tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56840531994045857882024-02-07T16:34:24.439-08:00Katrina's Readskatrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.comBlogger582125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-17050030780180462732014-01-03T15:52:00.001-08:002014-01-03T15:53:07.870-08:00North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell<a href="http://thearmitageeffect.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/north-and-south1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://thearmitageeffect.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/north-and-south1.jpg" width="222" /></a>The <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-classics-club.html">Classics Club</a> did a spin in November to select a book we had to read from our list by the end of December. I ended up having to read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, my first Gaskell and certainly a novel I had been meaning to read for years. Although I had put this down as a book I wasn't all too excited to read I soon after found numerous booktubers who raved about this book so I went into it with high hopes.<br />
This novel is set in the 19th century but unlike the novels of Jane Austen the novel lies outside of the Regency ballrooms and large estates and in largely set in the Industrial North. The main character is a fiesty young women, raised among the rich, with a middle class family and an urging to befriend the poor and scare off any wealthy, hardworking men who show any interest in her.<br />
Even without having seen the booktubers videos I knew within minutes of meeting Mr Thorton that he was the love interest and all would turn out well in the end, it was just a matter of getting there. Much like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy the pair are rivals and seem unable to say anything agreeable to each other. <br />
I really enjoyed much of this novel, despites its predictability, however I lost a bit of focus in the middle section with the story of the brother, it just distracted from all the other characters I had come to care about.<br />
I'm looking forward to picking up Cranford in the near future.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-48907711016037620132013-12-09T23:28:00.000-08:002013-12-09T23:34:34.461-08:00The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum<div class="irc_mutc">
<a class="irc_mutl" data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=48kEylIGv6MLpM&tbnid=7tP40SvqqwuX4M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthedesigninspiration.com%2Farticles%2F25-various-styles-of-the-wizard-of-oz-illustrations%2F&ei=8MGmUoCIGIGX1AWRw4HwBQ&bvm=bv.57799294,d.ZG4&psig=AFQjCNHEiFBzBi-9J5wfL9jVqrI717jS5A&ust=1386746719842300"><img class="irc_mut" height="391" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8QvL9wvC8pBWEA7qNKRJuzV5eUJBQfrSPS8FYGUTKiOAOlDe3" style="margin-top: 19px;" width="552" /></a></div>
Despite being nearly 33 I had never read or seen The Wizard of Oz -my Mum protests that this is a lie, but as my brother and sister haven't seen it either I think I'm the one who is right. Of course I know parts of the story - the Yellow Brick Road, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the red shoes (which weren't red in the book!), so much of the story was familiar but undiscovered.<br />
<br />
I've been trying to get back into my reading and as my biggest issue is time I'm trying to utilise those empty pockets of time. In the morning I can wait between 5 to 20 minutes extra for my housemate to be ready to leave for work with me, but It by Stephen King, certainly isn't a pick it up and read a few pages kind of book so I was looking for something easy, light (weight and topic), cheap (I've been eating breakfast, cleaning my teeth etc. whilst reading this week so I need a book which I'm not too precious about) and that could be read in small chunks. I week of little dribs and drabs of The Wizard of Oz and I wasn fnished.<br />
<br />
This book had a lot more to it than I knew so despite being a cultural reference point I was surprised to find the monkeys, the Emerald City, the Lion and many other sections which I'm sure are well known to most of the world. <br />
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I really enjoyed the story and I will be looking out for the film on Christmas TV. Now I need to go in search for my next morning read.<br />
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<a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/a-century-of-books.html">Century of Books: Published in 1900.</a><br />
<br />katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-80210870748935180412013-12-03T00:43:00.000-08:002013-12-03T01:35:21.223-08:00The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I read this book a few weeks ago but wanted to wait until after I had been to my book group meeting before I posted about it.<br />
Harold Fry is old, retired and stuck in a rut. His marriage is a strain, his relationship with his son is non existent and his life barely extends beyond the boundaries of his back garden. Everything changes when he receives a letter from an old friend who is dieing, she was the woman who once saved him from a disaster, he let her take the blame knowing she would have to move away and sacrifice her life for him.<br />
Harold writes her a letter and pops out to post it, but when he gets to the post box he finds he wants to go a bit further,and at the next one he goes a bit further and there starts his pilgrimage from the south of England up to Scotland.<br />
The beautiful thing about this book was the people Harold met along his journey, everyone had a story to share, their own deep secret. The book is also a love story to the British countryside, in these segments the prose - which is fairly simple - becomes almost poetic. I also really loved the journey his wife takes whilst she stays home waiting to hear from him each day.<br />
When I went to the book group it was the first time we had ever met, everyone was lovely and with the exception of one person everyone gave this book 8 or 9 stars out of 10. katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-24961710856888715832013-11-24T05:50:00.002-08:002013-12-09T23:33:58.594-08:00A Century of Books<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuQZV7KPgcwZlXqoLolULpItoomtmYqYMxYZ6S-bZ-k0CDjz66tAMiP2LoHM4GvPFnOqS3hhPy3StkA8w3QpqinGRNJ6E96eCKsI9-YQh3_KGetqZi-f_waehJtiMWX8UcVYqWb-TPn_3/s1600/A+Century+of+Books+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuQZV7KPgcwZlXqoLolULpItoomtmYqYMxYZ6S-bZ-k0CDjz66tAMiP2LoHM4GvPFnOqS3hhPy3StkA8w3QpqinGRNJ6E96eCKsI9-YQh3_KGetqZi-f_waehJtiMWX8UcVYqWb-TPn_3/s400/A+Century+of+Books+logo.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
All of my other challenges that I'm partcipating are in one post <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/2014-reading-challenges.html">here</a>, but I thought this one would need its own post as it'll form a big list.<br />
This challenge, held over at <a href="http://stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/a-century-of-books-2014.html">Stuck in a Book</a> is ongoing, it doesn't need to be completed within a year. The aim is to read one book for each year of the 20th century. This is perfect, but as I read quite a lot of older books, and I'm going to also keep note of what I read in the 19th century and see if I can make that a personal goal. (P.S I'm starting straight away, I'm only a month and a week early)<br />
These are my possibilities taken from my TBR stacks, I will place read books in bold and link to my reviews<br />
1999 The Great Ideas/Girl with a Pearl Earring<br />
1998 The Notebook of Don Rigoberto/Girlfriend in a Coma<br />
1997 Enduring Love/Seven Years in Tibet<br />
1996 Salt/Hunger<br />
1995 In the Cut/The Unconsoled<br />
1994 East, West<br />
1993 A River Sutra/The Matisse Stories<br />
1992 Wildreness Tips/The Troublesome Offspring...<br />
1991 Senor Vivo and the Coco Lord/The Virgin in the Garden<br />
1990 Haroun and the Sea of Stories<br />
1989 Foucault's Pendulum/Canal Dreams<br />
1988 Bonfire of Vanities/Satanic Verses<br />
1987 Strangers/A Sport of Nature<br />
1986 It<br />
1985 Hardboiled Wonderland.../Tobo<br />
1984 The Riddle of the Wren<br />
1983 Rise Up O Young.../Blood Brothers<br />
1982 Schindler's List/A Boy's Own Story<br />
1981 Rabbit is Rich/Tar Baby<br />
1979 The Sea, The Sea<br />
1978 The World According to Garp<br />
1977 Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams<br />
1976 Meridian/Fiesta<br />
1975 The Autumn of the Patriarch<br />
1974<br />
1973 Crash/Rainbow's Gravity<br />
1972<br />
1971<br />
1970 Losing Battles<br />
1969 Dora Flor and her Two Husbands<br />
1968 The Iron Man/Slouching Towards Bethlehem<br />
1967 The Third Policeman/The Master and Margarita<br />
1966<br />
1965<br />
1964<br />
1963 V/The Collector<br />
1962 Pale Fire/ The Golden Notebook<br />
1961 A House for Mr Biswas/Hertzog<br />
1960 The Child Buyer<br />
1959 Titus Alone/Billiards at Half-Past Nine<br />
1958 Borstal Boy<br />
1957 Devil By the Sea/Kokoro<br />
1956 Everything that Rises Must Converge<br />
1955 Lolita<br />
1954 The Story of O/ Lord of the Rings<br />
1953 Golden Apples of the Sun<br />
1952 Invisible Man<br />
1951 Secret Tribe/Day of the Trifids<br />
1950 Gormenghast<br />
