2008 Challenges

2nds Challenge Completed

2008-12-23T14:19:00.001-08:00

This was one of my favorite challenges last year, so I was happy to see Joy hosting this again for 2008 and didn’t hesitate to join again.

WHO: Anybody
WHAT: Read 4 books by authors that you have only read one other
WHERE: "Thoughts of Joy..."
WHEN: September, October, November and December, 2008WHY: Because we love to read...why else?

When scanning my TBR list for books for this challenge I found the same thing as last year – it took me all of about 3 minutes to find plenty of authors with book #1 marked as read and book #2 as not read.

These are the books I read for this year’s challenge:

The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel – her first novel is quite different from her memoir A Girl Named Zippy, but I really enjoyed it.
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs – an interesting medical mystery series that can be a bit detail heavy at times, but the mystery is interesting.
The Treatment by Mo Hayder – Hayder’s books are not for the faint of heart, but if you survived Birdman, read this.
Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George – I’m wishing I started reading this series years ago, but it gives me lots to look forward to.

I had fun with this challenge and enjoyed all of the books I read. Thanks for hosting this one again, Joy.

A to Z Challenge Completed

2008-12-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Joy sucked me into this one. In 2006, way back before I started my blog and joined my first reading challenge, I did my own alphabetical challenge. I read (in order) an A to Z by title list of books, followed by an A to Z by Author list. It was fun and I said I probably wouldn’t do it again. Then last year, Joy posted that she was hosting an A to Z reading challenge for 2009. I wavered back and forth for a while and finally decided to give it a shot. I liked the idea of not limiting myself to reading the 52 books in order, but just filling in my list as I finished the books. The requirements really weren’t that strict.

~ align the author's last name or the title of a book (excluding "the", "a", etc.) with its corresponding letter in the alphabet
~ enter a different book for each author and title (total of 52 books)
~ complete the alphabet lists anyway that suits your fancy (i.e.: complete each list separately in alphabetical order, read both "A" entries, then "B" entries, fit whatever you're reading into either list, etc.)
~ complete the challenge in the year 2008
~ enjoy the experience!

Doing this for a second time was a fun experience. I enjoyed most of the books I read. I was able to include many books I was reading for other challenges and only had to really search for a few authors or titles to fill in the blanks.

My list of completed books is here (links are to the reviews on this blog)

Author List

Atkins, Ace - Leavin’ Trunk Blues
Barnes, Linda - The Snake Tattoo
Cussler, Clive - White Death
Dorsey, Tim - Florida Roadkill
Ephron, G.H. - Amnesia
Forster, E.M. - A Room with a View
Gruen, Sarah - Water for Elephants
Hammett, Dashiell - The Maltese Falcon
Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day
Jordan, Hillary - Mudbound
Koryta, Michael - Tonight I Said Goodbye
Levin, Ira - Rosemary’s Baby
Macomber, Debbie - 74 Seaside Avenue
Notaro, Laurie - The Idiot Girls’ Action-Adventure Club
O’Farrell, Maggie - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
Quinlan, Patrick - Smoked
Rosenfelt, David - Dead Center
Schein, Elyse - Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited
Tarkington, Booth - The Magnificent Ambersons
Uruburu, Paula - American Eve
Van Ryn, Don and Susie - Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope
Wood, Patricia - Lottery
Xi, Xu - The Unwalled City
Yarbrough, Steve - The End of California
Zellnik, M.J. - Murder at the Portland Variety

Title List

Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed by Nancy Atherton
Black Wind by Clive and Dirk Cussler
City Boy by Herman Wouk
The Diamond by Julie Baumgold
Echo Burning by Lee Child
Faithless by Karin Slaughter
A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
The Jasmine Moon Murder by Laura Childs
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
London Bridges by James Patterson
The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie
Queen Victoria: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert
Rueful Death by Susan Wittig Albert
Smonk by Tom Franklin
Them Bones by Carolyn Haines
Undercurrents by Ridley Pearson
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin
X-Treme Dating by Cathy McDavid
The Yellow Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

It was enjoyable to do this alphabetical challenge a second time. I probably won’t do it again any time soon since I’ve now done it in slightly different formats twice within 3 years. For those who haven’t tried this yet, I’d encourage you to give it a shot at least once. You’d be surprised how many you’d get just by random selection of your normal reading and you never know when you’ll discover a very good title or author you wouldn’t have read without needing “that letter”.

