The Alphabet Challenge

Rules:

1. 26 books!

runs January 1st 2011 –December 31, 2011. For each letter, read a book that has a main character or key supporting character (not some random minor character mentioned twice!) whose name starts with that letter. It doesn’t have to be the title of the book, just the name. Ex: Alice (in wonderland), Bella (twilight), Cathy (Wuthering Heights), Dracula (Dracula) Estella (Great Expectations), etc.

2. only one letter per book!

3. Crossovers are fine

4. audio, e-book, bound book, someone reading it out loud to you, reading a book to your little brother or sister, it all counts.

5. any length—short stories, books of the Bible, etc. they all count for this one.

Levels:
Level 1: 10 Letters
Level 2: 20 Letters
Level 3: Completes all 26 letters (yes, that means X and Z and Q. I’m sure you can find something.)

Hosted by The Life (and lies) of an Inanimate Flying Object

My List

A
B
C: Catherine--The Sculptor (February)
D
E
F
G: Gettler--The Poisoner's Handbook (March)
H: Henrietta--The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (April)
I
J: Jo--Little Women (February)
K: Katherine--Tinkers (April)
L: Lisbeth--The Girl Who Played with Fire (January)
M
N
O: Osceola--Swamplandia (March)
P
Q: Qussim--The City and The City (March)
R
S
T
U
V: Vanessa: The Informationist (March)
W
X
Y
Z

What's in a Name 4 Challenge

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Other Things to Know

Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
Books may overlap other challenges.
Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.

You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order

My tentative book list:

1. Number:
2. Jewelry/Gem:
3. Size: A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson)
4. Travel/Movement: Snow Falling on Cedars (David Guterson)
5. Evil:
6. Life Stage:

Books Awards Reading Challenge V

hosted by Michelle at 1Morechapter

Rules:

1.Read 5 books from 5 different awards during Feb 1, 2011 through Dec 1, 2011.
2.Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
3.Choices don't have to be posted right away, and lists may be changed at any time.
4.'Award winners' is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs.

This had always been one of my favorite challenges in the pasts. I've decided to go back through my old challenges and list what never got read and pick from those reads. If I have time I'll try to add some new ones too.

• Holes: Louis Sachar (Newbery)
• Shiloh: Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Newbery)
• Half of a Yellow Sun: Adichie (Orange Prize)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin: Shriver (Orange Prize)
• Guns, Germs and Steel: Jared Diamond
• Anil's Ghost:Michael Ondaatje
• The Shipping News: E. Annie Proulx
• Snow Falling on Cedars: David Guterson
• Life of Pi: Yann Martel
• The Throat: Peter Straub
• The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
• Plague’s Progress by Arno Karlen
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Spring Reading Thing 2011 Challenge

March 20th - June 20th hosted by Katrina at Callapidder days

Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this spring. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.) Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below. Get reading! The challenge goes from today, March 20th, through June 20th. Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile! Write a post about your challenge experience in June, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Spring Reading Thing went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this spring (and enjoy it!), that’s good enough for me.

My first challenge in 2011. Acutally, my first challenge is two years.

My Reading List:

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Rebecca Skloot 4.10.11
• The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers: Thomas Mullen
• The Clan of the Cave Bear: Jean M. Auel
• Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Stieg Larsson

Additional Books:

• Swamplandia!: Karen Russell (4.2.11)

What's in a Name Challenge 2

*Dates: January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009

*The Challenge: Choose one book from each of the following categories.

1. A book with a "profession" in its title. Examples might include: The Book Thief, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Historian

2. A book with a "time of day" in its title. Examples might include: Twilight, Four Past Midnight, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

3. A book with a "relative" in its title. Examples might include: Eight Cousins, My Father's Dragon, The Daughter of Time

4. A book with a "body part" in its title. Examples might include: The Bluest Eye, Bag of Bones, The Heart of Darkness

5. A book with a "building" in its title. Examples might include: Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little House on the Prairie, The Looming Tower

6. A book with a "medical condition" in its title. Examples might include: Insomnia, Coma, The Plague

*You may overlap books with other challenges, but please don't use the same book for more than one category.

