RIP III Challenge completed!

This year's scary Halloween challenge, completed on Halloween itself! Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings hosts this one each year - I already can't wait till next year, I got so many good ideas from what everyone else has been reading these past few weeks! I read:

The Vanishing by Tim Krabbe
The River King by Alice Hoffman

I liked both of them, although they were quite different. The Vanishing was creepy and The River King was haunting (it had a ghost or two, which is why I think it qualified for this challenge!).

Next year I'd like to read something truly scary though... Maybe some horror even, although I'm not usually a fan of blood and gore. We'll see!

Thanks Carl, for the idea and for hosting!

The River King

I really, really love Alice Hoffman. Her books are so magical, yet at the same time so down-to-earth, so grounded. They draw the reader in immediately and don't let go. In fact, I've been known to save my copies of her books for when I have to fly somewhere - flights go by very quickly when I'm in her world.

My favorite of hers is still Practical Magic (way better than the film, by the way); although the others I've read, The Ice Queen and The Probable Future, were also very good. The oe I just finished this morning on my way to work, The River King, didn't disappoint either. Its haunting story and characters are still in my head.

The action takes place in a town in Massachusetts, a town probably like many others, except that this one is the home of a snooty boarding school. A lot goes on in this school - a gang of boys torture newcomers with cruel initiation ceremonies; the ghost of the dead wife of the first headmaster haunts the grounds; an elderly teacher who seems not to care for anyone or anything punishes herself for past actions; and two new unlikely students arrive. The River King is their story, one of strong ties, of love that transcends, of guilt, of sadness, of cruelty. It is touching, enchanting and haunting all at once. And, just like in real life, it's easy to misjudge people. Nothing is what it seems.

I definitely recommend this, as I do all of Alice Hoffman's books.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, RIP III, Naming Conventions

Another one down - the Initials Reading Challenge

I finished the Initials Reading Challenge, hosted byBecky from Becky's Book Reviews . Here's what I read - for my original post, see here.

Harry Potter and the Deathy Hallows by J.K. Rowling
This Book Will Save Your Life by A.M. Homes
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

I enjoyed all my choices except the A.M. Homes book - I didn't like the characters or the story in that one and I doubt I'll be reading anything else by her. The others were all great!

Thanks for hosting Becky, it was fun!

Through Thick and Thin - Young Women Talk Relationships

I picked up this short book edited by Jane Waghorn from the library last week, as it sounded interesting. Young women talking about their relationships with their families and friends. It was pretty good - I think it's one of those that is good for teens to read, because it shows them that they're not alone in the way they think.

The book is divided into sections by kind of relationship - with siblings, with mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends and boyfriends/girlfriends. I liked that the girls were in varying situations, some fairly standard and some not. The girls also came from different cultural backgrounds, which contributed something extra as well.

The message that came across strongest to me concerned how much is expected of young women today. Wow. I don't remember having that kind of pressure on me. I guess because we've become a culture of over-achievers, with women in general being expected to have fantastic and fulfilling careers as well as perfect families, this isn't so surprising. Many of the young women in this book were expected to take care of their siblings and participate in running the household - they had a lot of responsibility that seemed to belong more in the adult world. Maybe some of these expectations are worth thinking about. These days, watching what is going on around me and thinking of having kids of my own, I tend to vote for anything that prolongs childhoood. Kids grow up way too fast these days.

Challenges: 888 Challenge

The Story Girl

I've been putting off reading L.M. Montgomery's The Story Girl because I didn't want to cheat on Anne. :-) Seriously though, I just didn't think that anything could be better than the Anne books, so it didn't seem worth reading. But since I did already own it and since I was looking for a simple and innocent book to read for a change, I picked it up and I'm glad I did, of course.

The Story Girl is a charming book. That really is the best word to describe it. Like the Anne books, it takes place on Prince Edward Island - which by the way is my dream holiday destination. Except that going there would scare me too because I would expect it to look like it does in the Anne books and I'm sure it won't!

Anyway, it is the story of a group of children who spend a few months together - playing, arguing, discovering the world and each other and basically growing up. What makes the book charming is the innocence of childhood that is conveyed through the language. I don't know how Montgomery manages it but she does.

My edition had an afterword that explained that Montgomery liked The Story Girl most out of all her books. Apparently there are many autobiographical elements in it. It made me want to read her journals, which I hear are published. Have you read them?

