The 2019 AW Book Reading Challenge! New year, new categories, new books and new friends

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
oneblindmouse: Such novels play more to the anticipated expectations of the reader than to the reality of the situation. I've felt so locked into tropes in my own writing it's sometimes hard to let the story be what I want it to be; so many things are expected to happen it can limit me. I wonder if Luca de Tena intentionally played to the tropes, or if he didn't know any better?

For the category discussion, we do have a "Freebies" category, covering free downloads, gifts, or any thing you didn't have to pay for. Would that work?
 

oneblindmouse

The new me
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
15,670
Reaction score
1,458
Location
Spain
oneblindmouse: Such novels play more to the anticipated expectations of the reader than to the reality of the situation. I've felt so locked into tropes in my own writing it's sometimes hard to let the story be what I want it to be; so many things are expected to happen it can limit me. I wonder if Luca de Tena intentionally played to the tropes, or if he didn't know any better?

Chris P: I reckon Luca de Tena didn't know any better. His novel was probably quite avant-garde in Spanish literary circles at the time (certainly, friends of mine have thought it exceptional!)
 

Verboten

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2018
Messages
151
Reaction score
82
Location
Midwest
Working on trying to finish my last 2. Cutting for Stone and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Hopefully, during the holidays I'll be able to get through them. So close! But, already looking forward to next year! New start, new books!
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
Started on Kim Stanley Robinson's Years of Rice and Salt. Well, it's not promising. He seems like a nice guy from what I know of him in SFF circles, and I respect his efforts to tell a sweeping, multicharacter, epic story. But I've got serious problems with his style. It's more than a little clunky and unlyrical. More than a little reminiscent of the style of the SF age greats: Asimov, Clarke, Herbert. But without their editors, if that makes sense. He also reminds me of James Michener. But without Michener's journalistic feel.

I also feel I'm being told how the viewpoint character experiences things, rather than living it with them. I get the feeling this author doesn't put a lot of himself in his writing. For example, when you read Lord of the Rings, the part where Frodo and Sam are journeying through Mordor to drop the ring into Mt. Doom, you are there, with them... Tolkien based it on his actual experiences in WWI. It's personal. But I am not getting that from Robinson.

Also, to be petty, I hate the names of the characters so far. There's a Psin, a Temur, and a Bold. Most of the the first chapter is Bold, and it's disconcerting for me to read Bold did this, Bold did that all the time. Bold's immortal soul has another name: Monkey. I don't get that either. It seems to be related to Chinese myth, but Bold is of Tibetan-Mongolian ancestry. The premise of the story is that the main characters' souls are reborn through the ages and show us-the-reader, through each life, of how a Buddhist-Arab-Chinese dominated world turned out after Europe is annihilated in the Great Plague. But so far I don't think it's being handled very well because I'm just not feeling it through the main character Bold the laundry detergent.

Full of complaints, am I.
 
Last edited:

Jason

Ideas bounce around in my head
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Messages
6,011
Reaction score
1,036
Location
Nashville, TN
...
But since we're on the topic of next year: Any suggestions for new topics? I've come up with a few more to my master list, but will gladly take more.

What about:

1. Eat it up! A book with a food theme to it? (Not cookbooks...)
2. Digital Diaries - A book about a romance in the digital age (You've Got Mail kind of theme)
3. Across the border - A book about traveling to a foreign country (from the perspective of the author...)
4. Required reading - ​A book you had to read in high school or college (re-reading it for pleasure)
 

oneblindmouse

The new me
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
15,670
Reaction score
1,458
Location
Spain
For my Out of Africa challenge, I finished Henderson and the Rain King by Saul Bellow. People seem to either love or hate this book; I’m in the latter category, as I found it boring and cringeworthy from a 21[SUP]st[/SUP]-century perspective. Although the language was interesting at times, with some original descriptions of the countryside and the heat, and a few gems of wisdom, which is to be expected, given that Bellow was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, the plot was underwhelming. Eugene Henderson, an obnoxious, confused, misogynistic, drunkard American millionaire, has a mid-life crisis and leaves his second wife and their small children to go to Africa to find himself. His adventures among two tribes in darkest 1950s Africa are burlesque, cringeworthy and far from humorous; his reminiscences are boring and self-pitying; his conversations with the western-educated Dahfu, king of the Wariri, are a series of unlikely philosophical self-help discourses based on the metaphor of a lion.
No doubt some of you more erudite Americans in this challenge will be horrified at my review, and I’d be interested in your input.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
What about:

