The Sunday Salon: Short Stories

I finished my forth collection of short stories this year, thats not many for some people, but until this year I had only really read short stories for school and university, they somehow passed me by.

This morning I finished a collection which I found in school - 30 copies mainly unused that I tripped over while looking for something completely different, typical of our overly stocked and underused collection - Mystery Stories of the Nineteenth Century. Some of these stories I had read previously - The Red Room, The Ostler, The Pit and the Pendulum but I also managed to discover some which were new to me and a few authors I plan on researching to find out what other material they have written - namely Ambrose Bierce and Guy de Maupassant. And this also ticks of one genre in The Genre Challenge

I'm not sure if it is just the collections whic I have read this year:

Skin, Roald Dahl
The Little Black Book of Stories, Byatt
Fragile Things, Gaiman
Mystery Stories of the Nineteenth Century, ed. Robert Etty

(I also participated in Short Story September)

but short stories seem to largely feature twists and turns, and generally do it better than novels.

I'm not sure why I haven't picked up many collections of short stories over the years, maybe because they tend to be mingled in amongst the fiction in libraries and bookshops and I just miss them, and maybe because you rarely hear them recommended.

Do you read short stories? if not, what puts you off?

The rest of my day is largely going to be spent planning and marking, and hopefully devoting a few hours to The Known World.

Sunday Salon

I've found that I haven't read much this week - the first week back to school has been pretty hectic. I'm also reading a book (The Sea of Poppies) which I seem to be struggling with - struggling because its an awkward hardback, struggling because it's full of Indian slang and words, struggling because there are 4 different storylines happening. Having said that I am enjoying it, I just seem to be reading very slowly.
Despite not having read much i had 6 books arrive in the house this week, 4 of them are bookrings which need to be finished in the next 4 weeks

My 4 bookrings

Free from Bookcrossing meeting

A free copy from Cannongate publishers

The Notable challenge, is now going to be a perpetual challenge. Challengers challenge themselves to a set number of books for the year - I want to read at least 6.

My list of possibilities:
My Revolutions, by Hari Kunzru (from 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Books)
The Calling, by Inger Ash Wolfe (from 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Books)
The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War, by Asne Seierstad (from 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Books)
Bog Child, by Siobhan Dowd (from 2008 Publishers Weekly Best Books)
A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah (International Reading Association 2008)
The Yiddish Policeman's Union, by Michael Chabon (ALA Notable Book List 2008)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver (ALA Notable Book List 2008)
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, by Diane Ackerman (ALA Notable Book List 2008)
My South Seas Sleeping Beauty by Guixing Zhang (Kiriyama Prize Notable Book List 2008)

The Sunday Salon: Challenges???

Despite having a week of work I got very little reading done, my week was jam packed. I shouldn't even be on here this morning as I have a ton of planning to do!

I completed another 2 challenges this week, The Man Booker 2008 and RIP III and now only have 3 challenges left that I need to complete before the year finishes, and thats only 2 books to finish that I'm part way through and 3 books to read fully. Despite clearing up my challenges I seem to be joining a whole host more for next year, its like just can't help myself. I just joined two more this morning:

The Well-Seasoned Reader

What's In A Name 2

I enjoy participating in challenges as it often brings to my attention new books and authors I never even knew about and those books I always meant to read. This year, however, I'm going to try and use challenges to read a lot of the books I already own.

Do you join or avoid challenges? Why

Sunday Salon: A week of reading planned

This last week has been really busy, the last week before half term is always jammed packed, so my reading has been limited. The only things I did seem to do, was create 2 new challenges; The Rescue Challenge and Exploration: Latin American Reading Challenge (see here for info), and join a new challenge for 2009, The Pub Challenge - a challenge to read books published in 2009.

As I have a week off I'm planning to attack my reading piles and especially my reading challenges. I have to finish The Gargoyle and Out, both of which are extras for Carl's RIP III challenge. Out is also my second read for the Japanese challenge, hopefully I'm going to find another Japanese book this week and get this challenge bagged. I'm also trying to read at least one short story a day from a collection of Nineteenth Century short stories, then I'll only need to read one more collection of stories before the end of the yet.