2008-12-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

This challenge was pretty much a no-brainer for me. I love big fat chunky books. I remember when I was a kid I’d go to the library and browse the shelves for the fat books. I think that’s what helped develop my liking for biographies and historical fiction

Dana hosted this year’s version of THE CHUNKSTER CHALLENGE 2008

These were the guidelines:
To qualify the book must be 450 pps regular type OR 750 pps large text.
You must read FOUR chunksters (one each quarter), you OBVIOUSLY may read more
The Challenge will run Jan 7th, 2008 - Dec 20th, 2008 . . . BUT any chunkster started after Jan 1 qualifies.

I listed 6 books to read for this challenge. I’ve actually read 12 books so far this year that were longer than 450 pages, (and have at least one and maybe two more before the year is out) but I’ll post the ones I had specified to read for the challenge here.

Faithless by Karin Slaughter – book # 5 in her Grant County series. It’s a brutal but well written series that I continue to enjoy despite the cringeworthy aspects and one character that I really don’t like at all.
Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - a classic that I’d never read (nor have I seen any movie version). I thoroughly enjoyed it. A great wintertime read.
Peter the Great by Robert Massie - a huge sweeping biography of a fascinating man.
Black Wind by Clive and Dirk Cussler – another one of my brain candy series.
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone - Biographical fiction about Michelangelo and his work.
Trinity by Leon Uris - big fat chunky historical fiction about Ireland in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s

Thanks Dana – this was an easy challenge for me to complete. I appreciate you taking it on and hosting it this yearl

Decades 08 Challenge Completed

2008-12-02T12:44:00.001-08:00

3M hosted another Decades Challenge this year – appropriately named Decades 08. I didn’t participate in the 2007 version of this, but the rules for the 2008 version made it just too hard to pass up:
The rules were simple:

1. Read a minimum of 8 books in 8 consecutive decades in ‘08.

2. Books published in the 2000’s do not count.

3. Titles could be cross-posted with any other challenge.

4. You could change your list at any time.

I started with a list of 11 books from the 1880’s through the 1980’s. I knew that somewhere along the way I’d read a 1990’s book to round out a dozen decades.

These are the books I read for this challenge:

1880’s - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – a fun classic.
1890’s - The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells - A Science Fiction Classic that I’m very glad I finally read.
1900’s - A Room With a View by E.M Forster - I really enjoyed this book and the movie too.
1910’s - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington - an American classic about changing times.
1920’s - The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse - lighthearted humor that has withstood the test of time.
1930’s - The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - a classic of noir detective fiction that I should have read ages ago.
1940’s - City Boy by Herman Wouk - a charming tale of growing up with a bit of humor tossed in with the heartwarming stuff and nostalgia.
1950’s - Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak - a classic that I’d never read (nor have I seen any movie version). I thoroughly enjoyed it. A great wintertime read.
1960’s - The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone - Biographical fiction about Michelangelo and his work.
1970’s - Trinity by Leon Uris - big fat chunky historical fiction about Ireland in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.
1980’s - Peter the Great by Robert Massie - a huge sweeping biography of a fascinating man.
1990’s - Florida Roadkill by Tim Dorsey - Pulp Fiction takes Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride through Florida – only for those with a twisted sense of humor

Many, many thanks to 3M for a wonderfully organized challenge and challenge blog. I had a great time. If you haven’t done a Decades challenge yet, I strongly encourage you to give it a try with Decades 09.

Medical Mystery Challenge Completed

2008-10-06T18:01:00.000-07:00

I was happy to do this challenge again this year. Last year’s challenge was a lot of fun and introduced me to several new authors. This year’s challenge gave me incentive to read more of their books.

