See I promised, and finally also delivered! Today’s post talks about the stats for the quarterly reading update from April to June 2021. Can you believe it? I’m ON TIME! To be honest, as you will see shortly yourself as well, I fell off the wagon. Ouch! My concentration levels hit an all time low and I literally crawled through the books 10-20 pages at a time. Over the past three months I only managed to get through 9 books; however they were very enjoyable. So, without further ado, here’s the quarterly update you’ve been waiting for 🙂
What did I read?
Although my pace was much slower than when the year started. The average time to finish a book has risen to 9.3 days from 8.7 days in the first quarter. However, I must admit I enjoyed the books much more. April was the worst month yet and I still remember the struggle and guilt I felt that I wasn’t reading.. It’s frustrating to not see huge progress (especially with the tons of unread books sitting on my shelf), but now I think that any progress is good.
I’ve got a lot of free time in August, so hopefully I’ll be able to catch up with my family and rest and have the head space to catch up on some reading, too!
At the end of 2020 I promised myself that I would read at least one book per week, to make the challenge at the very least achievable and to avoid burnout. So when I set my Goodread’s Challenge, I took this into consideration. I am now officially over half way through 2021 Goodreads’ Challenge, and absolutely going to count that as a win, too!
Who wrote the books I read?
Firstly, lets check in where I’m at with my TBR. A little while ago, I updated my home library spreadsheet and included all new books I’ve hoarded and removed any that I’ve for one reason or another un-hauled. The current TBR sits at 216 books.
That’s still a hell of a lot comparing to what I’ve read this year. However, it’s nice to see some progress. I have actually for the first time ever read more books, albeit by ONE book, than not. I’m telling you – baby steps!!Â
The second quarter of 2021, the authors were almost equally men and women; which makes a positive change compared to the majority of women authors in the first quarter.
Which genres did I read and what did I think?
Looks like I was in the mood for a few true stories, because I somehow picked up three non-fictions.
I highly recommend the Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, it’s an incredibly tough and heartbreaking account from his time at Guantanamo Bay.
Of course I also picked up few more thrillers and crime fiction. Beccajbooks and I buddy read The Sanatorium together, for what was meant to be a week long readalong turned into a couple of days because I was obsessed with it. It may be full of cliches, but it also includes:
– creepy remote location
– serial killer on the loose
– guests disappearing one by one
– a snowstorm, complete with an avalanche
– a much deeper sibling relationship at the base of this story
Anyway, I handed out a fair share of 5 and 3 stars and I’m happy with that 🙂
Top 3 – Favourite Books
April – Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham
May – Guantanamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
June – True Crime Story by Joseph Knox
What did you read in the last three months? What was your favourite/least favourite book in April/May/June?
