Last year's challenges

When I did my post on my favorite books read in 2008, I didn't include any information about challenges. So here it is!

I completed 27 and failed to complete 2. Although not by much! :-)

I failed to complete these:
1. 100+ Reading Challenge
2. 888 Challenge

Completed:
1. 1% Well-Read Challenge
2. 10 out of 100 out of 1001
3. 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats
4. A-Z Challenge
5. Banned Books Challenge
6. Book to Movie Challenge
7. Chick Lit Challenge
8. Chunkster Challenge
9. Classics Challenge
10. Decades '08 Challenge
11. Eponymous Challenge
12. Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
13. Initials Reading Challenge
14. Lit Flicks Challenge
15. Man Booker Challenge
16. Mythopoeic Challenge
17. Non-Fiction Five Challenge
18. Novella Challenge
19. Numbers Challenge
20. Once Upon a Time II
21. Orbis Terrarum Challenge
22. R.I.P. III
23. Seconds 2008
24. Southern Reading Challenge
25. Spring Reading Challenge
26. Title Master Reading Challenge
27. Unread Authors

I've pretty much joined all the challenges going for 2009 so we'll see how I do. :-)

Two more challenges down!

The Seconds 2009 Challenge was hosted by Joy to make sure that we don't just stop at one book per author. There are so many authors that we discover and then forget to read more by. I loved the idea of this challenge. To see what I read, visit my original post. I think that my favorites were Kafka on the Shore and The Lollipop Shoes. Least favorite was definitely Amsterdam, I did not like that one at all!


The Chunkster Challenge was hosted by So many books, so little time and actually finishes on 17 December rather than at the end of the year so I'm writing this wrap-up post right on time! We were required to read 4 chunksters - I read many more... for the full list see my original post. I wanted to read some truly huge books but didn't manage. Still, the ones I read were long too so they counted anyway! All of them were fantastic so I'm not going to torure myself by trying to choose a favorite!


Thanks to both of you for hosting these fun challenges!

Two more challenges finished!

This week, I finished the Decades Challenge and the Mythopoeic Challenge! I enjoyed both of them immensely and will be signing up for them in 2009 too. Can't wait to start making more lists! ;-)

I liked all the books I read for the Decades Challenge. Most of them were 'A' books, in fact. I can't choose a favorite, I just can't.

The Mythopoeic Challenge introduced me to so many great books and authors. And even the ones that weren't my favorites still had such creativity in them that they were worth reading. Out of the 7 I read, I had 3 favorites: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, The Giver by Lois Lowry and Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. My least favorite was Winter Rose by Patricia McKillip. I'm still willing to read something else by that author though!

Thanks to FoxyWriter and Michelle from 1MoreChapter for hosting these, I loved them!

A-Z Challenge Completed!

I just finished Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, a special edition of the stories, with beautiful illustrations by Felix O.C. Darley. It was my 'I author' for the A-Z Challenge hosted by Joy of Thoughts of Joy and the last book I needed to complete my list.

The stories were ok. I'm sure we studied them at school, but I couldn't remember the details. I think that I understand a lot more of Rip van Winkle now - what with the world changing so much all the time. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow made me want to see the film. Is that bad? I guess neither affected me that much, but they were entertaining. And I liked all the Dutch elements.

What affects me lots more is the fact that I finished one of my biggest challenges of the year a month early! Yay for me! :-) I had so much fun trying to fit books into this one and I discovered so many books that I may not have got to otherwise. An X author, a Z author - go check out my full list to see what else I read. The challenge included 52 books and there were way too many good ones to be able to pick favorites, so I won't even try.

I'll definitely be doing this again next year!

Two more challenges down!

Yay! I watched P.S. I Love You last night and with that finished the Lit Flicks and Book to Movie Challenges!

The Book to Movie Challenge is hosted by Callista from SMS Book Reviews and runs until 1 December. We are asked to 3 books that were made into movies - we can watch the movies if we want to. For the The Lit Flicks Challenge hosted by Jessica I needed to add an extra two books and actually watch 2 movies as well. Here's what I read:

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike

The Vanishing by Tim Krabbe

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

P.S. I Love You by Cecilia Ahern
One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

All of these were made into movies, but of course I chose the real tear-jerkers to watch. One True Thing (1998) was interesting because it had a fantastic cast led by Meryl Streep, William Hurt and Renee Zellwegger. I thought that it was well-filmed, although watching it was even harder than reading this intense story.

I watched P.S. I Love You (2007) last night and had mixed feelings. I definitely didn't like all the things they changed in the storyline - including moving the main action from Dublin to New York! They even changed some of the romantic storylines. And I didn't like the different ending. Having said that, there is a lot that can be shown on film that has much more impact than the written word, so some parts were stronger. The acting was fantastic, although some characters (like Daniel) were portrayed completely differently. All in all I liked it, but I think I would have liked it more if I hadn't read the book.

