I like big books and I cannot lie...

printable bookmarks available from I Should Be Mopping the Floor

That phrase always makes me titter.  I'm not sure why really.  Hmmn. Childish sense of humour maybe?  I'm still giggling out loud about the Agent Zoil joke in Paul which we watched a week ago.  Yup, a childish sense of humour probably explains it.

Anyways, I'm just popping in to say that I've finished the Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Reading Challenge! Yay, me! In case you are wondering, the final books were:

15: Read a banned book. - The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (244 pages)
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American. - Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Book Store, Robin Sloan, (304 pages)
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name. - Pedigree Mum, Fiona Gibson (400 pages)

And boy, have I enjoyed it!  I honestly never thought I'd finish but it seems that having a goal in mind really spurred me on.  I'm very grateful for Megan at Semi-Charmed Kind of Life for her book challenge and for giving me back my reading mojo.  I am determined not to stop, so I've jumped straight into another book recommended by my dad (The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant).  And all that kindling I did made me realise how nice it is to get straight to the right page, saving me from my more normal three-minute-faff-around-while-I -search-for-my-place-each-and-every-night, so I've printed some lovely bookmarks as a reward to myself. You can have some too if you follow that link up there.

On Reading (and not taking photos...)

Poopity poop. I kind of lost track with the August Break (sorry, Susannah). I took a lot more photos, but some of the categories really stumped me.

I have been reading though and was surprised when I checked up this morning that I'd almost completed the Semi-Charmed Summer 2013 Reading Challenge. Woo hoo! Would you like to know what I've been reading?

5 points: Freebie! Read any book you'd like. - Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (448 pages)
5: Read a book that is less than 150 pages long. - A Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (150 pages)
10: Read a book with a color in the title. - The Red Queen, Phillipa Gregory (432 pages)
10: Read a book that is not the first in its series. - Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins, (480 pages)
15: Read a book it seems everyone but you has read! - The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (484 pages)
15: Read a banned book.
20: Read a book written by a celebrity. - Is It Just Me?, Miranda Hart (336 pages)
20: Read a non-fiction book that is not a memoir. It can be pure non-fiction or narrative non-fiction. – Attention All Shipping (A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast), Charlie Connelly (373 pages).
20: Read a book that takes place in a state you have never been in. If you have been to all 50 states, choose a book that takes place in a country you have never been in. Also do the latter option if you are not American.
25: Read a book that is at least 400 pages long. Gillespie and I, Jane Harris (624 pages)
25: Read a book with a main character who shares your first name.
30: Read a book written by an author who was born in or died in your birth year. - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer (368 pages)

So, that gives me 140 points and three books to read by the end of the month.  I've started Pedigree Mum by Fiona Gibson which features a main character called Kerry and am thoroughly enjoying my divergence into 'chick lit'!  I've long been a fan of Fiona Gibson's musings in her columns about family life, which I used to read in The Herald of a Sunday.

Mr Penumbra's 24-hour Book Shop by Robin Sloan is set in San Francisco, so that will fit the 'country I've never been to' category.  It's downloaded onto my Kindle already.  (Did I mention that I am currently LOVING my Kindle?  We've not always been friends, but we're getting on well at the minute.)

I don't know what to read for my banned book. I was hoping to read The Great Gatsby but I've unpacked the final box of books from our house move (three years ago) and can't find it.  The Kite Runner is on my shelf, but I saw the film and don't relish the thought of reading it.  I suppose I could change the category for The Hunger Games, but I can't readily think of a book that everyone has read but me.

I won't worry about it at the minute since so many books have practically fallen at my feet to be included in this challenge. For example, I stumbled across Fiona Gibson's book with my name in it from a random non-book related Google search.  And I had planned to read Jonathan Safran Coer's novel, which I'd never heard of until I found it in a charity shop recently, only because it takes place in America.  It was as I was randomly flicking through the bits at the back (not true.  I'm actually stalker like in my search for information about authors...) that I realised he was the same age as me.  Like the character of Chloe in Sarah Addison Allen's The Sugar Queen, I'll trust that the right book will find me when I'm in need of it most.