June reading

Well, June hasn't been the greatest month for reading. I've mentioned a few times that I've spent quite a lot of the month drugged up and unable to read proper books. So how did you read 75 books then? Partly, because a lot of what I was reading were re-reads of children's books and reading Babysitters Club books, the latter especially are not particularly taxing and can even be read fairly fast by someone with little concentration. And the other reason is that you can see that much of the rest of what I read were non fiction titles, mainly recipe books, which are the sort of reading that one dips in and out of, mainly looking at the pictures. But the non fiction reflects some of my preoccupations this month, particularly with wedding cakes!

I did get a few VMCs read, and the VVV blog has been ticking over as I had a huge backlog of reviews. And at the end of the month, the lovely new Bloomsbury group books provided me with enjoyable reading that felt like I was reading "proper" books again and managed to get me back into the groove this month.

I did far better with book acqusitions this month, only acquiring 19 new books, of which five were sent by publishers! *edit* I wrote this a week ago, and unfortunately, this is now not quite true....still, I suppose 47 books isn't *too* bad?!

In terms of blogging, I felt that I centred very much more on things that I wanted to write about, particularly with my various domestic arts projects - jam, cross stitch, knitting, cake decorating, baking, and I will probably continue this focus, especially as I start to plan my wedding cake. In terms of reading, I shall be reading things from my library pile, my TBR, and a vast box of books that Simon from stuck-in-a-book has lent me - no specific plans, and I'm putting my Orange Wednesday posts on hold for a little bit. I've enjoyed the ones that I've read so far and will certainly be reading more from the Orange backlist in due course but it's not a priority at the moment.

So here's the list for June!

Daylight and the dust	Frame, Janet	VMC SS
Trooper to the southern cross	Thirkell, Angela	VMC
Kristy and the snobs	Martin, Ann	C
The camomile	Carswell, Catherine	VMC
Three houses	Thirkell, Angela	NF
Mary Plain goes bob-a-jobbing	Rae, Gwynedd	C
Ship of adventure	Blyton, Enid	C RR
Jessi's secret language	Martin, Ann	C
The class	Begaudeau, Francois	NF
The birds fall down	West, Rebecca	VMC
Kristy's big day	Martin, Ann	C
Little gods	Richards, Anna
Mostly Mary	Rae, Gwynedd	C
All about Mary	Rae, Gwynedd	C
Mary Anne's mystery	Martin, Ann	C
The old man's birthday	Crompton, Richmal
Sea city here we come	Martin, Ann	C
Murder at the flood	Allen, Mabel Esther
Goodbye Stacey, Goodbye	Martin, Ann	C
A stable for Jill	Ferguson, Ruby	C RR
Brown girl, brownstones	Marshall, Paule	VMC
At home	Bryson, Bill	NF
The Aloe	Mansfield, Katherine	VMC
Mary Plain in town	Rae, Gwynedd	C
Mary Plain on holiday	Rae, Gwynedd	C
Foursome	Fallon, Jane
50 things you can do to manage insomnia	Green, Wendy	NF
Stacey's big mistake	Martin, Ann	C
Living with a black dog		NF
The street	Petry, Ann	VMC
So much to tell	Grove, Valerie	B
The camping cookbook	Bell, Annie	NF
50 things you can do to manage IBS	Green, Wendy	NF
Another country: children's books of the lake district	Mackensie, James	NF
Old school ties	Harrison, Kate
Claudia and the bad joke	Martin, Ann	C
Everyday suppers	Delicious magazine	NF
Children at the shop	Ferguson, Ruby	AB
Kristy and the walking disaster	Martin, Ann	C
Stone in a landslide	Tartara, Pedro de
Dying to be thin	Grahame, Niki	AB
IBS cookbook for dummies	Deane, Carolyn	NF
Summer before	Martin, Ann	C
The wild geese	Boland, Bridget	VMC
A likely lad	Avery, Gillian	C RR
Mallory and the trouble with twins	Martin, Ann	C
Bloke's guide to getting hitched	Smith, Jonathon	NF
After the party	Jewell, Lisa
Fell trek	Lloyd, Marjorie	C
I like this story	Webb, Kaye	C anthol
Dawn on the coast	Martin, Ann	C
Landed	Pears, Tim
Wedding cakes you can make	Wilson, Dede	NF
Cake decorator's bible	Dunn, Alan
Days of grace	Hall, Catherine
Marcella	Ward, Mrs Humphrey	VMC
Hester Lilly	Taylor, Elizabeth	VMC
My experimental life	Jacobs, A.J.	NF
Claudia and the sad goodbye	Martin, Ann	C
Animal, vegetable, miracle	Kingsolver, Barbara	NF
Everything changes	Martin, Ann	C
Let's kill Uncle	O'Grady, Rohan
Keep out Claudia	Martin, Ann	C
Mrs Harris goes to Paris	Gallico, Paul
Mrs Harris goes to New York	Gallico, Paul
Mrs Ames	E.F. Benson
Dawn saves the planet	Martin, Ann	C
Henrietta sees it through	Dennys, Joyce
Twice dead	Channon, E.M.
Mr Almost Right	Moran, Eleanor
Cakes for fun	Asher, Jane	NF
Flavour thesaurus	Segnit, Niki	NF
The lessons	Alderman, Naomi
Holiday summer	Merwin, Decie	C
Essential guide to cake decorating	Barker, Alex	NF
BSC in the USA	Martin, Ann	C
Starring the BSC	Martin, Ann	C
Mother and son	Compton-Burnett, Ivy	VMC
Picnic for Bunnikins	Warrener	C
Kristy's big news	Martin, Ann	C
Cullum	Robertson, E Arnot	VMC