WHAT: Pick anywhere from 3 or more medical mysteries/thrillers to read and discuss with fellow medical thriller fans. (Last year was 2 - this year I'm upping it to 3 :-)
WHEN: June 1 to November 1WHO: AnyoneWHERE: Hosted by Twiga
WHY: Seeing others' lists would give us more ideas of other medical thrillers out there that we might not be aware of yet. Those that want to read the same books can do buddy reads if they'd like.
HOW: Post the list of medical thrillers that you plan to read on your blog and then sign up in the comments to this post.

These are the books I read for this challenge:

Private Practices by Stephen White – The second in a series featuring psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory. I enjoy both the characters and the Colorado setting.
Addiction by G.H. Ephron – another second in a series featuring a psychologist (looks like a trend). This one is Dr. Peter Zaks and is set in the Boston area.
Side Effects by Michael Palmer – not the best nor the worst medical thriller I’ve read, but OK for a vacation book.
Death du Jour by Kathy Reichs – yet another second in a series, this time around it’s a forensic anthropologist. Scientifically detailed, but a series I’ll definitely continue.

The only disappointment was Side Effects. All the others were second in series books and I’ll be continuing with all three of those series. If this challenge shows up again next year, that will be the perfect opportunity.

2008 TBR Challenge Completed

2008-09-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

For the second year I’ve joined and completed MiizBooks’ TBR Challenge. This is one I enjoy and one of the few I plan on doing again next year.

The rules were:

** Pick 12 books - one for each month of 2008 - that you've been wanting to read (that have been on your "To Be Read" list) for 6 months or longer, but haven't gotten around to.

** OPTIONAL: Create a list of "Alternates" (books you could substitute for your challenge books, given that a particular one doesn't grab you at the time)

** Then, starting January 1, 2008, read one of these books from your list each month, ending December 31, 2008. :o)

Obviously I opted to ignore the one a month part. I did that the first year and it bugged me to want to read a book but have to wait. So this time I picked 12 books for my primary list and 12 alternates. I managed to read 4 of my alternates before finishing the primary list. Now that I’ve read all the books on my primary list I’m calling this one completed.

These are the books I read for this challenge.
The Primary 12:

Faithless by Karin Slaughter – this is a series that can be pretty brutal, but I really like it
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander – enjoyable speculative historical fiction about the last Russian Tsar and his family
Peter the Great by Robert Massie – a huge sweeping biography of a fascinating man
Smonk by Tom Franklin – skip it and read Hell at the Breech instead
The Diamond by Julie Baumgold – I expected more from this one and felt that it dragged a lot
Jasmine Moon Murder by Laura Childs – this is a cozy mystery series about a teashop owner/ amateur sleuth in Charleston, SC
London Bridges by James Patterson – when I want a fast read with lots of action I turn to James Patterson
Black Wind by Clive Cussler – The Dirk Pitt series is being handed off to the second generation both in characters and authors
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington – an American classic about changing times
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta – a new author for me that I enjoyed
Diana Lively is Falling Down by Sheila Curran – funny and entertaining in parts, puzzling in others
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson – a fun classic

Alternates:

Aunt Dimity's Good Deed by Nancy Atherton – another cozy series, this one with a ghost
Rueful Death by Susan Wittig Albert – more cozy mystery with an interesting main character who is a former lawyer turned herb shop owner
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult – she consistently manages to make me consider alternative viewpoints
Pawley's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank – summer reading that makes me feel the sand in my toes and smell the ocean.

Several of these were the next book in one of the many series I’m reading. Others were just books I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. Most of them were either good or very good. None of them were excellent, which is probably why they’d been on the TBR list for a while.

The only read disappointments were The Diamond which didn’t live up to my expectations and Smonk which was awful and a huge let down from an author I really like.

I’ve already decided that for next years TBR challenge, I’m going to ignore the one a month rule

Initials Challenge Completed

2008-09-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

Another Challenge in the ‘done’ column. The Initials Challenge was hosted by Becky, who routinely manages to come up with interesting and fun challenge ideas. The Rules were simple and flexible – I like that in a challenge (in fact it’s not too late to join in if you want):
April 1, 2008 - November 30, 2008
Read five to eight books by authors who publish under their initials.
No lists are necessary.Sign up at any time between now and November 1, 2008.
Read as many books as you like, as long as you meet the minimum requirement of five books.

