Month in Review - May 2010

It's been a long time since I've talked about actually reading something. It's a little bit of a hit or miss right now, so I try to soak it up when I'm in the mood for it.
Currently Reading...I've spent the better part of last two weeks reading The Underground Girls of Kabul, and nothing else. It's a well-written book, mind you, but also littered with generalizations and a tone of something I can't put a word to yet. It's not condescension exactly (the author's tone is way too neutral for that) but there is a sense that the women in the West are better than Afghan women (better, not just better off). I'll need to think through that more. I know for sure that if I were Afghan and reading it, I would be .. maybe annoyed? frustrated? But how much of it is because of that sense of being looked down upon versus the subject of the book, is not clear yet. Hopefully after a few days of absent pondering, I'll have gotten to my point.

Just before I star…

Month in Review - May 2010

What an amazing month! Halfway through, I read 8 books. I really whooped in delight, since that meant I would be able to read more than my usual target. Of course, Murphy was looking at me from above and decided I shouldn't have a smooth ride after all. Soon after, I fell into a stickly rut, picked up book after book as an intense rescue mission, and at one point, had 6 books going. Yes. 6! So I didn't have such a great latter half in reading, but I had loads of fun with my blogging friends. Thanks to BEA! Who thought that being left behind by the BEA-goers could still be such a good thing? The Armchair BEA kept me and my Google reader really busy. I found so many wonderful blogs and am now trying to fit most of them into my daily schedule. {sigh}. So, here's what I read.

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman (3 cocktails)
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman (5 cocktails : WOW!)
The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser (4 cocktails)
Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi (5 cocktails)
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (4 cocktails)
Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli (3 cocktails)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan (5 cocktails)
The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara (3 cocktails)
Summer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart (4 cocktails)

Discussion

Challenge Progress

Challenges completed: 0/12

100+ Reading Challenge: 43/100
Awesome Author Challenge: 1/10
Support your Local Library Challenge: 25/50
Flashback Reading Challenge: 5/9
451 Challenge: 1/7
Women Unbound Challenge: 3/5
A to Z Challenge: 35/52
Original TBR Challenge: 4/12
Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge: 3/10
POC Challenge: 5/10
World Party Reading Challenge: 0/12
Orange Prize Project: 0

May Stats
Number of books: 9
Number of pages read: 2259
Number of Audio Books: 0
Hours listened to (completed audio books only): 0

Re-reads: 0
New-to-me authors: 8
Male authors: 3
Female authors: 6

Book cleared from my physical shelf: 2
Books added to my physical shelf: 8

Number of books added anew to my TBR this month: 153 {sigh, this is never going to reduce}