*************************************************

My Tentative List

Profession

• Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
• Belle de Jour: Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl

Time of Day

Relative

• The Alchemist's Daughter
• The Bonesetter's Daughter: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Body Part

• The Bluest Eye
• The Bonesetter's Daughter: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
• Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter

Building

• The Wasp Factory: Iain Banks

Medical Condition

• The Birth House: A Novel (P.S.)
• The Birth of Venus: A Novel
• The Blood of Flowers: A Novel
• The Bonesetter's Daughter: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

New Classics Challenge

Joann from Lost in a Good Story is hosting the New Classics Challenge. She writes...

Deb from the A Novel Challenge yahoo group posted a link to this list of Entertainment Weekly's list of new classics, what they call the best reads from 1983 to 2008. I loved the list - many of my recent favorites are on it so I'm intrigued
to see what some of the ones I haven't read yet will be like.

So the challenge rules are:

1) Copy the list (which I have pasted here, just in case that link ever disappears) and bold the titles that you have already read.

2) Choose at least 6 other books from the list , read and review them between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.

2) Come back here and post links to your reviews.

3) In January 2009, cast your vote for which one of the 100 books on the list is your favorite (and write a post on why). The winning book will be sent to a lucky winner chosen by the scientific method favored here in the blogosphere, i.e. names in a hat. Other contests are very probable too, I have some ideas, but they need planning.

4) Have fun! :-)

THE LIST
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

SIX BOOKS TO READ

1. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
4. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
5. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
6. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)

Summer ReadingThing 2008

Summer Reading Thing 2008

Who: The Summer Reading Thing 2008 (or SRT 08) is for anyone who’s up for a reading challenge. All age groups are welcome.

What: A summer reading challenge for everyone. Set your goals and track your progress. No goal is too small; no ambition too great. Feeling overwhelmed? Make your list small or use the same list from any other reading challenge (like this one).

Make changes to your list as needed as desired. Finish early? Add more books (or
not). Change your mind on a title? Drop it. No pressure, no minimums.

Post a short review on your blog of at least one of the books you read during the challenge. If you like to do reviews, you can post one for each of the books you read. Please keep the reviews family friendly. I'll set up a Mr. Linky where you can link to your reviews. (Don't have a blog? Keep reading.)

When: Friday, June 2oth through Sunday, September 21st, 2008.

Where: The blogosphere. Join up using this Mr. Linky. Post your summer reading list on your blog and backlink here. If you don't have a blog, you can use the one I created last year for this very purpose. Simply e-mail your list and reviews to her and she'll post and link you up, making you eligible for prizes.

Why: To promote literacy around the world. Yeh, right. Because we need a reason not to feel guilty when we choose to read instead of mop the floor.

How: Make your list and post it on your blog. Then link to your post using the sign-up Mr. Linky. As you read your books, post a review on your blog and link to the review post using the review Mr. Linky. At the end of the challenge, post a wrap-up and link to the wrap-up Mr. Linky (coming in September).

Prizes: Prizes will be books (new or gently read) or book related items. (If you're an author or publisher and you want to provide a prize, send me an e-mail.) I'll give away one prize each week. To be eligible for prizes, you must have signed up on the Mr. Linky here. Beginning July 20th, you must also have posted one review using the Mr. Linky here. Due to shipping costs, you must live in the U.S. or Canada to win a prize. (Sorry.)

Spread the word: Let your blog readers know about SRT 08 so they can join the fun with you! Grab the button and use it on your blog. The larger image (top of post) is 400 px. The smaller image (below) is 220 px and will fit the standard Blogger sidebar. The image in my sidebar is 185px, for smaller sidebars, like mine. Please link your button back to this post.

Note: You can join Summer Reading Thing 2008 at any time.

My Reading List

1. Decipher: Stel Pavlou 7.7.08

2. Ella Minnow Pea: Mark Dunn 7.9.08

3. Alvin Journeyman: Orson Scott Card

4. Harry Potter II: J. K. Rowling

5. Stargirl: Jerry Spinelli

6. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier: Ishmael Beah 7.22.08

7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Mark Haddon 8.14.08

8. The Thieves of Heaven: Richard Doetsch7/08

9. The Phantom Tollbooth: Norton Juster

10. Pig Island: Mo Hayder 7.15.08

11. The Republican War on Science: Chris Mooney

12. Murder on the Orient Express: Agatha Christie 7.12.08

Book Review: Parasite Rex

Author: Carl Zimmer

Pages: 245

Genre: Non Fiction/Science

Personal Rating: 3/5

From the back cover:

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites control the minds of their hosts, sending them to their destruction.