I had no trouble finding 5 books on my TBR and current challenge lists.

These are the five books I read:

A Room with a View by E. M. Forster – I had a bit of a hard time getting into it at first, but ended up really liking it.
War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells – loved it. Wells was a genius.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling – I know I’m way behind the rest of the world on this series, but it doesn’t keep me from enjoying the heck out of it.
Seduction in Death by J.D. Robb – “Brain Candy” or “Mental Popcorn” but at the same time a fun mix of romance, light science fiction and crime procedural. Besides, it’s got Roarke.
Carry On, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse – Thanks so much to all the book bloggers (AKA “enablers”) who convinced me that I needed to read Wodehouse.

Thanks Becky! It was another fun challenge.

Herding Cats Challenge Complete

2008-09-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats, or tl;dr was the official name, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I found a great list of recommended books that I find myself referring to over and over again.

The post announcing this challenge was so darn entertaining that I just had to join in. Trust me and just go here to read it. Besides, I had to have that adorable button on my sidebar.

Renay at Bottle of Shine hosted this challenge in which the reading list to choose from was made up of books submitted by the participants. Everyone had to submit 10 recommendations and read at least 3 books recommended by other participants.

Here are the details:
1. Make a list of ten books you love. That's the only qualification; you had to love (or at least like it) the books on the list.
2. Share the list
3. Browse the lists created by other participants (Reading lists by participant or Master Reading List)
4. Between May 1st and November 30th read at least 3 books recommended by other participants.
5. Write reviews of the books you read.
6. Share the links to your reviews.

This is the list of books I recommended:

Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd (I’m actually planning on re-reading this one myself soon)
One Foot in Eden by Ron Rash
Hell at the Breech by Tom Franklin
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I know a bunch of folks have already listed it but I can’t not include it)
Homestead by Rosina Lippi
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (but only if you read the Richard Pevear Translation)
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Centennial by James Michener

These are the 3 I chose to read:
Cats Eye by Margaret Atwood (recommended by 3M). This was my second Atwood book and won’t be my last.
A Room With a View by E.M Forster (recommended by Corinne). I really enjoyed this book and the movie too.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (recommended by Becky). A Science Fiction Classic that I’m very glad I finally read.

What a fun challenge. Thanks Renay!

Southern Reading Challenge Completed

2008-08-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

For the second year in a row I joined and had a great time with Maggie’s Southern Reading Challenge. (and Maggie, I would have said that even if I hadn’t won one of the weekly tins of pecans.)

The rules were easy:
3 Southern Setting Books by Southern Authors in 3 Months beginning May 15 through August 15!

These are the books I read for this year’s challenge:
Pawley’s Island by Dorothea Benton Frank because her novels are nice light summer brain candy [and it was]
The Well and the Mine by Gin Phillips because Eleanor said I had to so I know it’ll be good [and it was].
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip Into the Heart of Fan Mania by Warren St. John because it’s halfway between the end of last year’s football season and the opening kickoff and I need a football related fix. [it helped and now The Hubster is reading it to get himself in football mode for the opening game on August 30th – and he’s giggling in many of the same places I was]

I also threw in a bonus Southern book with Them Bones by Carolyn Haines – first in what looks like it’s a fun cozy mystery series.

I enjoyed all the books I read for different reasons, but I do have to say that The Well and the Mine is joining Mudbound in the ‘Best of 2008’ category. If you haven't read them both, you need to.

Thanks for hosting this challenge again Maggie! Although I plan to participate in less challenges next year, I’ll be joining this one if you host it again.

Non-Fiction Five Challenge Completed

2008-07-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

Now that I’ve finished Queen Victoria, I can move another challenge to the completed category. My friend Joy hosted the Non-Fiction Five challenge for 2008 and once again I had almost as much fun making the list as I did reading the books.