1. Eat it up! A book with a food theme to it? (Not cookbooks...)
2. Digital Diaries - A book about a romance in the digital age (You've Got Mail kind of theme)
3. Across the border - A book about traveling to a foreign country (from the perspective of the author...)
4. Required reading - ​A book you had to read in high school or college (re-reading it for pleasure)

Ah! I meant to reply to this and forgot.

We do have a foodie one: Do you deliver?: A book where food, cooking, restaurants, chefs, etc. play a major role. It will be on the list for next year.

For the required reading, we have: No Cliff Notes this time: A book that’s required reading in most high schools or universities [strike]but that you never read[/strike]. A minor edit seems to do it.

I'm not sure if the travel topic covers the "from the perspective of the author": Anyward, ho!: A travel story (any genre, including non-fiction). Do you mean only first-person or memoirs?

The digital diaries suggestion has me a little stumped, just in that the focus on the "digital" might restrict the number of available titles. Do you envision the digital angle playing a major role in the story? I wonder if any romance set in the last 10 years might be enough "digital age" to cover it? What do you think? Or have I missed your point?
 

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
Oh my gosh, I haven't had anything to report since May. That's kinda sad :tongue But it's down to the combination of having many other things I needed to read that I was more interested in, and long waits between attempts to get the last two books from the library.

Anyway, I did finally finish The Man in the High Castle and it was not to my liking. I had a hard time being interested in any of the characters and therefore about anything they were doing, and the focus on the alt-universe author and his book just seemed tedious to me. By the end, I was interested in about a handful of people, but if just kind of, ends. With a point I think I missed. At least I can check it off.

2. That old black magic: Storm Front by Jim Butcher [Done]
3. Top of the heap: The Outsider by Stephen King (B&N Top 100 Bestsellers, 2018) [Done]
6. Just the (alternative) facts, Ma’am: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick [Done]
14. Crossing the (color) lines: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas [Done]
17. Back in the day: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
23. The butler might have done it: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton [Done]
27. Halcyon days: Timeline by Michael Crichton (published November 1999)
29. You might also like. . .: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (recommended on a list when I was looking for futuristic mysteries last year) [Done]
33. Happy days are here again: Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie [Done]
31. Tag team: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows [Done]
35. No hablo: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [Done]
47. Succinct: Redshirts by John Sclazi [Done]

That just leaves The Nightingale, which I have started and once again have on hold. I should be able to get and finish it before December is over. I hope :)
 

oneblindmouse

The new me
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
15,670
Reaction score
1,458
Location
Spain
I finished The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier, for my Backlist Delight selection (an author’s lesser-known work). Although much better known for her novels, especially Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman’s Creek, and My Cousin Rachel, many of which were made into films, du Maurier also wrote short stories, with The Birds becoming a Hitchcock classic. The Breaking Point, written when du Maurier was fighting paranoia and a mental breakdown caused by her husband’s infidelities, consists of eight rather disturbing short stories in which the fine line between rationality and madness or heightened awareness is blurred, with the protagonists reaching a desperate turning point that determines the outcome. These are haunting stories that do not leave the reader unmoved. The Alibi, The Blue Lenses, and The Lordly Ones are unforgettable.

Only one book left to complete my second challenge of the year!
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
I'm 2/3 through The Years of Rice and Salt. It has improved since my first grousing comments on it -- I look forward to reading it, that's the test of quality to me. However, it's still an oddly structured book composed of disparate separate stories. I think the author bit off more than he could chew.
 

Kjbartolotta

Potentially has/is dog
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 15, 2014
Messages
4,197
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Los Angeles
I'm 2/3 through The Years of Rice and Salt. It has improved since my first grousing comments on it -- I look forward to reading it, that's the test of quality to me. However, it's still an oddly structured book composed of disparate separate stories. I think the author bit off more than he could chew.