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites are masters of chemical warfare and camouflage, able to cloak themselves with their hosts' own molecules.

IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites steer the course of evolution, where the majority of species are parasites.

WELCOME TO EARTH.

For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and in the darkest shadows of science. Yet these creatures are among the world's most successful and sophisticated organisms. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer deftly balances the scientific and the disgusting as he takes readers on a fantastic voyage. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the fetid parasite haven of southern Sudan, Zimmer graphically brings to life how parasites can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead.

This thorough, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe.

I'm torn with how to write the review for this book. One one hand I really loved it, on the other hand sometimes it bored me to tears. The book was incredibly fascinating, in small doses. Zimmer has a knack for writing so that you can easily understand what he is saying. BUT, I have a background in science. I teach biology. I am naturally interested in his subject matter and have prior knowledge on a lot of what he was writing about (especially details about how the immune system works). I'm not sure how much someone without a science background would would struggle to enjoy the book having to first understand all the science in it. I think that as long as you realize that you may need to do a little work to understand this book go ahead and pick it up. Plan to read it in short segments over a long period of time. There are only so many parasitic infections you can take at one time. If you are easily grossed out, squeamish, don't like worms, or enjoy science leave this book for someone else.

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: When We Were Gods

Author: Colin Falconer

Pages: 494

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating: 3/5

From the back cover:

Arrestingly beautiful and fiercely intelligent, Cleopatra VII of Egypt was barely more than a teenager when she inherited the richest empire in the world--one that stretched from the scorching deserts of lower Egypt to the shining Mediterranean metropolis of Alexandria, with its famed libraries, storehouses, and treasuries. Imperiled at every turn by court conspiracies and Roman treachery, the young queen was forced to flee Alexandria and live in exile while a foreign army overran her city and her own siblings plotted her downfall. With nothing to lose, Cleopatra brazenly sought a partnership with the only man who could secure Egypt's safety: Julius Caesar, a wily politician and battle-hardened general with a weakness for women. The result was a passionate love affair that scandalized Rome and thrust Cleopatra into the glittering but deadly world of imperial intrigue and warfare-- a world that she would mesmerize and manipulate even after Caesar was gone.

At the height of her power and fame, Cleopatra fell in love with Caesar's protégé and successor, Marc Antony, a handsome general known as much for his drunken hedonism as for his victories in battle. Brash, irresistible, and fatally unreliable, Antony's once-strong hold on the Roman Empire was slipping fast, and with it slipped Cleopatra's fortunes. When the tide had finally, irrevocably turned against her, the proud queen plotted a last, spectacular maneuver that was to save her children, her empire, and her place in the pantheon of gods.

Colin Falconer's bold, sensuous prose takes the reader inside the walls of Alexandria's great palaces and into Cleopatra's very heart, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman who thrived and triumphed in a world ruled by men. This is the story of a legendary woman's most glorious time, a story that blazes through thousands of years of history to capture the imagination of readers today.

This novel was OK. It was well written and interesting. I did not know much about the history of Cleopatra so I did find it informative (realizing that the autor I'm sure took liberties to make the story more exciting). After awhile it just became very repetitive, which maybe her story was. Cleopatra gets it trouble, she gets out of it, barely...only to find herself in trouble again. Until finally she found herself in trouble she could not get out of. The end.

The book did give excellent glimspse into life of the royal court of Egypt. To have such wealth at your fingertips...unimaginable. It also portrayed Cleopatra as a very intelligent woman, she spoke 9 languages and stay up late into the night running the country often outwitting the "smartest" men in country or in the world.

Decent read, just not as good as I was expecting. Perhaps because I had just came off some awesome reads (Uglies, Blind Assassin, Bel Canto). If you enjoy historical fiction, Egypt or Cleopatra I'd say give it a whirl.