Anyone else tackling their challenges st the moment? How is it going?

The Sunday Salon: Announcing Two Challenges

Two new challenges I'm hosting, now looking for participants.

The Rescue Challenge
In this weeks Booking Through Thursday people were asked about those books which just linger on the shelves for years, never making it to the top of the pile. Which got me thinking about a new challenge, The Rescue Challenge. Help rescue those unloved books from the obscurity of the bottom of the tbr pile.
There would be two parts to the challenge, the first would be to get rid of any books you know deep down you will never read, so whether you bookmooch, bookcross, give them away to a charity shop these books will take up less of your space and have the opportunity to be read.
The second part of the challenge, will be to set up a pool of those unloved books and read between 3-6 of them between Nov 1st 2008 - Dec 31st 2009.
Books can definitely count for other challenges as well, in fact this will probably urge you to read them, and you set yourself the amount of books you'd like to read. The prize, is simply space on your shelves and freeing yourself of guilt when you once again sweep past that copy to reach for a shiny new book.
List of Participants here

I'm going to aim to read 4 of these, all have been on my shelves for more than 3 years:
A Suitable Boy - Seth
Arthur and George - Barnes
Sister of my Heart - Divkrum
Glasgow - Freud
Acts of Mutiny - Beavan
Big Sur - Kerouac
Alias Grace - Atwood
The Robber Bride - Atwood
The Swimming Pool Diaries - Hollinghurst
Heart Songs - Proulx
The Woodlanders - Hardy
War and Peace - Tolstoy
Adam Bede - Eliot
North and South - Gaskell
Love in a Time of Cholera - Marquez

Exploration: Latin American Reading Challenge
This challenge will run for 4 months, between the 1st January - 30th April 2009. The aim is to read a 4 books from Latin America, these can be fiction or non-fiction the mix is up to you. The books can be used as part of other challenges, but must be finished between the dates of the challenge. I will supply a small prize drawn from the names of those people who finish the challenge.
I've shown below a couple of options you may want to follow:
Free Choice: Read any four Latin American books
Mix it Up: Read a variety of fiction and non-fiction Latin American books
Author Challenge: Read a variety of work from just one author.
States: Read a book from a variety of the different states of Latin America
Magic Realism: Latin America is famous for producing the Magic Realism genre, you may decide just to read books fitting this genre.

Just so everyone is clear as to what will count as Latin America, I found this handy definition:
The Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The term Latin America is also used to include Puerto Rico, the French West Indies, and other islands of the West Indies where a Romance tongue is spoken. Occasionally the term is used to include Belize, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.

List of Participants here
Reviews here

For now pick which option you would like to participate in, create a list or a pool of books you'd like to read (these can be changed at any point).
My List: (Free Choice)
Love In a Time of Cholera - Marquez
The House of Spirits - Allende
Easter Island - Vandebes
Bel Canto - Patchett
The Agero Sisters - Garcia
The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto - Llosa
The Empress of South America - Cawthorne


Signing up for the challenges: if you'd like to sign up for either of these, please leave a comment below with the challenge you'd like to join and a link to your pool of books. Anyone without a blog can list their pool in the comments. I'll then create a participants list. I'll also create a post where people can leave links to their reviews once the challenges are up and running.

Sunday Salon: A Tidy Up and Short Story Weekend

I couldn't participate in the read-a-thon as I have loads to do this weekend - marking etc, I had to work in a bar last night and I have to be perky for the last week of school for the term, which is a shame as I'd love to know how long I would have lasted for. Instead I decided I'd try and read as many short stories as I could in a weekend around all the other stuff I had to do. (This will help towards the Short Story Challenge, and 100 Shots of Short. The list so far:

1. Instructions, Gaiman

2. Diseasemaker's Croup, Gaiman

3. Goliath, Gaiman

A very perculiar tale. A man 'judders' through time, he lives his life again and again, repeating and changing aspects of it each time. He has been designed to save the world against aliens, and seems to get various bits of information at each point in his life, everytime earth is attacked he returns to an earlier point, eventually being at a point where he can make a difference.

