The 2020 AW Reading Challenge! Perfectly visionary.

I could definitely see thinking Holden was cool as a teen. I feel like I have to have read it, but I honestly don't remember it. I too, can't stand the Holdens of the world. It's funny how our views of things change as adults...when we're more aware of people's actions and treatment of others.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"-a Sikh greeting)

Finally figured out this site is open for business. Hope you're all had the chance to smell the cleaner air and that you've all stayed healthy.

Here forthwith is my list. You'll note that I've got many more than 12 books on it. My goal is not to read all of them this year, but to read as many of them as possible...and give myself choices in the process. You'll also note that the categories are only rarely similar to the ones Chris uses. That's because I wasn't sure when or even if the AW site would be up in time to do it, so I devised my own. I've tweaked it quite a bit since the beginning of the year. Where correspondences with Chris' categories exist, I've placed his category or categories in brackets next to the book or the category in my list.

Note that I've got 4 – count 'em, 4! – doorstoppers on my list, not to mention 3 books set at least partially in Lebanon and 4 set all or part in China...but this year there are no Doorstopper or East Meets West categories in Chris' list. Cue theatrical oh, no! gestures...with a hidden smile and twinkle in the eye. I've added those categories in in fancy brackets (not sure what the formal name for those things is).

BOOK CHALLENGE 2020: A Trilogy, a Bunch of Pairs and a Solo Solo

Trilogy:
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory Done [Eyes to the Skies, Tag Team]
The Outstretched Shadow Done [Getting Started, Loose Ends] {Doorstopper}
To Light a Candle Done {Doorstopper}
When Darkness Falls Done
Pairs:
Two Memoirs by Novelists [Still Time for More Chapters, The Heart and Mind of a Writer]
Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan {East Meets West}
Traveling with Pomegranates (with her daughter Ann Monk Taylor) Done [Anyward, ho!, Tag Team]
Two Pictorial Histories of Places on the US West Coast (Research) [Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Chetco: The Story of a River and Its People by Mike Adams Ongoing
Balboa Park: A Millennium History by Roger M. Showley Done [You Really Shouldn't Have]
By & About Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran: His Life and World by Jean Gibran and Kahlil Gibran (his nephew) Ongoing [Howdy, Stranger, Tag Team] {East Meets West}
Spirits Rebellious [No Hablo] {East Meets West} or TBD
Two Works of Historical Fiction Set in China {East Meets West}
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong [No Hablo, Face Your Fears (It's Looong! Am I going to keep all the names straight??)] {Doorstopper}
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Two Mysteries or Books of Crimes
The House Without the Door by Elizabeth Daly Done
TBD
Two Books of Short Fiction for Christmas [Holiday Cheer, Bits & Pieces]
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James Done
Twelve Tales of Christmas by Cathleen Townsend [Support the Home Team (AW's CathleenT)]
Two Books by Mary Stewart
Airs Above the Ground Done [I Spy, Old World Charm]
The Gabriel Hounds {East Meets West}
Two Books about Music [Take Note, Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Maestros and Their Music: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting by John Mauceri
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks [Revenge of the Nerds]
Two Books I Came By in Unusual Ways [It's Kind of a Funny Story]
California Vaquero by A. R. Rojas
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Two Novels Set in the Paris Opera [Take Note, Old World Charm]
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux [No Hablo, What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Two Books with the Same Alliterative Pattern in their Titles [Old World Charm, Literal Literary Alliteration]
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
The Princess and the Pilgrim by Mary Stewart
Two Classic Books for Girls (Research) [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Two Books about War I Planned to Read Last Year
March by Geraldine Brooks [Succinct]
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman [Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Two Books about Trees [Just the Facts, Ma'am]
The Songs of Trees by David George Haskell [Revenge of the Nerds]
The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker's Reflections by George Nakashima
Two Books for Research Written in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Solo: A Book of Poetry to Read Throughout the Year [Bits & Pieces]
Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry Ongoing {Doorstopper, East Meets West}

I'll paste my reviews of the books I've read in the next post.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I've been doing these reviews as I went along. They're in the order I read them.