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Review: The Things They Carried

Author: Tim O'Brien

Pages: 246

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating: 5/5

From the back cover:

They carried malaria tablets, love letters, 28-pound mine detectors, dope, illustrated Bibles, each other. And, if they made it home alive, they carried unrelenting images of a nightmarish war that history is only beginning to absorb. Since it was first published, The Things They Carried has become an unparalleled Vietnam testament, a classic work of American literature and a profound study of men at war that illuminates the capacity, and the limits, of the human heart and soul.

I read this book in one sitting. It was that good. I started this afternoon and finished this evening. It is fiction, but it makes you wonder how much of it is actually true. I haven't researched O'Brien or read any of his other works so I don't know if he actually served in Vietnam. I was enthralled by this book, by the stories he told. For a few hours I had a small glimpse into what it may have been like at some points in time, for some men in Vietnam. The capacity for horror, love and coping that O'Brien is able to convey is amazing. I'm considering picking up some of his other books to see if they are as good as this one.

O'Brien writes about how he considered fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft. Here is a paragraph that I really liked

My hometown was a conservative little spot on the prairie, a place where tradition counted, and it was easy to imagine people sitting around a table down at the old Gobbler Cafe on Main Street, coffee cups poised, the conversation slowly zeroing in on the young O'Brien kid, how the damned sissy had taken off for Canada. At night, when I couldn't sleep, I'd sometimes carry on fierce arguments with those people. I'd be screaming at them, telling them how much I detested their blind, thoughtless, automatic acquiescence to it all, their simpleminded patriotism, their prideful ignorance, their love-it-or-leave-it platitudes, how they were sending me off to fight a war they didn't understand and didn't want to understand. I held them responsible. By God, yes, I did. All of them--I held them personally and individually responsible--the polyestered Kiwanis boys, the merchants and farmers, the pious churchgoers, the chatty housewives, the PTA, and the Lions club and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the fine upstanding gentry out at the country club. They didn't know the Bao Dai from the man in the moon. They didn't know history. They didn't know the first thing about Diem's tyranny, or the nature of Vietnamese nationalism, or the long colonialism or the French--this was all too damned complicated, it required some reading--but no matter, it was a war to stop the Communists, plain and simple, which was how they liked things, and you were a treasonous pussy if you had second thoughts about killing or dying for plain and simple reasons.

Wow.

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Awards Reading Challenge II

BOOK AWARD READING CHALLENGE II

Rules:

1. Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009.
2. You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles.
3. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.

Here are some award winners I have sitting on my shelf now. I'll narrow it down soon. I wanted to sign up before I forgot.

• Koko by Peter Straub
• Sophie's Choice by William Styron
• The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
• Plague’s Progress by Arno Karlen
• Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
• A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lamb
• Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
• Holes by Louis Sachar
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
• Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Throat by Peter Straub
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
• Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
  

WRAP UP: Book Awards Reading Challenge

I actually finished up with a little time to spare so hopefully I'll be able to add a few extras to the list. Unfortunately, I did not consider keeping my original list completely intact so some of my first intentions have disappeared. Others have not!

Booker Prize
1. 1997 The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy 4.2.08 REVIEW
2. 2000 The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood 5.12.08 REVIEW

Gold Dagger Award
3. 1993 Cruel and Unusual by Patricia Cornwell 3.16.08 REVIEW

National Book Award
1990 Sophie's Choice by William Styron
4. 2003 Three Junes by Julia Glass 8.5.07
5. 2006 The Echo Maker by Richard Powers 11. 26.07 REVIEW

Pulitzer Prize
6. 2003 Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 1.26.08 REVIEW

PEN/Faulkner Award
7. 2002 Bel Canto by Patchett 4.30.08 REVIEW

PEN/Hemingway
1988 The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton

Newbery Award
8. 1994 The Giver by Lois Lowry completed REVIEW

Bram Stoker Award
9. 1992 The Blood of the Lamb by Thomas F. Monteleone 2.2.08 REVIEW

World Fantasy Award
1989 Koko by Peter Straub

British Children's Book of the Year
10. 2007 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (John Boyne) 3.20.08 REVIEW

• 3 Irish Book Awards: the Novel of the Year, the People's Choice Book of the Year, and the Children's Book of the Year. It won 2 awards

Nebula Award
11. 1966 Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) 3.8.08 REVIEW