4. A Stone Woman, Byatt

A scar from an operation feels strange and lumpy, leaving the woman feel like she has a part of her which is not her own body. Weeks later she realises that this scar is producing little red grains of glinting sand, which start emerging from different sections of her body. As time passes her scar turns into a line of rock, carnelians, diamonds, granite etc start forming in mounds across her body.

5. The Duc De L'Omelette, Poe

The Tidy Up:

I finished the Young Adult Challenge hosted by Joy weeks ago and seem to have forgotten to post a round up. I read the following books

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

My favorite: Gatty

My Least fav: Mirrormask

I've also decided to be rusthless and get rid of a few challenges I am definetly not going to finish. I'm abadoning: The New Classics Challenge, Unread Authors Challenge, and 2nds challenge so I can focus on finishing the rest.

For the rest of the day I will be reading short stories in between marking exams, going out for lunch and getting some cleaning done

The Sunday Salon: Short Story Sunday

I've had a busy week, but managed to read all of The Hours, and I'm halfway through The End of Mr Y, which I'm really enjoying and planning to spend a few hours on later once I've got all my jobs done. And England is bathed in gorgeous sunshine at the mo, so I'm off for a wander around town and into the library to make sure I enjoy it before it disappears again.

My first short story for 100 Shots of Short.

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

A very melancholy tale set in the busy Beijing but with that air of tranquility that you often fing in Chinese stories. He has been brought up along by his mother, and she alone by her father. Despite countless attempts to get them married, both had remained single. When he arrives back from the freedom of America his mother is quick to try and set up a meeting between him and one of her prized students.

Anyone know any good online stories to recommend? I'm going to try and do Short Story Sunday everyweek from an online story.

The Sunday Salon: A Review - Two Tractors by Marina Lewycka

I woke up this morning to yet another cold day, not only cold but a day full of rain and dreary skies, I quickly rolled over wrapped in the duvet and missed the swimming session I was going to do. When I crawled out of bed I allowed myself to read the last 50pages of Two Caravans. Since then I've done a bit of studying, which I'm supposed to be continuing now with research into Polari a gay slang language, but I thought I'd type up this review first. Once thats down I have 30 homework pieces to mark, then I will either start Coraline or The Hours - both need reading this week.

Two Caravans is the second novel by Marina Lewycka, her first A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian was a massive hit with most people, but I personally wasn't overly impressed, and certainly not gripped. However, I thought I'd give this next book a go, and I wasn't disappointed.

Two Caravans is about a goup of illegal immigrants trying to survive in England. They are initially brought over to pick strawberries, existing on minimum wage, food not even worthy for a cat and living in two tiny caravand between 9 people the workers are disinterested but stuck in this world of exploitation. The job at the strawberry farm soon disintegrates when the farmer is caught having an affair, and run over by his wife, and the immigrants split up.

From this point onwards there are many strands to the story, but the main one follows Irina and Andriy, both from the Ukraine but seperated by politics and class. As a young and attractive virgin, Irina is seen as a key commodity and is pursued by a man with a desire in proffiting from her body. Andriy is quickly falling from her, and out to protect her every step of the way. They have jobs in restaurants and a chicken farm (it will put you off eating chicken for life), and gradually make their way through London and up north.

I have to say England is portrayed as a pretty nasty place, there are 2 shootings, lots of expoitation and the few English people in the novel and mean and cruel to the outsiders. They also manage to make their money go a lot further than it possibly could.

But, this novel is funny, witty and sharp. Give it to a lot of the narrowminded people who exist and they would take it as gospel, as this England seems to be populated only by immigrants something that the Tabloid press would have us all believing.

Has anyone else read this? How did you think it faired to Tractors...?

