A Challenge: Woman Unbound (Nov 2009 - Nov 2010)

This is going to be one of the 6 challenges that I'm going to join for 2010, in fact this is the first one!

Women Unbound is a challenge to read books about women's studies, the books can be fiction or non fiction. Pop over to the challenge blog or to Eva's blog to get the full details and to see examples of the books which could be read for this challenge.
I've decided to participate at the higest level as a Suffragette: read at least eight books, including at least three nonfiction ones.

I'm not picking a reading list at the moment as I always end up changing it. But as I had a thing about feminist takes on literature during my degree (and ended up being banned from writing anymore essays analysing books from a feminist angle) I may be picking up some books linked to that, I'd also like to read books about women who have gained power against the odds or in male dominated areas, and some which are set in other cultures. I'm not sure which fiction I'll read at all but I'm sure I'll fine plenty of suggestions from other people's reviews.

I'll be starting with Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi by Katherine Frank as soon as I have finished my current Non-Fiction read.

Books read:
The Virago Book of Wicked Verse, ed. Jill Dawson
Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep, Siba Shakib
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

YA Dystopian Read-a-Long

A few weeks ago I said I wasn't joining anymore challenges then Bart goes and announces this one, grrrr!!!!!! I can't bypass a challenge on two of my favourite genres. Readers have between October 15th and the end of the year to read between 1-5 YA Dystopian books - there are suggestions up at his site.
I'm not making a pool, although I just reserved a few books at the library! I know that I want to read Z for Zachariah which has been sitting unread upstairs for years and Tomorrow, When the War Began which I brought last week.
I'm seeing this challenge as perfect reading for Dewey's 24 hour readathon, the books will be attention grabbing and not too long and thus give a sense of satisfaction.

100 Shots of Short

I really enjoyed Short Story September, but find I'm not very disciplined at reading short stories, but I discovered this ongoing challenge 100 shots of short at robaroundbooks. You just have to read 100 shortstories and you have as much time to do so as you like.

1. Gold Boy, Emerald Girl By Yiyun Li (can be found online here).

2. Lamb to the Slaughter, Dahl (can be found on-line here)

3. The Red Room, H.G Wells (can be found online here)

4. Country Lovers, Nadine Gordimer (Review here)

5. Veronica, Adewale Maja-Pearce

6. Instructions, Gaiman

7. Diseasemaker's Croup, Gaiman

8. Goliath, Gaiman

9. A Stone Woman, A.S Byatt

10. The Duc De L'Omelette, Poe

11. Pages from a Journal Found in a Shoebox on a Greyhound Bus Between Tulsa, Oklahoma and Louisville, Kentucky, Gaiman

12. The Day the Saucers Came, Gaiman

13. Raw Material, A.S Byatt

14. The Pink Ribbon, A.S Byatt

15. The Ostler, Wilkie Collins

16. The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe

17. Samuel Lowgood's Revenge, Mary E. Braddon

18. Lost Hearts, M. R James

19. An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, Amrose Bierce

20. A Vendetta, du Maupassant

21. Open Arms, Robert Olen Butler

22. Mr Green, Robert Olen Butler

23. The Trip Back, Robert Olen Butler

24. Crickets, Robert Olen Butler

25. Letters from My Father, Robert Olen Butler

26. Love, Robert Olen Butler

27. The Gold Cadillac - Mildred Taylor

28. A Stench of Kerosene -Amrita Pritam

29. The Parade of You, Barth Anderson. (Copy can be found here)

30. Face, Alice Muro (Copy can be foud here)

31. The Ladies of Grace Adieu, Susanna Clarke

32. On Lickerish Hill, Susanna Clarke

33. Mrs Mabb, Susanna Clarke

34. The Moor, Russell Banks
35. Dundun, Denis Joohnson
36. Timothy's Birthday, William Trevor
37. The Birthday Cake, Daniel Lyons
38. Turning, Lynda Sexton
39. Maybe Not Yem, Etik Juwita
40. Forever Overhead, David Forster Wallace
41. Angel of Mercy, Angel of Wrath, Ethan Canin
42. The Birthday Present, Andrea Lee
43. The Bath, Raymond Carver
44. A Game of Dice, Paul Theroux
45. Close to the Water's Edge, Clare Reegan
46. Birthday Girl, Murakami
47. The Lottery, Maria Edgeworth
48. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald
49. Jelly-Bean, Fitzgerald
50. Godmother Death, Jane Yolen
51. Crocodile Tears, A.S Byatt

[TSS] My Thoughts: The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

I didn't expect to get this finished at all today, but I sat down to a few chapters and the last 150 pages suddenly whirled past.

