The Romance Reading Challenge 2009: My Bad

Well, I believe I've finished wrapping up all the 2009 reading challenges I actually completed. So I guess it's time to talk about my one total failure in the bunch.

The Romance Reading Challenge looked sooo tempting back in December of 2008, when I first signed up. And I had every intention of reading all five of those romance novels I had lined up.

Never happened.

I think the only book I read all year that could even vaguely be thought of as a "romance" would be Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. I guess I'm just not as much of a romantic as I thought I was.

So, my apologies to Naida (The Bookworm) who hosted the challenge. And I still think it's a great idea for a challenge - just not the right one for me.

Challenge Completed: Lost In Translation 2009

The Lost In Translation Challenge is another reading challenge that ended with December, even though I'm just getting around to writing a wrap-up post. It was hosted by Nonsuchbook, and asked participants to read six books in translation during the year.

This was another fun challenge. I read several books that were outside my normal "comfort zone," and a couple that had been on my "must read" list for several years. I also discovered several authors who were new to me.

Here's the list of books I read, with links to reviews. I'm still missing a couple of those reviews, but I'm hoping to remedy that later in the week.

My List:

1. Solaris. Stanislaw Lem
2. The Book of God and Physics. Enrique Joven
3. The Unit. Ninni Holmqvist
   
4. The Angel's Game. Carlos Ruiz Zafon [review to come]
   
5. The Friend of Madame Maigret. Georges Simenon
   
6. The Lover. Marguerite Duras [review to come]
   

I'd like to thank Nonsuchbooks for hosting this challenge - it was certainly one of my favorites. Oh, and one more thing - isn't that one of the greatest buttons ever?

Challenge Completed: 2nds Challenge 2009

This is another challenge I completed in 2009, but have yet to write a wrap-up for. Another challenge hosted by J. Kaye (of J. Kaye's Book Blog), the 2nds Challenge ran throughout 2009, and ended on December 31. The idea was to read at least twelve books by authors you'd only read once before.

This one was a lot of fun since it encouraged me to revisit authors I had enjoyed in the past, and allowed me to dive into some of those books that had been on my TBR list for many years.

Here's my list of books read (with links to reviews where reviews exist):

1. A.S. Byatt: Angels & Insects
2. Dan Brown: Angels & Demons
3. Eudora Welty: The Optimist's Daughter
4. Douglas Preston: Brimstone (with Lincoln Child) [review to come]
   
5. Penelope Lively: Moon Tiger [review to come]
6. Carlos Ruiz Zafon: The Angel's Game [review to come]
7. John Updike: Rabbit Is Rich
   
8. Ellen Gilchrist: Victory Over Japan
   
9. Lincoln Child: Dance of Death (with Douglas Preston) [review to come]
   
10. Susan Hill: The Woman in Black
    
11. Bram Stoker: The Lair of the White Worm
    
12. E.L. Doctorow: Homer & Langley [review to come]
    

It would be really hard to choose a favorite from this bunch, but if forced I'd probably have to settle on Updike's Rabbit Is Rich. It's really a beautifully written book.

I want to thank J. Kaye for hosting the challenge, and all the other participants for so many great reviews. My TBR list has been dangerously expanded once again!

Challenge Completed: Suspense-Thriller 2008-2009

Another challenge I completed last year, but haven't wrapped up yet is the Suspense & Thriller Challenge. It was hosted by J. Kaye of J. Kaye's Book Blog, and started back in 2008.

I loved this one. So much so that I've already signed up for the 2010 version. I want to say a really big thank you to J. Kaye for hosting and doing all that work, and to all the other participants for their wonderful reviews and recommendations.

Here's my list of the books I read, along with categories, and links to reviews where reviews exist (I'm still working on those - so, more to come). I enjoyed all the books (some more, some less, of course), so I'm not going to choose a favorite, but I will say I was probably most surprised by Angels & Demons: after all the hype, it was really a much better read than I was expecting.