Challenges:

Fall into Reading Book 3/24

2nds Challenge Book 2/4

Other Reviews:

Heatseeker

Omnireader

Have you reviewed this book? If so add your link and I'll add you to this list.

Sunday Salon

This has been another poor reading week for me, but when I turned up at school on Monday I found I had to organise English lessons for Friday based around a European theme! This was a huge shock, especially as I was behind with everything else I had to do, because I was ill in bed last Sunday. Anyway it got planned eventually - the originals of fairytales before the Brothers Grimm and Disney got their hands on them and softened them up, the kids loved all the gory bits, and I quite enjoyed reading them so that'll be a book or two added to my wish list.

For Weekly Geeks last week we was supposed to set ourselves a target of things to catch up on, I said my reading, but only managed to finish The Famished Road and start Rabbit Proof Fence so that went down the pan, I didn't even read any short stories this week. As for today, I writing this really early as I'm off to visit my mum for the day, when I get back I'm going to be good and go for a swim, to kick off my keep fit regime, I may manage to read for a little while.
Next week I have Friday off (yay!), a lot of exercise and studying to do, but I plan to read The Stolen Child and Two Caravans, and hopefully start The Hours.

How's your reading week been, has everything gone to plan?

Sunday Salon: A random variety, plus Short Story Sunday

This weeks Sunday Salon is going to include a random mixture of bits and pieces. Firstly, I have to say that reading this week has been slowly, some of that is down to the fact that I started a book I thought I would love and just didn't want to admit to myself that I couldn't be bothered by it, I wasted 3 evenings on A Carnivore's Inquiry, only reading 120 pages when I could had guessed after 30 pages that I would be giving up on this quickly. I also spent 2 evenings with that horrible foggy brain you get before a cold comes out, which has really affected my reading.

I'm now reading The Famished Road, which I'm loving, but wondering how I'm going to review. I'm quite tempted to do a WG style review, so if anyone has any questions about this book that they'd like to ask, ask away here as it will help me structure the review. I'm hoping to finish reading this by mid week.

Talking about Weekly Geeks, this week is catch-up week and while I don't have any outstanding reviews to write up or completed challenges, I have this mammoth reading list for Fall into Reading to tackle, as I really need to catch up with my reading or I won't be completing many challenges in time. So I'm going to try and finish The Famished Road this week, read Coraline and tackle at least one of my bookring reads. Outside of reading, I also need to catch up on my sign language lessons, I haven't been for 9 weeks, largely because of the school holidays (its run at school), but I haven't practised as I should so I've seemingly forgot nearly everything I spent a year learning, and I need to catch up on my A Level course this afternoon.

Less babble about me, now time for Short Story Sunday. This morning I read Keepsakes and Treasures by Neil Gaiman, from his Fragile Things collection. This story is definitely only for adults but is first rate.
This story is about a man who was born to a woman locked away for clinical nymphomania in the 50's, despite being in an asylum she still managed to fall pregnant, and his father can only be one of the men who are supposed to be protecting her. From a young age, the boy has used murder as revenge and punishment for those who harmed him and his mother. His actions are noticed by Mr Alice, one of the world's richest men, but a man who used his money to stop the public finding out who he is. The boy comes to work for Mr Alice for the rest of his life, he is the person who seeks out and fulfills Mr Alice's desires, whether they are business desires or personal ones. Mr Alice's main desire is for young men to have sexual encounters with. The main part of the story centres around Mr Alice's acquisition of the Treasure of Shahinai, a young exquisitely beautiful boy.
This is an excellent story, but avoid if you dislike sexual scenes or bad language.

I also read yesterday Gaiman's excellent story Bitter Grounds, in this story we follow a young man who is clearly bored of life and just looking for an escape. He decides to drive around America, and meets a professor on his way to a lecture. When the professor mysteriously disappears, the man steals his papers and goes to the conference himself, giving a speech about the zombie coffee girls.
These where read for Short Story September

The Sunday Salon: An unproductive week...