1949 A Rage to Live/The Second Sex<br />
1948 The Pearl<br />
1947<br />
1946 Titus Groan/All Men are Mortal<br />
1945 Cannery Row<br />
1943<br />
1942 Embers<br />
1941 Frenchman's Creek<br />
1940 <br />
1939 Grapes of Wrath<br />
1938 <br />
1937 Nightwood<br />
1936 Eyeless in Gaza<br />
1935<br />
1934 Now in November<br />
1933 Over the River (Forsyte)<br />
1932 Flowering Wilderness (Forsyte)/The Radetzy March<br />
1931 Maid in Waiting (Forsyte)<br />
1930 <br />
1929 Steppenwolf<br />
1928 Swan Song (Forsyte)/Orlando<br />
1927 Seven Pillars of Wisdom/Tarka the Otter<br />
1926 The Silverspoon (Forsyte)<br />
1925 Shen of the Sea<br />
1924 White Monkey (Forsyte)<br />
1923 Kirstin Lavransdattar<br />
1922<br />
1921 To Let (Forsyte)<br />
1920 In Chancery (Forsyte)<br />
1919<br />
1918<br />
1917<br />
1916<br />
1915 The 39 Steps<br />
1914<br />
1913 Pollyanna<br />
1912<br />
1911<br />
1910 Howard's End<br />
1909<br />
1908 A Room With a View/Anne of Green Gables<br />
1907<br />
1906 Man of Property (Forsyte)<br />
1905 Jungle<br />
1904<br />
1903<br />
1902 Just So Stories<br />
1901<br />
<span style="color: red;">1900 Lord Jim/ </span><a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-by-l-frank.html"><span style="color: red;">The Wizard of Oz</span></a>katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-32415809255228940992013-11-23T08:54:00.001-08:002013-11-23T08:54:14.211-08:00Book Haul and UpdateToday I left the house with a stack of books and authors who I wanted to check out at the local secondhand bookshop - I can't afford to buy lots of new books, nor jusify it with a 500+ unread TBR pile - but the bookshop was shut! :( I wasn't too happy, but as I live in one of those trendy little coffee shop villages there are a lot of charity shops and generally their book selections are better than you'd find in the average town. I also had a stack of reservations to pick up from the library so I ended up with quite a haul.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu75xBUFZtQgAb4sr8JDWmkwjEaqSq6_bP5FZt781ajlHXt9ZmBR5Ljxx4erLVacDipF05TQkQVlnIpsBcd3xNNzM1YoVLgk7EhgG6yDBIzrb_4Uk0hmcy8DkwCYDXtDVZa0u9glOc8l8F/s1600/book+haul.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu75xBUFZtQgAb4sr8JDWmkwjEaqSq6_bP5FZt781ajlHXt9ZmBR5Ljxx4erLVacDipF05TQkQVlnIpsBcd3xNNzM1YoVLgk7EhgG6yDBIzrb_4Uk0hmcy8DkwCYDXtDVZa0u9glOc8l8F/s640/book+haul.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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From the library I got:<br />
<strong>The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefevre and Frederic Lemercier</strong> - this book is a mix of real life photographs and graphic novel. Lefevre is a photographer who travelled to Afgahnistan during the war with doctors and nurses from the Doctor's Without Borders programme. It looks amazing but harrowing.<br />
<strong>Epileptic by David B</strong>. another graphic novel which is an autobiography about growing up with an epileptic brother. Both of these were found on an amazon search and then reserved at the library.<br />
<strong>Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata</strong> a Japanese book I know nothing about, except it's tiny, ordered because it is the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/116231">International Reads</a> goodreads group books for December.<br />
<strong>Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov</strong> because in January the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/31981">Bookish</a> group, also on goodreads, are doing a joint reading of a memoir by Nabokov called Speak. Memory alongside Pale Fire, so I thought I would like to read his most famous work first.<br />
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From the chrity shop I brought the following for less than £12<br />
<strong>Eve was Framed by Helena Kennedy</strong> - for my flatmate but I'm planning on reading it too, (although she doesn't know that yet)<br />
<strong>America by Stephen Fry</strong>- I love Stephen Fry, I've met him several times too when he would shop in a quirky shop I worked in whilst at university, and I'm planning on reading more non-fiction next year.<br />
<strong>A Rage to Live - John O'Hara</strong> - never heard of this or his other novels but this is a Vintage classic and I love that series.<br />
<strong>Losing Battles by Eudora Welty</strong> - I saw this for 50p and knew she was a Southern author and I think their is a Southern reading month this January on Brooke's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBuQjk7cwTFXHNHE_21UmjA">youtube channel</a>/blog.<br />
<strong>The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael</strong> <strong>Chabon</strong>- I actually went into this charity shop because last weekend they had The Amazing Adventure's of Kavalier and Klay (which I keep hearing great things about) but I didn't have any cash on me and the shop was about to close, unfortunately someone else had snapped it up but this was still there.<br />
<strong>Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel</strong> - I read Wolf Hall and loved it, despite knowing nothing about history and getting a bit mixed up with the names. I've been meaning to buy this for ages.<br />
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This is a big book haul for my, normally I'm fairly conservative as there isn't any space left to store books in the house, I think it maybe a reaction to signing up for the final <a href="http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.co.uk/p/tbr-triple-dog-dare.html">TBR Triple Dog Dare</a> where I can only read from my shelves for three months from January 1st till April 1st.<br />
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I'm off to spend the next hour finishing The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which I have a feeling is going to make me cry, this is a bookclub read for a brand new RL bookgroup, in a trendy delicatessans/coffee shop/location of many wine and cheese nights, live jazz nights, poetry reading nights etc. I'm really looking forward to the group meet, but will certainly be doing some research as I'm not sure what other type of people will be there - not sure my Literature degree and MA in Literature will hide my w/c accent in a room full of plumming accented, shiny-never-seen-a-speck-of-mud Land Rover driving stay-at-home Mums. But maybe I'm the one being the snob!<br />
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Oh, and I am now addicted to booktube. I blame Estella's Revenge, I watched one of her videos and it's now become an obsessesion. Some favourites are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVptFL0H04tNBdJ6wW7vdYQ">MercysBookishMusings</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKiVqFEumW8QASQclvOSzXw">From the Shelf</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHIjJA0gIF5RUhoyjHVUNKA">chboskyy</a>. I swear if I had used the video watching time this week to read I would have fininshed my next read It by Stephen King.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-83693150542094685692013-11-17T09:09:00.000-08:002013-11-17T09:09:17.027-08:00The Slynx - Tatyana Tolstaya<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/310722.The_Slynx" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Slynx" height="200" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320532928m/310722.jpg" title="The Slynx" width="124" /></a><span id="freeTextreview767088024">The Slynx is a Russian dystopian novels written by a relative of Tolstoys. I had never heard of this book before and only became aware of it because of the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/116231">International Reads</a> group formed on goodreads and book tube.<br />Set hundreds of years in the future life has regressed. People spend their days catching mice to eat and sell to be made into clothes, they live in primative buildings and the society is ruled over by one man. The dictator is praised for the things he brings them such as fire and the written word. There are three sets of people the Oldeners, who remember the time before, those with Consequences - some type of mutation like claws for feet and the regular people.<br />The main character starts off as a fairly poor man constantly hungry and searching for food, until he marries a richer woman and is welcomed to novels and fiction.<br /><br />I liked many aspects of this book, but I thought much of it was a political message that went straight over my head as I know nothing of Russia. Many parts of the book seemed silly, and I think that within a week I will have forgotten the majority of this novel.</span><br />
<span></span><br />
<span>Book 3 of 5 for <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/dystopia-challenge-2013.html">The Dystopian Challenge</a></span>katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-60692766082325457952013-11-17T04:49:00.001-08:002013-11-21T13:40:56.229-08:00The Classics Club Spin<a href="http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/">The Classics Club</a> are having a spin this Monday, I have to pick 20 books, number them 1-20 and then they will pick the number and I have to read that book by the end of the month. I'm only picking books on my TBR as I'm on a buying ban this month. I've put them in the suggested categories but them muddled the numbers up.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/the-classics-spin-4/" sl-processed="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Twelve Months of Classic Literature" class="attachment-expound-featured wp-post-image" height="260" src="http://theclassicsclubblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/classicsclub.jpg?w=262&h=260&crop=1" width="262" /></a>5 I am dreading:<br />
