Required Reading: July 2013

I initially lined up three reads for my June Required Reading Challenge, all under a Thriller Theme. I only managed to read two which are the ff: 

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - (5/5)  I get it why this nook seemed to be on every one of those "best picks" list. It is a great psychological thriller, it's gripping, it's tense, it's mad, it's crazy!   

2. Lightning by Dean Koontz - (4/5) When I realized the length of this book, I thought I got me in for some trouble but it's surprisingly highly entertaining that the pages flew right by. It has time travel in it, a blonde blue-eyed mysterious guy, and car chases, and shoot outs, and a whole lot of lightning and thunder to shake you up.

 Two out of three isn't bad, plus I gave the two titles nothing below a 4 star rating, so I say June was a pretty good reading month for me. 
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I could have finished my third book (Reality Check by Peter Abrahams) if only I did not binge watch the entire Season 1-3 of the HBO produced television show, A Game of Thrones, every night, sometime in the middle of June. And a chunk of my reading usually happens at night, right before bed. So there goes my reading time.

Therefore in honor of my new obsession, A Game of Thrones; this month of July, my reads will be those that inspired television shows and vice versa. So, In the name of Joffrey of the Houses Baratheon and Lannister, the First of his Name, King of the Andals, and the First Men, and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, I hereby declare the following as my books to read for the Telly Themed Month of July: (I am sorry to have subjected you to such nerdery but I couldn't resist. Hihi.)
TV Show: A Game of Thrones (HBO) 
Book: A Game of Thrones by GRR Martin (A Song of Fire and Ice #1) - But of course, what else? I already started on it and I must say, it lives up to the excitement of the television show and perhaps even more.
TV Show: Doctor Who (BBC)
Book/Short Story: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness (#5), Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Shorts, Puffin Books 

 I am glad to know that I can have my Doctor Who fix on print! I haven't fully caught up to the tv series though. I haven't seen the Matt Smith seasons. So for now, it's the tenth for me!  David Tennant! *giggles*  I was also quite happy to find that Patrick Ness wrote a Doctor Who story because his Chaos Walking Trilogy is one of my favorite series. Tip of the Tongue will introduce me to the 5th Doctor (played by Peter Davison, the one with the celery on his lapel), so I am excited about that. 
TV Show: Sherlock (BBC)
Book/Short Story: The Adventures of the Speckled Band (#8), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I have only watched the first episode: A Study in Pink of the BBC Series. I found that it was a pretty good. Plus, I love Martin Freeman. Cumberbatch is perfect as well, in portraying the arrogant genius, Sherlock. As for the short story, They say The Speckled Band is one among the great stories to start with. 

 So that's it for me! How about you? What's on your reading list this July?

Comments

  1. MoniqueJuly 2, 2013 at 11:07 PM

    Hahaha, why did you use Joffrey for the King intro? :D

    I hope you'll still continue reading the books even if you've already seen the series. There's so much more between the pages that could not have been possibly captured in the series, and that's one advantage of having read the books. (To answer your question on my blog: no,, I haven't seen the series yet. I need to finish all 5 books first before watching, 'cause I'm all hardcore like that. Haha!)

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    Replies
    1. TinJuly 3, 2013 at 5:09 AM

      Well, he was still on the Iron Throne when I got off watching Season Three of the AGOT TV series.(But I do understand why you asked. I kinda know what's gonna happen because my sister told me na. Hee.:D)

      I agree. I thought I would get bored because I know what's going to happen, since I watched the tv series already. But there is actually a lot of awesome details in the book that I did not get to see in the tv series.

      Lol! After A Dance with Dragons then, maybe you can get crackin' on the tv series. :D

      Delete
  2. TinaJuly 2, 2013 at 11:56 PM

    I haven't watched any episode of Game of Thrones because I'm a purist/hardcore like that. (Or really, because I just don't want to watch yet, and I can't watch it at the office because it's NSFW. Hehe) But have fun with GoT! I think I read that in 2 weeks? :)

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    1. TinJuly 3, 2013 at 5:15 AM

      Do not attempt to watch it in your the office, defintely!

      GoT has been lovely so far. The books are almost always really better than their screen adaptaions no? :D

      Delete
  3. LynaiJuly 3, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    I am so glad you liked Lightning. Watchers is my next favorite Koontz, and if you love dogs (golden retrievers for that matter), you might want to give this a try too. ;)

    And yay to GoT! The first book really is wonderful, but I am still stuck halfway with Book 2. I hope I get enough courage to finish this chunkster soon enough. :()

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    1. TinJuly 3, 2013 at 10:53 PM

      Hi Lynai! Taking note of Watchers. Odd Thomas sounds pretty cool too. :)

      Yes, GoT is awesome! I am considering continuing with ACOK after but then again I might get too fatigued with the high fantasy epic-ness of this series. And yes, it is also more of a chunkster than book 1. Don't worry about it Lynai, you can pick it up whenever. Baby coming out soon? Hee. :D

      Delete
  4. LynaiJuly 3, 2013 at 11:52 PM

    I'm due this month! :) I've read Odd Thomas but I am not a big fan of the supernatural, hee. But you might like it. Odd is so, well, odd in an "un-annoying" way. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Louize DGJuly 5, 2013 at 6:26 PM

    Hi, Tin! I think my earlier comment got lost in the www limbo, somewhere. That happens to blogspot a lot.

    I love your theme for this month. I hope you can finish GOT soon, so you could catch up with us on ACoK. No pressure, though.

    I love the Sherlock TV series. I've recently read Caleb Carr's contribution to the Holmes apocrypha, The Italian Secretary, it's very good.

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    Replies
    1. TinJuly 6, 2013 at 12:29 AM

      Hello Louize! I will be sure to give you guys a holler if I am able to proceed to ACoK at the same time with you guys. :)

      Oh, I didn't know there are Sherlock stories written by other authors. I will take note of Carr's The Italian Secretary. As for Sherlock tv series, I am up until the second episode of season 1, The Blind Banker. I love the creepiness that accompanies each of the first two episodes. And the dynamic between Freeman and Cumberbatch is lovely. :D

      Delete

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