I just seem to be accumulating books rather than reading many this week. In terms of reading I mannaged 1 kids book, a short story and a novel which I have no idea how to write up! The novel was The Valkyries by Paulo Coelho, an author I always enjoy. This was a strange read, I was never sucked into it but the style is easy so I got through it in a few hours. The searching for your angel part and the fact that it was based on his real life just never felt real, and never grabbed me. Anyone else read this?

As for today, I'm off to the library and for a very late breakfast/lunch in a place where the food is all gorgeous and fresh so I don't feel like I'm ruining the second day of the diet. I have some studying to do later, but then I'm hoping to sit down and read some more Maus and The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier, a book that I'm absolutely loving.

For the Olympic Challenge, which I'm taking part in over at Bookcrossing.com, I'm looking for reads for each of the various countries in Africa to start with. If anyone has any recommendations, partucuarly for the harder coutries like: Burundi, Chad, Gabon and Libiya just to name a few, I'd be grateful to hear them, the author just has to have been born there.

Sunday Salon: My Thoughts: Skin and Other Stories by Roald Dahl

Having to go back to work this week after a lazy six weeks holiday has meant that I haven't had a great amount of time to read this week, I did finish Roald Dahl's Skin, (see below) Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende, a novel I really enjoyed and I have decided to do the Olympic Challenge in time for London 2012, a challenge which has been going on over at the BookCrossing forum for the last few years, this challenge will mean I'll be checking out authors from far fling places across the Globe.
As for reading today, I hope to get finished reading the graphic novel, Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosa however, I have an essay to type up and about 50 essays to mark, plus housework so that maybe wishful thinking!

I read this collection of short stories for the RIP III challenge, the Short Story Reading Challenge and for Short Story September, several of the stories I had read before at some point, but I really enjoyed the collection, it was perfect for picking up whilst dinner was cooking or whilst in the bath. I had included a mini review of some, but not all, of the stories in the collection
WARNING: I have tried to avoid saying what the outcome of each story is, but with short stories this is hard and in some descriptions I come pretty close to the end of the tale.

Skin
"I want you to paint a picture on my skin, on my back. Then I want you to tattoo over what you have painted so that it will be there always."
As a young man Drioli admired and loved another man's art, so-much-so that he begged this artist, to tattoo a portrait of his wife on his back. He taught the artist to tattoo, and ended up with his whole back as a portrait of his wife's face.
Years passed, 2 World Wars have caused Drioli's tattooing business to fail, and he is left a poor old man. Walking through the streets of Paris he sees a picture by Soutine in the window of the gallery. Going in to admire the art he ends up revealing an early work by Soutine, his tattoo. A poor man he may be, but he is a walking talking masterpiece, the gallery owner wants a piece of him. Just how far will he go to get it?
The African Story
When the Second World War started a young man joined the RAF as he loved to fly. On his first mission his flight failed and he spent two nights at a lonely, desolate farm. There, lived alone an old man who relished the pilot's company. The old man shared a strange story with the pilot, which the pilot later recorded "not in the old man's words, but in his own words, painting it as a picture."
The old man's tale tells of a relationship with his employee, a man with who gets obsessed by repetitive noises, the noise of his masters dog chewing leads him to kill his masters beloved dog. The man's tale tells his story of revenge.
Galloping Foxely
A regular commuter, used to the routine of his daily commute is suddenly struck with horror when a stranger appears and spoils his daily commute, having the audacity to share his carriage. Not only does this stranger upset the daily commute but he also recognises that face as the school bully who tortured him through his days at (a very stereotypical) boarding school. How does he react?
The Wish
A lovely and very short story about the imagination of a small child trying to make his way across an immense carpet of red hot rocks and black child eating snakes.
The Surgeon
In the surgeon, one mans ordinary day as a surgeon ends up turning his life upside down as he saves the life of the Prince of Saudi Arabia. He is given a rare, rather large diamond as a gift of thanks. With no way to store the diamond safely it is locked away inside the freezer in a bock of ice. He returns to find his house destroyed and the diamond missing, yet it turns up again in a rather strange and unfortunate place.
The Champion of the World
When I saw this title my first thought was Danny, but this has nothing to do with that small boy. I'm sure I've read this story before somewhere, maybe when I was at school. The Champion of the world is about Pheasant poaching, all the ways and means of doing it, slyly without the park keepers catching on.
A pair of men believe they have found the ideal way to poach these birds, and having come up with this method they can't just leave it at poaching a few birds, they go to the extreme and get over a hundred birds. But, as we all know, sinners never win.
Lamb to the SlaughterThe husbands annoying you, home late, expecting dinner on the table, he's got quite boring in his old age, and you just want out. Most people would just walk away, but not this lady. A quick smack to the back of the head and she no longer has a husband to worry about anymore, but she does have the small matter of covering up the murder to deal with. What better way than to ensure the the poilce remove all trace of the crime themselves.