The list:

1. Action Thriller: Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston [review to come]
2. Amateur Detective Mystery: Wish You Were Here, by Rita Mae Brown
3. Cozy Mystery: Mrs. Malory and Death By Water, by Hazel Holt
4. Drama Thriller/Mystery: The Private Patient, by P.D. James [review to come]
5. Historical Thriller: Land of Marvels, by Barry Unsworth [review to come]
6. Literary Thriller: The Bookman's Wake, by John Dunning [review to come]
7. Murder Mystery: Cover Her Face, by P.D. James
8. Police Procedural Thriller: The Way Through the Woods, by Colin Dexter
9. Psychological Thriller: Mr. White's Confession, by Robert Clark
10. Religious Thriller: Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown
11. Serial Killer Thriller: Dance of Death, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child [review to come]
    
12. Supernatural Thriller: Brimstone, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child [review to come]

Christmas Reading Challenge: Reviews and Wrap-Up

Well, we're a whole week into the new year now, so I guess it's time to get myself off my whatever, and start wrapping up all those challenges that still need wrapping up.

I'll begin with the one I just finished – the Christmas Reading Challenge, hosted by Michelle over at The True Book Addict (many thanks, Michelle!). This one was fun and easy. It started around Thanksgiving, back on November 26th, and the challenge was to read one or more books with holiday themes. Here's a brief look at the three books I read:

Crewel Yule
Written by Monica Ferris
Berkley Prime Crime, 2004; 245 pages

Publisher's description:
Snow is not the only thing falling this December. . . spirits are, too. That's because this year's needlework convention in Nashville is tragically interrupted when Milwaukee shop owner Belle Hammermill tumbles nine stories to her untimely death. At first, Betsy Devonshire thinks the fall was just an unfortunate accident. But Belle's unsavory reputation as a seductress, thief, and jealous friend causes suspicions to flare. She had plenty of enemies with more than enough motive. In fact, three of her alleged victims were at the convention, all with anger in their hearts and vengeance in their minds. . .

Of the two whodunits I read for the challenge, I think this was my favorite. I've read several other books in Ferris's Needlecraft Mystery series, and I've enjoyed them all. The stories revolve around Betsy Devonshire who owns and manages a needlework shop in the small town of Excelsior, Minnesota, and does quite a bit of amateur sleuthing on the side. The books are very "cozy," and this one was especially so – what with the entire cast of characters being completely snowed in at one hotel for several days.

I have to say that the murderer, although not actually revealed until the last few pages, was pretty easy to spot, fairly early in the book; but that didn't really detract from the fun. The books always include a lot of detail about needlework and designers, and this volume was no exception – in fact, Ferris used several real-life designers and needlework marketers as characters here. And I was especially interested in this book because I've recently stayed in a hotel much like the one described in it, but in Memphis rather than Nashville. I also liked the fact that Betsy's friend, police sergeant Jill Cross Larson got to play a more prominent role in this book. Jill has always been one of my favorite characters in the series, and I was glad to see her getting a little more time on stage.

Santa Clawed
Written by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
Bantam Books, 2008; 240 pages

Description from Amazon.com:
Murder casts a shadow over the yuletide cheer in bestseller Brown's 17th Mrs. Murphy mystery to feature Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, former postmistress of Crozet, Va. On a visit to the Brothers of Love Christmas tree farm, Harry, her husband and their animal friends are dismayed to stumble on a murdered monk. Someone has cut the throat of Christopher Hewitt . . . and placed a Greek coin, an obol, under his tongue (in Greek mythology an obol ensures safe passage to the underworld). Deputy Cynthia Cooper and sheriff Rick Shaw's investigation grows to include the similar murder of Brother Speed, a former jockey. Who's targeting the monks? Next, Harry's almost killed after her wily pets alert her to money hidden on her land. Figuring out whodunit leads the Haristeens and the authorities to a double-edged discovery regarding the root of all evil. . . .

Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy mysteries are a very fun series of cozies. Yes, they're formulaic, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in cozy mysteries. You know what to expect, and you come to really love all the regular characters and plot devices. And this one doesn't disappoint, although I did notice a few differences from the earlier books. It was the first of the books I've read in which Harry has been remarried to her husband "Fair," so the dynamics were a little different than in the earlier books when they were divorced. Harry seemed a bit removed from the action here, and her pets were a little more central; a lot of the goings-on were seen from their point of view – which I enjoyed very much (not that I don't like Harry, but the critters are just very appealing characters).

Also, the little town of Crozet with all its wonderful (and slightly wacky) citizens doesn't really play as big a part in this book – most of the action centers around the Brothers of Love Christmas tree farm and the hospice run by the Brothers. That also means that there are a lot of new characters to meet and keep tabs on. Nothing wrong with that, but I did miss the presence of some of those regulars. This one kept me guessing right up to the end, and ultimately I only figured out part of the mystery – there was more going on than I anticipated, and I love it when that happens.

Christmas Card Magic
Written by Margaret Perry
Doubleday, 1967; 127 pages

This book is subtitled: The Art of Making Decorations and Ornaments with Christmas Cards. It's a vintage craft book, and although out-gunned by today's sophisticated digital technology, it's very charming and still has some very good ideas for making inexpensive Christmas trinkets and do-dads – all using those old Christmas cards you've been saving. (You haven't been saving all your cards over the years? Shame on you!) As the author says in her introduction:

With a pair of scissors and a pot of paste this storehouse of treasures can be transformed into villages, creches, mobiles and mats, carousels, candle ruffs and candy containers, coasters and posters, and centerpieces for parties the whole year round.

And then she goes on to show us just how to do it. Very old school, I know. But a lot of these crafts (especially making old-fashioned valentine cards, and Christmas villages) really bring back a lot of happy childhood memories. One of my favorites of her "clever ideas" is the Santa Claus orchestra (below), made with various Santas and other figures playing musical instruments. It would make a very cute mantle decoration, don't you think?


I'm guessing it's not an easy book to find. But if you stumble across it at the library or a used book store, give it a look – it'll probably bring a smile or two.

Fall Into Reading 2009: The Wrap-Up

I've put this off for a couple of weeks now, thinking I'd get more reviews written (silly me). But I guess it's really time to wrap-up the 2009 Fall Into Reading Challenge.

I read a dozen books during the course of the challenge, and enjoyed almost all of them – Bram Stoker's Lair of the White Worm is the only one I really wouldn't recommend to anyone. So I think that was a pretty successful season of reading. Only one of the books I read was actually on my original list of possible reads, but several had been on my TBR list for a long time; so the challenge definitely helped me there.

Here's the list of books I read, with links to reviews if any:

1. New Year's Eve. Lisa Grunwald
2. The Man in the Picture. Susan Hill
   
3. The Woman in Black. Susan Hill
   
4. From Doon with Death. Ruth Rendell
   
5. The Friend of Madame Maigret. Georges Simenon
6. The Lair of the White Worm. Bram Stoker
   
7. Homer & Langley. E.L. Doctorow [review to come]
   
8. The Uncommon Reader. Alan Bennett [review to come]
   
9. Stardust. Joseph Kanon [review to come]
   
10. The Lover. Marguerite Duras [review to come]
    
11. Santa Clawed. Rita Mae Brown
12. Christmas Card Magic. Margaret Perry
    

Thanks to Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting, and to all the other participants for the many great reviews. I've added quite a few more titles to my "must read" list, and I always love it when that happens!

Assorted Challenges: Wrap 'em Up!

