My holidays didn't go quite as planned, something I may or may not talk about more here. But the net result is that I didn't read half as many books as I'd planned, and that I still can't really focus on any book for any length of time.
What I did read:
28 Speaking with the Angel - various authors (edited by Nick Hornby)
29 Turks Fruit (Turkish Delight) - Jan Wolkers
30 Tongkat - Peter Verhelst
31 Het Exacte Verhaal - Ionica Smeets
Not really my typical month: 2 books in Dutch, one informal book about scientific journalism, and one short story collection. I'm nearly finished with The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (I always seem to be 'nearly finished' with something at the end of a month, I really should plan these things better), but nearly isn't the real thing, so this will have to be one of the weirdest months with respect to books as well.
The short stories were nice, but nothing special, although it did contain a story by Colin Firth (followed by a story by Helen Fielding, which is a nice touch). Turkish Delight is one of those Dutch classics anyone should really read; I liked it, and I will now have to read more by Jan Wolkers. Tongkat is a beautiful fantasy story, although you can't really call it a story because it is more poetic than that, in beautiful Flemish Dutch. I will have to reread that one, because I feel like I've only scratched the surface of its complexity, but that will have to wait until 2016. Het Exacte Verhaal explains why scientists should engage in scientific journalism, and how. It's a fun read, especially if you have biologists and other scientists writing schoolbooks, but it caters to a niche market.
So, I won't be all optimistic about how things will be better in september, because I don't think they will, but we'll see how it goes.