Panorama Literario Award: Chile
12. 1983 The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende) 4.26.08 REVIEW

• Best Novel of the Year, Chile 1983

Alternates on my Bookshelf(those that I have picked for other challanges--i colored reddish)

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

Plague’s Progress by Arno Karlen

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lamb

Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaatje

Holes by Louis Sachar

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Throat by Peter Straub

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

There were three books I originally set out to read and did not. There was Sophie's Choice, which I will still be reading for The Decades Challenge. Koko is the second. I'm still interested in reading it. It is VERY long but still looks very good. I went to pick up the Book of Ruth the other night and after reading the back and some reviews I decided i would rather stick sharp objects in my eyes than read this book. It sounds so depressing and miserable. I have no idea what motivated me to add it to my list the fist time. Probably the fact the I owned it.

My Favorite Books from this Challenge? This is tough there were some really good one. I would have to pick

• Bel Canto
• The Giver

With the Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Flowers for Algernon coming in close behind.

Those I didn't like so much from this Challenge?

• House of the Spirits--I hated it.

I was also disappointed in Middlesex but not nearly the way I hated House of the Spirits.

BOOK AWARDS READING CHALLENGE

The Classics Challenge

I've finally grown some balls and decided to join The 2008 Classics Challenge It is being hosted by Trish from Trish's Reading Nook. She writes...

Welcome to the Classics Challenge 2008

Classics: We love them, we hate them, now we are going to challenge ourselves to reading more of them. Because there are so many different types of classics, different genres are acceptable and encouraged--for example, novels, short story collections, non-fiction, poetry, essays--I'm open for other suggestions!RULES (keep reading for the bonus):

• OPTION 1: Read FIVE classics.
• OPTION 2: Read FIVE classics from at least THREE different countries
• OPTION 3: Read FIVE classics with any combination of at least THREE different countries and TWO different genres (see above for genres).
• Cross-posting with other challenges is allowed (and encouraged!); Audiobooks are fine; books must be finished after July 1st to count for the challenge although re-reads are acceptable.
• Lists don't have to be set in stone; you can change your selections at any time.
• Have Fun. Oh ya...there will be a drawing for a prize or two. To be entered you must complete any one of the above options. You do NOT need a blog to participate.

Am I going to define what a classic is? Nope! There are lots of definitions offered on the Internet, but essentially we all have different opinions so don't stress too much--and see the bonus below.

BONUS!!

As you can see, I'm requiring FIVE classics for six months. For the sixth book, I would like the participants to offer suggestions for books that may not be considered classics but that you think should be or books that you think will be a classic one day. Leave your suggestions in the comments below. I'll compile a list of the suggestions and you choose a book from the list and make that your sixth read. I realize this means you may have to wait to make your list if you choose to participate in the bonus round, but I'm hoping this is a modern twist on the old classics challenge.

For example, I am going to suggest The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro.

SIGN UPS...COMING SOON

Alright, let's do it this way... At the beginning of June I will put up the official Mr. Linky. By then, hopefully there will be a decent sized "should be/will be" classics list for participants to choose their sixth book. I hope I hope I hope at the beginning of June there aren't just the suggestions of The Handmaid's Tale and Remains of the Day. Won't I feel silly? ;) If you don't want to do the bonus (shame on you!!), please check back at the beginning of June to officially join. Feel free to leave a comment below, though, if you are interested!

Thanks to everyone for your interest! I've been an avid challenge participant for almost a year and I'm thrilled to finally have the guts to host my own. Thank you to everyone who has given me support and suggestions along the way!

Finally: Happy Reading!

I saw I site that divided the classics into three groups and I've decided to use the same idea to make it a little easier for me to conquer my fear of some of the classics. It seems so much easier to manage now. Of course I'll try to use cross over with other challenges when possible.

Classic Literature For Adults

• The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
• Something Wicked This Way Comes (Bradbury)
• Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

Classic Literature For Young Teens

• The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Emma Orczy)

Classic Literature For Children

• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

This is just my start for now. I need to read your posts and get some recommendations. I also need to think about my recommendation for the sixth book.