So there - thanks to Callista and Jessica, I liked these challenges a lot. I had been thinking of hosting one myself, but you went ahead and it did it all for me. Thanks! :-)

Classics Challenge completed!

I didn't think I'd be able to finish this one, but only because I set totally unachievable goals for myself! The Classics Challenge, hosted by Trish from Trish's Reading Nook, had several options. I chose to read five classics from 3 different countries. Originally I wanted to read more challenging ones like some Polish classics as well as War and Peace, but I ended up with the following:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (England)
Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne (England)
The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery (Canada)
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (United States)
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (Canada)

So I cheated myself since all three countries are English-speaking and I didn't really branch out. Plus four of the five are children's books! But the one adult book, The Great Gatsby, didn't really appeal to me so I think I won anyway. ;-)

As part of the challenge, we had to recommend a book that we thought would end up being a classic and also read one of the other participants' recommendations. I read three from the possible classics list:

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Giver by Lois Lowry

I loved them all!

Thanks Trish for hosting, it's been fun!

Orbis Terrarum Challenge finished!

I'm happy to report another challenge down! This one was hosted by B&b ex libris and lasted from 1 April. It finishes on 20 December so I'm a month ahead of time, yay! ;-) The challenge was to read 9 books by authors from 9 different nations. Here is what I read, it's pretty much the same as my original post planned:

1. Crow Lake by Mary Lawson (Canada)

2. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (India)

3. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Japan)

4. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo (China)

5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Australia)

6. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paolo Coelho (Brazil)

7. The Vanishing by Tim Krabbe (The Netherlands)

8. Perfume by Patrick Suskind (Germany)

9. The Speckled People by Hugo Hamilton (Ireland)

My least favorite was Crow Lake - I just couldn't get into it somehow. The Xiaolu Guo one wasn't great either. The others were all very good, with The God of Small Things, Kafka on the Shore and The Book Thief standing out among them. Those three will probably make it onto my list of favorites for the year.

Many thanks to Bethany for the idea and for hosting - I think the idea is really great and would love to see this challenge again!

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats - done!

I simply could not resist Renee's 342,745 Ways to Herd Cats challenge both because of its fantastic name and because of the list-making fun that was a part of it. The challenge required us at recommend our favorite books (I still consult the master list) and to read three books recommended by others.

My original post with my recommendations can be found here. Here are the books I read for this challenge:

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (recommended by Kristen)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (recommended by Michelle, Teddy Rose, Stephanie and many others)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (recommended by Michelle, Clare, Stephanie and many others)

Needless to say, I loved all of these. And also needless to say that I will be reading off the master list of recommendations for a while yet...

Thanks, Renee, for the fabulous initiative!

Man Booker Challenge completed!

Dewey from Hidden Side of a Leaf hosted this challenge, which had us reading books that either won the Man Booker Prize or were on the shortlist or longlist.

My original post is here and here's what I read:

1) The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (won 2000)

2) The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (shortlisted 2007)

3) The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (won 1997)

4) Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (won 1998)

5) Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee (won 1999)

6) Number9dream by David Mitchell (shortlisted 2001)

Between The Blind Assassin, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and The God of Small Things, I can't decide on a favorite... all were so good and different ways!!

Thanks Dewey, for hosting and for the opportunity to read more of the Man Booker books. There are still so many on those lists that I'd like to read, I think I'll continue on with the Complete Booker...

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!

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!

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!

Non-Fiction Five Challenge Completed!

I managed, though with only a few days to spare... The Non-Fiction Five Challenge was hosted by Joy and ran from May to September. If you see my original post, you'll find that the books I chose at the beginning aren't at all what I ended up reading. Not one from my original list. I guess I have my list for next year's challenge now! ;-)

This is what I ended up reading:

Dziennik Irlandzki by Heinrich Boll

The Celts, First Masters of Europe by Christiane Eluere

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

The Truth About the Leprechaun by Bob Curran

Getting Things Done by David Allen

So a mixture of memoirs, history, folklore and personal development. I'm very happy with my choices - there isn't one book on here that I didn't enjoy.

Thanks Joy for the idea and for hosting, I hope that this challenge happens again!

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge completed!

I didn't think I'd manage to finish this one, but for some reason I was thinking of historical fiction as a quite narrow category - once I realised that it's not, I had no problem completing this great challenge!

It was hosted by Annie from Reading, Writing and Ranting - thanks Annie, it was great fun! History really is hot. :-)

Here's what I read - my original list was quite different, but hey, there's too much joy in list-writing to resist!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

The American Boy by Andrew Taylor

Witch Child by Celia Rees

href="http://lostinagoodstory.blogspot.com/2008/09/book-thief.html">The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

My favorites were definitely The Book Thief, The Shadow of the Wind and Star of the Sea - I'm pretty sure all three will make it onto the year's list of best books. My least favorite was The American Boy, which I didn't even manage to finish.

Doing this challenge reminded me how much I love history, I definitely want to read more of this genre in the future.