Reviews:
*The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory: During last year's move, I discovered a slew of fantasy books Mr. Siri had picked up at the local little free libraries near our old home and at St. Vinnie's. He had the first two volumes of the Obsidian Trilogy. They weren't on my to-be-read list for last year, but they were calling to me. I dipped into the first book and then ordered the final volume.
Yes, it's long. Yes, there were more passages of world building than necessary. But I enjoyed it.

No, I didn't find her Demons believable, but then I usually don't. Like most people, the authors made them too much like evil humans. Wouldn't immortal evil look more impersonal?

But those things are quibbles. The theme of the book as a whole resonated with me profoundly. The other characters are compelling, and the plot (so far) makes sense. So I like it.

(*)The House Without the Door by Elizabeth Daly: Fast and fun. Gives a good picture of the speech and customs of upper middle class New Yorkers during the '30s and '40s. The plot is mostly plausible, except for some actions of the unwilling detective. Daly uses a fantastic slight of hand so that it's hard to guess whodunit before she reveals it near the end.

Unlike her other books, there seems to be little connection between the biblio-interests of Gamage, the unwilling detective, and the plot. Also, unlike those other books, I had no desire for the book to be longer and develop themes better. Not a whole lot of depth, but for this one, that's okay.

[Later note: This one didn't stay with me. I'm not remembering much at all.]

*Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Monk Taylor: I started reading this one before I read the mystery. My wrists were hurting me, and the next volume of the Obsidian Trilogy is even longer and heavier than the first. So I picked this slender paperback, a book I thought might serve as a comp title for one of my own unpublished memoirs.

This book, while slender, is not a quick read. It's the sort of book it's best to read slowly and savor. I read the mystery to take a break from the slow, but rewarding reading on this one. And then I was asked to beta read someone's novel. Author name, title and comments of that book redacted. Let's just say that once I got back to reading Sue Monk Kidd's book, which requires some careful thought, it was blissful, after that weary period of dashing through a book with lots of motion and no arc. Very interesting getting to read those two in tandem.

One of the pleasures of this book was watching Sue Monk Kidd develop the ideas for The Secret Lift of Bees during her travels with her daughter, and watching her daughter come to terms with also needing to be a writer. Highly recommended for writers, provided you're not needing a quick reading fix.

*To Light a Candle by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory: The second and longest volume of the Obsidian Trilogy. There were a few places where the world-building felt redundant and there were more eye-rolls about the Demons. But other than that it was an enjoyable and rewarding read.

*When Darkness Falls by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory: The final and shortest (but still long) volume of the Obsidian Trilogy. Despite a few notable typos, this was the best, most moving and most satisfying book of the three. I'm pretty sure Lackey and Mallory had "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" in mind when they picked the title; it's highly appropriate.

My only serious complaint: unfortunately, I was reading about plague in this book right at the heart of the coronavirus crisis in Oregon. Not what I wanted to be doing right then.

*The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James: Four short stories that P.D. James wrote for publication during the Christmas season. The last and shortest story is a parody of an Agatha Christie: fun, but not James' finest work. But the first three are well done. The title story is a real puzzle, narrated by an aged mystery writer who's remembering something that happened when she was on holiday leave during WWII; I couldn't figure it out until James sprung it. A Very Commonplace Murder isn't particularly Christmasy and there's no detection as there is in the other three; in some ways, it's more of a psychological thriller; and the ending makes the whole thing ambiguous. The Boxdale Inheritance was the one I liked best; who killed an old man in the past? The answer is one of those oh, no! situations. Another one I didn't get until she sprung it.

Balboa Park: A Millennium History by Roger M. Showley: A gift from my youngest brother. Both of us were sort of raised in Balboa Park, and so the book was a trip down memory lane. Not a rip-roaring read. Lots of boring details about costs. Moderately small print in a pale gray-sepia that was hard on the eyes. But it was helpful for me personally. I read it for research, and yeah, there's some information here I might be able to use. There are some good photos (plus some that weren't so good) and a useful series of maps showing the Park at various points in time.

Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart: Not my favorite Mary Stewart book by any means. The protag starts by making a catty remark about the lady she's lunching with. Then the protag shows a determined pettiness. Not the kind of person I want to hang out with. Despite that, I had reasons to continue, so I did finish the book. But no, not my favorite. It's not romantic suspense, but an espionage thriller, which isn't my favorite genre, largely because of its predictability. There's a predictable chase: the predator hunting the MC, then the MC and her husband turn around and hunt the predator. There's even that cliché: the person falling on the railroad tracks just before the train arrives; this person is my favorite in the book, a charming teenage boy. Naturally, the protag rescues him. The protag's husband commits a mild torture, and even though it was provoked, it didn't exactly endear the guy to me. And all but one of the other women in the book are as uncongenial as possible. Bah humbug!

But there are a few nice bits, my favorite being the one where the protag escapes the bad guy through a well-placed lift: she ends up in a wine cellar, a former dungeon, and as she makes her way between the pillars, she compares herself to Little Red Riding Hood making her way through the forest. Nonetheless, while I loved that and a few other images, it's not as enjoyable as anything else by Mary Stewart I've read.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Oh...and about The Great Gatsby. Didn't read it until I was in my 50s. The first chapter was a bore, but I liked the rest. However...I'm a huge fan of mansions; I'm the sort who got stranded in Newport RI and loved every minute of it. I loved the writing as well as the setting. The lack of relatable characters didn't bother me; maybe it would now, but then it seemed to fit Nick's words at the end that none of the characters was much of a good guy. Interesting that Fitzgerald would be saying that about what he ardently (and successfully) chose to become.

I've never read Catcher in the Rye and am grateful that I will never need to read it for a class. The book came out while I was in school, and everything I ever heard about it sounded like the kid was an immature negative jerk. No thanks.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Finished Ill Wind. Decent concept, lots of action, some meteorology... but I got very annoyed with the MC. She was too perfect (without knowing she was perfect), spent too much time flirting (pretty much every male in the cast wants to bed her), too oblivious to obvious clues, too ready to ignore red flags and push away help... The story pulled off a strong ending, but my irritation at having been stuck with that character through the whole thing leaves a bit of a sting still.

Another challenge break, and I'm still considering what to swap out my water book for (I have a potential contender but am not sure if it's watery enough.)

Updated List (10/12):
1 - I spy: The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind, by Jackson Ford. DONE 3/8/20
2 - Eyes to the skies: Ill Wind, by Rachel Caine. DONE 5/16/20
3 - Take note: Crystal Singer, by Anne McCaffrey. DONE 3/8/20
4 - By its cover: Camp Tiger, by Susan Choi. DONE - 1/4/20
5 - Setting sail: A book taking place mostly or all on water. - The Bone Ships, by RJ Parker. (PAUSED - MAY SWAP)
6 - Getting started: The Rage of Dragons, by Evan Winter. DONE - 1/19/20
7 - Three-color mythology: They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott. DONE - 4/7/20
8 - Out of this world: Cards of Grief, by Jane Yolen. DONE 3/13/20
9 - Tag team: Bob, by Wendy Mass & Rebecca Stead. DONE - 1/28/20
10 - Succinct: Updraft, by Fran Wilde. DONE - 4/17/20
11 - You might also like. . .: A book recommended by someone real, or by a bot. Highfire, by Eoin Colfer.
12 - No hablo: Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes, translated by Walter Starkie. DONE - 2/26/20

I finished Cibola Burn. As always, James Corey delivered the goods. I love this series and this book didn't make me love it any less. The excitement in every chapter's ending makes you want to read to the next to see what happens. Most of the time, I get through these books really quickly even though they are all at least 500 pages because I can't stop reading it.

I also finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. If you are a fan of alternate universes, Murakami is the author for you. If you are a fan of the bizarre and the strange, you'll probably like this book. It's almost 1400 pages and every chapter to the end gets even stranger than the last.