1% Well Read Challenge

Michelle from 1 More Chapter is hosting the 1% Well-Read Challenge

The goal of this challenge is to read 10 books in 10 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. For you non-math people, 10 out of 1001 is approximately 1%, hence the title. The challenge will run from May 1, 2008 through February 28, 2009. You may change your list at any time and cross-posting to other challenges is permitted. The only requirement is that your ten book choices must be on the 1001 List.

Here is my list:

1. The Blind Assassin: Margaret Atwood (completed 5.12.08)


2. Like Water for Chocolate: Laura Esquivel


3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: Mark Haddon


4. The Things They Carried: Tim O'Brien


5. Veronika Decides to Die: Paulo Coelho


6. The Awakening: Kate Chopin


7. The Wasp Factory: Iain Banks


8. Sula:Toni Morrison


9. ?


10. ?

Book Review: The House of the Spirits

Author: Isabel Allende

Pages: 433

Genre: Fiction

Personal Rating 1/5

Awards: Panorama Literario Award: Chile (1983), Best Novel of the Year: Chile (1983)

From the back cover:

Here, in an astonishing debut by a gifted storyteller, is the magnificent saga of proud and passionate men and women and the turbulent times through which they suffer and triumph. They are the Truebas. And theirs is a world you will not want to leave, and one you will not forget.

Esteban -- The patriarch, a volatile and proud man whose lust for land is legendary and who is haunted by his tyrannical passion for the wife he can never completely possess.

Clara -- The matriarch, elusive and mysterious, who foretells family tragedy and shapes the fortunes of the house of the Truebas.

Blanca -- Their daughter, soft-spoken yet rebellious, whose shocking love for the son of her father's foreman fuels Esteban's everlasting contempt... even as it produces the grandchild he adores.

Alba -- The fruit of Blanca's forbidden love, a luminous beauty, a fiery and willful woman... the family's break with the past and link to the future.

I hate to write bad reviews but sometimes it must be done. This book was awful. I hated it. What was so horrible about it? I'm not sure. It is difficult to put my finger on it. I know it was easy to just put the book down and forget about it. I didn't care about anyone in the story. I preferred to do household chores than read (now THAT should tell you something). I took me weeks to finish this book. I finished it through sheer will power and determination. It covered 8 challenges for me so there was no way I was going back once I started. I also figured since it had won a few awards it must be decent. This is horrible to say but one of the challenges i read this book for was the Banned Book Challenge...the only thing this book should be banned for is being boring.

It should have been a good story. It went on long enough. It "spanned" generations. So many different story lines evolved, started, stopped. There was love, death, murder, kidnapping, mutilation, war, riots, revolt, marriage, a head in a box, a car crash, magic, green hair...there was so much. This family was an absolute train wreck. It should have been interesting in the "I can't look away car crash type of way". But it wasn't. It was boring. It was difficult to keep track of who was who (that could have been from me putting the book down for days at a time).

Save your time. If you want to try Allende try something besides The House of the Spirits

If you have reviewed this book and would like me to link to your review please let me know in the comments!

Book Binge

Hooray...a new challenge: Book Binge. It is being host by Mary at It's Not All Mary Poppins.

Some of you have asked about last year’s Book Binge, and wondered if I were hosting it again. And I said to myself, “What a great idea! I think I shall host a Book Binge again!”

Here’s how it goes: For the month of May, participants keep track of each and every book you read. At the end of the month, everyone will blog their list of books. Simple, no?

For simplicity’s sake, and to allow people time to hear about it and sign up if they want, we’ll start on Monday, May 5th. We will all publish our lists on June 1.

Other rules:

- You can include books you re-read, so long as you re-read them in between May 5 and 31.
- You may also include books you start but don’t finish, just note the page at which you gave it up. Something like, “Quit, page 47 of 322″.
- You may only include books you read aloud to your children if they are at least 125 pages long.
- Students may include textbooks (if they’re at least 100 pages long).

Book Review: Prentice Alvin

Author: Orson Scott Card

Pages: 342

Genre: Fiction/Sci Fi/

Personal Rating 3.5/5

From the back cover:

Alvin's mortal enemy, the Unmaker, has found hearts and hands willing to do its bidding, while Alvin and the Prophet's people were making their last stand. Just across the Hio River from the town of Hatrack River was the first of the slave-holding territories - and they ran south all the way to the sea.