"She was called Isabelle, and when she was a small girl her hair changed colour in the time it takes a bird to call to its mate."

The story starts with Isabelle, a young girl with copper hair living in the 16th Century. When her hair first changes to the same colour as the Virgin Mary's she is given the nickname La Rousse, but as time passes and Catholicism and the Virgin Mary are shunned the name starts to become something of a plague. Isabelle soon becomes associated with witchcraft along with her mother, the local midwife.

Isabelle marries a local tyrant, moving in with a Christian family, who shun her because her past, and the red hair she constantly tries to cover. As time moves on the Tournier family are forced from their house moving away to Switzerland. Isabelle's marriage has become one of fear and violence, she lives with a mother-in-law and a son who despise her, always mistrusting her, constantly on the look out for signs of witchcraft. Her only sanctuary is her daughter, who is starting to find copper colour stands in her hair, and shares her mother's passion for the deep blue of Mary's robes.

In the alternate chapters we are introduced to Ella Turner/Tournier, she has moved to France with her husband, and feeling lost she decides to dig through the family history to try and help herself fell like she belongs. Soon her nightmares of the bright blue colour and a pray in French become entwined with her search for her family.

As her marriage breaks down, Ella comes to discover more about her heritage, and to feel like she belongs in this foreign country.

Chevalier manages to make the characters from both the 16th Century and the 20th feel alive and well rounded. I would have quite happily have read another 100 odd pages of this book.

Challenges

2nds Challenge Book 1 of 4

20th Century Project 1997

Other reader's thoughts:

A Self Proclamation

The Readaholic

If you have read this add a link to your review and I'll add you in

A New Challenge: Short Story September

This challenge is held over at Ready When You Are, participants are asked to read short stories (as many or as few as they like) during the month of September. If they post their reviews or links to reviews over at the challege page they are instantly entered into a competition.

Hopefully this challenge will boast me along with the Short Story Challenge, which I'm doing terribly at at the moment.

I won't list what I am going to read, but I am in the process of reading Skin, a collection of short stories at the moment, by Roald Dahl.

My Reads:

Skin, Roald Dahl (A Collection of Short Stories)

Sunday Salon: A Review - Ruby Red by Linzi Glass

Well, in my earlier post I claimed I would be spending the afternoon starting Gut Symmetries, I had a killer headache but attempted to start it and quickly put it down, it seemed very sci-fi and like it needed a lot of concentration, which wasn't something I could give it this afternoon. So I picked up the next Carnegie short-listed book that I had on the pile, Ruby Red.
I'd picked this book up from the library ages ago and had forgotten what it was supposed to be about, I took a quick glance at the cover and thought it would be something light-hearted. I was definately to be proven wrong. Ruby is a girl living in South Africa during apartheid, her parents are wealthy, white and opposed to the forced division and inequality between the races. Her father is a lawyer, who works to protect Black people who have been treated unfairly as well as a member of the underground political group looking to change the views of society. Her mother owns an art gallery, in which any art, if it is good, is displayed and sold, the colour of the artists skin is not judged just the work they produce.
Ruby, attends a private school and has to keep her home life and school life completely seperate, no friends can come over for tea, no sleep overs etc, it is far to dangerous to let people know about her parents politics.
Two boys enter Ruby's life who affect it forever. The young black artist Julian, who has to move from the black township to live secretly inside her house, and her new boyfriend an Affrikans white boy, whose family believe deeply in the segregation of the two races.
Ruby gains love, understanding and identity but loses friends, her education and a whole lot more.
This YA novel is very thoughtful and well written, the politics surrounding apartheid are shown clearly for a young audience who grew up after it had finished, and who probably have very little knowledge of it aside from Nelson Mandela. Ruby is believable, the only part I felt that could have been stronger was the depiction of her private school, it seemed too cliched.

Challenges:
Unread Authors 5 of 6
YA Challenge Book 8 of 12

If you have read this book please leave a link to your review here and I'll add it too my post.