Aomame takes a taxi to a job, but the taxi gets stuck on the expressway and she's going to be late. Upon the advice of the taxi driver, she takes an underground tunnel that leads her to her destination. She does the job she was required to do(she is an assassin), but then starts noticing subtle changes in the world. The police carry automatic handguns instead of revolvers and she has no recollection of major news stories, among other things. Tengo is a math teacher and a writer. Fuka-Eri is a high school student who is dyslexic. Sakigake is religious cult and 1Q84 is a parallel universe. This will take you on twists and turns throughout the lives of Aomame, Tengo and Fuka-Eri. There are a few other characters obviously, but these three are the major players. There were times where I wondered why this book needed to be so long, but at the same time, I understood why it needed to be so long. It definitely gives you the full spectrum and leaves you hanging until the very end.



1. Out of this world: Cibola Burn by James Corey - DONE

2. Tag team: Still Life with Crows by Preston and Child - DONE

3. Ripped from the headlines: The Shoemaker: The Anatomy of a Psychotic by Flora Rheta Schreiber - DONE

4. No hablo: IQ 84 by Haruki Murakami - DONE

5. Succinct: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - DONE

6. Loose ends: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - DONE

7. Face Your Fears: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

8. I Spy: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre - DONE

9. No Cliff Notes this Time: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger - DONE

10. Better Known For...Bossypants by Tina Fey - DONE

11. Mail Call: House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

12. Old World Charm: The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas - DONE

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I've finished the Kahlil Gibran bio, which I received from my MIL's estate back in 2006. About time I read it.

*Kahlil Gibran: His Life and World by Jean Gibran and Kahlil Gibran (his cousin): This was no zippy read. Some of the pages were smudged during the printing process. Some of the passages were boring. Sometimes the authors knew so much they forgot to explain things to their readers. Nonetheless, this may be the most important book to me personally I will read this year.

For starters, Kahlil Gibran and my paternal grandmother both came from the same Lebanese hill town of Besharri (which we always pronounced Besh-WIRE, which may or may not be accurate). So, if any book could help explain my Dad to me, this was it. Although Gibran and my Dad lived very different lives and had very different personalities, there were some character traits in common. Dad habitually made grandiose statements about himself. While Gibran was a quieter, more reticent man, he nonetheless made grandiose statements about his background. Not as wonderful as he made it out to be. His father, who stayed in Lebanon, almost certainly committed fraud. Gibran's life as a young immigrant in America was drab at best. My Dad used to quote a line a poetry from a book he had access to as a kid, "But I had an Aladdin's lamp," meaning that the poetry and literature got him through a very rough childhood. I'm seeing a holistic picture here of what Gibran did and what my Dad did: making up stories to make life palatable.

One thing that probably came from his Lebanese background was a belief in reincarnation. Gibran's family were Maronite Catholics; my father's family were Orthodox Christian. Both believed in reincarnation. The book mentions that there were Druze living in that hill town also. And thanks to having read a book about little known Middle Eastern religions as part of this challenge a few years ago, I know that the Druze believed in reincarnation. I'm pretty sure that proximity explains why two Lebanese families belonging to two different Christian sects believe(d) what their neighbors did.

A great deal of the book was devoted to the American women (and one man) who served as Gibran's muses, mentors and patrons. The poet Josephine Peabody was the first person to call him a Prophet. Mary Haskell, who was not wealthy, provided the funds that made it possible for him to write and work as an artist. (He originally came to people's notice as an artist, rather than as a writer.) She also tutored him in English, beyond what he got in school, so that he could translate his thoughts from Arabic into English. Many passages we admire today are due to her tutelage. Mary and Kahlil hoped to marry, but due to a whole slew of problems, never did. (My WASP mother had some problems with certain members of her family when she married my Lebanese father. But by comparison, my parents had it easy.)