Like with all Kim Stanley Robinson books, I tend to have mixed feelings on everything he writes but heartily recommend him in hopes I'll have someone to talk to about his books. I think YoRaS is still one of the best AH books out there, though the history is kinda wonky and the interconnecting stories can wear on you. For me, the writing can veer between excruciating and profound fairly quickly,
 

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
8,943
Reaction score
3,151
Location
In God I dwell, especially in Eugene OR
Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Wasn't reading much for the last couple of months, due to our move. But just finished

Literary Literal Alliteration: Love's Labor's Lost by William Shakespeare Done [The ultimate alliterative title. Quoted in works by Dorothy Sayers. And we saw this one, like we saw Romeo and Juliet, performed in Ashland last year. Very thin plot about a king, who decrees that he and his attending lords will avoid women and engage in a very austere life of learning for a few years. Well, you can guess what happens. A princess and her attending ladies arrive. The whole thing seems a mere pretext for displaying witticisms and providing a satire on the courtship customs of Shakespeare's day. It's highly comic, but does not (repeat: does NOT) have a comedic ending, which is to say no one gets engaged or married...and there is a death. I don't think I'd have made it through this one if I hadn't seen it last year.

I'd created an ambitious reading program for myself this year and am having to jettison almost half of it due to time constraints. Have time, God willing, to read one more book before the end of the year.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
I'm done with The Years of Rice and Salt. Hmm. Hmm. It's a hard book to pin down a reaction to. I'd give it three stars, average, how's that? It wasn't the epic journey I was expecting, it's more a novel of ideas, like Isaac Asimov's Foundation. Most of the ideas are about people of a different culture, Chinese, Sufi, Tibetan Buddhist, might come to philosophical and scientific conclusions about the universe. It's sort of reinventing civilization's wheel without Christianity and white people, in eight or nine different stories, which are more like novellas, though they aren't structured as stories -- they're like those "what if?" alt-history rewrites you might come across on a history forum or newspaper article. Any of the novellas might have made a complete novel in itself if they were fleshed out. They didn't hang together IMO all that well.

There was a concurrent story to the novellas of a group of eight characters who died together in Ancient Tibet who are reincarnated over the eons into the setting of each separate story. In between stories, they hang out in the bardo (Tibetan Buddhist Limbo) discussing their adventures before reincarnating again. As every good Buddhist knows, the goal is to overcome one's karma and rise through the eight worlds to reach Bodhisattva status and finally nirvana. As a former Buddhist I had to chuckle at their reactions to each setback and triumph in the bardo and their very real complaints. But the stories didn't show them progressing or regressing, making the choices that would determine their fate. The choices that would lead them to overcome their Lower Worlds - Hell, Animality, Hunger, Anger. I felt that the author was telling their stories, not showing them. For the life of me he couldn't write an engaging conflict or a character arc. The book wasn't painful to read, I enjoyed it for the most part, even the long-winded bits which were reminiscent of discussions I'd had with my fellow Buddhists. But it overstayed its welcome by a good third. I was going to rate it two and a half stars, but I really did enjoy the last chapters, which tied up the various philosophies and plotline in a way that I thought made sense.

Now I will start on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which promises to go somewhat quicker.

4. What you will read to your grandchildren: A children's book (middle grade or younger).
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L’engle
Picked because it's been hanging around here for a while and I want to see what's going on with the Murry kids. DONE

5. East meets West: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam)
The Last Samurai, the Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori, by Mark Ravina
Japanese history. DONE

6. Just the (alternative) facts, Ma’am: An alternate history.
The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson
What if all of Caucasian Europe had died during the Great Plague? DONE

9. Best friend: A book with a dog on the cover.
Being a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz
Loved her previous book, Inside a Dog. DONE

14. Crossing the (color) lines: A book about a person of color (PoC), any variety, written by an author of the same variety.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemison
Wanted to read this author for a while. DONE
+ Extra Credit: Tales from La Vida, A Latinx Comics Anthology, ed. Frederick Luis Aldama. DONE

17. Back in the day: A historical of any genre.
A Murder in Thebes, Anna Apostolou
Alexander the Great turns amateur detective! DONE

18. Do you deliver?: A book where food, cooking, restaurants, chefs, etc. play a major role.
American Pie, Pascale Le Draoulec
Apples of Uncommon Character, 123 Heirlooms, Modern Classics, and Little Known Wonders, by Rowan Jacobsen DONE

