August 2013 – Of Bears and Boating

A rare thing happened here in my corner of Texas. We were gifted with a mild July. Usually by this point in summer, the dreaded dome of high pressure has firmly planted itself over the region, deftly deflecting any wayward “cold fronts” and pushing the mercury over the century mark. But this year, we have had unseasonably cool temperatures – afternoon highs in the high eighties and low nineties with morning lows in –*gasp*– the sixties.

It was almost like autumn.

So, what do you do when you are treated to fabulous weather in the middle of the summer? Go to the Arboretum and take pictures of bugs, of course.

Duh.

Enjoy.

On a sad note: It seems August will not be unseasonably cool. Today’s high: 103.

At the beginning of the year, I decided to participate in the Embarrassment of Riches reading challenge hosted by author Patricia Burroughs. The goal of the challenge is to make a dent in that stack of books I have intended to read, but never got around to picking up.

Given the size of the pile I have amassed, I aim to get through 24 of them before the end of the year – a silver level accomplishment.

So what have I read this month?

A Study in Scarlet – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: I have mixed feeling about this one. While I did find the characterizations of Watson and Holmes engaging and enjoyed the visual of these two in the context of their time period, the mystery itself was less than gripping. I was bored – plain and simple. Bummer.

Mark of the Assassin – Daniel Silva: Ugh. This is Silva’s second novel and first attempt at serial work. I started this one last month. At the time of my June check-in, I was a few chapters in and not really feeling it. I had hoped that once I was able to cleanse my brain of Dan Brown’s Inferno and the crushing disappointment of the Unlikely Spy, something would click. Wrong. I read about half of it and walked away. I didn’t like it. I tried. I really, really did, but I couldn’t connect with the characters, there was no depth or development, the writing was scattered and at times, repetitive. Maybe in a month or two I will try again and things will be different.

Doubt it.

Progress toward goal: 12 1/2 of 24.

So what’s up next:

Hunt for Red October – Tom Clancy. This has been on my TBR list for years. I love the movie – it’s one of my favorite – but I’ve never gotten around to picking up the book. I hear Clancy can be a little on the dry side…we shall see.

Currently, I am very close to finishing Silva’s thirteenth Allon installment, The English Girl. No, I wasn’t suppose to read it right away, but I couldn’t help myself. It’s good, too. Really, really good.

Of course, it a new publication and doesn’t count toward my end goal in this challenger.

Double bummer.

What’s on your nightstand collecting dust, begging to be read?