What An Animal! Challenge: The Wrap-Up

The What An Animal! Challenge ended June 30, and I've let ten whole days go by without writing my wrap-up post. I really didn't forget about it – just haven't felt very energetic the last few days because of a bad cold. But I don't want to let the month get too much farther along without putting this one to bed.

The Challenge began one year ago, on July 1, 2008, and participants were to read at least six books that fulfilled any of these requirements:

an animal in the title of the book; an animal on the cover of the book; an animal that plays a major role in the book; a main character that is or turns into an animal (define that however you like).

This was a fun challenge. Even though I didn't read as many books as I thought I might, I managed to read my six and enjoyed every one of them. I still need to review a couple of the books – thought I'd done it already, but I see now I still have some work to do. Will try to get that done in the next few days. For right now, though, here's what I read, with links to reviews:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon
Moon Tiger. Penelope Lively [review to come]
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Robert C. O'Brien
Rest In Pieces: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery, by Rita Mae Brown [review to come]
To Dance with the White Dog. Terry Kay
Wish You Were Here: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery, by Rita Mae Brown

A few of the titles might need a bit of explanation. For anyone not familiar with the Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series – Mrs. Murphy is a pet cat who helps her owner solve mysteries. I'm slowly making my way through the series, and the challenge gave me the perfect reason to read a couple more of those. Also, the "moon tiger" in the title of Penelope Lively's novel doesn't refer to an actual tiger – it's the name for a kind of candle-like lamp that burns itself away as it provides light.

All of the books were great reads. And one of them, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, has been on my TBR list since way back in the '70s when it first appeared. Can't imagine why in the world it took me so long to get around to it. But my favorite of the six was definitely Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In fact, it's going on my list of all-time favorite books. If you haven't read it yet, you're missing a great experience. In fact, just sitting here thinking about it is making me want to start it all over again.

I want to thank Kristi of Passion for the Page for hosting the challenge, and all the other participants for making it happen. Now I just have to make up my mind about signing up for What An Animal! II.