25. Flights of fancy: A book in which airplanes figure prominently.
Jet Age, Sam Howe Verhovek.
The rivalry between the British Comet passenger jet and the Boeing 707. DONE

28. Keep up with the Joneses: A book everyone else seems to have read but you have not.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
I don't know what I will find in here. WORKING ON

39. Tuesdays with Balaam’s Ass: A book with a non-human (animal or fantastic creature) main character.
Tales from Watership Down, Richard Adams
Talking rabbits. DONE

48. Matryoshka books: A book mentioned or discussed inside another book.
Reading Lolita in Teheran, Azar Nafisi
Self-explanatory. DONE

49. What you read: A book you loved as a child.
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin
How did this one hold up through my adult eyes? DONE
 

oneblindmouse

The new me
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
15,670
Reaction score
1,458
Location
Spain
Cobalt Jane, your review of The Years of Rice and Salt sounds very interesting. I'll look out for it and maybe read it next year or in the future.

I finally finished Madness Explained: psychosis and human nature by Richard P. Bentall, for my Be the change you want to see challenge about a sociopolitical issue. Published in 2003, this fascinating though rather dense book for lay people gives a detailed analysis of the history of the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, which is still trapped in the Kraepelinian paradigm where mental illness is seen as a purely biological illness, and treated accordingly and exclusively with neuroleptic drugs prescribed by psychiatrists. Relying on serious scientific research and copious clinical trials, Bentall shows how psychological treatments (supportive CBT counselling of both patients and their families) produces better results than damaging drugs with their drastic side effects. I hope the medical community takes note.

Second challenge completed:

1. I’ve met them! (by an author you’ve met) De un mal golpe by Félix Bayón DONE
2. Down on the farm: (about farming or with an agrarian setting): The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude DONE
3. That old black magic: (a paranormal novel): Best Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens DONE
4. Man’s best friend (with a dog on the cover): The terra-cotta dog by Andrea Camilleri DONE
5. Metrosensual (a romance in a major city): On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulkes. DONE
6. By its cover: (chosen purely for its cover) Ashes of London by Andrew Taylor DONE
7. Flight of fancy: (about airplanes or flying): For your freedom and ours: The Kosciuszko Squadron – forgotten heroes of WWII by Lynne Olson & Stanley Cloud. DONE
8. You might also like: (recommended): March Violets by Philip Kerr DONE
9. Locked up: (taking place in a prison, mental institution, etc.): Los renglones torcidos de Dios by Torcuato Luca de Tena DONE
10. Backlist delight: (lesser-known work by the author): The Breaking Point by Daphne du Maurier DONE
11. Out of Africa: (set in Africa): Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow DONE
12. Be the change you want to see: (about a sociopolitical issue): Madness explained: psychosis and human nature explained by Richard P. Bentall DONE
 

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 20, 2011
Messages
8,943
Reaction score
3,151
Location
In God I dwell, especially in Eugene OR
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Congrats on the second challenge finish, oneblindmouse!

I had devised a rather challenging challenge for myself with 11 pairs of books, even though I knew I might not be able to complete it, since my mother looked to be heading for the finish line, we were likely to move, and I would probably complete my wip first draft. All of those things happened, so I will not be able to complete all 22 books.

But I did complete 12 books of the AW Challenge:

Ye Olde Booke Shoppe: The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith Done
The Butler Might Have Done It: Murders in Volume 2 by Elizabeth Daly Done
Doorstoppers: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Done
No Hablo/Tuesdays with Balaam's Ass: Aesop's Fables, trans. by V.S. Vernon Jones Done
Happy Days Are Here Again: Hand in Glove by Ngaio Marsh (1962) Done
Matryoshka Books: Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan Done
Crossing the (Color) Line: LaRose by Louise Erdrich Done
What You Read: Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving Done
Who Was That, Again?: The Girl Who Loved Camellias: The Life and Legend of Marie Duplessis by Julie Kavanagh Done
Keep Up with the Joneses: Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Done
Still Time for More Chapters: Sing for Your Life by Daniel Bergner Done
Literary Literal Alliteration: Love's Labor's Lost by William Shakespeare Done

It was a mix of very difficult, very easy and some of the spectrum in between. I'm counting this as a win, under the circumstances.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Congrats oneblindmouse and Siri! Siri, even if you didn't reach your goal as long as you had fun you succeeded!

