In early September I had a mini-stroke (thankfully there were no lasting effects or damage from this; I was lucky), followed by the worst 3 weeks of my life, in which I had 10 severe uterine haemorrhages and heavy bleeding in-between the haemorrhages. I am almost passing out all the time from hypovolemia and my heart is failing. It is likely that I will have some sort of operation or procedure (either an hysterectomy or an endometrial ablation) sometime in the next month to stop the blood. I’m still really struggling to breathe and swallow.
But this blog post is not about that! Things are awful for me at the moment and I was looking for an idea that I could latch onto to help keep me going. My last blog post got me thinking about how much I miss books (I haven’t been able to read books for over a decade due to my illness). So I’ve decided to give audiobooks a shot and I thought it would be fun if I started a virtual book club.
I will choose one book a month which we would all listen to or read. Then we would all post a review (as short or as long as you want) on the last day of the month, discussing our thoughts and opinions about that month’s book and give it a mark out of 10. If you have a blog or a website, you could share your review on that or if you have a YouTube channel, you could film your review. If you have neither of those things, you could put your review on Facebook as a Note or video. You could then leave the link to your review in the comments section of my review.
I figure that if I get others to join in and write a review and discuss the book, it wouldn’t matter if I’m too ill to write a review that month. I think it will be fun to see everybody’s different reactions to a book.
I’ve chosen the books for the next 12 months (yes, I got carried away). We’ll see how it goes. Obviously, I’m limited to books that are available in audiobook format due to being unable to read physical books and ebooks. So here are my choices for the next 12 months:
October: Last Song Before Night by Ilana C. Myer
November: Starborn by Lucy Hounsom
December: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
January: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
February: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
March: Lock In by John Scalzi
April: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
May: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
June: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
July: Daughter of the Empire by Janny Wurts and Raymond E. Feist
August: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
September: Thief’s Magic by Trudi Canavan
I hope you will join me. I’ve never been in a book club before so this is very exciting. Leave me a message in the comments if you think that you are going to participate so that I know if anyone is interested in doing this.
I’ll give it a go, Jenny. Not very fond of audio books but I’ll see if I can get them from the library.
Oh, I’m sorry if I didn’t make it clear – you don’t have to listen to the audiobook, you can read a physical copy/ebook instead if you want. I’ll be listening to the audiobook versions out of necessity but nobody else has to!
From Jenny x
(I know it says that ‘ian’ wrote this comment – that’s because Dad is set up as this website’s administrator and I don’t know how to change it!)
I’d love to join in – things are a bit hectic but will do my best to stick to timings 🙂 Laura xx
Hi Jenny,
I’d love to try it! I can’t always concentrate enough to cover a whole book within a month, but if that’s the case I’ll dip in for alternate months. I’m in e-book format as physical books are heavy and audio books send me to sleep!
Sorry to hear you’ve had an awful few weeks, I thought you’d been quiet.
Elizabeth
Where can I get these audio books? I’d be up for this 🙂
I’m only listening to the audiobook versions out of necessity but everyone else doesn’t have to – you can read a physical copy or ebook instead if you want. If you do choose to listen to them as audiobooks though, then they’re available on either Audible or iTunes.
From Jenny
(I know it says that ‘ian’ wrote this comment – that’s because Dad is set up as this website’s administrator and I’m too ill to change it!)
I’ll definitely give it a go though I haven’t read a book in years due to lack of time but will do my best to try and find time to read it each month 🙂 xx
Hi Jenny
I’m going to try and do this. At the moment I’m not reading much so hopefully this will get me back into the habit but I can’t promise.
So sorry to hear that you have had an even worse time than usual. Well done though for trying to distract yourself – you are so amazing. I’ve always wanted to be in a book club but never really wanted to go out in the evenings for the discussions so this is ideal for me. Well done for thinking of it. xx
Brilliant idea! I’m in! (Glad to see a post from you, Jenny. I’ve been checking several times a day on Twitter and this website.)
I’ll try and keep up: it’s a great list! I’ve read a few of them, and most of the others have been on my to-read list for a while so it’ll be good to have a date to aim for. Might even try out the audio versions 🙂
xx
I have just ordered the book for October and will read and post a comment. The girls in the Book Club I run at school (for US Grade 7/UK year8) is always trying to get me to read more fantasy books…this one looks like an excellent choice
Hi there Jenny, Are you Smiling ? I do not read novels,but I will join your Club. I have just joined Amazon’s “Audible” audio club. My free first book was”50 Shades Of Grey” -it was AWFUL! Now,I can”buy” any book for £7.89. I can then return that book and get my money back. I want to build up some credits, so I have bought the first three books in your list from Amazon for £26.60,incl P&P. Now, I must find time that I do not have to read those books. I am 80,so,
I don’t understand ” Facebook” etc, but I will report on each book somehow.
My thoughts and prayers are with you, always. God Bless Luv John XXXX