5. Dombey and Son - Charles Dickens<br />
3. Moby Dick - Meilville<br />
17. The Brothers Karamakov<br />
15. The Master and Margarita<br />
11. The Lord of the Rings<br />
<br />
<br />
5 I can't wait to read<br />
7. Invisible Man - Ellison<br />
6. Hunger<br />
4. The Namesake<br />
12. Gilead<br />
19. Snow Country<br />
<br />
5 I'm feeling neutral about<br />
1. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy<br />
<strong>10. North and South - Gaskell the choosen book</strong><br />
13. Gulliver's Travels<br />
14. Crime and Punishment<br />
9. Don Quixote<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
5 Free Choices<br />
8. Howard's End<br />
2. Orlando<br />
16. The Princess Bride<br />
20. Dora Flora and her Two Husbands<br />
18. The Sea, The Seakatrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-42010837709527781802013-11-12T01:59:00.001-08:002013-11-12T01:59:17.560-08:00The Classics Club<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJqOljSY0ItBqqeHTDBUIGoskbEo7z05zTrSxPyzwAQHida6dS8sqLBgPYI7c9B95jOG8lriuRg5_f4BVvP262CsEunPjudy13gc-Jk2yoAo2_ftWpJ03FsQrqKvtKzfHsrchtRsAUMSZ/s1600/classicsclub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJqOljSY0ItBqqeHTDBUIGoskbEo7z05zTrSxPyzwAQHida6dS8sqLBgPYI7c9B95jOG8lriuRg5_f4BVvP262CsEunPjudy13gc-Jk2yoAo2_ftWpJ03FsQrqKvtKzfHsrchtRsAUMSZ/s1600/classicsclub.jpg" /></a>I'm heading on down and joining <a href="http://theclassicsclubblog.wordpress.com/">The Classics Club</a>. The idea is that you create your own list of classics you would like to read and set yourself a 5 year goal to tick these read off of your list. As someone with an English Literature degree, masters and a teacher of Literature I have read a lot of classics but I still have a stack to go and I do find myself distracted by new and shiny covers.<br />
I was supposed to have a list of 50 but that slipped away and I ended up with 100! The list has serious classics, and modern classics plus classics from particular countries and genres.<br />
<strong>This is the 100 books I plan to tackle by 12/11/2018:</strong><br />
1. Finnegan's Wake - James Joyce<br />
2. Domby and Don - Charles Dickens<br />
3. Canary Row - John Steinbeck<br />
4. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates<br />
5. Kristin Lavransdattar - Sigrid Undset<br />
6. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy<br />
7. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens<br />
8. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne<br />
9. Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison<br />
10. Moby Dick - Herman Melville<br />
11. Sister Carrie - Theodore Dresier<br />
12. Native Son - Richard Wright<br />
13. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Earnest Hemmingway<br />
14. The Ideal Husband - Oscar Wilde<br />
15. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell<br />
16. The Warden - Anthony Trollope<br />
17. Beowulf<br />
18. Adam Bede - George Elliot<br />
19. The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens<br />
20. The Life and Opinions of Tristian Dhandy, Gentlemen - Laurence Sterne<br />
21. Gulliver's Travels<br />
22. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde<br />
23. Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton<br />
24. My Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers<br />
25. Howard's End - EM Foster<br />
26. Eugene Onegin - Alexander Pushkin<br />
27. Crime and Punishment - Fydor Dostoyevsky<br />
28. The Brothers Karakov - Dostoyevsky<br />
29. The Master and Margarita - Mikail Bulgakov<br />
30. Dead Souls - Nokoli Gogol<br />
31. Lolita - Vladamir Nabokov<br />
32. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe<br />
33. The River Between - Ngugi wa Thiongo<br />
34. Houseboy - Ferdinand Oyono<br />
35. House of Leaves<br />
36. This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen<br />
37. The Street of Crocodiles, Bruno Schulz<br />
38. The Tin Drum, Gunter Grass<br />
40. The Leopard<br />
41. The Odyssey, Homer<br />
42. Don Quixote <br />
43. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco<br />
44. The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann<br />
45. Orlando - Virginia Woolf<br />
46. The Waves - Virginia Woolf<br />
48. Candide - Voltaire<br />
49. Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turganev<br />
50. The Black Book - Pamuk<br />
51. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie<br />
52. Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard<br />
53. Hunger - Knut Hamsum<br />
54. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br />
55. The Good Earth - Pearl S Buck<br />
56. The Lord of the Rings - Tolkein<br />
57. The Princess Bride - Goldman<br />
58. Sula - Toni Morrison<br />
59. A Prayer for Owen Meaney<br />
60. Red Sorghum - Mo Yan<br />
61. Waiting - Ha Jin<br />
62. The Arabian Nights<br />
63. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahari<br />
64. Shantram<br />
65. Red Earth and Pouring Rain<br />
66. A River Sutra - Gita Mehta<br />
67. Gilead<br />
68. The War at the End of the World - Llosa<br />
69. Ines of my Soul - Isabel Allende<br />
70. Eva Luna - Iabel Allende<br />
71. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands - Jorge Amado<br />
72. The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros<br />
73. Norweigan - Murakami<br />
74. The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter<br />
75. Kokoro - Soseki<br />
76. Snow Country - Kawabata<br />
77. The Tale of Gneji<br />
78. The House Keeper and The Professor - Yoko Owaga<br />
79. Thousand Cranes- Kawabata<br />
80. Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace<br />
81. Seize the Day - Saul Bellow<br />
82. Pere Goriot - Balzac<br />
83. The Three Maskateers - Dumas<br />
84. Out of Africa - Karen Blixen/Isak Dineson<br />
85. The Sorrows of Young Werther - Goethe<br />
86. The Wings of the Dove - Henry James<br />
87. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch<br />
88. A Severed Head - Iris Murdoch<br />
89. Divisadero - Ondaatje<br />
90. Everything that Rises Must Converge - Flannery O'Connor<br />
91. Confederates - Thomas Keneally<br />
92. When We Were Orphans - Ishiguro<br />
93. The Satanic Verses - Rushdie<br />
94. Reading in the Dark -Seamus Deane<br />
95. Fasting, Feasting - Anita Desai<br />
96. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath<br />
97. Cat's Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut<br />
98. The Cider House Rules, John Irving<br />
99. The Jungle - Upton Sinclair<br />
100. The 39 Steps - John Buchan<br />
katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-9541307569244349632013-11-10T09:47:00.003-08:002013-11-10T09:47:30.132-08:00Non-Fiction NovemberI have loved non-fiction reads across the years and I have a shelf jam-packed with non-fiction books which I desperately want to read but some how I always end up reading fiction. I really need to make it my mission to read more non-fiction. This idea of a month to read non-fiction is a great idea, I'm going to try and squeeze in one non-fiction text around two fictional books I need to read for book clubs, a looming MA essay which I have done no reading for and marking which is stacked up higher than the ceiling!<br />
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But I thought I would share three non-fiction books I have read in the past and loved.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJp-3QOmpPBQmbmHNjAPfxwHpG38srjf24alFgPtYjubzb8P9WDUbs9ZEwo49jtxKfAbj_82qDRtzeZg3mxKUFMpXCe-uLAYkHjTDWtwBs5cvSwYQyi3FvUjajOQPI-RV7gXE_9zeWOZZ/s1600/a+human+being.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595354111050830754" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJp-3QOmpPBQmbmHNjAPfxwHpG38srjf24alFgPtYjubzb8P9WDUbs9ZEwo49jtxKfAbj_82qDRtzeZg3mxKUFMpXCe-uLAYkHjTDWtwBs5cvSwYQyi3FvUjajOQPI-RV7gXE_9zeWOZZ/s320/a+human+being.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 226px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 150px;" /></a> A Human Being Died That Night: Forgivng Apartheid's Cheif Killer by Pumla Gogooo-Madikizela this book was very popular with the book blogging community a few years ago. The author is a psychologist who interviews one of the leaders of South Africa's apartheid, someone who worked on the ground abusing and organising the abuse of black South Africans. I still have really vivid pictures of the scenes from this book and the emotions that it caused in me. My copy os this book travelled across the world through bookcrossing and then was returned to me to pass on, one of my friends hated it but on the whole many people were angered and very touched by this book. My review can be found <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/human-being-died-that-night-forgiving.html">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCv7jVmqS5VUFrENsOK794VBW1xJDlJbsrkCPCX79tUGWZ3TnFfVIdt_M_xsYdyNtoZUdZbrs5Vp_Xka0Y4mL4wO4rBVLPtu9jbSY442T_fPV4ta-yRwH02cZYKiX6LYUD9tYAOu79q3Q/s1600-h/green.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366796418461078946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCv7jVmqS5VUFrENsOK794VBW1xJDlJbsrkCPCX79tUGWZ3TnFfVIdt_M_xsYdyNtoZUdZbrs5Vp_Xka0Y4mL4wO4rBVLPtu9jbSY442T_fPV4ta-yRwH02cZYKiX6LYUD9tYAOu79q3Q/s320/green.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 320px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 208px;" /></a>A Year in Green Tea and Tuk Tuks by Rory Spowers. This is the type of non-fiction which I prefer, one persons account of their life in another country, culture or community.<br />
