Reading Progress for July 2022

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

 

 One of my goals for this summer is to get A LOT of reading done. And looking back on how many books I read this month, as well as those I finished reading, it looks like I accomplished that goal. Nice! I definitely read A LOT this month. But I also wrote a lot, too. I am very happy about this! I got more writing and reading done this month alone compared to the average month! There was one day, in fact, that I was writing poetry all day. It was great!

 

With the addition of more reading apps on my phone, it looks like I am set to get even more reading done! When I can squeeze it in, of course. After my kids go back to school in the fall, it’s back to jumping in and out of my car a lot and sticking to schedules! So I will squeeze in time to read on apps when I’m in the car or waiting for either of the kids to get ready, finish up what they’re doing, etc. Sometimes I get more time to read on the apps than I do with regular books.

 

I read several books for research this month. In addition to the usual UFO book I read for research, due to a book I am writing, I also read a lot of Goosebumps books. This was because I had my eye on a call for stories for a magazine which requested kid-friendly horror stories. What better kid-friendly horror stories out there for comparison than the Goosebumps books?? I actually never read the Goosebumps books, though. It was my oldest who read them. I was always curious about these books so I decided, why not read them now? So that’s what I did! I actually read one book in a day – except for the book, You Can’t Scare Me! It took me two days to read that one. I figured they might help me figure out how to write kid-friendly horror. Reading these books sure did help me accomplish that goal! I wrote my story, revised it and submitted it to the magazine. Even after I submitted my story, I read the remaining Goosebumps books I had checked out at the local library. My favorites were The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, Welcome to Dead House and The Blob That Ate Everyone.

 

I REALLY enjoyed reading The Blob That Ate Everyone! Reading about a young writer took me back to the days I was a kid writing stories and sharing them with my friends at school, or when I told my siblings stories on car rides or at bedtime. And the TYPEWRITER! Oh, wow. That REALLY took me back! I remember writing on a typewriter. I had to chuckle when a character said that nobody uses a typewriter anymore. How true, and sad. I loved writing stories on the typewriter, even though blotting out typos was another matter. (I eventually resorted to using White Out.) I had to chuckle when I read how the character noted that typing on a typewriter is different than typing on a computer keyboard because, with a typewriter, you have to hit the keys harder. I typed on a typewriter before I started regularly typing on a computer keyboard, and a lot of people in my family often complained that I typed REALLY LOUD. My sister-in-law joked that I really banged on those keys. Well, now I know why! LOL  And the story itself reminded me of a time a friend and I co-wrote a story in which one writer’s stories came true. (That was fun! Sadly, we had a falling out, and the story was abandoned.)

 

I also had another batch of research books to tackle this month. I read Black Flags, Blue Waters for research, because of a GHOST Group story I was writing (I did finish writing it). Then I decided to make this month all about pirates! So I checked out some books on pirates at the library and I started reading another book about pirates. I had hoped to get a writing assignment about pirates for August with one regular client, but that didn’t happen. Next month is International Pirate Month, so I’ll continue reading about pirates in August, as well. I guess I am having a pirate summer this year.

 

In addition to the research books, there’s the usual biography, series book and a writing book. I did manage to read one book from the classics shelf before I started to read the pirate books (they replace the classics books in my reading routine for now). I did also read a random nonfiction book I grabbed from a shelf, but that was before I started reading the pirates books. The pirates books replace the nonfiction book in my reading routine for now. I have two more to read. I also read ebooks on my phone, so the books I finished reading on it were added to this list as well. I added some more reading apps on my phone, so that means more books to read on my phone! Yay!

 

In reviewing this list, I was delighted to see that I was able to read 23 books this month. WOW! I think that is a record for me. There are two books on this list – Educated and Jovian Son – which I did not start reading in July. I started reading Jovian Son in late June and Educated sometime before then. But the rest I read from start to finish this month.

 

I am ecstatic that I read so many books this month. YAY!! First I read 100 books in a year and now I have read 23 books in a month. Nice! I have hangups about numbers and would have LIKED that number to be an even number, but oh well. Twenty-three is still a good amount of books to read in one month! I’m cool with it. (Dang! I just realized that I was one short of two dozen. Ah, some other month, I suppose.)

 

Now that I have created a monthly reading record, maybe I can create a weekly reading record! It’s a thought. I don’t think it will happen too soon, though. This effort required A LOT of my time and my kids only have one whole month of summer vacation left. I want to spend as much time with them as I can doing summer-fun stuff! I’ m cool with that, too.

 

Here are the books I either read or finished reading for July.

 

48. Educated by Tara Westover

 

49. Fact, Fiction, and Flying Saucers by Stanton T. Friedman and Kathleen Marden

 

50. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

 

51. Goosebumps: It Came From Beneath the Sink! By R.L. Stine

 

52. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

 

53. Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In: Lessons From an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini & David Rensin

 

54. Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America’s Most Notorious Pirates by Eric Jay Dolin

 

55. Goosebumps: A Shocker on Shock Street by R.L. Stine

 

56. Goosebumps: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp by R.L. Stine

 

57. Goosebumps: Welcome to Dead House by R.L. Stine

 

58. Slow Cooker Vegetable Recipes by Hannie P. Scott

 

59. Goosebumps: Why I’m Afraid of Bees by R.L. Stine

 

60. Goosebumps Most Wanted: Special Edition, Trick or Trap by R.L. Stine

 

61. Jovian Son by Kim Catanzarite

 

62. Goosebumps: Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine

 

63. Goosebumps: You Can’t Scare Me! By R.L. Stine

 

64. The Guardians of Ga’Hoole: The Hatchling (Book Seven)

 

65. Screamcatcher: Web World by Chrissy J. Breedlove

 

66. Not Hungry by Kate Karyus Quinn

 

67. Goosebumps: Be Careful What You Wish For by R.L. Stine

 

68. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

 

69. Goosebumps: Return of the Mummy by R.L. Stine

 

70. Goosebumps: Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes by R.L. Stine

 

71. Goosebumps: The Blob That Ate Everyone by R.L. Stine

 

72. Pirates: Terror on the High Seas, from the Caribbean to the South China Sea by Various Authors, with Consulting Editor David Cordingly