Mary (and also Josephine to a lesser extent) kept extensive journals, which the authors of this bio carefully explored. The result is that this book is richer in understanding the inner workings of its characters than most novels are. And because these particular characters were attracted to the profound, the book is rich in profundities. Not the apparently easy ones of Kahlil's aphorisms, but the hard work it took to get there. (It reminded me of my own late night talks in the late '60s/early '70s.) It was good reading a biography where the inner life was as carefully researched as the outer life.

Thanks to this book, I'm considering writing a novel based on story of Gibran and his muses. However, he had a lot of bad habits that I'd find difficult to make appealing. He smoked heavily and died from cirrhosis of the liver. Not sure how I'd get around those stumbling blocks.

After removing one pair and substituting a shorter book for a long one, my still ridiculously challenging challenge now looks like so:

BOOK CHALLENGE 2020: A Trilogy, a Bunch of Pairs and a Solo Solo

Trilogy:
The Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory Done [Eyes to the Skies, Tag Team]
The Outstretched Shadow Done [Getting Started, Loose Ends] {Doorstopper}
To Light a Candle Done {Doorstopper}
When Darkness Falls Done
Pairs:
Two Memoirs by Novelists [Still Time for More Chapters, The Heart and Mind of a Writer]
Where the Past Begins by Amy Tan {East Meets West}
Traveling with Pomegranates (with her daughter Ann Monk Taylor) Done [Anyward, ho!, Tag Team]
Two Pictorial Histories of Places on the US West Coast (Research) [Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Chetco: The Story of a River and Its People by Mike Adams Ongoing
Balboa Park: A Millennium History by Roger M. Showley Done [You Really Shouldn't Have]
By & About Kahlil Gibran
Kahlil Gibran: His Life and World by Jean Gibran and Kahlil Gibran (his nephew) Done [Howdy, Stranger, Tag Team] {East Meets West}
Spirits Rebellious [No Hablo] {East Meets West} or TBD
Two Works of Historical Fiction Set in China {East Meets West}
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong [No Hablo, Face Your Fears (It's Sooo Long! Am I going to keep all the names straight??)] {Doorstopper}
Peony in Love by Lisa See
Two Mysteries
The House Without the Door by Elizabeth Daly Done
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie
Two Books by Mary Stewart
Airs Above the Ground Done [I Spy, Old World Charm]
The Gabriel Hounds {East Meets West}
Two Books about Music [Take Note, Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Maestros and Their Music: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting by John Mauceri
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks [Revenge of the Nerds]
Two Novels Set in an Opera House [Take Note, Old World Charm]
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux [No Hablo, What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon [Armchair Voyages -> Italy]
Two Books with the Same Alliterative Pattern in their Titles [Old World Charm, Literal Literary Alliteration]
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
The Princess and the Pilgrim by Mary Stewart
Two Classic Books for Girls (Research) [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Two Books about War I Planned to Read Last Year
March by Geraldine Brooks [Succinct]
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman [Just the Facts, Ma'am]
Two Books for Research Written in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] Century [What Your Great-Grandparents Read]
The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Two Books I Came By in Unusual Ways [It's Kind of a Funny Story]
California Vaquero by A. R. Rojas
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
Two Books of Short Fiction for Christmas [Holiday Cheer, Bits & Pieces]
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D. James Done
Twelve Tales of Christmas by Cathleen Townsend [Support the Home Team (AW's CathleenT)]
Solo: A Book of Poetry to Read Throughout the Year [Bits & Pieces]
Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry Ongoing {Doorstopper, East Meets West}

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Hello everyone! Just thought I'd touch base. I am working my way through Crime and Punishment and House of Leaves right now. These are the last two on my list and it's taking me forever. I'm not sure that I'm a huge fan of either, but maybe I will think differently when I'm finished.

Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Just finished:

*Maestros and Their Music: The Art and Alchemy of Conducting by John Mauceri: Mauceri uses anecdotes to help his readers understand what the world of conductors is really like and what it's really about. (Hint: the word "conductor" also has the electrical meaning.) This makes the book much richer and easier to remember than a textbook. Mauceri conducted classical, opera and pops, and was a leader in the movement for symphonies to play the soundtracks of movies live while the movie shows on a screen. He was Bernstein's assistant for 18 years and knew a great many of the great conductors of the late 20[SUP]th[/SUP] Century. The result is a book that's well worth reading if you're interested in any of the above.

