Challenge Update

A-Z Challenge (Authors) 11/27
A-Z Challenge (Titles) 14/27
In Their Shoes 3/4
The Dream King 2/12
1% Well Read Challenge 4/13
Orbis Terrarum 8/10
The Genre Challenge 6/10
The Decades Challenge 4/10
The Carribean Challenge 0/6
My Year of Reading Dangerously 2/12
The World Citizen Challenge 0/3
Y.A Challenge 6/12
Deweys Book Reading Challenge 0/6
100 Shots of Short 53/100
The 2009 Pub Challenge 2/9
Themed Challenge 2/4
999 Challenge 32/81
Book Awards 2 5/10
2nd Canadian Challenge 1/13 ABANDONING - WILL NEVER COMPLETE
Latin American Challenge 4/4 COMPLETE
The Rescue Challenge 0/6
The Graphic Novel Challenge 6/12
Manga Challenge 1/4
War Through the Generations: WWII 1/5
Lost in Translation 6/6
Notable Challenge 1/6
What's in a Name? 5/6
The Well Seasoned Reader 3/3 COMPLETED!
The Chunkster Challenge 3/6
The Guardian 100 novels 3/10
Banned Book Challege 1/4
Once Upon a Time III Challenge 2/5
Herding Cats 0/2
Its the End of the World 0/4
100 Books Project 0/100
Non-Fiction 5 0/5
Beckys Mini Challenge - Scott Westerfeld 0/2 Steinbacek 0/2 Defoe 0/2

Still looking shocking, I have 2 Latin America books to read by Thursday, and I'm only 100 pages into the first one. Maybe I'll get more time once I go and complete the days marking.

Library Loot

This week my library did the awful(awful because I can't resist cheap books) thing and held a book sale. I wasn't to bad and only walked out with 5 books.
Ernst by Ian Turpin a book about the artist Max Ernst brought for the gorgeous pictures and the non-fiction 5 challenge.
The Briar King by Greg Keyes looked like a good fantasy novel and at just 10p I couldn't say no.
An Iliad: A Story of Was by Alessandro Baricco I loved Silk by this author so thought I'd give this a try.
The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean another YA read.
The Favourite Game by Leonard Cohen just liked the look of the cover.

I also picked up my holds:
The Complete Polysylabic Spree by Nick Hornby as everyone seems to be reading these books I wanted to see what the fuss was about.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett for The Dream King Challenge
Dibs: In Search of Self by Virginia m. Axline a pschology text about a young boy who was 'emotionally lost' but was 'saved', using for the In Their Shoes Challenge my last read for this challenge.
Marked by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast for the YA challenge


Now I just have to make myself read, I've been in a real reading funk this week. Visit Library Loot here

My Thoughts: Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett

This is the second book I have read for my own Exploration: Latin American Reading Challenge - 2 more to go and the challenge ends this month. I really had planned to read a lot more as this is my own challenge but what with all the other reading challenges, bookrings and library deadlines time has run away with me - I've already decided next year I'm cutting down to a max of 5 challenges at anyobe time so I can tackle my 400 book + tbr pile.

Anyway back to Bel Canto. This has been sitting on my tbr pile for over a year now, it was one of those books I had heard was great but the plot didn't give me much hope as I don't tend to like books set in a too modern world and thought the kidnapping plot would make it into a thriller.
Luckily for me this wasn't the case. The book is set in an unnamed poor Latin American country, a country with very few rich people who rule the place and a rebellious and unhappy poor population who resort to political threats to try and improve their lives.
The kidnappers storm a birthday party full of internationals who they hope will invest in their country, but who in fact have no intention of doing anything but enjoying the free food and most importantly seeing the famous opera star Roxanne Cross.
The kidnappers arrive looking to kidnap the President, who infact stayed home to watch his favourite soap. Instead the hold a whole host of middle aged men and their wives, many of whom can't even speak to each other because they have come from all across the world. The hostages remove all the women execpt one, the seige then lasts for months.
Mr Howsaka and his translator become the two central characters in the novel. Mr Howsaka, the birthday boy, is fascinated with the opera singer. Though they cannot talk without the aid of the translator they sit with each other all day, they communicate through looks and touch, without a shared langauge they fall in love.
The translator is much needed, he has to translate for everyone and ends up teaching some of the hostages new languages. But it is not only the hostages that want to learn a young terrorist also demands his attention.
Two unlikely love affairs slowly grow and develop, each grips you as you read and wonder about the possible futures of two such unlikely matches.

The Sunday Salon: Dewey's Read-a-thon roundup post

Well there's 15minutes left of the read-a-thon and I've finished my reading. Once I've typed this looked at a few of the last posts I'm off for a bath and then a spot of lunch - will be nice to be all clean again. Then I have an afternoon of lessons to prepare as I'm back to teaching after the two week easter break. And I finally get to watch West Wing - the season 2 dvd turned up yesterday morning and I'm itching to know what happens. Oh, and I may even get some more reading done.