Challenges: 888 Challenge, Classics Challenge, Decades Challenge, Initials Reading Challenge

Challenges completed: 10 out of 100 out of 1001 and the 1% Well-Read Challenge

When these two challenges were announced I was so happy that something would help me get through that 1001 list with some kind of structure. I now finished both and enjoyed all my choices immensely - for once my original lists didn't really change, so you can see what I read in my original post.

The 10 out of 100 out of 1001 challenge was hosted by Books of Mee and finishes on 31 October. It required me to read one book for every 10 in the first 100 - what I think is a fantastic way of getting through the list. We were allowed to skip a couple of books as well, which helped! I really, really hope that this one will be organised again!

The 1% Well-Read challenge is hosted by Michelle of 1morechapter - it requires 10 books in 10 months and finished on 28 February 2009. Wow, I'm finished really early with this one. But only because the challenges overlapped... I hope this one continues too!

Of the books I read for these two challenges, my favorites were The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami, and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. My least favorite was Amsterdam by Ian McEwan.

Thanks to Books of Mee and to Michelle for hosting these - I had a great time!

The Third Policeman and some Polish reading

I wanted to read Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman since I heard that reading it would help me figure out what's going on in Lost. Great reason, eh? As it turns out, I'm no closer in understanding Lost... but I've realised that the absurd is not really for me...

The book itself is about some very strange events that happen to our main character. And by strange I mean really strange, like viewing a bicycle as almost human and developing a relationship with it. The action is peppered with some very long footnotes explaining the scientific theories of a Mr De Selby, greatly admired by the main character. I don't know whether the theories or the action is more absurd.

I'm not saying I hated it, I didn't. I did enjoy some bits and parts were definitely amusing. And there is no question that the story is extremely intelligent and that O'Brien was way ahead of his time when he wrote it around 1940 (it was only published in the 1960s). But it just wasn't my kind of thing.

I started The Third Policeman during the Read-A-Thon, which was definitely a mistake. Not a read-a-thon friendly book! The other book I half-finished during the Read-a-thon was a collection of columns by Polish actress Krystyna Janda, Rozowe Tabletki na Uspokojenie, which literally translated means Pink pills to calm you down. I'm enjoying reading in Polish a lot more than I used to, which was the point of the whole excercise so I'm happy. This particular book was entertaining, I'm glad I picked it up.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 888 Challenge, 1% Well-Read Challenge

Read-A-Thon - Hour 24... done!

Title of book(s) read: finished One True Thing by Anna Quindlen (which I started before); started and finished Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Speak by Larie Halse Andersen; got half-way through The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien; got 3/4 of the way through a Polish book by actress Krystyna Janda
Number of books finished since you started: 3 (one of which I started before the read-a-thon)
Pages read since last update: 27
Running total of pages read since you started: 609
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 25 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 8 hours 20 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

Wow, I can't believe it's over, it was so much fun! Now for the End of the Event Meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Hour 9 because it was bedtime... I did the last hours after sleeping for a long time so they weren't bad at all!

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (in fact anything by Lois Lowry, I would think) and Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, it was pretty much perfect they way it was! I wish I was more organised in my visiting of other blogs, but that's a note to me, nothing to do with the briliance of Dewey and everyone else involved.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything! The mini-challenges were a nice addition, they made me want to check-in once in a while.

5. How many books did you read?
finished 3 (one started before) and got through parts of 2 others

6. What were the names of the books you read?
finished One True Thing by Anna Quindlen (which I started before); started and finished Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen; got half-way through The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien; got 3/4 of the way through a Polish book by actress Krystyna Janda

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen

8. Which did you enjoy least?
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien - it's not that I'm not enjoying it, it's just not the right book for a read-a-thon, too complicated. I'm halfway through it and I still don't know what's going on!

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
I wasn't one, but I thought they all did a fantastic job!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
I'd deifnitely participate as a Reader again, I loved it! Thanks to all involved for organising and running it, it's been an amazing experience to read with so many other book lovers around the world!