Verboten: Much as I love The Brothers Karamazov, I can't say the same for Crime and Punishment. The whole point of the crime never made sense to me.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Chris P.!

I finally finished Crime and Punishment. It took me forever in between reading things that weren't so...heavy. Maybe this classic was lost on me, but I was not a fan. I feel like the man just killed the ladies because they were in the way when he was trying to steal money. I guess the representation of how guilty he felt afterwards, was a little interesting. But, feeling guilty after you axe murder someone seems to be an appropriate response.

I'm changing my "Mail Call" challenge book to "The Color Purple." A book I've always wanted to read, but never picked up. There's a lot of those.

1. Out of this world: Cibola Burn by James Corey - DONE

2. Tag team: Still Life with Crows by Preston and Child - DONE

3. Ripped from the headlines: The Shoemaker: The Anatomy of a Psychotic by Flora Rheta Schreiber - DONE

4. No hablo: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami - DONE

5. Succinct: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - DONE

6. Loose ends: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai - DONE

7. Face Your Fears: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - DONE

8. I Spy: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carre - DONE

9. No Cliff Notes this Time: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger - DONE

10. Better Known For...Bossypants by Tina Fey - DONE

11. Mail Call: House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

12. Old World Charm: The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas - DONE

And with that, my challenge is complete! Finished The Color Purple by Alice Walker yesterday. I give it 5 stars.

It takes place in rural Georgia in the 1930's. There are a lot of controversial subjects in this one. Parts were sad, some parts were very hard to read, but it was still a very good book. Celie, a 14-year old girl who's father beats and rapes her constantly, becomes impregnated by him. She has the child, a girl, but her father takes the baby and she never sees her again. Celie writes to God because of how her father treats her. She is forced to marry early to a man they call "Mr." but he physically and emotionally abuses her and has feelings for Nettie, Celie's sister who lives with them. Nellie ends up leaving saying that she'll write, but Celie never receives any letters from her, so she assumes that she's dead. Celie ends up falling for a female character named Shug who treats her nicer than any man ever has. This book is full of heartbreak, but Celie has some realizations that are nice to read about. In reading more about it, I understand that it's been on lists constantly for challenging and/or banned books. With the content, I guess I understand why, but at the same time, I feel like it's something that people should read.

I'm going to take a break for a little while. May try to come back to the challenge and do half of one.

I'm swapping out my Out of Africa book, The Fate of Africa, by Martin Meredith, for The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I found it at a Little Free Library, started reading it, and couldn't stop!

I need to get back to this... keep putting it off. Hopefully after my current read...

I lost interest in The Poisonwood Bible almost half in. It's just... overwritten, in a very literary way, like any chapter of it could have appeared in The New Yorker magazine as a short story. I was enjoying it, but really wanted a plot progression and some emotional weight and authenticity. The voices of the daughters wore on me, they were all way too snarky and cerebral, even the five-year-old. I think the author was trying for a William Faulkner "The Sound and the Fury" approach, crossed with a Holden Caulfield voice, who was mentioned several posts up.

Plus, in light of the current times and current issues, I'm just not comfortable with the mocking tone of it. The Congolese are mocked through the eyes of the narrators, and the narrators, with their 1950s religious fundamentalist mindsets, are set up to the mocked by the readers, by the author. It's pretty standard in the US to mock the 1950s anyway in the media, most of which was/is from the more "enlightened" POV of the 1980s and beyond. The author wasn't adding anything new to the mix by depicting the wife crying because a boxed cake mix brought from the US got ruined in the jungle humidity.

I guess I wanted the characters and their problems handled with more respect, if that makes sense.

Should this book count towards my quota? I'm having a difficult time reading this year, overall.