Now for the round up.

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
I think between 12 and 1am - so the halfway point. I'm glad I took myself off to bed for 4 and a half hours of much needed sleep or I doubt I'd be able to sleep now.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Beauty Sleep, Dokey and What I Was - kept me fixed

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? No none whatsoever, I din't have any complaints.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I thought the cheerleaders were great, also just reading other peoples posts - I came on to read these when I was lagging.
5. How many books did you read?
I read 4 novels and 2 picture books plus a short story
6. What were the names of the books you read?

I finished Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett which I was over halfway through
1.What I Was by Meg Rosoff
2. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
3. An Elgy for Easterly by Pettina Gappah
4. Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey
Mrs Biddlebox and The Viewer by Gary Crew (both picture books)
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
I enjoyed all the novels, my most favourite was probably Bel Canto, but I think I picked some great reads which really helped.
8. Which did you enjoy least?
The Viewer, see here for my rant
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I definately want to participate again, Maybe next time spend half the time reading then some cheerleading so I get to visit more people.

Thanks to Nymeth, Hannah and Trish for all the hardwork, all the people who posted interesting posts and people who visited. And lastly Dewey, who without her this wouldn't be happening.

Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon: Short Story Sunday

Short Story Sunday is held each week over at Ready When You Are, C.B I try to post about a short sory most weeks but seem to have missed several weeks on a row now.
This week's short story is taken from a gorgeous collection called The Secrets of the Fire King by Kim Edwards, and this is the sixth story in the collection.
The Invitation


Joyce has lived in the area for 30 years, 30 years of socialising with the upper classes and finally last year she felt fullt accepted when she was invited to the Sultan's birthday party. His birthday looms again, just weeks away and she waits eagerly for the invitation to arrive. As the day draws nearer she starts to worry, if she leaves it too late she won't have time to travel abroad to find an outfit as dashing as the golden dress she wore last year.
When she invites one of the new wifes to afternoon tea, a sign of kindness, she is suddenly awaken to how much she still doesn't fit in. The new wife can speak the locals language, knows all the rules of etiquette - like not to wear the color gold as it is the Sultan's colour. She also teaches the Sultan's daughter, often has tea with his wife and most imporantantly recieved her invitation to the Sultan's birthday party days before.
An invitation to tea that Joyce wishes she hadn't made.

Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon: Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey

Pages read total: 938 (+ 66 pages of picture books)
Books read: Finished Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett, read What I Was by Meg Rosoff, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, An Elgy for Easterly, Mrs Biddlebox (pic book), The Viewer by Gary Crew and Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey
Total reading time: approx 15 1/2 hours.


My final book of the read-a-thon (I'm going to read a short story in the last hour).
I saved this book especially for the read-a-thon and I'm really glad that I did.

Beauty Sleep is a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. Aurore as we know has two spells put on her as a baby, one that in her sixteenth year she will prick herself with a needle and live no more, the second a countering spell that says that the needle will send her to sleep for a hundred years till a prince awakens her with a kiss.
In this version Aurore is a tom boy, not a typical princess. Whe her parents allow her outside into the garden at 10 years old for the first time she immediately falls to gardening. As the years pass she happily (against her mothers wishes) gardens, builds fires, talks to the common people and gets a tan (something a princess isn't supposed to have).
On her sixteenth birthday the kingdom is suddenly plagued with disaster - the sky rains blood, death comes, wolfs hound the streets. Thinking this is all her fault: a result of her fate, Aurore runs away to an enchanted forest where her true fate is to be played out.
A great book to read for those who love fairytales retold.

Challenges:
2009 YA Challenge
999 (YA)
Once Upon a Time III

Dewey's 24 hour read-a-thon: An Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah

Pages read total: 751 (+ 66 pages of picture books)
Books read: Finished Bel Canto by Ann Pratchett, read What I Was by Meg Rosoff, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, An Elgy for Easterly, Mrs Biddlebox (pic book) and The Viewer by Gary Crew
Total reading time: approx 12 hours


I woke up fairly tired this morning after 4 hours sleep but picking up this book soon had me awake and interested again.

An Elegy for Easterly is a collection of short stories all revolving around different people from Zimbabwe, people of all classes suffering from similar problems.
Presidents wifes left to suffer after the husband dies of AIDS, families cheated by neighbours who borrow money to eascpe to the Western World, women unable to have children who are judged by all, families seeing yet another young daughter marrying a man with AIDS who has already buried two wifes.
The themes are recurring: AIDS, deception, corruption, the black market and the ever increasing prices and political promises that can reck a nation.
I never read short stories one after another as I find that they merge into one another, but with this collection each character was held seperately in my mind, each life story complete in itself.
A collection I would definately recommend to others.

Challenges:
2009 Pub Challenege
100 Shots of Short
A-Z Title
Orbis Terrarum
999 (African Reads and short story collection)
Olympic Challenge