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I really want to visit Sri Lanka so this book was a great way to find out about the country without reading a dry factual book. Spowers writes about his first year trying to set up a tea-farm in Sri Lanka. I love families, individual successes and failures. My review can be found <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/my-thoughtsa-year-in-green-tea-and-tuk.html">here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKcVlZliBgkH5Kf5g2kJRc0N9lgZuXKu2MMXyrOfhyphenhyphen_UTPAJTgjmE49C3309O8Uy9u64r8p58LIYTuSo3yzVsRjW3Gw1HS0PsHN80_KMVSLajfPVyvLmR0cHPrdE8IY2RvVcdTGHTduHi/s1600-h/normal.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373545649060378242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKcVlZliBgkH5Kf5g2kJRc0N9lgZuXKu2MMXyrOfhyphenhyphen_UTPAJTgjmE49C3309O8Uy9u64r8p58LIYTuSo3yzVsRjW3Gw1HS0PsHN80_KMVSLajfPVyvLmR0cHPrdE8IY2RvVcdTGHTduHi/s400/normal.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 237px;" /></a>Normal by Amy Bloom each chapter of this book looks at a different community, transexuals, hemaphrodites, gay men, cross dressing etc. The accounts are touching, shocking and in places humorous. Very insightful and a great step into a world which is normally hidden from view. My review can be found <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/two-non-fiction-books.html">here.http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/two-non-fiction-books.html</a><br />
katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-25354077934968532642013-11-05T01:20:00.001-08:002013-11-05T01:20:22.478-08:00The Road - McCarthy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMYTlof1uEfjeCzgP8VSHJ3moHtFOJz095eSuys0iOOoW-9AXX_soVjHgc1rnIYwj6p9Do3MSDcueSX6fhPWu4d0NbWNeVZAd0OiRI9uT6pEoDwA1wlRxwHWYVwZJHS7Utn-7FHnf1ZBm/s1600/DystopiaChallenge-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqMYTlof1uEfjeCzgP8VSHJ3moHtFOJz095eSuys0iOOoW-9AXX_soVjHgc1rnIYwj6p9Do3MSDcueSX6fhPWu4d0NbWNeVZAd0OiRI9uT6pEoDwA1wlRxwHWYVwZJHS7Utn-7FHnf1ZBm/s1600/DystopiaChallenge-1.jpg" /></a>And another 1001 book tackled! I also read this for the <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/dystopia-challenge-2013.html">Dystopia Challenge</a> so two hits in one :) I've been meaning to read The Road since all of the hype years ago but somehow I failed to get around to it, but I'm glad I kept it so long.<br />
The Road is a post-apocalyptic novel, set in a grey, cold and very bleak America which fitted perfectly with the weather over the few days I was reading, which was wet and windy. The majority of the novel was read when I was woken by a huge storm at 4 in the morning, so I was curled up on the sofa with a book watching the mad dog walkers battling against winds and rains to ensure their pets had been taken out!<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lLpz6xGVSew/Uni4KZKdpSI/AAAAAAAAB_U/-aUS5FDrkXE/s1600/theroad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lLpz6xGVSew/Uni4KZKdpSI/AAAAAAAAB_U/-aUS5FDrkXE/s320/theroad.jpg" width="208" /></a>I would guess that the majority of books I read have a female protagonist and the view of family life and relationships is from a female perspective so it was interesting to read about a father-son relationship. The two nameless characters rely on each other for everything, they battle the world and their fears together. Other people present figures of danger, with some very grim scenes occurring when the father and son encounter gangs travelling on the road.<br />
This book is bleak, but the relationship between the two characters brings a light to the whole book, regardless of the situation love still shines through. The novel is written in short fragments so is quick to read and highly recommended.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-8436619670639753662013-10-26T15:18:00.002-07:002013-10-26T15:18:19.181-07:00In the Forest by Edna O'Brien<a href="http://kimbofo.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bcff69e20120a52f3f81970c-pi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://kimbofo.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451bcff69e20120a52f3f81970c-pi" width="416" /></a>Another 1001 list book for me. I'd not heard of Edna O'Brien before so it was great to discover a new author who has a big backlist.<br />
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<em>In the Forest</em> is a novel based on a real life crime in Ireland in the 1990s. Michen is a young man who has been in and out of Irish correction centres - largely run by the church since the age of 10 when he first started committing crimes. Michen spends his teenage years breaking out and making his way back to his home town, where the locals leave bread and milk outside for him, too scared to invite him into their family home.<br />
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The novel is written in fragments each chapter skips from focusing on one character to the next. Whilst I quite enjoy this style at the beginning I felt lost sometimes knowin g which character we were now with, especially as many people from the village are suddenly introduced as the focus of a chapter and then not seen again. Once I got 50 pages into the novel it flitted around less and less, and I became steadier reading this novel.<br />
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The novel is a good read and tells a great story but I never became emotionally involved with any of the characters - probably due to the flitting around from character to character.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-75231655434116969412013-10-26T09:17:00.000-07:002013-12-17T06:29:11.087-08:002014 Reading Challenges<br />
One thing I loved about book blogging was the reading challenges. And I'm already keeping an eye out for reading challenges in 2014. I will keep a list of the challenges, my progress and links on this post here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaUwGtTSAUL5CpPs-QXsicwVuTswl03AXdChri19yvPnebC0CRw5DSugNvXNuAcdRLm1xakXlP4jRCFN0mnfPbd3Ni-6YajW8hkism9rnhXrkKhGTsR7d2guydhfOtfOK6k1Qfv5RE514/s1600/NAC_2014_250px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaUwGtTSAUL5CpPs-QXsicwVuTswl03AXdChri19yvPnebC0CRw5DSugNvXNuAcdRLm1xakXlP4jRCFN0mnfPbd3Ni-6YajW8hkism9rnhXrkKhGTsR7d2guydhfOtfOK6k1Qfv5RE514/s1600/NAC_2014_250px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaUwGtTSAUL5CpPs-QXsicwVuTswl03AXdChri19yvPnebC0CRw5DSugNvXNuAcdRLm1xakXlP4jRCFN0mnfPbd3Ni-6YajW8hkism9rnhXrkKhGTsR7d2guydhfOtfOK6k1Qfv5RE514/s200/NAC_2014_250px.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGaUwGtTSAUL5CpPs-QXsicwVuTswl03AXdChri19yvPnebC0CRw5DSugNvXNuAcdRLm1xakXlP4jRCFN0mnfPbd3Ni-6YajW8hkism9rnhXrkKhGTsR7d2guydhfOtfOK6k1Qfv5RE514/s1600/NAC_2014_250px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><a href="http://www.literaryescapism.com/new-author-challenge/new-author-challenge-2014"> A New Author Challenge</a> I'm going to aim to read 25 new-to-me authors next year and they will all be discovered on my large TBR stck which really needs tackling. I'm not going to create a list for this one as I have stacks and stacks of choices on my shelves.<br />
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<a href="http://evie-bookish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/2014-tbr-pile-reading-challenge-sign-ups.html">2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge</a></div>
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This one is a no brainer for me, I generally try to read from my TBR pile but as it is in the 400s I clearly am not to good at sticking to it.I'm going for the maximum level 50+ Married with Children as mount TBR needs some serious slimming.<br />
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<a href="http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/2013/11/the-return-of-long-awaited-reads-month.html">Long-Awaited Reads Month - January</a><br />
Over at Things Mean A Lot I spotted a month long challenge (perfect for me as my commitment is useless)for January. You just need to read books which you have been meaning to read for ages. Mine will all be off of my TBR pile. Here are a few potentials which I can think of without having to even get out of my seat.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthFnMRyYY_UQ2LbzGVHRhE5JyTv-4HGzSzqUGL6TMfElIQxG2Y54KMiXzgLI8FKz20hvpSyop2_jhO9jeHi9QerUTP1LgpAiFFepn4erIpAzSJ2zRPvX7QIedoPb58iNgHWjftEBLOvnC/s1600/LAR+Button+Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgthFnMRyYY_UQ2LbzGVHRhE5JyTv-4HGzSzqUGL6TMfElIQxG2Y54KMiXzgLI8FKz20hvpSyop2_jhO9jeHi9QerUTP1LgpAiFFepn4erIpAzSJ2zRPvX7QIedoPb58iNgHWjftEBLOvnC/s1600/LAR+Button+Final.jpg" /></a><br />
<strong>Kristin Lavransdatter</strong> - <strong>Sigrid Undset</strong> I've had this on my shelf for two years when I brought it to read as part of a read-a-long and never kept up.<br />
