So I said I was done with challenges....

I had picked my 6 challenges for 2010, I had decided 6 at one time and no more then I read Eva's post, knowing I was weak willed, and saw a challenge I couldn't resist! Grrr!!!!!

Our Mutual Read is a Victorian reading challenge offering participants different levels of participation. I'm going for Level 2: 8 books, at least 4 written during 1837 - 1901. The other books may be Neo-Victorian or non-fiction. I'm also participating in the Short Story Mini Challenge:read 12 short stories written or taking place between 1837 - 1901 and post a review.
I guess in comparrison to most people I have read a lo of Victorian Literature but as an English Literature graduate I feel I should have read so much more. And I'm not going to kick myself too much for participating as I will use it to help me with the 1001 list.

Here is a potential list, I have starred 4 that I definately want to read.
Victorian Literature - Old and trusted friends:
The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy*
Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens*
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Born in Exile – George Gissing

Victorian Literature - Those I've been meaning to get to:
Hunger – Knut Hamsun (Been on mount tbr forever)
A Woman’s Life – Guy de Maupassant
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Warden – Anthony Trollope
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Endymion - Benjamin Desraeli
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell

Victorian Literature - A second chance:
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I must give this another try after a teacher killed it)
Almayer's Folley - Joseph Conrad
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (A reread)*
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson

Neo-Victorian:
Affinity - Sarah Waters (I love this lady's work)*
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber (I loved this and would love to reread it)
A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
The Court of the Air - Stephen Hunt

Non-Fiction:
The Madwoman in the Attic - SM Gilbert (a critique of the representation of women in Victorian fiction)
What the Victorians Did For Us - Adam Hart Davis
The London Underworld in the Victorian Period: Authentic First Person Accounts by Thieves, Beggers and Prostitutes - Henry Mayhew

Short Stories:
Just So Stories - Rudyard Kipling
The Yellow Wallpaper and other stories - Charlotte Gilman Perkins

Victorian Children's Stories:
Something from my CS Lewis Anthology
Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (which to my shame I have never read)
The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
The Water Babies - Charles Kinsley

My Reads:
Short Stories:
Amy Foster - Joseph Conrad
The Imaginative Woman - Thomas Hardy
The Boy's Veto - Thomas Hardy

My Thoughts: Fox Girl by Nora Okja Keller

I spent my snowy afternoon watching TV and then finishing the novel Fox Girl. The novel is set primarily in America Town in Korea. Sookie and Huyan Jin are best friends from two different parts of the town. Sookie's mum has lots of American GIs as 'boyfriends' whilst Huyan Jin's father dotes on her whilst running a corner shop which sells both Korean and American sweets and drinks. When Sookie's mum suddenly disappears the world her mum works in suddenly becomes apparent. Sookie is soon forced to work the clubs and look for American GIs to be her boyfrind. After a revelation Huyan Jin soon finds that the world of America Town which she had always looked up to is fast becoming her only possible means of escape.

The novel created a world for me which we know exists but tend to shy away from. The girls in the novel have to stoop to the lowest levels to finds means and ways to stay alive, creating women and men who are hardened to their loved ones. The myth of the fox girl runs throughout the novel - a fox who had it all but wanted to become human.
Read for my Olympic Challenge.

Theatre: War Horse

Yesterday was a very good day, not only did school get cancelled for today before even a single drop of snow had fallen - we have about 2 inches now so the whole country has ground to a halt - I got a phone call whilst I was in the pub (Christmas coke after work) asking if I wanted to go and see War Horse in London. Of course I said yes and was on the coach and on my way within 5 minutes.
The play War Horse is based on the fantastic childrens novel by Micheal Morpurgo. Set in the UK just before the Great War Albert is given a horse to raise and train in order to save his father's farm. He and the horse (Joey) become great friends and of course being a kids book the horse becomes the most desired horse in the country. When the war starts horses are sold to the army, including Joey. In grief Albert also joins the war. The story then continues throughout the war showing both of the characters plight during the war.

