to it later but my goodness, I love it. Niles was always my favorite character 🙂
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I was kind of late getting on that boat too, only got into the show during its final season, but then I got the dvd box sets and the early seasons were even funnier/better! Sigh, I miss Frasier, they don’t make shows like that anymore. My favorite was Martin 😀
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They DON’T make shows like that anymore. I appreciated that Frasier and Niles would make jokes about all sorts of “high brow” things because I actually did find their jokes funny.
Martin was the perfect foil to their snobbery wasn’t he?
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Yes, there was something about that show and the dynamics between all the characters that worked so well. The jokes were also smart and actually funny. Sitcoms today are trash in comparison.
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Ugh, sorry to hear about the situation at work… But glad it’s getting better now. Jeez, I remembered you work outside.. in that weather. That is no fun at all. I remember picking berries in that one Australian summer, that gave us I think 5 40 degree days in a row. Fun fun fun 😀
You still managed to read a whole lot, good on you!!
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Thanks.
Another week and the heat should really be gone for good. It keeps teasing us now. Cool one day, hot another.
The reading has been a real conscious effort though, I have to admit. I’ve never been a youtube kind of guy, but I did find one channel about 2 best friends who constantly try things, called Men Try. I think I spent one whole afternoon wasting it on them. But other than that, I’ve been reading books or WP posts 🙂
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August must have been my worst month for posting as I am still settling into a new routine. Got some posts i am working on for the coming weeks. Condolances to your boss🌹
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Not only just a “routine” but a whole new life. I’m just glad you’re on at all 🙂
And thanks.
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If you’re drinking that much water, wouldn’t you be better off with some gatorade or salt tablets or something?
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I actually do carry packets of flavored powder with sodium and electrolytes. I can’t do gatorade because of the sugar and being a diabetic.
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Got to admit that it’s not easy to separate personal life from work, especially after an event like that. Sorry to hear how much of a repercussion his emotional state had on your life indirectly. Hope things calm down for September.
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Thanks. It’s helping that we’re starting the month off with a 3 day weekend (labor day here in the States)
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Sounds like a pretty good month! Sorry to hear about your boss, though. I had something similar happen at my work this past month, and it’s hard to be involved with any part of it. I feel horrible for my (and your) boss, of course, but it’s not easy being the people expected to take over either. Luckily we’ve been able to manage, and I hope you and your co-workers have been able to, also. I look forward to the DNF post!
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“Managing” is probably a good word for how everyone is doing at the moment. I guess we’ll see how things are by the end of September and go from there. I’m optimistic (for about the 2nd time in my life I might add)
Thankyou. It was fun to write and I hope I can get some good comments. I live for the comments on posts like those 😀
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