Tag Archives: Serge Joncour

2022: August wrap-up

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AUGUST 2022 WRAP-UP

I only read 9 books this month, which is slow compared to other 2022 months for me, but still I’m happy, as it’s actually a good amount of pages, and I read so many awesome books!
I’m enjoying more and more focusing on my TBRs and classics.

I’m currently 10 books ahead of schedule (74% done) to read 120 books this year.
Also, I’m only 1 book away my 3rd list of classics for The Classics Club, with 136/137 books – in less than two years, instead of the five years projected.

I participated in Bout of Books #35, which gave a good boost to my reading.

📚 Here is what I read in August:

9 books:
6 in print 
=  with 2,113 pages, a daily average of 68 pages/day
3 in audio
= 34H33, a daily average of 1H06/ day

3 in literary fiction:

  1. Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier – audiobook, counts for The Classics Club
  2. It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis – audiobook, counts for The Classics Club
  3. Ensemble, c’est tout, by Anna Gavalda – read with one of my French students

2 in science-fiction:

  1. Ravage, by René Barjavel – counts for The Classics Club
  2. De la Terre à la Lune, by Jules Verne, read with one of my French students, counts for The Classics Club

2 in historical fiction:

  1. Human Nature, by Serge Joncour – received for review
  2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey – counts for The Classics Club

1 in mystery:

  1. The Tokyo Zodiac Murders, by Soji Shimada

1 in nonfiction:

  1. L’Enfer numérique : Voyage au bout d’un Like, by Guillaume Pitron

This month, it was very very hard to pick 2 winners, I had to pick 3, and this was still very hard!

MY FAVORITE BOOKS THIS PAST MONTH

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders Ensemble, c'est tout

L'Enfer numérique

READING CHALLENGES & RECAP

Classics Club: 136/137 (from November 2020-until November 2025)
Japanese Literature Challenge: 9/12 books – During the year: 12
2022 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: 8/12 books
2022 books in translation reading challenge: 21/10+

Total of books read in 2022 = 89/120 (74%)
Number of books added to my TBR this past month = 11

 NO OTHER BOOK  REVIEWED THIS PAST MONTH

NO BOOK RECEIVED FOR REVIEW

MOST POPULAR BOOK REVIEW THIS PAST MONTH

L'Enfer numérique

click on the cover to access my review,
which gives you a good preview of the upcoming English translation

MOST POPULAR POST THIS PAST MONTH
– NON BOOK REVIEW –

Sunday Post #64

BOOK BLOG THAT BROUGHT ME MOST TRAFFIC THIS PAST MONTH

A Life in Books
please go visit, there are a lot of good things there!

TOP COMMENTERS 

Karen at Booker Talk
Marianne at Let’s Read
Deb at ReaderBuzz
please go and visit them,
they have great blogs

BLOG MILESTONES 

2,581 posts
over 5,190 followers
over 257,760 hits

📚 📚 📚

Come back tomorrow to see the titles I’ll be reading in September
And on Friday, I’ll post my 20 Books of Summer recap

How was YOUR month of August?

2022-Monthly-Wrap-Up-Round-Up400

Nicole at Feed Your Fiction Addiction
 has created a Month In Review meme
where you can link your monthly recap posts
Thanks Nicole!

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Book review: Human Nature

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Human Nature

Human Nature,
by Serge Joncour.
Nature humaine
was first published in 2020.
Translated from the French by
Louise Rogers Lalaurie
Gallic Books
US release date 8/22/2022
384 pages
Literary fiction/Historical fiction
Goodreads

Serge Joncour has the knack of writing at the crossroads between humans and nature – beautifully illustrated by the multi-layered title of his latest book translated into English: Human Nature.
I actually read Nature humaine when it came out in French two years ago, but I devoured it without taking time to take notes, and didn’t write a review.
I was thrilled then to receive a review copy in English, giving me the opportunity to read it again and at a deeper level, in an excellent and flowing translation. Click to continue reading

Bout of Books 35: Day 6 recap

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BOUT OF BOOKS 35:
Day 6 recap

Bout of Books 35#boutofbooks
This is my 21st participation

Click on the logo to join the fun!