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<strong>The Peacock Throne - Sujit Sarif</strong> This is one of the books which has been on mount TBR the longest<br />
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<strong>Tsotsi - Athol Fugard</strong> A 1001 book I've been meaning to read for years<br />
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<strong>Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy</strong> I've owned various copies of this since I was 16 and first read and loved Tess of the d'Urbervilles<br />
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<a href="http://readywhenyouarecb.blogspot.co.uk/p/tbr-triple-dog-dare.html">TBR Triple Dog Dare</a> is on again, this has became a tradition for me (although I don't think I have ever made it to the end). Spend Jan 1st to April 1st reading only from your book shelf. As I have a TBR pile of over 400 and the last few years have been slow reading years for me (promotion + tackling my masters) I'm hoping to tackle more reads in 2014, especially as I am taking a year study break.<br />
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No list, just attacking the shelves and using TBR books for reading challenges.<br />
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Southern Literature in January<br />
I know that Brooke is running this in January but I don't think there has been as official post. I'm just using this space to jot down some potentials:<br />
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison<br />
The Sound and the Fury - Willam Faulkner<br />
Meridian - Alice Walker<br />
Everything That Rises Must Converge - Flannery O'Connor<br />
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<img alt="Seasoned Traveller 2014" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-18803" height="134" src="http://www.giraffedays.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Seasoned-Traveller-20141-300x134.jpg" width="300" /><a href="http://www.giraffedays.com/?p=18795">Seasoned Traveller 2014</a><br />
The Seasoned Traveller doesn’t do anything by half-measures: they go the whole hog and the more obscure the better!<br />
- Read 12 books over the course of the year, each set in a DIFFERENT country<br />
- Books selected should include ones set in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia+New Zealand, North America and South America. The Middle East is a bonus<br />
- You do not need to plan ahead but it might help you keep on track<br />
- No re-reads<br />
- Any genre is okay (including non-fiction) BUT books MUST be set in a specific country or region with a noticeable attention to the location or environment; some genre books won’t be much use for this challenge<br />
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I have loads of books for this challenge on my TBR pile, here are some I would like to tackle:<br />
Kristin Lavransdattar - Norway, Europe<br />
The Polish House - Poland, Europe<br />
The Master and Margarita - Russia, Eurasia<br />
The True History of the Kelly Gang, Australia<br />
The Lotus Eaters, Vietnam<br />
Tsotoi, South Africa<br />
The Edible Woman, Canada<br />
Something by Isabel Allende - I have lots to choose from, Peru<br />
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<a href="http://www.peekabook.it/2013/12/2014-women-challenge.html">2014 Women Challenge</a> This challenge is nice and simple, read books by female authors. I'm going for Wonder Women level which is 20+ books. No lists, I'll read as I please from my stacks.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnZReVmTAa9fS2gz1MempQbUBQ-TUuC9GLTJSPr06OmtnHetJxyKKSLTAiZb0yzhreO0q3ngajm35t-b68Roi7mAru6qWgxZoYgjOilLsoR3BiVdom8xtLjd3sK0UdqeTSPRDXQYfG4BM/s1600/women2014.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnZReVmTAa9fS2gz1MempQbUBQ-TUuC9GLTJSPr06OmtnHetJxyKKSLTAiZb0yzhreO0q3ngajm35t-b68Roi7mAru6qWgxZoYgjOilLsoR3BiVdom8xtLjd3sK0UdqeTSPRDXQYfG4BM/s1600/women2014.png" /></a>katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-54920283069654546782013-10-23T22:17:00.002-07:002013-10-23T22:17:22.607-07:00The Shining - Stephen King<a href="http://theallureofbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/stephenking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://theallureofbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/stephenking.jpg" width="199" /></a>A few years ago I popped The Shining by Stephen King on my kindle because it was on the 1001 books to read before you die, and like every other book I buy it stayed there every now it'd give me a nod as I passed it by but it never called out my name so it was missed in the crowd. Then my housemate started reading it and we decided to have a little paired reading (plus I love a competition, she was on 20% so I needed to catch up!)<br />
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From page one the novel screams out to you that bad things will happen: the son who 'sees things' and reads emotions, the mother desperately trying to save her marriage, the violent ex-alcoholic husband with his heart set on a writing career moving up to the mountains to stay in a hotel which will be cut off from the world by heavy snow for the whole of winter - hell, even a normal family would have problems in a nice hotel. And, the hotel itself, whilst it sells itself as grand has many hidden tales to tell.<br />
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I haven't read horror since I was a teenager when I loved Point Horror but never moved on to adult horror, and I also very rarely watch horror movies, but I do like to be scared. I assumed that this novel would be quick paced but lack any real depth and detail to the description. Also, have picked up and very quickly put down again King's novel Cell I didn't have high hopes. But I was completely wrong King's writing was excellent, the pace was quick but allowed the characters to develop, and the hotel itself became a character.<br />
<a href="http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/t/images/topiary_lion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/t/images/topiary_lion.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
I plan to read the new Shining book next week - it'll be the holidays, halloween will be fast approaching and I will have a replacement kindle <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I stepped on mine this week - but don't tell as it was a present!) </span><br />
I'm also planning on having a horror movie night for halloween and The Shining is on the top of the pile.<br />
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I will never look at topiary in the same way again!katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-72217282988665803862013-10-15T09:38:00.001-07:002013-10-15T09:38:34.881-07:00Top Ten Books I was Forced to Read<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.co.uk/p/top-ten-tuesday-other-features.html"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQr2V03my2qDzfB0LXxCMhqCDoBa0JyNHVBMSSkn1Vl9mzSmetwiJnOKoCEQrH_qvpdlWt6cVv5cOLb35Pcwk_5HyNeH0eFL0i9BMOnvFJ8OZKxYQ0Hd62cTysZ6w7mfLjZOi7xhyphenhyphenyqqNS/s320/toptentuesday.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
With a literature degree, postgraduate diploma and masters in the process, plus 8 years of teaching English Language and Literature there are many, many books I have been forced to read. Here is my top ten.<br />
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<strong>1. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck </strong>At 16 I had to read this for my own GCSEs and I fell in love with Georde and Lennie, now 16 years later I teach this book year after year to pupils studying for their GCSEs, and I've yet to find a pupil who hates it. In fact this year I don't have to teach it, but I think I will read it to my top set who will read a 'more difficult' book for their GCSEs.<br />
<strong>2. The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje </strong>I read this back when I was 21 the first time I attempted my literature Masters degree, and then I read it again as part of the additional reading for my current Masters. I love the romance, poetry and setting of this book. Ondaatje is a god!<br />
<strong>3. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie </strong>One year I applied to do a degree module which only had 10 places, I wasn't one of the first to apply so I got stuck doing my second choice module. In the space of one week I had to read 5 books before the module started. One of these books was Midnight's Children. Boy did I struggle to read this, and I hated every damn page as I read it. Then when it came the week with all the lectures on this book I read back key scenes, read about it, talked about it and fell in love with it. <br />
<strong>4. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens </strong>The fist book I read for my A Levels. I loved all the characters but most of all Estella, at 16 I admired that fierceness she had with men (I was 'madly in love' with my bf boyfriend at the time so quite bitter about love), I desired that cold hearted attitude. And for a while I was nicknamed Estella at school, then I fell in love properly and Estella became both a figure of admirationa and pity.<br />