Don't know if it's the Thanksgiving-Christmas busy-ness, or this cold I've had for the last week, or just general winter hibernation mode setting in, but for some reason I haven't felt very much like blogging lately. I've been intending to post wrap-ups for a few challenges that end soon, or in some cases have already ended, but just haven't been able to make myself sit down and do the writing. But the cold is better and the snow is melting (we won't mention the backache just yet because I'm hoping if I ignore it, it'll go away), so I thought I'd take a stab at a sort of all-in-one wrap-up post. As usual, I haven't written reviews for all the books I read, but I'm going to work on that this week (no, really I am).

First of all, the November Novella Challenge ended with the month of November (funny how that worked out, isn't it?), so I'm just about a week late closing things out. It was hosted by Bibliofreak (many thanks!), and I think it was a great idea for a challenge. I have a long list of short fiction I hope to get read someday, and this challenge provided the perfect incentive. I didn't get as much read as I had hoped (when do I ever?), but I did read three works that have been on my TBR list for more than a year, and one that I hadn't really known about until I started researching works for the challenge. The novellas I read were:

1. The Lair of the White Worm, by Bram Stoker
2. The Lesson of the Master, by Henry James (the new discovery)
3. The Lover, by Marguerite Duras
4. The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett

Out of the four works, only one disappointed (Stoker's Worm is a decidedly forgettable tale), so I think that was a pretty successful experience. And if Bibliofreak repeats this next year, I'll definitely be signing up.

The 20 in 2009 Challenge still has a few weeks to run, but I'll go ahead and bring down the curtain. Fortunately, I read my twentieth book quite a bit earlier this year - just never managed to get the wrap-up post written until now. So far, this year I've read nearly fifty books (a few more than last year), so for the purposes of the challenge, I'm just listing twenty titles I've actually reviewed. I have a separate blog page dedicated to this challenge, and you can click here to see my list of books read. I want to say thanks very much to the challenge coordinator (Lynn?) for hosting, and for being so well-organized!

Now this one is just slightly embarrassing. The 2009 Southern Reading Challenge ended back in August. And while I did manage to read the three requisite Southern works, it looks like I never posted a wrap-up. So I'll do that now. The challenge was hosted by Maggie of Maggie Reads (thank so much for hosting, Maggie!), and I'm extra upset about forgetting this one because it was one of my favorites. I've always enjoyed reading Southern literature (well, I was born and raised there), and this challenge gave me a much-needed nudge to go back and pick up a few works I'd neglected over the years. My three books were: Ellen Foster, by Kaye Gibbons; The Optimist's Daughter, by Eudora Welty; and To Dance with the White Dog, by Terry Kay.

Thought I had done reviews of all of those, but I see now that I still need to say a few words about Ellen Foster. One more item for this month's to-do list.

And finally, the Sci-Fi 42 Challenge ended December 3rd. It was hosted by Becky of Becky's Book Reviews, and I must say it was one of the most enjoyable challenges I've encountered. I haven't been terribly faithful about keeping up my entry on the challenge blog, but I've been keeping my own list of the sci-fi items I've watched/read/tinkered with, and you can see that on its own little blog site here. Didn't do much reading for the challenge, but I watched a humongous amount of TV shows and movies. I'm sending a really big thank-you to Becky for coming up with the idea and hosting the challenge. She says she's doing it again for 2010, so if you're interested, head on over there and sign up. I know I'm already looking forward to it.

The Chunkster Challenge: Wrap-Up

The Chunkster Challenge 2009 officially ended November 15th, so I'm just a wee bit late in getting this posted. I read several books that would qualify for this challenge, but haven't reviewed all of them. Here's the list (with links to those I have reviewed):

Angels & Demons. Dan Brown (approx. 550 pages)
The Angel's Game. Carlos Ruiz Zafon (544 pages; 470 pages, ARC)
Brimstone. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (512 pages)
Dance of Death. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (451 pages)
The Fire. Katherine Neville (451 pages)
Rabbit Is Rich. John Updike (467 pages)

This was a fun challenge, and it reminded me how satisfying it can be to get involved in a nice, long novel. When I signed up, I was only aiming for the Chubby Chunkster level (just two books), but over the nine months of the challenge I seem to have been quite a glutton for chunksters. I ended up reading six of the things – so I guess I've landed smack in the middle of the Mor-book-ly Obese category!