My Thoughts: Gatty by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Today had the most stunning weather, I enjoyed it by doing a tiny bit of gardening and sunbathing with this book. I managed to read the whole book in pretty much one go as it was such a good read.
Gatty is a land girl, with no one in the world except for her cow, Hopeless and her 7 chickens. One day she is called upon out of the blue to be a chambermaid to Lady Gwyneth, because of her wonderful singing voice. Lady Gwyneth believes that Gatty's voice will protect her, and those she is taking with her on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The voyage holds many problems, adventures and tales, as well as transforming Gatty from a young restless girl to a well rounded young woman.

This is one of the books I'll be putting up on my wall of recommended reads at school. Its a fantastic tale, well written and well steeped in history. Its full of historical and religious contexts but as Gatty has led a fairly secluded life they need to be explained to her, and thus to the reader who may have little knowledge of this time and of religion (especially in England where RE tends not to focus on Christianity from what I remember of school). Definately well worth a read.
This is the first of the Carnegie shortlist for 2008 that I am planning on reading, then winner has been announced but I like to read as many of them as can. As this didn't win I'm expecting the winner to be great.

Challenges:

YA Challenge Book 4 of 12

July Bookblowout Book 1

If you have read this book leave a link to your post here and I'll put it in my post

2nds Challenge

Joy is hosting yet another great challenge:

Have you recently (or not so recently) read a book by a "new-to-you" author and can't wait to dive into another one of his/her books? If so, please join us in the second 2nds Challenge!
WHO: Anybody

WHAT: Read 4 books by authors that you have only read one other

WHERE: Mister Linky will keep track of monthly books read here on "Thoughts of Joy..."

WHEN: September, October, November and December, 2008

WHY: Because we love to read...why else?

My List:

The Virgin Blue, Chevalier
Two Carvans, Lewycka

Beloved, Toni Morrison

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Mishma

Coupland, Girlfriend in a Coma

Family Matters, Rohinton Mistry

The Second Unread Authors Challenge Aug 1st 2008 - January 31st 2009

Sycorax Pine is hosting this challenge over at her site:
Almost all of us have authors who we have long meant to read, but somehow never gotten around to (you can see a long list of mine at the bottom right of the blog). Perhaps you have always been intrigued but intimidated by their work. Perhaps "required reading" and your favorite authors have taken up most of your time. Perhaps they have been sitting on your shelves for years, continually trumped by new fascinations. Well, now is their time.The rules:
The challenge will run from August 1, 2008 to January 31, 2009. You may join at any time before or during those six months.
During those six months, read at least SIX books by an author whose work you have never read before.
You may choose six different "unread" authors to introduce yourself to, or you may choose just one or two and explore their work in greater depth.
Authors may be drawn from any genre of literature. The only requirement is that they be authors whose work you substantially regret not having read yet.
Your choices may overlap with other challenges you have underway.To join the challenge or to get ideas from the posts of last year's participants, go to the Challenge Blog. You will find instructions on how to join in the post at the top of the blog.

Here's my possibles:
Maus, Art Spiegelman
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson
Out by Kirino
Gatty's Tale, Kevin Crossley Holland
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
Saul Bellow- Humboldt’s Gift
The Sea by John Banville
The Gathering by Anne Enright
Wild Swans - Chang

My reads for this challenge

1. Apache, Landman - a really good read, most of her books are for little kids but I will be checking out her YA book, Aztec: The Goldsmith's Daughter in the future

2. Gone with the Wind, Mitchell

3. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor Table Talk, has recommended her other books 'Let the Circle Be Unbroken' and 'Road to Memphis' so I'll be checking them out at some point

4. Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips A new author

5. Ruby Red, Linzi Glass
6. The Changeling, Jenkins

7. Meet Me Under the Ombu Tree, Montefiore
Some of these are books I've been meaning to read for ages, others are books I have read about on other blogs. Maybe I'll discover a favorite author somewhere amongst these.

8. Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto, I've been meaning to read her stuff for ages and it didn't disappoint

The New Classics Challenge Aug '08 - January '09

The New Classics Challenge, the rulesDeb from the A Novel Challenge yahoo group posted a link to this list of Entertainment Weekly's list of new classics, what they call the best reads from 1983 to 2008. I loved the list - many of my recent favorites are on it so I'm intrigued to see what some of the ones I haven't read yet will be like.
So the challenge rules are:
1) Copy the list (which I have pasted here, just in case that link ever disappears) and bold the titles that you have already read.
2) Choose at least 6 other books from the list , read and review them between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.
2) Come back here and post links to your reviews.
3) In January 2009, cast your vote for which one of the 100 books on the list is your favorite (and write a post on why). The winning book will be sent to a lucky winner chosen by the scientific method favored here in the blogosphere, i.e. names in a hat. Other contests are very probable too, I have some ideas, but they need planning.
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997) - Currently Reading
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)3
1. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004) - Abandoned half way through, I don't get all the fuss!
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Hmmm... I've read 20, well that's not too bad as this seems a very American list, I hope that it's not in order of importance!

I'm thinking of reading:
Beloved, Toni Morrison
Maus, Art Spiegelman
Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates
Eva Luna, Isabel Allende
The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

That gives me an extra one if I hate one of them

My Thoughts: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

I wasn't to sure if I wanted to read this novel, but it was part of the Noble Spiral (I get sent one Noble winning book roughly each month then pass it on to the next participant) so I had to give it a go.

The book has a simple enough plot, Siddartha is a Brahmin but he wishes to push his philosphy further, he is seeking peace and being at one with the world. As he journeys through life in various guises his philosophy changes as he understands more about himself and the world around him. Underneath this simple plot is all the philisophical discussions and theories. The ideas are mainly centred around Buddhism and drawn out from this way of living.

The novel is not really my type of thing, it reminded me of the type of 'clever' books I read at University and I'm sure it would be a great text to study, I feel that had I known more about Buddhism, India at that time and the author I probably would have got a lot more out of the novel. Having said that the book was highly readable, mainly down to the beautiful use of language, it certainly descerves it's subtitle 'An Indian Poem'.

Challenges:

Read the Nobles

Classics Challenge

Reading Around the World

20th Century Project

July Book Blowout Book 6

If you have reviewed this book please leave a link to your review and I'll add you to mine.

Sunday Salon and My Thoughts on Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Another fairly busy week but I managed to finish 2 books so I'm back up to my average speed. This week is the final week at school before the holidays and rather than helping us teachers relax they shove everything in at once. It's not all bad though, I off to see Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre in Regents Park (lets hope the weather has improved by then).

I spent my of my reading time on Stardust this week, my first Neil Gaiman of many, I'm sure. It was lovely to come home and disappear into a fairytale world for an hour or so.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

Yesterday I started Twilight (it got finished this morning in bed), yes I know I'm probably the last person to read this but at least I got around to it eventually.

For those few of you who haven't read this, the book is about a teenage girl, Bella, who has just moved from sunny Phoenix to dreary Forks, apparently the most rainy place in America. In this small town Bella stands out and everyone wants to get to know her. Everyone, that is, except her lab partner, Edward. Edward and his brothers and sisters are aloof, they stand out, they are stunningly beautiful, they are awfully pale, they don't make friends and they prove a great danger to the curious Bella. And you guessed it, they are vampires! Bella, decides to fall in love with Edward and he with her, and off the adventure begins.

I loved this novel. Yes it's predictable. Yes it's a typical YA romance/Gothic drama. Yes it is like a million other books I read as a teenager. Yet there was something about this book that stood out. It was fairly well written, they avoided too many stereotypes. Most importantly it made me feel like a teenager again - in a good way. It also reminded me how overpowering your first love can be, to the point where it is all consuming.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I think this is going to be the first book we read for the reading group I'm setting up at school.

Challenges
Young Adult Challenge 2008 Book 1 of 12
July Book Blowout Book 3

Reading Around the World - American States
I also joined Becky's Stephanie Meyer Mini Challenge, 1 book down 1 to go

Other Reviews:
Me, My Book and the Couch
A Striped Armchair

Marg
If you've reviewed this book please leave you link to your review and I'll link it to the page.

My Thoughts: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I've been meaning to read a Neil Gaiman novel for a while as everyone seems to rave about him and I finally got around to it! I had seen the film earlier this year, and while I loved the film I seem to have forgotten the majority of it so this story was still fairy fresh to me.

The novel, for anyone who doesn't know, is set in the village of Wall, a small English village in which the locals guard the wall which leads to the land of Faerie. Despite no one being allowed to cross into Faerie a market exists every 9 years which allows the inhabitants of Wall to mix with the people of Faerie. Early in this book the market results in a child being born, he is brought to live in Wall and grow up as a normal citizen.