The rules were simple:
1. Read 5 non-fiction books during the months of May - September, 2008
2. Read at least one non-fiction book that is different from your other choices (i.e.: 4 memoirs and 1 self-help)

I opted to ignore rule #2 because I hate self help books, and my initial list of 6 (one extra in case of a dud) was:

Then Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
Queen Victoria: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR’s Polio Haven by Susan Richards Shreve
Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope by Don Van Ryn

The list of books I actually ended up reading for this challenge was slightly different due to a couple of library holds that became available during the challenge time frame and a non-fiction book I decided to read for the Southern Reading Challenge. Here is the list of what I really did read – and yes I ended up reading 6 after all (links are to my blog posts).

Mistaken Identity: Two Families, One Survivor, Unwavering Hope by Don and Susie Van Ryn, et al. – this one was a fascinating story and an interesting, but not great book.
Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein – this could have and should have been a fascinating story, but the book turned out to be a disappointment.
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart of Fan Mania by Warren St. John – I needed a middle of the off-season football fix and this provided it. It was a fun look at college football fandom.
Then Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson – I laughed my way through this one and then passed it on to The Hubster, who did the exact same thing.
American Eve by Paula Uruburu – Celebrity obsession is not a new phenomenon. This story was fascinating and sad all at the same time.
Queen Victoria: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert – a very interesting book about a very interesting person.

I enjoyed the last four much more than the first two and liked the combination of humor and biography that I ended up with in those. As for the three that were on my initial list that I didn’t read, well, they’re still on my TBR list for someday.

Thanks Joy – once again I had fun with this challenge.

Heart of a Child Challenge Completed

2008-05-15T15:01:00.001-07:00

After finishing Harriet the Spy I was able to check off another challenge as completed. The Heart of a Child Challenge was hosted by Becky (watch out she’s a prolific challenge creator and once you get sucked into the Vortex, she finds a way to keep you coming back for more and more challenges!!

I loved the idea of this challenge and it was an easy one:

How many? Read 3 to 6 books
When? from February 1, 2008 to July 14, 2008
What? Books and authors that you discovered, loved, or adored as a child.
How am I defining "child" --I'll be generous. Anything and everything that you read through the age of 18 would qualify.
Why? Because sometimes it's fun to reread books and see if they still hold the same "magic."

These are the books I read for this challenge:

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Tree Wagon by Evelyn Sibley Lampman

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

All of these were enjoyable trips into my memory and still held up over the years. They reminded me of people and places from my childhood and I was pleased to find that I still thought all of these books were fun reads even as an adult.

Themed Reading Challenge Completed

2008-05-12T19:30:00.001-07:00

Now that I’ve finished Harvest, I have another challenge to move to the completed list. The Themed Reading Challenge was the brainchild of Wendy of Caribousmom. The great thing about this one was it was kind of a build your own challenge opportunity. Participants had to choose at least 4 books that shared a theme. It didn’t matter what the theme was, it was our choice.

I confess I lacked the creativity of many of the participants when it came to the theme I chose, but what the heck – it was my choice.

My theme was “Books with One Word Titles”. These are the books I read for this challenge:

Faithless by Karin Slaughter – book # 5 in her Grant County series. It’s a brutal but well written series that I continue to enjoy despite the cringeworthy aspects and one character that I really don’t like at all.

Amnesia by G.H. Ephron – a new series for me. Good enough that I’m planning #2 for the Medical Mystery Challenge.

Undercurrents by Ridley Pearson – another new series for me. This is the first in his Lou Boldt / Daphne Matthews series and I really enjoyed it.

Lottery by Patricia Wood – A utterly charming book with an utterly charming hero. I’d love to meet Perry L. Crandall.

Harvest by Tess Gerritsen - A well done medical mystery. I may add another one by Gerritsen to my Medical Mystery Challenge list.

What’s in a Name? Challenge Completed

2008-05-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

I completed another challenge this week. Hosted by Annie, The What’s in a Name? Challenge had such a fun premise that I couldn’t resist. We had to choose our books based on words in the titles, and read one book from each category. It was surprisingly easy to find books to fit most of the categories and surprisingly difficult to find books for all six.

The books I read for each category were:

A book with a color in its title: Leavin’ Trunk Blues by Ace Atkins – a moody nourish mystery with a blues soundtrack to the writing style.

A book with an animal in its title: The Monkey’s Raincoat by Robert Crais – my first Crais and his first Elvis Cole book – lots of fun.