Just two more weeks to 2020 and the next challenge! Any more category suggestions?
 

Tocotin

deceives
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
2,250
Reaction score
1,895
Location
Tokyo, waiting for typhoons
Uh... I'm behind, but I'll try to read what I planned to read. I've finished two more:

1. Doorstoppers: The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. Over 900 pages. I doubt I would have finished it without this challenge, so a big THANK YOU! I took it to my workplace and stowed it inside a sofa and read a little bit of it during lunch breaks, and I was about halfway in when the author got the Nobel Prize :hooray: Now about the book itself: it was okay. I'm glad I read it, because the topic is fascinating – it's about Jacob Frank (1726-1791), who created a sort of new religion which mixed Christianity and Judaism – but I didn't care that much for the writing. Maybe it's my bias as a historical writer, but the author's decision to use very modern, almost bland language just didn't sit well with me. I understand that she probably wanted to avoid being compared to certain famous historical writers, and I know that 18th century Polish was so different that it would have been impossible to write a whole book in it, or even use it in conversations (and of course a lot of the characters spoke other languages than Polish), but it was so juicy and lively that even the lightest sprinkle of it would have invigorated the book so much... The descriptions were done well, though, I could really see all the little villages and towns, the cathedrals, the castles and fortresses, and I appreciated the portrayals of some well-known historical figures – one of them is hinted to be a lesbian, which would have been awesome.

2. Read it again, Sam: The Petty Demon by Fyodor Sologub. I have read this book countless times, I almost know it by heart, and it never disappoints, never loses its charm and vividness. It's a magnificent portrait of a sleepy Russian town at the end of the 19th century, with all its warmth and its ugliness – I know that most of the critics see only the ugliness, but there is warmth and fun and beauty as well. The main character is a great example of a horrible person with no redeeming features at all, but there are moments when one just has to feel pity for him. Ehhh...

:troll

------- STATUS -------

2. That old black magic: A paranormal novel. Dracula in Rokumeikan by Hagi Kōsuke. (The title says it all, but the setting is a twist. Rokumeikan Pavilion was a building in the 19th century Tokyo, famous as a symbol of Westernization of Japan.) started
7. Doorstoppers: A book more than 600 pages. The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. FINISHED
11. Anyward, ho!: A travel novel (any genre, including non-fiction). Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdinand Antoni Ossendowski. (It's an account of an attempt of an escape from Communist-controlled Siberia to India through Mongolia, China and Tibet in the 1920s. I have a hardcover edition of this book with beautiful color pictures!)
13. Learn the Quadrille: A Regency Romance. Band Sinister by K.J. Charles. FINISHED
14. Crossing the (color) lines: A book about a person of color (POC), any variety, written by an author of the same variety. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. FINISHED
17. Back in the day: A historical of any genre. The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields. FINISHED
29. You might also like...: A book recommended by someone real, or by a bot. Hild by Nicola Griffith. FINISHED
30. QUILTBAG: A book with a major LGBT+ character or about an LGBT+ issue. As Music and Splendour by Kate O'Brien. FINISHED
34. Ye olde booke shoppe: A book written before 1800. The Taiheiki: A Chronicle of Medieval Japan, translated by Helen Craig McCullough. (I don't particularly care for samurai or war tales, but there's no popular Japanese culture without Taiheiki, my MC would have known it, I feel that I can't avoid it anymore.) started
35. No hablo: A book originally written in another language (i.e., a translation). Noodle Maker by Ma Jian. (He's one of my favorite writers since I've read Red Dust.)
37. Read it again, Sam: Reread a book you have already read. The Petty Demon by Fyodor Sologub. FINISHED
47. Succinct: A book with a one-word title. Bitter by Francesca Jacobi. FINISHED
 

bdwilson

Dedicated Lurker
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
724
Reaction score
105
Location
Alberta, Canada
Website
www.bdwilson.ca
Finished The Nightingale this weekend. It's a book set in World War II, so I can't say I was expecting to enjoy it, but I thought I would have a higher opinion of it. I was interested in the French resistance aspect, especially the actions of women in the resistance, but I was left with the feeling of that taking up far less of the story than I'd expected, though I'm not sure the number of pages would bear that out. Anyway, in the end I thought it was just okay, and that I probably would have liked it better without the framing device of the character in the future. Ah well.