Both the United States and Appalachee have abolished slavery, while the Crown Colonies still deal in human flesh. But the slaves know that their hope of freedom lies just beyond the river; and the daring - or desperate - have often come within the range of Hatrack River's torch. Little Peggy is now sixteen, and has seen more of the world's evil than anybody rightly should - and when she "sees" a young girl and her infant son she isn't surprised by the cruelty the slave is running from. Peggy's father takes the risk of bringing the two back to the guest house, and in doing so creates the one path in all of Peggy's possible futures that may lead to happiness for both her and Alvin.

And so when Alvin arrives in Hatrack River to take up his apprenticeship with Makepeace Smith and learn to be a blacksmith, he finds that nothing is as he expected it to be. The would-be Maker is on his own, and the works of the Unmaker are close at hand.

Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker have created a moving fantasy world from the dream of America and the simple magics of the people who settled her. Here is a world where folk magic is as much a part of life as hard work and religion, and where the red man and the white still have hope for living in peace with the land and each other. It is a fantasy unique to literature, yet as inevitable as breathing. It is a work that will live forever in your
heart..

Thanks goodness book three was better than book two. I was worried I had signed up using Tales of Alvin Maker for the Series Challenge after reading book two but book three turned around and in my opinion headed in the right direction.

This part of the saga focused on three main characters; Alvin, Peggy and Arthur Stuart. Peggy was the torch girl who pulled the caul from Alvin's face when he was born. They are destined to marry but Peggy can "see" they Alvin is going to marry her from duty and obligation and will resent their marriage. On the day Alvin arrives in Hatrack River Peggy runs away and "opens up" new paths into the future for everyone. Ones that may even include happiness in marriage for Peggy and Alvin.

Arthur Stuart is the little mix up boy. He is the baby of the black slave girl who ran away from her white slave owner who raped her. She used black magic and gave up her life so she could literally fly far enough away that the slave hunters couldn't find her. Alvin and Arthur Stuart become very close. By the end of the story, Alvin, Arthur & Peggy's futures paths are all crossed and dependent on each other.

This story or series will not appeal to everyone. You need to enjoy Card's style and a little bit of fantasy and magic. I am enjoying the setting which is an alternative frontier America. For example there is a large river named the Hio the represents the Ohio.

Excellent first sentence: Let me start my history of Alvin's apprenticeship where things first began to go wrong.

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats OR tl;dr1 CHALLENGE

May 1st - November 30th

This challenge reminded me of the "Something About Me Challenge" where participants made a list and then you picked books from their list to read. I couldn't pass this one up, but really????? can I pass up any challenge?

I just like the phrase herding cats.

How to play:

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. Ten books, a list full of ♥

Go HERE for the rest of the requirements

General disclaimer: yes I know about Something About Me and yes I asked the host permission and yes our challenges our similar but that one is totally more personal and inclusive? although that's the wrong word. It's like a nice version of The Unicorn Club while this challenge is more about chaos and cat macros and ♥'s and SPREADING ♥'s and cat macros everywhere. SUPER!6 Six doesn't exist either. SHUT UP GUYS. This video had to be linked!

MY LIST OF 10 BOOKS I LOVE

Non-Fiction

• Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez (my review)
• Burn Journals by Brent Runyon (my review)

Young Adult

• The Giver by Lois Lowry (my review)
• Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O'Dell

Horror

• The Stand by Stephen King

Historical Fiction

• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
• The Gilded Chamber: A Novel of Queen Ester by Rebecca Kohn
• Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood by Richard Kim (my review)

General Fiction

• Poison Study by Maria Snydre (my review)
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore (my review)

THE BOOKS I'LL BE READING

1. Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
2. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
3. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Book Review: Kabul Beauty School

Author: Deborah Rodriguez

Pages: 270

Genre: Non-Fiction

Personal Rating 5

From the back cover:

Soon after the fall of the Taliban, in 2001, Deborah Rodriguez went to Afghanistan as part of a group offering humanitarian aid to this war-torn nation. Surrounded by men and women whose skills–as doctors, nurses, and therapists–seemed eminently more practical than her own, Rodriguez, a hairdresser and mother of two from Michigan, despaired of being of any real use. Yet she soon found she had a gift for befriending Afghans, and once her profession became known she was eagerly sought out by Westerners desperate for a good haircut and by Afghan women, who have a long and proud tradition of running their own beauty salons. Thus an idea was born.