I rarel say this, but the play was even better than the book. The horses were puppets manouvered through three actors. The movement of the horse was perfect whether it was racing, moving its ears or listening to Albert talk. After a little while you forgot that the horse was a pupppt and didn't 'see' those actors creating its movement. The actors were also perfect. And, being a girl I cried. We took 20 kids from school from 11 to 16 years old, they were perfectly behaved and fascinated by the play, and to make it even better we came out of the theatre to walk through London's theatre land in the snow.

Heres the trailer to tempt you, its been named in The Times the play of the decade and its certainly the best thing I have ever seen:
The Trailer



I'm off to build a snowman and brave the walk to the shops to grab some fish and chips, then will be curled up with a book all afternoon. Bliss

The Sunday Salon

I haven't posted anything on my blog for ages, I have still been reading but only in short snatches and very slowly. In a funny old mood, Christmas and New Year always make me feel strange one minute I'm fine then next sad with no way to explain why even to myself! But, I have one week left at work and then two weeks and 4 days off! I'll be going home for a few days but generally I'll be spending a lot of time in doors chilling out with books, so I thought I'd create a Christmas reading list for myself.


I've got to finish Book 2 (should have done this by Thursday just gone) and Book 3 of Les Miserables. I'm loving this at the moment but need to sit down for a long old session of reading as at the moment I don't feel like I'm getting far.


I've got The Well of Lost Plots and Serena to read, both are bookrings. I don't know anything about Serena accept that it is from my favourite publishers, Cannongate. The Well of Lost Plots will be a great comfort read.

I have a gorgeous boxed edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (with introductions by Will Self and Zadie Smith) which my mum brought me years ago which I'm planning to read over Christmas week.

I've also got a stack of other books which I need to get to, hopefully I'll be able to knock off lots of books off the tbr pile to make space for those I will recieve for Christmas and my birthday

My final challenge for 2010

I decided in 2010 to cut back on challenges, no more than 6 open at one time. This is my final one, I've been holding back till I found a Non-Fiction challenge which will challenge me and this one looked ideal.

The Social Justice Challenge is held here looked perfect to get me reading about things in the real world and also broaden my knowledge.
The description of the challenge:

Reading opens new worlds to us and can sometimes expose the injustice in our own. We have all been powerfully moved by the injustice we have learned about in books and decided we wanted to host a reading project that would encourage us to learn more about these issues in the world.

It can sometimes be overwhelming and disheartening to read about the powerful obstacles others in the world face. So this reading challenge is different. Not only will we be encouraging you to learn about issues of social injustice in the world through books, essays, blogs, and other media–we will also be challenging you to take an action step and make a difference as a result of what you’ve learned. Let’s put our knowledge into action and make a difference!

We have chosen to focus each month on a different area of social injustice in the world. During that month, we are asking that you read something from the list of resources or watch something suggested by that month’s host. That will complete step one of this challenge: Learn.

Throughout the month we will also be posting ways you can make a difference in this area. Don’t worry, we will provide several different options at many different levels of commitment. The important thing is to take an action step towards doing something to change things! That fulfills step 2–Take Action.

We realize that as the year goes on some months will be busier for you than others. Some themes may be more important to you personally than others. So the challenge is customizable each month to fit your needs by the month.

When you sign up the Social Justice Challenge you are committing to 12 months participation. The amount you participate each month, however, is up to you.

Activist–At this level you are agreeing to participate fully in the activities of the month. You will read at least one full length book as well as choosing something from the other media list. You will also complete an action step. By signing up for the challenge, you agree to do a minimum of 3 months at this level. You do not have to decide which months in advance.

Intern–You agree to either read something from the reading resources (it can be an essay or children’s book) or choose to do something from the other media list. You will complete an action step. You do not have to decide which months in advance.

Volunteer– You agree to read at least one of the recommended blog posts, essays or shorter novels. You will complete an action step. You do not have to decide in advance which months they will be.

Observer — Need a break? Just follow along with the blog for the month. This month has no commitment level. You can only do a maximum of three months at this level.

