October = Not sunny in Seattle

Well, now that the summer here in Seattle is over (hello rainy fall days), I think it's safe to say that I finally feel like reading again. I just could not get started, or finish, anything, despite picking up several different books. I'm never sure if it's the sudden heat, or the sunny days, or what, but picking up anything more than a comic or a magazine just doesn't happen. (That said, I read a lot of comics and gluten free cooking magazines over the past two months.)

Despite my lack of wanting to read (or post, or read blogs!), I did do some reading. I got my hands on a copy of "Danse Macabre" by Laurell K Hamilton and found it surprisingly decent, compared to the last few in the series. (You were right Colleen, this was pretty good, and much better than the last few). It's still got nothing on the first couple of books, but I'd like to take this as a positive sign.

I also read "The Birth House" by Ami McKay, which I thought was phenomenal. Very beautiful writing, the way she set the tone with a few lines really grabbed me. I did have particular things that I loved, but unfortunately, I was on a plane while reading this and getting access to my bag was impossible. I'll have to re-read it again sometime and try and remember the things that grabbed me. The second book I read while traveling was "Labyrinth" by Kate Mosse, which really didn't grab me at all. It wasn't the going back and forth Alise and Alice that bothered me (which I liked) but by the absolute predictability of it all. I got it because it looked interesting, but I only finished reading it because I was on a plane and had nothing else.

I completely "failed" the Summer Reading Challenge, and while that wasn't unexpected, I really thought I'd do "better" than I did. (I knew I wouldn't read all 14 of those books, but I thought I'd get through at least 8 of them.) That said, I'm still incredibly proud of myself for reading those 4 books; it's more than I'd read the previous summer (0). I'm still working on "The House of Mirth", and to keep myself motivated, I'm doing Sassymonkey's October reading challenge. I've made this one much easier on myself, at least I think so. All I have to do is finish "THoM" and then (re)read "Crime and Punishment". (I know, I know, but I haven't read that book since I was 18 and I since I really liked it, I'm thinking that this one I can do.)

I've been slowly catching up with people's blogs (some of you got quite a few comments from me today) and adding your recent reads to my library list. I've been doing pretty good about not putting too many books on hold all at once, although I think I have about 6 in transit to me now. Speaking of libraries, I'm down to just one now. The King County library system changed their rules/agreement with the SPL because of some sort of imbalance, so now, if you live in the Seattle area, you can't put things on hold at a KCLS library. (You can still check them out, but having two libraries to put things on hold at was the great thing.) And while the SPL is a great library system, I've always thought that KCLS had a much broader selection of books (seems odd, I know, but really, they do).

So I think that's it for now; I still have a few more blogs to (try and) get through today, and I'm toying with the idea of writing down a list of all the books I want to read for the remainder of 2006. Steven Brust has a new one out, but it's been years since I read his last one that I'm thinking a reread of the series is in order.