Don't you want me? and Chick Lit Challenge wrap-up

India Knight's Don't you want me? was fun and light and yet still real somehow. I could totally identify with Stella in more than one place. The story is about a 38-year-old woman who has a small child and is also trying to get back into dating. It's pretty straighforward, but what makes the books special is the writing style - the way India Knight phrases things had me laughing out loud. I really liked it and will be looking out for other books by the same author. Sometimes I need some smart chick lit to read!

Challenges: Chick Lit Challenge only, but now it's completed, so I guess I should wrap-up!

The other two books I read were Can you keep a secret? by Sophie Kinsella and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. I liked all of them - the Ann Brashares was a bit different from the other two because it's for young adults, but it was very good. Sophie Kinsella is my favorite chick lit author so far, but India Knight is really good, possibly just as good. I'll hve to read more of her stuff to find out!

The Chick Lit Challenge was hosted by Twiga the book addict 4 life - thanks for a fun idea!

Southern Reading Challenge completed!

Great, another challenge completed! And what fun! The Southern Reading Challenge was hosted by Maggie Reads and challenged us to read 3 Southern setting books by Southern authors. I originally had quite a few to choose from, but in the end I read these three:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Murder on a Girls' Night Out by Anne George

All three were very good, but my favorite was To Kill a Mockingbird. That was fantastic. But the others are highly recommended too, I guess I was lucky.

Thanks Maggie - I really enjoyed reading these and won't stop there, I hope to read a lot more about the South. And maybe you'll host this again (hint)! ;-)

The Color Purple and the Banned Book Challenge Wrap-up

I'm not sure why I haven't read Alice Walker's The Color Purple earlier - I think I remember watching the film and not liking it, but it was really long ago so I must have been quite young and probably didn't really understand it. In any case, I'm really glad that I finally got around to reading it - I enjoyed it from so many different angles and can definitely understand why it's considered a classic and why it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983.

The book is set in the Deep South between the wars and is written in the form of letters, most of them from Celie, the main character, to God. When she's a teenager, Celie is raped by her father and the two resulting children are taken away from her. She is forced into a loveless marriage to a mean man, who amongst other things keeps Celie away from the person she loves best, her sister Nettie. It isn't until Celie meets Shug Avery, the love of her husband's life, that she starts to understand about love and strength and courage and all the things that make life worth living.

The writing is beautiful, the story and characters show us a time in history that many would rather forget but that should certainly be remembered.

I personally loved the spiritual aspect - Shug's belief that she is a part of everything and that God is a part of everything and that Church doesn't have that much to do with it. I marked one of my favorite quotes:

"She say, Celie, tell the truth, have you ever found God in Church? I never did. I just found a bunch of folks hoping for him to show. Any God I ever felt in Church I brought in with me. And I think all the other folks did too. They come to Church to share God, not find God."

Perhaps this idea, that so appeals to me, is why The Color Purple was banned in certain schools... which brings me to the Banned Book Challenge, for which this book is the last one on my list. The others I read were:

1) Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
3) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
4) The Giver by Lois Lowry
5) The Earth, My Butt and Other Round Things by Carolyn Mackler

and Alice Walker's The Color Purple makes six. I can't choose favorites here, I loved all of these books and I feel sorry for those whose educational system banned them as they all had messages worth sharing and thinking about.

Other challenges this contributes to: 1% Well-Read Challenge, 888 Challenge, Southern Reading Challenge

Novella Challenge Wrap-up

I thought this was a really good challenge because it got me to read some shorter books that I wouldn't have read otherwise. Meaning that participating in it also increased my total number of books read this year. Always a good thing! The challenge was to read at least 6 novellas between April and September. It was hosted by Trish.

I had many options listed in my original post, but I ended up with the following 6:

Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Gabriel's Gift by Hanif Kureishi

It's hard to choose a favorite - they were all really good in their own way... I guess my least favorite was The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and even that was very good!

Thanks Trish for encouraging us to include some of these excellent shorter books!

Once Upon A Time II Challenge Wrap-up

Hmmm... I didn't finish as many of the books as I indicated in my original post, but thankfully Carl has experience with over-eager people and offered us many levels for the Once Upon A Time II challenge.

I managed to read two books: J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad. This qualifies me for The Journey.

I'm looking forward to other wrap-up posts. I really do want to read more of these kinds of books and I'm always looking for ideas!

A big thanks to Carl for hosting this - I'm already looking forward to next year's edition!

Title Master Reading Challenge Wrap-up

This was a really fun one - I really enjoyed searching for books to read for this as well. The challenge was to read at least 4 books whose titles had every word starting with the same letter. I read the same ones I specified in my original post, so:

1. Like Life by Lorrie Moore
2. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
3. Gabriel's Gift by Hanif Kureishi
4. Summer Sisters by Judy Blume

The Thirteenth Tale was probably my favorite, although Gabriel's Gift was also fantastic. Summer Sisters was only mediocre and Like Life was definitely not for me!

Thanks to MizB for hosting!