<strong>5. A Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood </strong>Read for the best module I ever studied in school or university, protest literature was an amazing module that the exam board (the fools!) pulled two years later because they didn't A Level student should have to study 6 (amazing) books for just one module. The book which changed my life path from becoming a legal secretary and studying law to going to university to study and then teach English Literature. At 17 this was the most powerful and shocking book I had read, I quickly read a lot of other Atwood novels and that veered me off in search of other great female writers.<br />
<strong>6. Antigone (various authors) </strong>Last year for my masters I had to read different versions of Antigone for my first assignment, from Sophocles, to Brecht, to Anouilh and all the others in between I loved this play and its various retelling and recreations. Every time I go up to London for a lecture (I study online mainly) some body says that they wish they could return and study Antigone again.<br />
<strong>7. Private Peaceful, Michael Morpurgo </strong>A book I teach to my year 7s (11-12yr olds) about two brothers in the war. Every time I have to take a deep breath and read the final pages without shedding a tear. But there is always a few tears from the class. <br />
<strong>8. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen </strong>Another book from my A Levels, read a just the right age 16/17. I quickly devoured all of Jane Austen.<br />
<strong>9. Skellig, David Almond </strong>Another book I read to year 7s, they are still at that perfect age for the magical creature discovered in the garage. My older pupils who I taught in year 7 often ask if we can reread it - damn not having enough time on the curriculum to feed this whim!<br />
<strong>10. A Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness </strong>Two years ago I took a course in Children's literature, some of it I hated but much of it I loved. It 'forced' me to reread A Knife of Never Letting Go and the other books in the series. And my assignment was to write 5000 words about why this book was good enough to win a children's literature prize - no surprise that this was my best mark.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-9330735241144905472013-10-15T06:37:00.000-07:002013-10-15T06:43:22.010-07:00Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro<a href="http://www.lancetteer.com/images/LivesGirlsWomen/LivesOfGirlsAndWomen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.lancetteer.com/images/LivesGirlsWomen/LivesOfGirlsAndWomen.jpg" width="204" /></a>Alice Munro was an author I had heard of but knew nothing about - other than she was Canadian - until last week when she won the Nobel. Despite knowing nothing about her last year I had grabbed one of her books in the local second hand bookshop because I knew she was on the 1001 BTRBYD list, a list I'm gradually working my way through. The book sat on the highest shelf unread until I saw all over twitter her win. Now I'm really glad that I made that random purchase and that I've started on Munro's backlist.<br />
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Lives of Girls and Women was first published in 1971, and whilst the setting has aged the concerns of the central character have not. We start the book with Del as a young girl living on a rural farm with little to do other than hang out with her brother and read sensational stories in a neighbour's newspaper. Each chapter in the novel focuses on a different point in Del's life, the arrival of a new women from out of town who refuses to fit the constrains of a wife and mother, her mother's life as an Encyclopoedia saleswoman, dating, friendship issues and changes in her body etc. Whilst it is the story of a fairly average childhood and maturity towards womanhood Munro's style and narrative lifted the character and setting right off of the page.<br />
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There is one more Munro on the 1001 list that I'll be searching out, but I will definitely keep an eye out for more of her books in the future.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-11682319768150626652013-10-13T08:04:00.000-07:002013-10-13T08:05:42.547-07:00The Maze Runner <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</a>I brought The Maze Runner and the two other books in this series over a year ago when they were on special offer in a discount bookshop but like many of the books in my life I just didn't get around to them.<br />
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Then I signed up for the <a href="http://bookishardour.com/dystopia/">Dystopia Challenge</a> and knew that this was the perfect opporunity to tackle this series. A mix between The Hunger Games and Lord of the Flies, The Maze Runner features a dystopian land were a group of boys have been sent underground as part of a test. </div>
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Once a month a teenage boy arrives in the box, an elevator controlled by those in charge, with only the memory of his name to The Glade, a teenage community. Surrounding The Glade lies 8 mazes with walls which change day by day.</div>
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The book follows Thomas, a new boy named a 'Greenie' who arrives in the box. After his arrival life in The Glade, which had been stable for 2 years, starts to change. New challenges arise, the rules are changed and suspiscion lies firmly at Thomas' feet. </div>
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This book is fast paced and a typical YA dystopia. I was intrigued by what was happening, read quickly and devoured the setting and the action. However, unlike The Hunger Games and The Chaos Walking Trilogy I was not gripped by any of the characters. These books usually rush me back to teenage emotions and turmoil but this failed to do that. In fact, after the usual traumatic ending, I hadn't even managed a sniffle let alone the uncontrollable weeping which ensured with each of Patrick Ness' books. I am however intrigued to read the rest of the series and see how life plays out for Thomas.</div>
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4/5</div>
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<br />katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-40212986804467218262013-10-13T06:46:00.000-07:002013-10-13T06:46:43.024-07:00Dewey's Read-a-thon round-up<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKg7L9KkePGbnKWiQBDfV5pYEoJa77HLn_jsFl5xOkxswMCJCDa7fZXXSIENBfH16e12IxXvefHqqZrw41zq_gDlwTek4ELqavXt1j9fYXm8saYgzVE5y4_vMkdELn3OIIsqvPSBYBsuVp/s1600/24+hour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKg7L9KkePGbnKWiQBDfV5pYEoJa77HLn_jsFl5xOkxswMCJCDa7fZXXSIENBfH16e12IxXvefHqqZrw41zq_gDlwTek4ELqavXt1j9fYXm8saYgzVE5y4_vMkdELn3OIIsqvPSBYBsuVp/s1600/24+hour.jpg" /></a>
<li>Which hour was most daunting for you?<span style="color: red;"> I was never overly tired but around hour 7/8 I was finding it really hard to focus for more than a few minutes - too much technology to distract myself with.</span></li>
<li>Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? <span style="color: red;">The Maze Runner by Dashner was the best book I chose for this read-a-thon, it had a fast pace and decent sized text. Plus it's a trilogy :)</span></li>
<li>Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? <span style="color: red;">No it was great. Although as a cheerleader I found lots of people signed up and didn't participate, some hadn't posted on their blogs for weeks so maybe a shorter time for sign ups is needed.</span></li>
<li>What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? <span style="color: red;">As a cheerleader having the sites you were cheering all on one page was great.</span></li>
<li>How many books did you read? <span style="color: red;">I read 5 books (well I just finished the last 20 pages of the fifth book a few hours after the challege finished but I'm still going to count it)</span></li>
<li>What were the names of the books you read? <span style="color: red;">Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro, Waltz with Bashir, The Maze Runner, American Born Chinese, A Single Pebble by John Hersey</span></li>
<li>Which book did you enjoy most? <span style="color: red;">It's a toss up between Lives of Girls and Women, which was well written, had lots of detail and depth OR The Maze Runner which was a great fast paced YA read.</span></li>
<li>Which did you enjoy least? <span style="color: red;">A Single Pebble by John Hersey, I was trying to rush to finish it before the readathon ended so maybe that spoiled it for me, but I was just not that fussed.</span></li>
<li>If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? <span style="color: red;">If you are also a reader s</span><span style="color: red;">et aside time when you are going to cheerlead and for how long, I found it easy to get distracted.</span></li>
<li>How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? <span style="color: red;">Yes I will definitely participate again as a reader. I loved hosting a mini challenge and cheerleading but I would probably decide to just do one of these next time. I spent around 6 hours doing stuff on the computer (and on Sims freeplay) and quite a bit was just me faffing. I got far more read this morning when I stayed in bed away from my computer and twitter updates. As someone who has little time to read for pleasure at the moment the reading is the most important thing for me. That said I loved seeing new blogs and will be filling up my new reader with some of the great blogs I visited today.</span></li>
