Well, this month was moderately more successful, reading-wise, than travel-mad June, but I still see room for improvement. Which is why, of course, I have EVEN MORE books on my August "To Read" list, including a few lightweights like Ulysses.

The list below was my July "To Read" list. Capitalized works are ones I completed, links are to reviews.

• New York Times Notable Books Challenge
• Black Swan Green by David Mitchell - I am about two thirds of the way through this at the moment.
  
• Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury
• Year of Down Under
  
• ALICE SPRINGS BY NIKKI GEMMELL
  
• The Cardboard Crown by Martin Boyd
  
• 52 Plays/52 Weeks Challenge
• Let's be serious, now: at least 10 plays this month. [I accomplished FOUR. Sigh. But at least that was the one a week the challenge originally exhorted me to!]
  
• Non-fiction Five Challenge
• WATCHING THE ENGLISH BY KATE FOX
  
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Chunkster Challenge (FINISHED! Only one month late. Ah, well!)
  
• Watching the English (see above)
  
• DAVID COPPERFIELD BY CHARLES DICKENS
  
• Book Groups
• THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER BY CARSON McCULLERS (Classic Lit)
• The Vision of Emma Blau by Ursula Hegi (21st C Fiction)
• The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (Beyond Reality)
• Hard-boiled Wonderland by Haruki Murakami (Beyond Reality)
• The Bone People by Keri Hulme (Book Awards)
• Black Swan Green (see above) (Booker Prize)
• SLEEPLESS NIGHTS BY ELIZABETH HARDWICK (Slaves of Golconda)
• David Copperfield (see above) (Inimitable Boz)
  
• Preparing for teaching next year
• The Iliad by Homer
• As much Euripides as I can fit into my 52 plays project. [One play - ALCESTIS]
  
• Unaffiliated Reading
• THE FARTHEST SHORE BY URSULA K. LE GUIN
  
• TEHANU BY URSULA K. LE GUIN
• THE BOOKMAN'S WAKE BY JOHN DUNNING
  
• Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy (which has been sitting on my "currently reading" list for far, far too long)
• One unplanned book, which should have appeared on my August Reading Goals list, but would not stop opening my eyes, jumping into my hands, and creeping into my brain:
• HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS BY J.K. ROWLING

So, all in all, this is what we come up with:

• 13 books total, of which 4 were plays, 1 was a mystery/thriller, 3 were fantasy, and 1 was nonfiction
• 3 authors who were completely new to me.
• A sad failure to address my book groups (sniff!) and my increasingly neglected challenges. Things have got to change.
• Nonetheless, a significant improvement on last month's 5 books read. FIVE!?!? And, need I mention the fact that quite a few of this months reads were chunksters?