When this child is 18 he falls in love with the popular Victoria Forrester. So in love with her is he that he promises her anything she wants in the world, she requests the star she has just seen fall from the sky. The star lays in Faerie, so off he goes on his journey. Along the way he meets a variety of characters and situations.

This is a feel good book, something nice to drift off into at the end of a busy day at work. I will certainly be looking out for more of Gaiman's work. I have seen a stunning graphic novel copy of Stardust in the bookshop and may have to ask for it for Christmas.

Challenges:

July Book Blowout

20th Century Project

Others Thoughts:

Andi.Lit

A Striped Armchair

Just a Reading Fool

Becky's Book Reviews

Bart's Blog

If you have read and reviewed this book please leave a link to your review and I'll add it on, also feel free to link back to my review.

The Japanese Literature Challenge 2

Yes, yes another challenge!

This challenge is held over at Dolce Bellezza the aim is to read 3 Japanese books between the 30th of July to the 30th of December, whether it is fiction, poetry, graphic novel, autobiography or a biography.

I'm not one hundred percent sure what I will be reading at the moment but I have a few ideas:

Any of Murakami which I haven't read

The Pillow Book by Shonogan

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Mishma

Out by Kirino

I have read:

Goodbye Tsugumi, Yosimoto

Hardboiled/Hardluck, Yoshimoto

My Thoughts: The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble

This is a book I seem to have on my list for many challenges so it was great to finally get around to reading it, and it was a good read.

The novel is divided into three sections. The first section is told in a very interesting manner. It is the story of the Red Queen about her time as a princess and queen in South Korea 200 years ago. That's no unusual I hear you say, but it is the way in which the story is told that makes it different. The queen tells her story through a modern author, she refers from another world about how life was for women in Korea in the past and compares this to modern life.

The second section is about a academic living in modern Englan on her way off to a lecture tour, and how the memoirs of the Red Queen has influenced her journey.

As I started the book I was really not sure about it and on a few ocassions nearly abandoned it as I found the style at the beginning of the book hard to get into, but once I had excepted it I found that I whizzed through. I will say that I prefered the second and third section the most despite the fact that the story in the first section is much closer to my normal reading taste.

Challenges:

10 out of 100 out of 1001 BYMRBYD 3/10

What's in a Name? 3/6

Book Blowout

Around the World Challenge: set in Korea

Book Blowout: Meme

The Book Blowout started yesterday and to celebrate Mrs S placed a meme so we can all get to know each other better. Here are my answers:

1. Describe yourself in one sentence

I'm an English teacher in England and my tbr pile has managed recently to escape onto my staircase.
2. What book will you start the challenge with?

I'm in the middle of The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble so I will be finishing that and then reading After Dark by Murakami
3. Where is your favourite place to read?

Curled up on the sofa with a blanket or in the bath
4. What is your favourite book of all time?

Hmm, I have a list about 12 books long. Off the top of my head I would say either Jane Eyre or The Time Traveller's Wife
5. Remind us all of your challenge target

It's 15 ! But the list is already changing, 2 more bookring books arrived today so they will need to be added in favour of something else.
Either post your answers in the comments - or post them on your blog and link us up in the comments - whichever works best for you.

My Thoughts: A Dog So Small, Phillipa Pearce

Curled up on the couch to let the gogeous Tapas I had for lunch digest and finished a couple of chapters of Gone With the Wind and then this little gem of a kids book.

A Dog So Small is a quaint little tale about a little boy, the middle of 5 children so often the lonely one who believes he is going to get a dog for his birthday. He is desperately disappointed when a picture of a dog arrives through the post instead. Ben continues to want a dog, but knowing that it isn't feasible where he and his family live in London he keeps his dream to himself and ends up with an imaginary dog.

This book would be ideal for a quiet child, it isn't full of adventures or the unimaginable like other kids books that are out today, but it creates a cosy little atmosphere to curl up with.

If you've read this book or blogged about it leave a comment and I'll link your thoughts to my blog.

Challenges! Challenges! The Young Adult Challenge

Yes, another challenge but this is one that should be fairly easy to complete as I tend to read a lot of YA books over the summer. Joy has a challenge for the whole of 2008 to read 12 YA books and link your posts to Mr Linky over at her site.
I'm not going to come up with a list as I'll only change it.