I want to say thanks to Dana for hosting the challenge, and also that I'm sorry to hear that she's had problems along the way (hope everything gets worked out soon). Also want to thank all the other participants for reviews and recommendations – quite a few more titles got added to the ever-expanding TBR list, and I'm assuming that's a GOOD thing!

And for information about the 2010 Chunkster Challenge, check with Wendy at A Novel Challenge (here).

R.I.P. IV Challenge: The Wrap-Up

I feel like Alice's White Rabbit – I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Late in getting this posted, that is. The R.I.P. IV Challenge ended October 31, but I'm just now getting around to wrapping everything up. This is always one of my favorite reading challenges – it's become one of those autumn rituals I look forward to every year in September and October.

This year I signed on for Peril the First (four books), but ended up reading six books from several different sub-genres – two ghost stories, one almost-ghost story, two mystery tales, and one horror story wanna-be. So I guess I slipped into Peril the Second, as well.

The books I read (with links to my reviews) were:

The Woman in Black, and The Man in the Picture, both by Susan Hill
New Year's Eve, by Lisa Grunwald
The Friend of Madame Maigret, by Georges Simenon
From Doon with Death, by Ruth Rendell
The Lair of the White Worm, by Bram Stoker

The books were definitely a mixed bag – in general, I'd say I enjoyed most of them. Some more than others, of course. The one real stinker in the lot was The Lair of the White Worm. I suppose another reader might find it easier to get through than I did, but it's really not one of Stoker's best efforts.

I want to thank Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings for hosting, and all the other participants, too – I've added a whole slew (and that's a lot) of new titles to my wish list after reading some of their reviews. And I'm already making my list for next year's challenge.

Summer Reading Challenge 2009 Completed

I've been putting this off for a week now, hoping to get a few more reviews written. But since the Summer Reading Challenge ended along with the season on September 21, I suppose I should go ahead and post my wrap-up before we're all buried under snow.

The Challenge was hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer Reads, and it was one of my favorite kinds of reading challenge – hardly any rules, read what you want. Here's what I read (with links to reviews):

1. The Valley of Fear. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. The Angel's Game. Carlos Ruiz Zafon
3. Sacred Hearts. Sarah Dunant
4. The Fire. Katherine Neville
5. Grave Goods. Ariana Franklin
6. Fear the Worst. Linwood Barclay
7. Rabbit Is Rich. John Updike
8. Victory Over Japan. Ellen Gilchrist
9. Dance of Death. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
10. The Man in the Picture. Susan Hill
11. The Woman in Black. Susan Hill
12. New Year's Eve. Lisa Grunwald

I'll get those missing reviews up later this week – well, most of them anyway. I pretty much enjoyed all the books I read (at least I don't regret any of them), and a few of them (especially Sacred Hearts and Rabbit Is Rich) are probably going on my list of all-time favorites. Just want to say thanks so much to Susan for hosting such a fun, hassle-free summer event.

Battle of the Prizes Challenge Completed

OK, I know I should have done this weeks ago; the challenge actually ended September 7th. So I'm very late getting this wrap-up posted. No excuses, really – I just had trouble making myself write the reviews and I was waiting around until I got that done.

The Battle of the Prizes Challenge was hosted by Rose City Reader, and it was one of my favorites among all the challenges I've participated in. It didn't require a huge number of books, and it spurred me to read three really wonderful works, all of which had been on my TBR list for many years – and at least two of which I probably never would have tackled without the incentive this challenge provided.