The Bout of Books readathon is organized
by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple.
It’s a weeklong readathon that begins Monday, August 15
and runs through Sunday, August 21 in YOUR time zone.
Bout of Books is low-pressure.
There are reading sprints, Twitter chats,
and exclusive Instagram challenges,
but they’re all completely optional
For Bout of Books 35 information and updates,
visit the Bout of Books blog.
From the Bout of Books team

Here is what I read on DAY 6:

  1. Human Nature, by Serge Joncour = 27 pages – FINISHED
  2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey = 53 pages
  3. Ensemble, c’est tout, by Anna Gavalda = 70 pages
  4. Audiobook: It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis = 1H33 = 44 pages

Total for Day 6:  194 pages
TOTAL so far:    712/525 pages

This was a very good reading day. Plus I had food to prepare to bring to church today, so nice audio time as well.
I needed to write my review for Human Nature (will be live on Monday), so after I wrote it, I decide to keep reading instead of doing a Sunday Post per se.

📚

Here is what I read on DAY 5:

  1. Human Nature, by Serge Joncour = 37 pages
  2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey = 22 pages

Total for Day 5:  59 pages
TOTAL so far:  518/525 pages

As expected, I didn’t read much yesterday: I had a big Church event, so no real time to do much around the house (so no audio time).
And then in the evening, at the usual time I do my reading, we had our book club meeting.
I need to finish Human Nature today, and write my review due on Monday!

📚

Here is what I read on DAY 4:

  1. De la Terre à la lune, by Jules Verne = 72 pages
  2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey = 10 pages
  3. Audiobook: It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis = 1H50 = 48 pages 

Total for Day 4:  130 pages
TOTAL so far:  459/525 pages

Nice reading time. It will be much less today, as I have book club tonight.

📚

Here is what I read on DAY 3:

  1. De la Terre à la lune, by Jules Verne = 15 pages
  2. Audiobook: It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis = 2H11 = 60 pages 

Total for Day 3:  75 pages
TOTAL so far:  329/525 pages

As expected, with Church activity yesterday night, I didn’t have much time for reading. But I had lots of things to do around the house, so that gave me a good amount of audio time.

📚

Here is what I read on DAY 2:

  1. Human Nature, by Serge Joncour = 71 pages
  2. De la Terre à la lune, by Jules Verne = 11 pages
  3. Audiobook: Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier = 1H07 = 35 pages – FINISHED

Total for Day 2:  117 pages
TOTAL so far:  254/525 pages

I managed to finish my first audiobook of BoB, and I even wrote a few words on it – click on the link to read.

📚

Here is what I read on DAY 1:

  1. Ensemble, c’est tout, by Anna Gavalda = 69 pages
  2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey = 16 pages
  3. Audiobook: Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier = 1H50 = 52 pages

Total for Day 1:  137 pages
TOTAL so far:  137/525 pages

I am very happy with day 1.
I have church activity Wednesday night and book club Friday night, at the times I usually read, so trying to use best the other days of this week.
I will NOT do the Instagram challenges, as part of my implementation of reducing digital use, after my eye-opening reading of Digital Hell: The Inner Workings of a “Like”.

📚📚📚

My goal as 75 pages/day, that is, a total of 525 pages.

Here are the books I plan to read from.

  1. Human Nature, by Serge Joncour – FINISHED
  2. Ensemble, c’est tout, by Anna Gavalda
  3. De la Terre à la lune, by Jules Verne
  4. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey
  5. Eventide, by Kent Haruf
  6.  Audiobook: Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier – FINISHED
  7. Audiobook: It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis

SCHEDULE

Reading-in-place times, or reading sprints, happen daily on Twitter*. If you don’t have Twitter, make note of these times and report your reading progress on your platform of choice.
All reading-in-place times last 30 minutes.

Daily Reading-in-Place Times

📚 10 a.m. Eastern | 7 a.m. Pacific
📚 2 p.m. Eastern | 11 a.m. Pacific
📚 6 p.m. Eastern | 3 p.m. Pacific

Twitter Chats

(chats last approximately one hour)
TZC = Time Zone Conversion

Monday: 9 p.m. Eastern | 6 p.m. Pacific
Saturday: 11 a.m. Eastern | 8 a.m. Pacific

*Please note that these are the activities run through the Bout of Books account on Twitter. More reading sprints, Twitter chats, and other events may be hosted by experts, either on Twitter or on the Bout of Books Discord.

Click on the logo to sign upSave