Books I've read for this challenge:

1 Twilight , Meyer

2 Mirrormask, Gaiman

3 Journey to the River Sea, Ibbotson

4 Gatty, Crossley-Holland

5 Apache, Landman

6. The Garbage King, Laird

7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Taylor

8. Ruby Red, Glass

9. Blankets, Thompson (Graphic Novel)

10. Goodbye Tsugumi, Yoshimoto

11. Three Shadows, Pedrosa (Graphic Novel)

12. Varjak Paw, S.F Said

13. Rabbit Proof Fence, Pilkington

Another Challenge: July Book Blowout

Yes I've joined another challenge but this one will actually help me to complete the challenges that I'm participating in. Mrs S is hosting the July Book Blowout.
The rules:

You can sign up any time between today and July 14 - just because I’m a bit slow to announce this!
To join you need to post about the Book Blowout on your blog - and set yourself a target number of books you will try to read - go on challenge yourself!
Use the Mr Linky below to link to that post so we can all see how many books you’re taking on in the Blowout
Post a list of the books you managed to read by the deadline of August 7 to complete the challenge
What rules do I need to know?
Only books read between July 1 and July 31 count towards the challenge
You can include re-reads - as long as they are read within the month of July
Books you abandon will only count as half a book
If you read to your children you can include all books which have more than 100 pages
You can include up to two graphic novels
You can include up to two audio books - (if you have a visual impairment that prevents you from reading then you can use just audio books for the challenge)
Books you read for other challenges are eligible - use this as an opportunity to catch up!
I’ll try and keep things lively by posting some Book Blowout mini-challenges along the way so be sure to stop by throughout the month and see what’s happening (or better still subscribe to my site feed - it’s free and easy!)
As an added incentive I’ll put the names of all of the entrants who complete the challenge into the proverbial hat and one winner will receive an Amazon gift voucher to the value of $20 (£10).
So what are you waiting for? Blog your target and sign up with Mr Linky - and start planning what books you’ll read.



My Prospective List:
Junky, Burroughs for 1001 Project
Stardust, Gaiman (Bookring)
Stuart A Life Backwards (Bookring)
The Awakening for Southern Challenge and Classics Challenge
The Sound and the Fury for Southern Challenge
try to finish Gone With The Wind for Southern and Classics Challenge
Jamacia Inn for What's in a Name Challenge
Blonde, Oates for 1001 Project
After Dark, Murakami for Notable Books Challenge and Around the World Project
Middle Age for Oates Project
Presopolis 1 and 2, for Graphic Novel Challenge
Wonderland
If I have extra time:
The Water Babies for the Classics Challenge
I'll Take You There, Oates for Oates project

Attica

Journey to the River Sea

My What I actually have read list:

I finished The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble 1/2
1. Junky - William Burroughs

2. Stardust - Neil Gaiman

3. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

4. Siddartha, Hesse

5. Persepolis

6. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Capote

7. Stuart: A Life Backwards, Masters

8. Persepolis, Satrapi

9. The Unabridged Pocket Book of Lightning, Foer

10. The Secrets We Keep, Monroe

11. Mirrormask, Gaiman

12. Journey to the River Sea, Ibbotson

13. Gatty, Crossley-Holland

14. Tomaree, Robson

It's a lot of books but I only have to teach till the 18th then I get 6 weeks off!

My Thoughts: Elizabeth Costello, Coetzee

Every time I pick up a novel by Coetzee the standard gets better and better. The first Disgrace was, wellin my opinion a digrace how it won the Booker Prize I'll never know, that put me off for many years till earlier this year I read Waiting For the Barbarian's a good read, this latest novel Elizabeth Costello was fantastic. I was gripped from page one and it wasn't even my type of novel.
Elizabeth Costello is a famous novelist, she is now elderly and has produced a wide span of work but still remains known for her first book. In her old age she no longer writes but completes the lecture circuit, giving lectures on everything from fiction to animal rights. I said this was not my type of book because it seems (cynically) as a way for Coetzee to show his intellect, viewpoints and arguments spewing them out through his mouthpiece, Elizabeth Costello. But I was gripped because the arguments were interesting, attention grabbing. Elizabeth's life seems pretty much a mess, but the majority of the novel focused on her lectures, how they unravelled as she got closer to death.

Challenges:
I read this book for The What's in A Name Challenge and my project to complete the 1001 BooksYou Must Read Before You Die List