2. That old black magic: Storm Front by Jim Butcher [Done]
3. Top of the heap: The Outsider by Stephen King (B&N Top 100 Bestsellers, 2018) [Done]
6. Just the (alternative) facts, Ma’am: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick [Done]
14. Crossing the (color) lines: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas [Done]
17. Back in the day: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah [Done]
23. The butler might have done it: A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton [Done]
27. Halcyon days: Timeline by Michael Crichton (published November 1999) [Done]
29. You might also like. . .: Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (recommended on a list when I was looking for futuristic mysteries last year) [Done]
33. Happy days are here again: Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie [Done]
31. Tag team: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows [Done]
35. No hablo: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho [Done]
47. Succinct: Redshirts by John Sclazi [Done]

Here I've left it almost to the last minute, but I finished the challenge before the end!
 

Cobalt Jade

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 21, 2015
Messages
3,289
Reaction score
1,441
Location
Seattle
Well, I finished up my reading challenge. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was... eh. I think it's past its time. Hunter S. Thompson is still very readable but the sacred cows he's goosing in the book are long dead. It did remind me, though, that the era 1950 - 1973 was far more fascistic in America than today, for what that's worth. A friend recommended a read another Thomson piece, an obituary for Richard Nixon, that I liked a lot better. I did like the illustrations for Fear and Loathing by Ralph Steadman, who is actually still alive and working today... they reminded me of my own early illustrative work.

Looking forward to next year's challenge.

4. What you will read to your grandchildren: A children's book (middle grade or younger).
A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Madeleine L’engle
Picked because it's been hanging around here for a while and I want to see what's going on with the Murry kids. DONE

5. East meets West: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam)
The Last Samurai, the Life and Battles of Saigo Takamori, by Mark Ravina
Japanese history. DONE

6. Just the (alternative) facts, Ma’am: An alternate history.
The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson
What if all of Caucasian Europe had died during the Great Plague? DONE

9. Best friend: A book with a dog on the cover.
Being a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz
Loved her previous book, Inside a Dog. DONE

14. Crossing the (color) lines: A book about a person of color (PoC), any variety, written by an author of the same variety.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, N.K. Jemison
Wanted to read this author for a while. DONE
+ Extra Credit: Tales from La Vida, A Latinx Comics Anthology, ed. Frederick Luis Aldama. DONE

17. Back in the day: A historical of any genre.
A Murder in Thebes, Anna Apostolou
Alexander the Great turns amateur detective! DONE

18. Do you deliver?: A book where food, cooking, restaurants, chefs, etc. play a major role.
American Pie, Pascale Le Draoulec
Apples of Uncommon Character, 123 Heirlooms, Modern Classics, and Little Known Wonders, by Rowan Jacobsen DONE

25. Flights of fancy: A book in which airplanes figure prominently.
Jet Age, Sam Howe Verhovek.
The rivalry between the British Comet passenger jet and the Boeing 707. DONE

28. Keep up with the Joneses: A book everyone else seems to have read but you have not.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
I don't know what I will find in here. DONE

39. Tuesdays with Balaam’s Ass: A book with a non-human (animal or fantastic creature) main character.
Tales from Watership Down, Richard Adams
Talking rabbits. DONE

48. Matryoshka books: A book mentioned or discussed inside another book.
Reading Lolita in Teheran, Azar Nafisi
Self-explanatory. DONE

49. What you read: A book you loved as a child.
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin
How did this one hold up through my adult eyes? DONE
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Congrats on finishing! I thought Fear and Loathing was shocking for the sake of being shocking, which might have been so at the time but not by the 90s when I read it. To me it was more of a timepiece than anything. Which isn't bad by itself. For that type of thing, I thought Tom Wolfe's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test was tops.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Yep. New challenge posted tonight��
 

mrsmig

Write. Write. Writey Write Write.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
9,885
Reaction score
7,176
Location
Virginia