The three books I read were (with links to my reviews):

• The Optimist's Daughter, by Eudora Welty (Pulitzer winner, 1973)
• Victory Over Japan, by Ellen Gilchrist (National Book Award winner, 1984)
• Rabbit Is Rich, by John Updike (Double winner: Pulitzer and National Book Award winner, 1982)

I enjoyed all three books, and although I was just the tiniest bit disappointed by the Welty and the Gilchrist works, I can still say without a doubt that they're both deserving of their awards. I think reading about them for so many years probably just built up unreasonable expectations in my mind. My favorite of the three was Rabbit Is Rich. It's a beautifully written book about a really intriguing character – and it's made me want to read all the other "Rabbit" books Updike wrote (can't be bad, right?).

I want to thank Rose City Reader for hosting, and all the other participants for keeping it interesting. I believe a similar challenge is in the works for next year, so if you're interested or just want to see the list of reviews and wrap-up posts, just pay a visit here.

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.

Wrapping Up the Victorian Challenge

The Victorian Challenge came to an end on June 30. I actually finished the reading several weeks ago, but I didn't want to write a wrap-up until I had all the reviews written. Now that I've finished that task, I can say finis. I chose Level 2: A Walk in Hyde Park, which meant I read four books for the challenge. Started out with quite a list of possibilities, but as it turns out only two of the books I actually read were on that list. So, the best-laid plans and all that . . . .

Here's what I read, with links to reviews:

1. The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton
2. Angels & Insects, by A.S. Byatt
3. The Master, by Colm Toibin
4. The Valley of Fear, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I'm also noticing that while all my books were set during the Victorian era, none was actually written then – something of a disappointment. Guess I'm just a modern girl at heart.

I enjoyed all the books, although of the four I think The Valley of Fear was one that didn't really live up to my expectations. My favorite was without a doubt The Age of Innocence – it's now on my list of all-time best reads, and it's inspired me to go back and give Wharton's House of Mirth another try, after abandoning it many years ago.

I want to thank Alex for coming up with the idea for the challenge and hosting, and all the other participants for all those great reviews and blog posts. This was a wonderful idea – I only wish I'd had time to read a little Trollope. Well, maybe next time.

Spring Reading Thing: The Wrap-Up

So summer is officially here now – been with us for several days already. It's also been a few days since the Spring Reading Thing ended on June 20th. This was a very easy, enjoyable "challenge," and I managed to read almost twice as many books as I thought I would during that time – although only one of them was on my original list of possible titles. I'm still working on getting all the reviews posted, and hope to get that done by the end of the week.

It would be hard to choose a favorite among all the books I read – they were a very mixed lot, and I enjoyed most of them very much. Several were books I'd had on my want-to-read list for many years, and some (like Ellen Foster and To Dance with the White Dog) were new discoveries by authors I hope to encounter again in the future. There were even a few disappointments in the bunch, but no real stinkers. I suppose the biggest surprise was The Longshot, the debut novel by Katie Kitamura, certainly a new name to watch.

Here's the list of books I read, with links to reviews:

Angels & Demons. Dan Brown
The Private Patient. P.D. James
The Way Through the Woods. Colin Dexter
The Book of God and Physics. Enrique Joven
Brimstone. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The Old Man and Me. Elaine Dundy
The Optimist's Daughter. Eudora Welty
Ellen Foster. Kaye Gibbons
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Robert C. O'Brien
To Dance with the White Dog. Terry Kay
The Unit. Ninni Holmqvist
Moon Tiger. Penelope Lively
The Longshot. Katie Kitamura
The Valley of Fear. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I want to say thanks to Katrina at Callapidder Days for hosting, and to all the other participants for all the great reviews and recommendations. I've added quite a few new titles to my TBR list, which is now almost long enough to be divided up into a multi-volume set.

Completed Challenge: Book Awards II

I've been putting off writing a wrap-up post for the Book Awards II Challenge, because I hadn't written reviews for all the books I read for the challenge. Well, I'm still working on that. But since the challenge ended June 1, I thought I should go ahead and say "that's that," even though I'll still be adding reviews over the next week or so.