Topics covered, Jan - Dec in order:
Religious Freedom
Water
Domestic Violence & Child Abuse
Hunger
AIDS Crisis
Genocide
Poverty
Illiteracy and Education
Modern Day Slavery
Homelessness & Refugees
Women’s Rights
Child Soldiers & Children in War

My participation will be varied throughout, I'm hoping to be able to read a book a month but know that this may be a struggle with my other commitments. I'm looking forward to seeing what the activites involve and taking part. I'll be planning my reading a month in advance to give me a chance to grab the books, for January I have ordered Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun as my non-fiction read, I also hope to read Anil's Ghost by Ondaatje which I think I have on my shelves somewhere.

My Thoughts: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Another rain swept day here in old Blighty, so I decided to stay in and curl up with a book, blanket and lots of cups of tea. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane was the perfect book for this type of lazy Sunday afternoon. Its what I would call a comfort book, not much thought or effort needed.

Connie starts the book with her Oral exam in preparation to become a Proffessor of American Colonial history at Harvard. She agress to spend her summer cleaning out an old misused house just a town away from Salem.
Inside the old house she stumbles upon a key and a slip of paper with the words Deliverance Dane written on it. Eager to find out what this means she starts researching the name, and finds that it is that of a woman hung as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.
This knowledge then leads her to continue her reseacrh to make it part of her dissertation, but the research soon becomes personal and she is on the hunt for a book to prove that some of the women hung in the Salem Trials were actual witches.
Its full of huge coincidences, links to her past, a fit lover and she misses massive clues which you can see spread out before you. Despite that it was a good read if your looking for something easy to curl up with during the holidays.

One thing it has done is make me want to find out more about Witches throughout history. I was thinking that I might do this and link it to the Women Unbound Challenge.
Has any book you've read lead you to read up more about the subject?

Sunday Salon: Booker Shortlist 2008

Today is a good old lazy Sunday (next week is hectice so this is much needed). I have to do a few boring jobs around the house then I'm free to read. I need to read the next book of A Suitable Boy for my bookcrossing readalong. Then continue with Survival in the Killing Fields and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane both of which I'm really enjoying. I might also rewatch Twilight as I'm off to see New Moon later in the week, or possibly coninue making so homemade photoalbums for friends Christmas gifts.

I am a part of a group of bookcrossers who each purchase a book from the Booker list and then pass it around the circle. So far I have read 5 of the books on the shortlist and have only the winner left to go.
Aravind Adiga The White Tiger
Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture
Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies
Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs
Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency
Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole

Yesterday I finished reading The Secret Scripture which I was really looking forward to - mainly because of the gorgeous cover work.
This book is divided into two narratives that of a doctor running a mental institute and then his eldest patient. The doctor has to close the institute and in doing so has to assess the patients to decided who will need to be replaced and who will be sent back out into the world. The institute is full of elderly patients who have been secioned there for decades. He is fascinated by one patient Mrs McNutly, she is the oldest surviving, and longest patient to have lived at the institute, her notes are in tatters so he needs to work to find out just why she was placed there in the first place.
Mrs McNutly's section of the novel deals with her desire to write down the past, she knows that her time is growing nearer and feels the need to journal the events leading up to her sectioning. We hear of her family, the much loved father and distant mother. Her teenage years and the early days of her wedding and the events which led her to the institution.

It sounds a great read, but I just felt that it didn't work. The joint narrative meant that we were learning things of her past to quickly. It was her childhood which facinated me. I would have preferred a chronological tale, rather than one held in flashbacks as in this novel they weakened the story. The ending was far to obvious from early on in the novel. What this book really needed was a good editing.

I'm hoping to read The White Tiger before the year is out, I borrowed my brothers copy (he read it in a day) way back in February so really should return it soon. I have to say that I think many of the shortlist where just okay books, with the exception of A Fraction of the Whole I didn't feel any were good enough to be considered for the Booker Prize. The 2009 list however looks much more promising, I have read 2 of those so far and they are of a higher standard.

I'm hoping eventually to have read all of the Booker winners and a large number of the shortlist. Do you have any recommendations? Or do you have any award winning books whose entry ou thought was questionnable?