Sunday Salon: A Review of my Recent Readings

It's back to school for me tomorrow, I have two days of meetings to sit through (I'm like a kid with ADHD in meetings so this will be hell for me!), and then the kids are back on Wednesday. I look forward to seeing all my teacher friends again and seeing (most) of the kids again as well as gaining a lot of new classes. But also aprehensive as I'm teaching a lot of groups with high levels of learning and behavioural difficulties, and one top set who I will be with till their final exams in two years, they'll be challenging because of the high ability level and also as they have a few very naughty kids in there! I'm also starting a new position with more responsibility and a new course for my own brain cells.

Anyway, I thought I would look back at the books I have read over my 6 weeks holidays and do a mini round-up as next week I'll probably be back to one book a week.

Over the 6 weeks I have notched up 22 reads, which is fairly good, I've had a few big ole chunky books, a few graphic novels, and a handful of YA fiction as well as all my usual reads.

Ihave also completed 5 challenges: July Book Blowout, Graphic Novel Challenge, Unread Authors II (I've read 6 new authors but will add too till it finishes), What's in a Name Challenge, Southern Reading Challenge, which sounds fantastic, but as a seemingly challenge addict I've joined 4 challenges: RIP III, Short Story September, 2nds, , The New Classics Challenge.

My favourite read has to be Gone With The Wind, with Neverwhere coming in second jointly with the excellent graphic novel Blankets.

Now I'm looking forward to the autumn, reading with a blanket and a big cup of hot chocolate, and the huge tbr pile stacked up beside me next to the equally huge pile of marking. I need to aim to get through all the bookrings which keep falling through the letterbox so I can concentrate on my challenges, and setting up my first challenge for the new year (reading Latin American fiction).

Short Story Sunday

Ray Bradbury - Skeleton
I found the Mp3 of this story for free here, and it's well worth a listen.
Skeleton tells a story of a man whose bones ache and bother him terribly, as a hypercondriac nobody really listens to his complaints.
He goes to a bone specialist, who tells him he is not ready yet for the treatment. The aching in his bones becomes an internal struggle between the skeleton and the man, the more the man worries the more weight he loses so the more the skeleton wins. He believes the skeleton is trying to escape, to control him. As the pain gets more and more the struggle continues, until in a moment of desperation he calls in the bone specialist to fix up the problem.

Sunday Salon: My Thoughts on Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor and Challenge Round Up

This is one of those novels that I've always been aware of but somehow never got around to reading it. I picked it up in a second-hand sale the other day and realised that it would be perfect as the last book for the Southern Challenge.

The novel is about the Logan family, living in Mississippi in the 193o's. Times are hard because of the forthcoming depression, and because of the continuing tension between the black and white communities. The Logan families are one of the few black families with their own land, this is resented by both the black and white families.

The story is centred aroud the four Logan children, having being brought up by indepent parents, who believe evryone should be equal, they have a hard time understanding the unequal society that they are living in. As the novel progresses more and more problems arise between the two communities.

This novel deals with the racism alive in that society, as well as they way the law and politics was shaped to benefit white people.