A book with a first name in its title: Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie – A complex biography of both the man and the world of his time.

A book with a place in its title: London Bridges by James Patterson – typical Alex Cross mystery.

A book with a weather event in its title: Black Wind by Clive and Dirk Cussler – another one of my brain candy series.

A book with a plant in its title: Jasmine Moon Murder – a cozy mystery set in one of my favorite cities (Charleston, SC)

This challenge led me to choose quite a variety of genres and I had a great time. I need to keep an eye out for what Annie’s got up her sleeve next.

Russian Reading Challenge Wrap-Up

2008-04-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

I’ve completed another challenge. Hosted by Sharon at ExLibris, The Russian Reading Challenge caught my attention as soon as it was announced way back in August or September. For this one, we had to read 4 books but the rules were quite flexible.

Both fiction and non-fiction are acceptable here, as well as short stories and poetry. Authors read should either be authors who wrote (write) in Russian or authors who wrote (write) about Russia and Russians.

I read these 4 books:

Dr. Zhivago by Boris Pasternak because it’s a classic that I’d never read (nor have I seen any movie version). I thoroughly enjoyed it. A great wintertime read.
Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie because it’s been on my shelf for years unread. It’s a huge book, but he was a huge man (both literally and figuratively). A fascinating story not only of Peter, but also of the world at the time he ruled
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin because I wanted to read a contemporary Russian author. It was different, but yet had a definite classic Russian writing feel to it. I might read more by this author
The Eternal Husband by Fyodor Dostoevsky because I wanted to read some short stories for the challenge. This was a novella and 4 short stories. Worth the effort it took to read, even though short stories are not my favorite genre.

They were all quite different and so it’s really hard to say what I liked best. They all had their merits and I’m glad I read all of them.

Big thanks to Sharon for giving me a reason to read a couple that have been on my bookshelf or TBR shelf for years (Peter the Great and Dr. Zhivago) and to also expand my horizons a bit with Akunin and Dostoevsky’s short works.

The Eponymous Challenge Completed

2008-03-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

I’ve completed another challenge. Hosted by Coversgirl, The Eponymous Challenge was another one that fit in well with books I was already reading for other challenges.

For this one, we had to read 4 books whose titles were the name of one or more of the characters, or a description of one or more of the characters

I read these 4 books:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl was originally on my list as a re-read for the Heart of a Child Challenge. It was wonderful to read this book all on one rainy Sunday. A perfect way to relive the thoroughly enjoyable experience of this book.
Smonk by Tom Franklin was a disappointment after his so very excellent Hell at the Breech. I still love his writing and will read his short story collection.
City Boy by Herman Wouk was just a charming tale of growing up with a bit of humor tossed in with the heartwarming stuff and nostalgia.
The Sisterhood by Michael Palmer was an excellent first novel and an introduction to an author whose books I’ve added to my TBR list

The only one I didn’t like was Smonk. The other three were from 3 very distinct genres and I enjoyed them all.

Another challenge moved to the completed column for me. If you’re interested, the challenge doesn’t end until May 31, 2008. There’s plenty of time. I’d be willing to guess that you could still join in the fun.

Royalty Rules Challenge Completed

2008-03-20T19:33:00.000-07:00

I’ve completed my first challenge for 2008. Hosted by The Magic of Ink, The Royalty Rules Reading Challenge was an easy one for me to add since all the books I chose were already on other challenge lists.
The rules for this one were to read 2, 3, or 4 books of any genre that were about a royal personage (whether or not that person was the main character).

I read these 3 books:

Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie was a chunkster of a biography about a man who changed the course of his country’s history. It was a fascinating biography of a fascinating man.
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander was a fictionalized account of the final days of the last Tsar of Russia and his family. The speculative twist at the end was a surprise.
The Diamond by Julie Baumgold was a fictionalized story of a famous diamond that touched the lives of much of the royalty of France in the 17th and 18th centuries.

My favorites were The Kitchen Boy and Peter the Great.

I’ve got a couple of other challenges that I’ll be wrapping up in the next few weeks. This is a good thing, because there are some upcoming ones that I’ve got my eye on and I’m already making tentative lists.