Read-A-Thon - Hour 23

Title of book(s) read since last update: nothing finished...
Number of books finished since you started: 3 (one of which I started before the read-a-thon)
Pages read since last update: 26
Running total of pages read since you started: 582
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 30 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 7 hours 55 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

Read-A-Thon - Hour 22

Title of book(s) read since last update: finished Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
Number of books finished since you started: 3 (one of which I started before the read-a-thon)
Pages read since last update: 73
Running total of pages read since you started: 556
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 55 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 7 hours 25 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

Speak was amazing. A YA book about issues that teenagers (and many adults too) are too afraid and embarassed to talk about. Like rape. It also highlights ways of dealing with traumatic incidents. And shows how our family and friends can influence which way we choose. My edition had a short interview with the author included, where I found out that there is another book called Catalyst that is set in the same high school and deals with pressure to get good grades and get into good colleges. I can't wait to read it.

Read-A-Thon - Hour 21

Title of book(s) read since last update: I'm still on Speak, almost done
Number of books finished since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 57
Running total of pages read since you started: 483
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 6 hours 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

Read-A-Thon - Hour 20

Title of book(s) read since last update: umm, mostly I've been sleeping...
Number of books finished since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 25
Running total of pages read since you started: 426
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 20 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 5 hours 50 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

I'm still reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - very good!

Read-A-Thon - Hour 9

Title of book(s) read since last update: i've been working on the collection of essays by Polish actress Krystyna Janda and on Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
Number of books finished since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 46
Running total of pages read since you started: 401
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 5 hours 30 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

I'm getting very tired and can't concentrate on reading anymore so I'm off to bed soon... will be back in the morning for the last stretch!

Read-A-Thon - Hours 7 and 8

Title of book(s) read since last update: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Number of books finished since you started: 2
Pages read since last update: 123
Running total of pages read since you started: 355
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 4 hour 45 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy
Prize you’ve won: 0

Number the Stars By Lois Lowry is about two best friends in Nazi-occupied Copenhagen. One of the girls is Jewish so you can imagine what her life becomes. The other learns quickly about sacrifice and courage. Well-written and presented, with some interesting bits of Danish history. And an easy, quick read, perfect for the Read-a-thon!

Read-A-Thon - Hours 5 and 6

Title of book(s) read since last update: nothing finished, several started...
Number of books finished since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 88
Running total of pages read since you started: 232
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 1 hour and 10 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 3 hour 35 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy
Prize you’ve won: 0

Read-A-Thon - Hour 4

Title of book(s) read since last update: put The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien on hold to spend the hour on a collection of essays by Polish actress Krystyna Janda, read in Polish for Sarah's mini-challenge
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 37
Running total of pages read since you started: 144
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 45 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 2 hour 25 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina,
Prize you’ve won: 0

Read-A-Thon - Hour 3

Title of book(s) read since last update: still on The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 29
Running total of pages read since you started: 107
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 1 hour 40 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah
Prize you’ve won: 0

Read-A-Thon - Hour 2

Title of book(s) read since last update: started The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien

Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 17
Running total of pages read since you started: 78
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 20 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 1 hour
Mini-challenges completed: 0
Other participants you’ve visited: 2
Prize you’ve won: 0

Time is flying way too fast!!!

Read-A-Thon - Hour 1

Title of book(s) read since last update: One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

Number of books read since you started: 1

Pages read since last update: 61

Running total of pages read since you started: 61

Amount of time spent reading since last update: 40 minutes

Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 40 minutes

Mini-challenges completed: 0

Other participants you’ve visited: 0

Prize you’ve won: 0

I finished Anna Quindlen's One True Thing - a beautiful story about a mother-daughter relationship. The mother is diagnosed with cancer and the daughter moves back home to take care of her - and is later accused of her murder. It's about getting to know your mother as a person in their own right and about how that reflects on how you know yourself. Beautifully written. I loved all the characters, inlcuding the minor ones; my favorites were Teresa the nurse and Mrs. Forburg the English teacher. I did have to try not to cry whenever I read it in public, but it was worth the minor embarassment. I recommend it and am curious about other Anna Quindlen books.

Now for the read-a-thon intro questions. If you haven's seen them go visit Dewey.

Where are you reading from today?
My apartment in sunny Brussels, Belgium.

3 facts about me

I'm a singer and actress in my spare time, I'm Polish and I just bought a beautiful house with my partner Joe

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

14, but I'm no good at making decisions about books. I'm very well aware that reading all 14 is impossible.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

No really... I do want to update every hour and I do want to get some sleep tonight so I already know I won't do the whole 24 hours!