Obviously as a kids book this was a fairly easy read, and a easy way to spend a windy Sunday afternoon. I'm now of for lasagne, a couple of episodes of 24 and maybe a film for the evening. This week I'm going to finish Theft: A Love Story, Bellefleur and hopefully start Frankie and Stankie. What have you be reading today?

Challenges:

Southern Reading Challenge Book 3 of 3!

Young Adult Reading Challenge Book 7 of 12

Classics Challenge (Kids classic) Book 5 of 6

Unread Authors Challenge Book 3 of 6

20th Century Project (1976) Book 10 of 100

Reading Around the World

If you have read this book, please leave a link to your review, or your comments, I will link in any reviews added.

The Southern Challenge Round-Up

I finished it with 5 days to go, which seemed unlikely this time last week. My intentions (Gone with the Wind, The Awakening, Cold Moutain and The Sound and the Fury), seemed to go amiss during the last few month, with me only managing to read one from the original list. I think I ended up with a good mix though, one classic, one contemporary fiction and a YA classic book (The Secrets We Keep, Gone With the Wind, and Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry). While I enjoyed all of them in their own way Gone With the Wind was by far the best, and a book I definately plan to go back and read again.

Looking forward to next years selection, Maggie!

Sunday Salon and a Meme

I haven't been as great at reading this week, the weather has been grey and overcast for days with rain threatening so I haven't been sitting in the garden with a book like I was last week. I managed to get finished 2 books and two books are well on the go. The end of the week got taken up by planning for the next school year (I still have 4 weeks holiday, but I thought whilst I was in the mood I'd get on with it).

This week I need to finish Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates, Gone with the Wind and Apache plus try and start Theft by Peter Carey.

I've also been thinking about my reading plans for August, here is the huge list I'd like to get through:

Finish the Southern reading challenge, I need to finish Gone With the Wind and Cold Mountain.
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
The View from Africa, various authors
Blood River, Butcher
Frankie and Stankie, Trapido
A Woman of my Age, Bawden
Pawn of Prophecy,Eddings
Apache, Landman (from the Carnegie shortlist)
What I Loved, Hustvedt
The Valkynes, Coehlo

Theft, Peter Carey

The War of the Worlds, HG Wells

Gods Behaving Badly, Phillips

A Meme, gautami tripathy posted this for us Sunday Saloners to complete:

1. Who’s your all-time favorite author, and why?

I don't have one favorite author, but a few that I know I'll love their work: Sarah Waters, JK Rowling, Phillip Pullman, the Brontes, Jane Austen, A.S Bayatt - the list varies on a regular basis.
Marquez. Atwood. I name here only a miniscule. Amongst new authors, I liked Jay Asher and Mathias B. Freese.
2. Who was your first favorite author, and why? Do you still consider him or her among your favorites?
Either Enid Blyton or Roald Dahl. I haven't picked up an Enid Blyton book in years, but when I have kids I'll make sure I read her to them. As for Dahl, I'm teaching two of his books this year and I reguarly use his poetry in school, I think I enjoy it just as much if not more than the kids.
3. Who’s the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?

I loved the Neil Gaiman stuff and Will Self who I have read recently, I'd never tried any of this type of stuff before because I assumed I wouldn't like it, but I was gripped.

I've also discovered Paulo Coelho this year, both the books I read where thought provoking, and I definately plan to read more.
4. Tagged: All you Sunday Saloners, consider yourself tagged.

Sunday Salon and My Thoughts on Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson

England has been so sunny and hot this week, as its the first week of the summer holidays I've been able to go out sunbathing, go to the beach and spend time in many beer gardens working on my tan, and I've also managed to get some books read. I finished this week: Stuart: A Life Backwards, Persepoilis 2, The Unabridged Pocketbook of Lightning, The Secrets We Keep and Journey to the River Sea (see below for my thoughts). The heat has definately gone to my head as I also joined 3! challenges!!!

In this coming week I need to finish a couple of bookrings and try and start reading some Joyce Carol Oates stuff.

Journey to the River Sea has been one of those kids books I have wanted to read since it came out as it has a gorgeous cover, won the Smarties Gold Awards and got great reviews.