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<span style="color: black;">Thanks to the hosts for a great read-a-thon, looking forward to April. And thanks to all the people who stopped by the blog for their comments.</span>katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-40175659129020575622013-10-13T02:55:00.002-07:002013-10-13T02:55:59.825-07:00The final few hoursWell I read till 12.30 last night (hour 12) and then set my alarm to wake up at 5.30, being tired I missed the stupid iphone button to turn on the alarm I had just created. So, I got 6 hours of blissfull sleep. Not what I planned, but I am very awake today and fresh which is good because after this I have oursework to mark!<br />
I have just finished my third book, I'm off for a very quick spot of cheering and then will be taking a graphic novel with me into the bath to finish the challenge up.<br />
Good luck to everyone still reading, I could happily read like this every weekend :)katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-4602339799544642162013-10-12T09:59:00.000-07:002013-10-12T09:59:08.624-07:00Through the Tea Leaves - mini challenge<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dawghousedesignstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/25/coffee-stain-brown-paper-bag-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="http://www.dawghousedesignstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/25/coffee-stain-brown-paper-bag-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">found on google, I was too eager to draw the character to remember to photograph the stain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello read-a-thoners I'm really excited to be hosting the Hour 6 mini-challenge <u>Through the Tea Leaves</u>. This activity is something I do at school to bring out the creativity in the kids, to make them think and imagine their characters, build their resilience and also their confidence.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-Mqiip0bk4XA9AK5mN2mkP66h8AJvRSKcrs3DcLiiPwFNQ_wECtoPK-FTgLVIFFDifgBZ6Axx9hcsOJ8NBGAFrjNfvbUaYPF_iVo3rFlY0WP8n9ZfalBAV_zTx03wBN8Zqvc59UCuYG2/s1600/through+the+tea+leaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA-Mqiip0bk4XA9AK5mN2mkP66h8AJvRSKcrs3DcLiiPwFNQ_wECtoPK-FTgLVIFFDifgBZ6Axx9hcsOJ8NBGAFrjNfvbUaYPF_iVo3rFlY0WP8n9ZfalBAV_zTx03wBN8Zqvc59UCuYG2/s320/through+the+tea+leaves.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My character, Del Jordan from Lives of Girls and Women</td></tr>
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It is a drawing activity where you will draw the face of a character from your current read, <span style="color: red;"><u>now I'm know some of you immediately will want to shrink away, but plaease stay for just a few moments longer and hear me out.</u></span> The secret of this activity is that you do not need to be able to draw, a picture will form in front of you and you are simply lining that image for everyone to see. <br />
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<u>Believe</u> <u>me I cannot draw a thing-in fact I drew a tree on the board at school the other day and the kids thought it was a peacock!</u><br />
<strong>What do you need:</strong><br />
One wet (not too wet) teabag (coffee and ink also work here), a piece of paper, a black pen (a biro will do).<br />
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<strong>Instructions:</strong><br />
1. Make yourself a cup of tea<br />
2. When the tea is sufficiently stewed for your taste, strain the tea bag and place it upon the piece of paper.<br />
3. Leave it for a moment or two (this will depend on the thickness of your paper) and dispose of the teabag.<br />
4. We are now interested in the stain, move it around, view it from different angles, you are looking for a face, a face of a character from the book you are currently reading. (Whilst my stain was damp, I move the paper around which changed the shape of the stain a little and ended up providing the character's plaits)<br />
5. Enjoy your cup of tea whilst the stain dries (if you are impatient like I was, use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process).<br />
6. Now with a black pen sketch in the face of your character - use as much or as little detail as you like.<br />
7. Take a picture, create a post on your blog or twitter acount and leave the link in the comments or on my twitter page @katrinasreads<br />
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Prize:<br />
I will select, at random, one participant to recieve a band new copy of TEA Obreht's novel <em>The Tiger's Wife</em> plus a few other tea goodies.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-43737291363242000682013-10-12T08:13:00.002-07:002013-10-12T08:13:53.037-07:00Hour 4<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihezSJ8aKMtAZTejeV0222RyTMyqvaGB3Muu2cBWyG3mpQEQA-VXIWogXGSwsl3PgaSRl2rV36HKgVHIjRjHOBKv5PjT681xxsYKaB6LiaM-W1844PfAD_PEoScBPp-GMEpr4TQ6xJ0NVA/s1600/spine+poetry+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihezSJ8aKMtAZTejeV0222RyTMyqvaGB3Muu2cBWyG3mpQEQA-VXIWogXGSwsl3PgaSRl2rV36HKgVHIjRjHOBKv5PjT681xxsYKaB6LiaM-W1844PfAD_PEoScBPp-GMEpr4TQ6xJ0NVA/s320/spine+poetry+1.jpg" width="320" /></a>I've only managed to read for 1hr and 44 mins so far, but I have been cheerleading and entered two mini challenges so far, plus got two loads of washing done.<br />
Here is my entry for <a href="http://www.capriciousreader.com/?p=10449">Capricious Reader's</a> spine poetry challenge (I'm no poet, but like a challenge):<br />
Where I belong:<br />
A single pebble, <br />
Rivers of London.<br />
The Maze Runner<br />
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I will be back in hour 6 with my own challenge :)katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-40573932415786342052013-10-12T05:22:00.002-07:002013-10-12T05:22:53.837-07:0024 Hour read-a-thon starts :)<strong><a href="http://24hourreadathon.com/">http://24hourreadathon.com/</a> </strong><br />
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<strong>I'm reading, hosting a mini challenge and cheering for Team Owl today, this is my starting spot.</strong><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_AqoLxdi1ypytkGP-BgWBYC5lMynxp3b9S5M3PzkVgWToqqMfbU4Id6ji_NYL3v48nAZ7PDhczUicpSsp7fKYkTpHcp_CHybsW0tY9sLXFx8E_GsPrfsWMauze5g4-XcUxj3rmpyq5F4/s1600/readathon+spot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii_AqoLxdi1ypytkGP-BgWBYC5lMynxp3b9S5M3PzkVgWToqqMfbU4Id6ji_NYL3v48nAZ7PDhczUicpSsp7fKYkTpHcp_CHybsW0tY9sLXFx8E_GsPrfsWMauze5g4-XcUxj3rmpyq5F4/s320/readathon+spot.jpg" width="239" /></a> 1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? <span style="color: red;">I'm in the grey and gloomy UK.</span></div>
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? <span style="color: red;"><em>Iron Man</em> by Ted Hughes, I read the first chapter months ago and then misplaced it.</span><br />
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? <span style="color: red;">My Curly Wurly, it is in the fridge so that the chocolate and caramel are cold and crisp.</span><br />
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! <span style="color: red;">This is probably my sixth readathon, I took a book blog break which lasted about two years, I'm returning to the fold this week. I'm also studying for an MA in literature so this is a great opportunity to read some lighter books.</span><br />
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? <span style="color: red;">Previously I gave myself eye strain so I have an audiobook available if needed. I've also got lots of fruit and healthy snacks so I don't feel bloated or have a sugar crash.</span> <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7zvKm_sVfymDdTTveti4SxD3bJiTtRegfI-ly_NV-sb1pLgXkJ5PWzZB25KAIOCIx23UR5R-k4nBzaCGtAUCesY0RVhnAw_rUQXdkpnMCxoVosJhpVzMb69ro7fFYsls4NMxWwT05Jby/s1600/readathon+stack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH7zvKm_sVfymDdTTveti4SxD3bJiTtRegfI-ly_NV-sb1pLgXkJ5PWzZB25KAIOCIx23UR5R-k4nBzaCGtAUCesY0RVhnAw_rUQXdkpnMCxoVosJhpVzMb69ro7fFYsls4NMxWwT05Jby/s320/readathon+stack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<strong>I've added a few</strong><br />
<strong>Alice Munro's </strong><em>Lives of Girls and Women</em> - I'm starting with this as it is short but has small print.<br />
<strong>John Green and David Levith, </strong><em>Will Grayson, Will Grayson</em> - two authors I've been meaning to read for a while.<br />
<strong>Kendare Blake,</strong> <em>Anna Dressed in Blood</em> - I saw this on a suggested reads post so thought I'd addd it to my options.<br />
<strong>J</strong><strong>ohn Steinbeck</strong>, <em>Cannery Row</em> - a book I've been meaning to read forever.<br />
<strong>John Hersey</strong>, <em>A Single Pebble</em> - highly recommended by someone on my course.<br />
<strong>Edna O'Brein</strong>,<em> In the Forest</em> - a 1001 book and a bookcrossing book which I've had for way too long.<br />
<strong>Ted Hughes</strong>, <em>Iron Man</em> - its tiny and has large print for when I am getting tired.<br />
<strong>Ben Aaronovitch</strong>, <em>Rivers of London</em> - a school friend has been raving about this series.<br />
<strong>Gene Luen Yang</strong>, <em>American Born Chinese</em> - a graphic novel for the tired hours, another books which has sat on mount tbr too long.<br />
