At the beginning of this month, I took one week off writing. That's the only reason I managed to read so many books! It started with reading Phillipa Nefri Clark's latest release and then, I binge read everything. Nine out of the thirteen books I read this month were hers. Ha! 

The 'break' only lasted a week because I was anxious to get back to my own writing, but I always need something to do while doing my many steps a day on the treadmill, so I got a lot more books under my belt. What a big reading month!

This was without a doubt my biggest reading month ever. July was full of surprises. I started off the month with the goal to read new and different books, which I definitely achieved. While I've read some historical novels before, this month I discovered and fell in love with the Australian Historical. Reading is all about escapism and historicals have that added factor of escaping to another time. This allowed me to read more books from my Facebook friends and also led to the purchase of more books! And I'll admit, I've had a wonderful time journeying back to colonial Australia. I've discovered and learned so much! In addition, I managed to catch up with some old titles I've had sitting on my shelves, read one book for Ruby Readalong, and binged some more Mills and Boon Forever Romances.

Thank you to everyone who attended Popular Fiction's online meeting about creating characters, the most essential part of writing a book! It was great to see all again and to share what I've learned about creating characters with you.

Last night, we covered the basics - characters need a goal, motivation, and conflict to create your story. We will cover this again when we rehash everything we've learned next month. 

I read a lot in June, however, as I moved house and no longer have a treadmill, my reading time did get absorbed by walking out on the streets. But never mind. Health comes first.

I managed to read some great books while tucked away in my new old Queenslander home. My reading this month was quite diverse as I caught up on some of my freebie ebooks, discovered new authors, and absorbed some new releases.

I didn't read much in May and I'm not entirely sure why. Reading is difficult for me as I never seem to have the time these days. Nor do I find I have the ability to concentrate enough to really fall into a story. But I did buy a lot of books this month. More than I probably should. And I did read one of the best, insightful books I have ever read, so it was a pretty good month.

April was very busy. Considering I spent a lot of time creating two anthologies for the TWPC, I hardly know how I found the time to read! But I did manage and had the pleasure of indulging in some amazing stories written by some fantastic authors.

March was a big month for reading! Not only was I in the middle of a bunch of books, but there were also some anticipated new releases ... and a few I didn't anticipate and bought anyway, of course ...

This month I spent some time finishing off a few reads on Kindle. I find I enjoy those while I'm out and about or on the treadmill. Then there were the big two new releases - on the same day! - of Natasha Lester's and Matthew Reilly's new books. Plus the new Fiona McCallum and the newly discovered Josephine Moon! Not to mention the $5 book sale I happened across ... and revisted a few times.

Just a little post about what I've been reading in February. After circumstances have prevented me from indulging in books over Christmas and such, I finally managed to find my love for reading again this month and have enjoyed some fantastic stories.

I picked up a few latest releases and found some good reads out of my freebies on Kindle.

And, of course, I'm still seeking out all books with Border Collies in them!