The book is abpout an orphan who has to move to Brazil to live with her family over there. As with most orphans in books (and there are loads) the adopted family is mean and has taken on the orphan as a way to swindle money. Being set in Brazil we are promised adventures up the Amazon River, and with the two new friends she meets also orphans).

I'm not sure if I expected to much but I just thought this book was okay, it started off fairly slowly and I never got a sense of tension and adventure. I like kids books to take me back to being a kid, but this one didn't do this. If you want adventure in the Amazon you would do far better to read City of the Beasts bu Isabel Allende.

Challenges:

July Book Blow Out book 12

Young Adult Challenge book 3 0f 12

If you have reviewed this book please leave a link to your review here and I'll tag it on.

Sunday Salon and Weekly Geeks

Last week I sais that it was unlikely that I would be reading many books this week as a result of a last stressful week at work, a night a the theatre and a wedding (which I didn't go to as I was full of a cold). I actually finished 4 books! That sounds impressive but two of them were graphic novels: Persepolis and Mirrormask, and the other two were both under 150 pages: Breakfast at Tiffany's and Siddartha. I've also read half of Staurt: A Life Backwards which I should finish tonight or tomorrow. This week I shall have plenty of time to read as I'm now officially on holiday from work for 6 weeks! Yay! Which takes me on to this weeks Weekly Geeks.

Weekly Geeks, see here to participate, is asking other bloggers to ask us questions about books that we have to blog. Now I'm up-to-date with my blogging so I'm going to leave a list of the books I hope to read this week. If you have a question about any of these books please leave it in the comments here and I'll try and answer it in my review of the book.

The list:

Stuart: A Life Backwards

Persepolis 2

Tomaree

The Unabridged Pocketbook of Lightning

The Awakening

Cold Mountain

Bellefleur
and possibly start The Famished Road

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.

The Sunday Salon

I've just spent the last hour ish looking at the read-a-thon blog looks like everyone is doing great and there was me whinging this morning that my housr rabbit had woken me up after just 6 hours of sleep!

This week I managed to finish 2 books which I really enjoyed, The Space Between Us and Elizabeth Costello. I'm still reading Gone With the Wind, and I started this week The Red Queen, a book of short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, The Tent by Margaret Atwwod and a kids book called A Dog So Small which I should finish later. I have a friend over for lunch today but should have plenty of reading time, I definately want to dedicate at least an hour to GWtW later so I can make decent headway with it. Not sure how my reading is going to go this week as things seem fairly busy at school.

For Weekly Geeks this week we had to update on the challenges we are participating in, I did making me realise how man books I have to read this year and then joined two new challenges! The July Book Blowout and Joy's Young Adult Challenge.

The Sunday Salon and a short story review.

Another busy week this week so again not a lot of reading completed, I can't wait for the 6 weeks summer holidays so I can catch up on the reading for all the challenges I am participating in, and just wallow in the garden (if the British weather sorts itself out!), with a good book and hours and hours of free time.
I have managed to finish two great books, both recommended: A Pure Swift Cry and The Space Between Us, which I have yet to review. This afternoon I will be going out to lunch, doing some more marking and lesson preparation, catching up on Big Brother and watching The History Boys, I may squeeze in a chapter of Gone With The Wind or start Elizabeth Costello if I'm lucky.

I did this morning read a short story over breakfast, so I'm going to include a mini review here.
'Concerning the Case of Bobby T' - Joyce Carol Oates.
An excellent short story. The basic story is that Bobby T got locked up for knocking a young girl around. But Oates doesn't like telling stories in a basic way. This story is told in fragments, fragments of time and fragments of the victims and perpetrators lives. We see into the days and years after this act of violence showing how a single act of violence can control and affect the lives of those involved for years to come.
Oates employs an omnipotent narrator, giving the story a report like tone, you feel like you are simply watching the scene. No feelings, elaborations or judgemnets are made the reader is made to feel like the judge and jury, who is to blame is for you to decide.