Required Reading: September

Ahoy there, look, it’s September!

Some of my book club friends received a very perky text message this morning about the fact that it’s September, and it’s almost Christmas ((Yep, we Filipinos start counting down to Christmas this early)) and because it’s the start of one of our biggest buddy reads ever today as well. September to remember? :)

I’m just really happy that we’re onto a new month because August was kind of…interesting. Some things are a bit too personal to divulge, but in terms of reading, August has been one of those slump-y months. I read, but I was terribly slow, and I hardly made a dent with my TBR because I ended up getting more new books and reading them instead of reading the ones I already have. It’s a vicious cycle, I tell you. But first, recap of my August Required Reading list (none of which I have written reviews for yet, eep!):

  • Lumayo Ka Nga Sa Akin by Bob Ong (1/5) – Ugh. I shouldn’t have expected much, really.
  • Paper Cuts by Pam Pastor (2/5) – I read this and Bob Ong’s book in one weekend. Aaron had to ask me if I was torturing myself on purpose. Not that it’s bad, but it’s not my kind of book after all. More details when I sit down and review it.
  • Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal (3-4/5) – Haven’t decided on the final rating. Rating it 3 seems so low because this is like THE novel that spurred the revolution against Spain in Filipino history so my Filipino heart feels that I should rate this higher. But as a reader…it’s not really that amazing.

Interestingly, I think I read so many books by Filipino authors this month too! I’d like to think it’s because of the really awesome 2nd Filipino ReaderCon that drove me to get more local books. :) I still have several local books on my TBR shelf that I am pretty sure I’ll be able to read this year, and I’m quite excited about it. Maybe I’ll finally reach that 20 Filipino books goal!

My review backlog is still a backlog — let me work on that. :P

Now let’s move on to September!

Required Reading: September

I had a bit of trouble thinking of a theme for this month’s books because looking at the books I had lined up, there’s no single theme. I wanted it to be another Fantasy month, after the failed attempt to read fantasy books last May, but then half of the books I picked aren’t really fantasy. Except maybe that they’re books that were highly recommended/rated by friends and book bloggers? Okay, maybe I can stick with that.Highly Recommended month for Required Reading, it is. (I decide easily :P)

September Books

  • In Cold Blood by Truman Capote – our book club’s book of the month. Seeing as I’m a very slow reader nowadays, I started this early. Just finished the first part and it has the tendency to crawl under your skin. Eep. I don’t know if I want to watch the movie after reading this.
  • Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson – highly recommended by Aaron and other fantasy fans. :D Been craving for a high fantasy book lately so I figure I’ll get cracking at this. I really enjoyed Warbreaker and they say this one is better.
  • The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente – highly recommended by several bloggers. I’ve wanted to read this since I read rave reviews about it, so I got the paperback version as soon as I saw it and it was on sale. :D But you know the real reason why I wanted to read it this month? The main character’s name is September. :D
  • Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell – highly recommended by my book club friends. Because of this high recommendation, curious book club friends and I formed a Buddy Reading session for this book. It seems like it’s the biggest buddy read group in our club so far. :D We’re also reading this in September because the movie will be shown in October, plus we’re planning an informal discussion for this book. :D Lots of reasons to look forward to this, yes? :)

There you go. I hope the reading slump I’ve been getting on and off the past months goes away this month! And I really hope I can catch up with my review backlog. It feels weird reviewing books I’ve read more than a month ago!

And so happy September everyone! What are you planning to read this month? :)

6 Thoughts on “Required Reading: September

  1. Cloud Atlas is indeed the biggest buddy read as of now! I can’t wait for your reactions/frustrations/fangirl moments. :D

  2. I am just SO happy you’re finally reading Cloud Atlas! :D

  3. Pingback: REQUIRED READING: September « My Own Little Corner

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