With the help of corporate and international sponsors, the Kabul Beauty School welcomed its first class in 2003. Well meaning but sometimes brazen, Rodriguez stumbled through language barriers, overstepped cultural customs, and constantly juggled the challenges of a postwar nation even as she learned how to empower her students to become their families’ breadwinners by learning the fundamentals of coloring techniques, haircutting, and makeup.

Yet within the small haven of the beauty school, the line between teacher and student quickly blurred as these vibrant women shared with Rodriguez their stories and their hearts: the newlywed who faked her virginity on her wedding night, the twelve-year-old bride sold into marriage to pay her family’s debts, the Taliban member’s wife who pursued her training despite her husband’s constant beatings. Through these and other stories, Rodriguez found the strength to leave her own unhealthy marriage and allow herself to love again, Afghan style.

With warmth and humor,Rodriguez details the lushness of a seemingly desolate region and reveals the magnificence behind the burqa. Kabul Beauty School is a remarkable tale of an extraordinary community of women who come together and learn the arts of perms, friendship, and freedom.

Yep, a fiver! You know when a book has you scavenging the Internet for places to volunteer overseas that it has made an impact on you. I loved this book for two main reasons. Or I guess i should say for the two glimpses it gives you. The first is the glimpse it gives you into the life of Afghan women and the second is the glimpse it gives you into the life of the woman Debbie Rodriguez. Her dedication of the book tells you a lot about her "style"but leaves a lot of her "style"to be discovered

"This book is dedicated to my father, Junior Turner, who passed away June 5, 2002, while I was on my first trip to Afghanistan. Dad, I never got a chance to tell you about Afghanistan and the school. You left me too soon. I know you would love Sam, my husband--he is just like you, but Afghan style. I know you would be worried, but also very happy that I am following my dream. I miss you."

Debbie Rodriguez is an spirited, tough, inspirational woman who just doesn't quit. She ends up in Afghanistan as part of a group of humanitarian workers and feels very out of place with the doctors, nurses, teachers, and engineers. She feels like she has no place there. She is just a lowly hair dresser. But when she is introduced with her group for the evening her job title brings down the house and she is instantly surrounded by women (& men) who just want a little pampering! She is needed just as much as the doctors, just in a different way.

Rodriguez comes to learn that her skills are actually very valuable because men cannot enter beauty salons (since women take off their veils and their hair can be seen). If she can teach women how to run their own salons they would ultimately be in control of their own money. Their husbands would never see how much they were actually making since they couldn't enter the salons. The women would for once have some small control over their own lives. They of course would have to turn their money over to their husbands but since he wouldn't know how much they were actually making...

So the book follows Debbie from the beginning of her quest for free donations and her joining of forces with Vogue and Clairol who had already begun to start a Kabul Beauty School, to her marriage to Sam (an Afghan) up until 2006 when her salon and the beauty school are locked up and Kabul is locked down due to political unrest.

I just kept reading and reading this book. I found it very inspirational and moving. I think anyone would enjoy this even if you do not normally enjoy non-fiction. It is just so eye opening to show us how another culture lives.

A Challenge to Consider...

I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge


This challenge is being hosted by Lynne at Lynne's Little Corner of the World.

I'm always looking for new books and new authors. I've gotten quite a few titles from Amazon.com. They always seem to have recommendations for me. I've also found some from other bloggers.

Where do you find new books to read? Do you get recommendations from friends? From the library? From the person next to you on the plane or train or bus? From other book blogs?

The goal of this challenge is to read 3 new-to-you books between June 1 and November 30 that have been recommended to you. Any type of book is OK. It can even be a book by an author you've read before. Cross-overs with other challenges are fine, and you can change books at any time. And there will be a prize at the end of the challenge. You will need to sign up before June 1.Sign up with Mr. Linky with a link to your post listing the books and how they were recommended to you.

When the time gets closer I'll need to see how I'm doing on my other challenges!

I Heard It Through The Grapevine Challenge