If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, Any advice for people doing this for the first time?

It's my first time so I'm only accepting advice! :-)

Read-A-Thon - Here we go, finally!

The start is finally here! Yay! I want to finish a book I started this week first, One True Thing by Anna Quindlen, my Q author for the A-Z Challenge. It's very, very sad so far, but I don't have that much left and I hope that there will be something uplifting at the end!

Good luck to everyone else participating!

The Stolen Child

A quick few words about Keith Donahue's The Stolen Child, which I finished this week. It's a very orginal concept - 7-year-old Henry Day is kidnapped by hobgoblins and a changeling is put in his place. So in effect the two switch lives forever. The book is about both of their stories and their quests for identity. It's a pretty good book - there was something about it that I didn't really like but I couldn't put my finger on it. I think it's something to do with the writing style. Still good though, worth picking up if you're into this sort of thing.

Challenges: Mythopoeic Challenge

Read-A-Thon and book shopping

I decided to the Read-A-Thon after all... You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging/commenting as much as I used to... I've had a lot going on in my life, not all positive, and things have been kind of heavy. So whereas a month ago I wasn't sure I wanted to read for so long, now the idea of spending my whole Saturday and a part of Sunday REALLY appeals to me. Really. I just want to curl up and read and have no one disturb me for days. Can we make the read-a-thon last longer?

So while I was thinking about what books to line up for Saturday, I decided that I needed more choice so I just went to the secondhand bookstore I try to stay away from. I ended up with a whole bag of books. Here's what I got - have you read any of them and do you think they'd be good for a read-a-thon?

Bad Heir Day by Wendy Holden
March by Geraldine Brooks
Brown Owl's Guide to Life by Kate Harrison
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
I am David by Anne Holm
Night by Elie Wiesel
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is a Four-Letter Word by Claire Calman
Ya-Yas in Bloom by Rebecca Wells
Intuition by Peter Jinks
The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
The Norse Myths by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Runemarks by Joanne Harris

The Blind Assassin

Since Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin took me half of October to read, I'm doubly glad at what an an amazing experience reading it was. I wouldn't leave out a single bit of this lengthy book; it should really become a classic, I do wonder whether it will stand the test of time...

On the novel's first page, we find out from Iris that her sister Laura drove a car of a bridge ten days after the war ended. Over the following 600+ pages, we discover Iris' story and Laura's story - how they grew up between the wars and how their relationship changed over the years. Their stories include many examples of what love can do to people - and how a sense of family duty isn't always the right path to follow.

The story is in fact two stories intertwined, each revealing a different side of events. I liked how information was communicated to the reader through various means, including the two stories, various letters and excerpts from newspaper articles. The technique added to a sense of action.

But what makes the book so beautiful is more than technique and more than Atwood's incredible use of the English language. The book is haunting because the emotions are so raw and yet so removed... whatever they are they cerftainly stay with the reader.

I'm always a sucker for history as well so I enjoyed the historical aspect too - life in Canada between the wars, the rise of communism, the power of capitalism, the ridiculous lives of the very rich, and the tough lives of the very poor. Including all this as background to an already emotionally powerful story makes the book brilliant.

Challenges: 888 Challenge, 10 out of 100 out of 1001, 1% Well-Read Challenge, Chunkster Challenge, Man Booker Challenge, Naming Conventions

Chocolat

I saw the film made of Joanne Harris' Chocolat ages ago, but didn't really like it so never bothered with the book. Then recently my friend Amy read another book by this author and I was intrigued to try it again. I love these sorts of stories, about magic but not the Harry Potter kind, the kind that makes life special and beautiful. This feeling didn't come through in the movie for me though - what a shame!

This book is about Vianne and her daughter Anouk - they arrive in a small French village and open a chocolaterie. They make some friends and more enemies, mostly due the fact that they view life differently and don't go to Church. I loved the pagan symbolism in the book and I loved the way the use of magic really made the atmosphere magical, rather than flashy.

And I loved the chocolate! I've totally been craving chocolate for the past couple of days. Vianne can totally set up shop in my neighborhood!

Challenges: 888 Challenge, Book to movie challenge, Lit Flicks, Naming Conventions, Unread Authors