I didn't have a set list when I began the challenge (see my original post); and I ended up reading several books that I hadn't thought about when I started out. Here's a list of what I read, with links to the reviews:

The Age of Innocence. Edith Wharton (Pulitzer Prize, 1921)
The Great Victorian Collection. Brian Moore (Governor General's Award, 1975)
Hotel du Lac. Anita Brookner (Man-Booker Prize, 1984)
The Master. Colm Tóibín (IMPAC Dublin Award, 2006)
The Way Through the Woods. Colin Dexter (Gold Dagger Award, 1992)
The Optimist's Daughter. Eudora Welty (Pulitzer Prize, 1973)
Ellen Foster. Kaye Gibbons (Sue Kaufman Prize, American Academy & Institute of Arts & Letters, 1988)
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. Robert C. O'Brien (Newbery Medal, 1972)
To Dance with the White Dog. Terry Kay (Outstanding Author of the Year, Southeastern Library Association, 1991)
Moon Tiger. Penelope Lively (Man-Booker Prize, 1987)

I'm a little reluctant to pick a "best book" from those – I enjoyed all of them very much. But The Age of Innocence is a book I'd been intending to read for many years, and it's turned out to be one of my all-time favorites – one I know I'll return to in the future.

This was a fun challenge – and one of my favorites. I want to thank Michelle at 1 More Chapter for hosting, and the many other participants for all those inspiring reviews. Now I just have to decide if I've got the nerve to sign up for Book Awards III.

Books Into Movies Challenge Completed

Well, it seems that while I wasn't even paying attention, I managed to finish up another reading challenge. The Books Into Movies Challenge, hosted by Kathrin of CozyMurders.com, began January 1st and runs through this year. I don't think there was an official sign-up cut-off date, if you'd still like to join in.

Here are the books I read that qualify for the challenge, with links to my reviews and the International Movie Database pages for the films or TV shows:

The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton [at IMDB]
Angels & Insects, by A.S. Byatt [at IMDB]
Cover Her Face, by P.D. James [at IMDB]
Hotel Du Lac, by Anita Brookner [at IMDB]
Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem [at IMDB and also the Russian version at IMDB]
The Way Through the Woods, by Colin Dexter [at IMDB]

I want to say thanks to Kathrin for coming up with the idea and hosting, and to all the other participants for all those great reviews (and additions to my ever-expanding TBR list). I'm still working on posting my own reviews of some of the books – hope to be adding links this week. And even though I've wrapped up the challenge, officially, I'm sure I'll very likely be reading more works in this category throughout the year.

Winter Reading Challenge: The Wrap-Up

It seems I've officially completed the Winter Reading Challenge, even though I still have most of the reviews to write. At the start, I said I was aiming for at least five books, since that's what I managed to read in last year's Challenge. As it turns out, I actually read twelve books during the three months the Challenge has been in progress. Here's what I read (I'll add more links to reviews as I get them posted in the next few days):

Drawers & Booths by Ara 13 [See Review]
Cover Her Face by P.D. James [See Review]
The Master by Colm Toibin
Rest In Pieces by Rita Mae Brown
Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner [See Review]
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Index to Murder: A Miss Zukas Mystery by Jo Dereske
Land of Marvels by Barry Unsworth
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton [See Review]
The Great Victorian Collection by Brian Moore
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
Angels & Insects: Two Novellas by A.S. Byatt

That's a really eclectic mix, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed all the books, although I struggled a bit with the Byatt and the Unsworth. Still had a good time reading them, though. Many of the titles were works I'd had on my TBR list for years, although a few were new finds. A couple were from series that I'd read in the past, and I discovered one new series (the Miss Zukas Mysteries) that I intend to dip into again in the future. I suppose if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Wharton's The Age of Innocence, but The Master and The Great Victorian Collection would be tied for a close second-place.

So I did quite a bit better than last year. Now if I can just stay on track, I should just about reach my next big goal which is fifty books by year's end. Thanks so much to Robin of My Two Blessings for hosting, and to everyone else who took part and posted all those great reviews.