To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis

I found it very difficult to get properly interested in To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis, so it wasn't until I was half way through that I got to the point where I couldn't put it down, which is why it took me a lot longer to read than I'd have expected. All done now though, and only missing another 2 books to finish my Fall Into Reading challenge.

TBR Challenge 2008 - DONE

Yesssss!!! The TBR Challenge 2008 is finally up. I've literally been waiting for this for 6 months, as I was too late to join the 2007 one (not discovering it until July, that's fair enough).

The challenge is: In 2008 read 12 books that have been on your 'to-read' list for more than 6 months. I'm going to expand it and say the 12 books HAVE to be books I already own, in order to make a dent in my ever increasing pile of unread-but-owned-books.

There's my list:

• Wild Swans - Jung Chang
  
• The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
  
• The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper
  
• A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
  
• Seven For A Secret - Victoria Holt
  
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
  
• Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey
  
• Winnie-the-Pooh - A.A. Milne
  
• Stolen Lives - Malika Oufkir
  
• Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
  
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
  
• Looking Forward - Marcia Willett
  

My Best Friend's Girl - Dorothy Koomson

I'm having great luck with chick-lit these days. My Best Friend's Girl is yet another in a fortunately growing line of not-shallow-chick-lit. It's very sweet, very sad and very thought-provoking. I highly recommend it.

The Stand - Stephen King

I finally managed to finish The Stand by Stephen King. Very unlike me this one took about 3 weeks to read! Not because it was bad, nor even because it was terribly long (sure 1007 pages is a lot, but I've read that in less time before), but despite liking it it was just a slow read. Anyway, it's done now and I can strike yet another book off my Fall Into Reading list :)

The Big Over Easy - Jasper Fforde

Yesterday I finally managed to finish The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde. An absolutely delightful book that I highly recommend to anybody - especially people who enjoy bibliographies.

The Neverending Story - Michael Ende

By reading The Neverending Story by Michael Ende I've managed to complete the Bibliography Challenge!! That's two down... a whole lot to go :)

Noughts & Crosses - Malorie Blackman

I've just finished Malorie Blackman's "Noughts & Crosses" and loved it. Link will be up as soon as I get the review written. Link is up :) This was my first book for the Speculative Fiction challenge.

April Fool's Day - Bryce Courtenay

I've managed to finish my first book for the Whitcoulls Challenge: April Fool's Day by Bryce Courtenay. It's an angry and a heart-breaking book. I highly recommend it

What's In A Name - DONE

I wasn't going to sign up for more challenges, but the can be completed using only one new book, and the premise is fun, so I'm going to try anyway :) Cross-overs are encouraged, but no book can be read for two categories.

Dates: January 1, 2008 through December 31, 2008

The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.

1. A book with a color in its title. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
2. A book with an animal in its title. The Clan of the Cave Bears by Jean M. Auel
3. A book with a first name in its title. LOTS of possibilities here. Probably Charlotte's Web, although Mary Poppins, Mathilda and The Diary of Anne Frank* are also options.
4. A book with a place in its title. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.
5. A book with a weather event in its title. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
6. A book with a plant in its title. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.

* That's the Danish title, so I'd say it counts :)

Flowers in the Attic - Virginia Andrews

By finishing Flowers in the Attic by Virginia Andrews I've finished my first challenge!! "Anyone For 2nds" is now completed :)

Taken on Trust - Terry Waite

I've just finished Taken on Trust by Terry Waite, which covers a whole lot of challenges and is absolutely fascinating. Go read it!

Speculative Fiction Challenge - DONE

In Speculative Fiction the action of the story can take place in a culture that never existed, a world we know nothing of, or an earth that might have been or might be, to name a few. ... This distinctiveness is best illustrated in the primary question asked by the writers of Speculative Fiction,
"What if?" ... this genre has a special capacity to deal with the human equation.

Read six books within the speculative fiction umbrella. That is: fantasy, sci-fi, alternative history and magic realism.

My path is A Theoretical Handbook For the Unseasoned Speculator: otherwise known as the speculative fiction buffet, meaning a mixture of all genres.

My picks:
4 fantasy: Tamora Pierce's "Wild Magic" quartet:
Wild Magic
Wolf Speaker
Emperor Mage
The Realms of the Gods
2 alternative history: "The Dark is Rising" by Susan Cooper
"Noughts and Crosses" by Malorie Blackman.

Alternatives are "Rebel Angels", "The House of the Spirits", "Ironweed", "Xenocide" or the next Thursday Next novel (I've read the two first), but if time gets short, I'll add another fantasy book instead - like "Lords and Ladies".

Inkspell - Cornelia Funke

I finally finished Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart. Unfortunately not nearly as good as the first one, but may still be redeemed by the last book in the trilogy.

