August readings were not august (see what I did there?!)

So I didn't have my best month.  I blame it on not a lot of pool time/free time last month.  Or any time in the near future.....

Go Set the Watchman by Harper Lee (275 pages).  I went into this knowing that Atticus was going to come out as a bigot and a racist.  So I wasn't shocked.  What did shock me was how big of a deal people made about it.  And I didn't return the book to Books-A-Million for a refund.  For a myriad of reasons.  Not the least of which is that Harper Lee is a BRILLIANT writer.  Absolutely brilliant.  I was reading on the elliptical at the gym and I'm sure people were wondering why I was laughing to myself.  Long story short, this story occurs twenty years after To Kill a Mockingbird (but was actually the first book Lee wrote).  Scout (now going by her given name of Jean Louise) has come home from New York City for her annual visit.  Everything seems normal- her aunt is still bossy, her hometown beau is still hopelessly devoted, and Atticus is still Atticus.  Then Jean Louise's whole world is turned upside down when she sees her father and beau at a community council meeting, aka a citizens against segregation meeting.  Jean Louise must come to terms with the world she grew up in and the world she THOUGHT she grew up in.  I read 220 pages in one day.  And I finished the book in three days (only two days of actual reading time).

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick (377 pages).  Apparently it was a sort of companion book to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (which I haven't read).  But I'm pretty sure that's irrelevant.  The book was really cute- an easy read and a creative idea.  A re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice.  Except Lizzie is a 24 year old mass communications grad student who started a thesis project of a video blog (that's apparently the other book).  This one is the secret diary she kept while vlogging.  I read it in two days (hurrah for pool time!)

The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame-Smith (398 pages).  This is the sequel to Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.  But is totally a stand alone book.  For some background, Abe was a successful vampire hunter.  The Union was a group of vampires who had sworn to protect mankind from vampires.  Abe's teacher and friend was vampire Henry Struges.  And this was his story.  It was AMAZING!  The most creative history novel ever.  All of the mysteries of the world?  Vampires.  The Lost Colony of Roanoke.  Jack the Ripper.  The Hindenburg disaster.  The downfall of the Romanovs.  Vampires were involved.  So, so awesome.  I loved, loved, loved it.  I read it in nine days (only five days of actual reading time).

So there you have it.  3 books, 1050 pages.  I did get about halfway through a fourth book.  But alas, alack- I didn't finish it during the month.  So it couldn't be accounted for this month's readings.