<strong>Ari Folman and David Polonsky</strong>, <em>Waltz with Bashir</em> - a graphic novel borrowed from a friend for the tired hours.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-16894301395545982782013-10-08T06:32:00.001-07:002013-11-05T01:53:41.706-08:00Dystopia Challenge 2013<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93KJLUDn45m2hrU44dQQJZku7TML0E5Tlmx-7N0MxZZh7neYZOlEJs2aKzZIhfp01-QkcnWejsIIeAjFv420APHvVXFoXDZfmoxXu9zw1sDNjlR-UHgRdqJ-1i0T83toDbu4oHdrERNhl/s1600/the-dystopia-challenge-badge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93KJLUDn45m2hrU44dQQJZku7TML0E5Tlmx-7N0MxZZh7neYZOlEJs2aKzZIhfp01-QkcnWejsIIeAjFv420APHvVXFoXDZfmoxXu9zw1sDNjlR-UHgRdqJ-1i0T83toDbu4oHdrERNhl/s1600/the-dystopia-challenge-badge.jpg" /></a>As I have just restarted blogging after a few years out of the mix I thought a good way to meet some new bloggers and find some of the old ones I loved was to join a reading challenge, just one mind as I tend to get carried away.<br />
I noticed I had a button for the 2011 Dystopia challenge so I followed that and discovered to my delight that it is still up and running over at <a href="http://bookishardour.com/dystopia/">Book Ardour</a>. So I'm plunging in. I have read a few dystopian novels this year, Brave New World and Farenheit 451 but no where near my usual quantity. I'm signing up for ASocial, 5 dystopian novels.<br />
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A few potential reads:<br />
<a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-road-mccarthy.html">The Road</a> by Cormac McCarthy READ<br />
The Trial, Kafka<br />
The Maze Runner, James Dashner (I have the other 2 books in the series if I enjoy this) READ<br />
The Passion of New Eve, Angela Carter <br />
Perdido Street Station, China Mieville<br />
Wool, Hugh Howeykatrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-62587316204201080712013-10-08T01:47:00.000-07:002013-10-08T01:47:16.673-07:00Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi<a href="http://www.culturazzi.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/standard-node-view-title-image-FULL-VIEW/title_images/intimacy-188x300.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.culturazzi.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/standard-node-view-title-image-FULL-VIEW/title_images/intimacy-188x300.gif" width="200" /></a>The perils of amazon shopping (you can buy a book in under 20 seconds, which is never good for a booklover's purse and TBR stacks) meant that I bought this book completely by mistake. I was meant to buy another title, The Impressionist, but my brain got muddled and this arrived on the doorstop.<br />
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Than a strange occurance arrived, I read a book I had bought within 2 weeks of it arriving rather than the usual 2 years!<br />
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Having a father who left, left again and then left again I was dubious about reading a book about a man leaving his wife and kids. Written for the apparently 'lost generation of men' who refrain from growing up and taking their responsibilities seriously. I read this wanting to stick my two fingers up to it, expecting to be angry, looking forward to criticising it.<br />
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Instead, I was presented with beuatifully written prose, a smart quick pace, tender moments of day-to-day family life which appear differently under the lens if you know they will never be experienced again. At 155 pages this snapshot of one evening held many years in its grip. Yes, he was an idiot man-child, but he expressed it beautifully.<br />
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katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-70989038967591689102013-10-06T07:10:00.000-07:002013-10-12T10:04:51.060-07:00Dewey's Read-a-thonMy mini challenge can be found here <a href="http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/through-tea-leaves-mini-challenge.html">http://katrinasreads.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/through-tea-leaves-mini-challenge.html</a><br />
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It's been years since I posted on this blog but I really wanted to participate in the read-a-thon next weekend so I decided to restart it. I miss blogging my thoughts on books, although I read far less nowdays as I am studying for my MA (strange that I am getting an MA in literature which leads me to read less!) and I have much more responsibility at work. I also miss all of the book blogs that I was still reading until google reader disappeared, I really need to find another reader facility and work out how to use my twitter account!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://24hourreadathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/dewey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://24hourreadathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/dewey.jpg" width="320" /></a>I haven't figured out which books I will read yet but I like to grab a selection of short books so that I feel I have achieved a lot in the time given - it will be a luxury for me to be able to read for one hour a book of my own choosing, let alone for a whole day.<br />
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EDITED: My stack of reads<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3QjUPbYMqgvg3bivbKaEzZy57aMW1bOjoUN9fOQfT8zypU3G8_RQMlw0zGnzPhtkmubv1viCX4MTUEQSLUYDW7HGUGEG5UicSYmxtq25nPyHmlhLf53y-JD1liO6EDnmzCvS-rcgGwip/s1600/readathon+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3QjUPbYMqgvg3bivbKaEzZy57aMW1bOjoUN9fOQfT8zypU3G8_RQMlw0zGnzPhtkmubv1viCX4MTUEQSLUYDW7HGUGEG5UicSYmxtq25nPyHmlhLf53y-JD1liO6EDnmzCvS-rcgGwip/s320/readathon+2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<strong>John Steinbeck</strong>, <em>Cannery Row</em> - a book I've been meaning to read forever.<br />
<strong>John Hersey</strong>, <em>A Single Pebble</em> - highly recommended by someone on my course.<br />
<strong>Edna O'Brein</strong>,<em> In the Forest</em> - a 1001 book and a bookcrossing book which I've had for way too long.<br />
<strong>Ted Hughes</strong>, <em>Iron Man</em> - its tiny and has large print for when I am getting tired.<br />
<strong>Ben Aaronovitch</strong>, <em>Rivers of London</em> - a school friend has been raving about this series.<br />
<strong>Gene Luen Yang</strong>, <em>American Born Chinese</em> - a graphic novel for the tired hours, another books which has sat on mount tbr too long.<br />
<strong>Ari Folman and David Polonsky</strong>, <em>Waltz with Bashir</em> - a graphic novel borrowed from a friend for the tired hours.<br />
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Also, I'm now on twitter (I just posted my first tweet!) follow me @katrinasreadskatrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5684053199404585788.post-44203222374737167632011-05-02T12:35:00.000-07:002011-05-02T12:49:37.321-07:00If love was a disease, would you take the cure?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJ_x5A-DTjMYD_3aHzfrAY0SeurrhUTjmJ895uZbwLANJf8thkhwVuXrDxMIvhr0atDfejKqhE2t2scOmYaxfMYxJyTJGiug4clWhBetBAOT8AZZxmJJzUTFajH7glIie7tkZOXheay9K/s1600/Lauren-Oliver-Delirium.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 206px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJ_x5A-DTjMYD_3aHzfrAY0SeurrhUTjmJ895uZbwLANJf8thkhwVuXrDxMIvhr0atDfejKqhE2t2scOmYaxfMYxJyTJGiug4clWhBetBAOT8AZZxmJJzUTFajH7glIie7tkZOXheay9K/s320/Lauren-Oliver-Delirium.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602208310761860562" /></a><br />This was the question glaring up at me when Delirium by Lauren Oliver arrived from UK Book Tours. Would I? At first I thought...maybe.... yes, after all think of the problems - mental, physical, psychological, political and social caused by love. But then I read the book.<br /><br />17 year old Lena is just a few months away from receiving the cure delivered to all 18 year olds on their birthday, she desparetly wants that cure - an escape from the fear of the disease, a disease that run wild in her mother, a disease which killed her mother and haunts her days. Then of course she meets and boy.<br /><br />I won't go any further as we all know where this scenario will take us, and although I could make a vague guess at the ending before I even picked up this book it was a good read. The dystopian world is well created, the idea of love being a disease if presented in a negative light was plausible, and the argument for arranged marriages always has a strong point to make. The not being able to love your own children I hadn't forseen, then my views changed drastically. <br /><br />I would give this book 4 stars as I loved the idea for the story, really liked Lena, Alex, Hana and little Gracie, the setting was vivid and certainly created a picture in my mind, and the ending wasn't actually as I imagined. My only fault was that I just didn't feel the intensity of their love, it was their at times but when I read Twilight, The Chaos Walking Trilogy (amongst others) I've been drawn back to that rememberance of that hungry, all consumming first love, here I think she just missed it. <br />A good read if you love dystopian YA, but there are better out there.katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05647610491252326847noreply@blogger.com4