That's one more book to strike off the Bibliography Challenge, and also an alternative for the 2nds Challenge.

Numbers Challenge - DONE

This second challenge I had to sign up for because the concept is so neat:
The challenge is to read 5 books whose titles have a number in them from Jan 1, 2008 to June 1, 2008 This includes written numbers like "one" or "forty."

My picks:

• Seven For A Secret - Victoria Holt
  
• Wild Swans - Three Daughters of China - Jung Chang
  
• 20,000 leagues under the Sea - Jules Verne
  
• The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
  
• Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne
  

Young Adult Challenge - DONE

Yes, I know I'm getting obsessed, but I've just found two new challenges that I have to join. This one for obvious reasons as I love YA literature.

The rules are very simple, in 2008 read 12 YA books. The list may change at any time.
My list as it looks right now:

1. Wild Magic - Tamora Pierce
   
2. Wolf Speaker - Tamora Pierce
   
3. Emperor Mage - Tamora Pierce
   
4. The Realms of the Gods - Tamora Pierce
   
5. Bitten - Kelly Armstrong
   
6. A Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank
   
7. The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper
   
8. Avalon High - Meg Cabot
   
9. Sue Barton, Student Nurse - Helen Boylston
   
10. Sue Barton, Senior Nurse - Helen Boylston
    
11. Sue Barton, Visiting Nurse - Helen Boylston
    
12. Sue Barton, Rural Nurse - Helen Boylston
    

Extra credit: Sue Barton 5-7

The Baby Steps Challenge - Completed

In memory of Natalie Rose, an avid reader who died earlier this year, The Nattie Challenge blog has been set up. This blog will constantly run one or more challenges in memory of Natalie Rose.

The first of these challenges is The Baby Step Challenge:


We cannot possibly read everything we want to. We don't have time.

So, take a baby step. Or 2. Or 3.

Oct, Nov, Dec and then we leap into a new year. Before that new year greets us, we shall knock 3 books off the pile.

This can work two ways.

Option A. Pick 3 books you own but have not read and read them before 2008.
Option B. Pick 3 books you have on a To Be Read list and read them before 2008.

My three books are owned but not yet read:
"Lords and Ladies" by Terry Pratchett
"Taken on Trust" by Terry Waite
"The Big Over Easy" by Jasper Fforde

These double for both the "Fall Into Reading" challenge and the TBR challenge. I love efficiency! :-D

The Marvelous Land of Oz - L. Frank Baum

As this is a possible alternative for the 2nds challenge, I thought it fitting to post a link to the review of The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum here. It was quite good, and I'm working my way through the rest of the series.

Jewish Literature Challenge - DONE

Between Hanukkah 2007 (December 4th) and Passover 2008 (April 26th) read at least 5 books by Jewish authors or about Judaism

My picks:

• The Diary Of A Young Girl - Anne Frank
  
• Reunion - Fred Uhlman
  
• The Last Jew - Noah Gordon
  
• The Hiding Place - Corrie ten Boom
  
• The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
  

Alternatives: A Voice In The Wind - Francine Rivers, The Book of Hosea, Such a Time as This - Rebecca Velez

Reading Through The Decades - DONE

Read 8 books in 8 consecutive decadres in '08.

Any book from the decade is eligible, the list may be changed at any time. Titles may be cross-posted with any other challenge. Books from this decade do not count.

I thought this could be interesting as I seldom read REALLY old books. This list is subject to change as I have a lot of alternatives, but here is the list as it looks right now. My goal is to read at least 8.

1810s The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann David Wyss (1812)
1820s The Pirate - Sir Walter Scott (1822)
1830s The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens (1836)
1840s The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas (1844)
1850s Villette - Charlotte Bronte (1853)
1860s Little Women - L.M. Alcott (1868)
1870s Around the World in 80 Days - Jules Verne (1878)
1880s Heidi - Johanna Spyri (1880)
1890s Quo Vadis - Henryk Sienkiewicz (1895)
1900s The Enchanted Castle - E Nesbit (1907)
1910s The Emerald City of Oz - L. Frank Baum (1910)
1920s Winnie-the-Pooh - A. A. Milne (1926)
1930s Ballet Shoes - Noel Streatfeild (1936)
1940s Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank (1947)
1950s Charlotte's Web - E.B. White (1952)
1960s A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle (1962)
1970s Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM - Robert C. O'Brien (1971)
1980s Mathilda - Roald Dahl (1988)
1990s The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (1996)

An easy way to find books from different decades is on Wikipedia. Follow this link and then change the year to suit your purposes.

Inkheart - Cornelia Funke

I've just finished Inkheart which means I can strike one off both Fall into Reading AND the Bibliography challenge :-)

The book is absolutely amazing, and I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel.