Wrapping Up 2018: The Rest of the Challenges

2018 is FINALLY over! Well, almost, anyway. And since it's pretty unlikely I'll be doing a huge amount of reading over the next couple of days, I guess it's time to go ahead and wrap up the last few un-wrapped-up reading challenges I had going during the year. Here they are, in alphabetical order:

2018 Family Tree Reading Challenge

Host: Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews
Dates: January - December 2018
See my original post about the challenge HERE.

The goal of the challenge was to read a book from the birth year of each of your selected family members (at least three). I planned to read four books, corresponding to the birth years of my four cousins — 1949, 1950, 1952, and 1960 — but only managed two (1950 and 1960):

1. A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5). Agatha Christie (pub. June 1950)
2. Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (87th Precinct #11). Ed McBain (pub. 1960) 

Even though I didn't make it to the finish line, it was still a fun challenge and I'm giving some thought to signing up for next year's version (see guidelines and sign-ups here). Thanks to Becky for hosting!

2018 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Host: Katie @ Doing Dewey
Dates: January - December 2018
See my original post about the challenge HERE.

For this one, participants set their own goals. I hoped to read at least four books, but only managed two, and only reviewed one of those:

1. Balthus: Cats and Girls. Sabine Rewald (2013; art/art history; 176 pages)
2. Just Kids. Patti Smith (2010; memoir; 304 pages)

Another enjoyable challenge, even though (again) I didn't do as well as I'd have liked. Thanks so much to Katie for hosting. (She's hosting the Nonfiction Challenge again for 2019. Click HERE for guidelines and signups.)

2018 Picture Book Reading Challenge

Host: Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews

Dates: January - December 2018

See my original post about the challenge HERE.

The goal of the 2018 Picture Book Reading Challenge was "To have adults read more picture books," and there was a minimum of six books. I went with Becky's option to use her checklist for coming up with selections, and read these six books:

1. Checklist #10. Author beginning with E: Feathers for Lunch, by Lois Ehlert (1996; illus. by author)
2. Checklist #34. Title beginning with R: The Rabbit and the Shadow, by Mélanie Rutten (2013; illus. by author)
3. Checklist #40. Title or Author beginning with U: Umbrella, by Taro Yashima (1958; illus. by author)
4. Checklist #70. a book set in the past – fiction or nonfiction: The Gardener, by Sarah Stewart; illus. by David Small (fiction; set in 1930s, during the Great Depression)
5. Checklist #77. one word title: Golem, by David Wisniewski (1996; illus. by author)
6. Checklist #104. Picture book published in 2018: Outside My Window, by Linda Ashman; illus. by Jamey Christoph

I love reading children's lit, so this is always one of my favorite challenges. Thanks so much to Becky for hosting. She'll be hosting a new edition of the challenge in 2019 — click HERE for guidelines, checklists, and signups.

AND, I think that's it. Now it's time to get ready for all those brand new reading challenges out there. Hoping to do sooo much better next year. As usual.

Happy New Year, everyone! And Happy Reading in 2019!

Just Kids, by Patti Smith

Paperback cover

Ecco, 2010
304 pages

Patti Smith's memoir of her life in NYC during the late 1960s, early 1970s, and her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe.

Publisher's Description:

Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous — the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. 

Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy..... A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame. (--from the dust jacket of the hard cover edition)

I really didn't know a lot about Patti Smith and was never much of a punk rock fan, so I had a few qualms about starting this one. But I knew it had won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2010, and my husband read it a couple of years ago and was impressed enough to recommend. So I put it on my TBR stack and finally managed to get to it this year.

And I'm happy to say it turned out to be an extremely accessible and interesting book, and really brought back memories and vibes from "back in the day" (even though I didn't live in New York at that time). Smith's writing style is effortlessly poetic and yet very down-to-earth. And she's an impressive memoirist, with what seems like perfect recall of her early years in NYC, and brings those times back to vivid life — the excitement and also the pain and confusion. A very moving and enjoyable read.

Rating: ★★★★

Notable Quotes:

I was superstitious. Today was a Monday; I was born on Monday. It was a good day to arrive in New York City. No one expected me. Everything awaited me. (pg.25)

Long-haired boys scatting around in striped bell-bottoms and used military jackets flanked with girls wrapped in tie-dye. There were flyers papering the streets announcing the coming of Paul Butterfield and Country Joe and the Fish. "White Rabbit" was blaring from the open doors of the Electric Circus. The air was heavy with unstable chemicals, mold, and the earthy stench of hashish. The fat of candles burned, great tears of wax spilling onto the sidewalk.
I can't say I fit in, but I felt safe. (pg.30)

I felt, watching Jim Morrison, that I could do that. I can't say why I thought this. I had nothing in my experience to make me think that would ever be possible, yet I harbored that conceit. (pg. 59)

Yet you could feel a vibration in the air, a sense of hastening. It had started with the moon, inaccessible poem that it was. Now men had walked upon it, rubber treads on a pearl of the gods. Perhaps it was an awareness of time passing, the last summer of the decade. Sometimes I just wanted to raise my hands and stop. But stop what? Maybe just growing up. (pg.104)

Original hard cover edition

Mount TBR Reading Challenge .
Nonfiction Reading Challenge .

2018 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Host: Doing Dewey
Dates: January - December 2018

Click HERE for guidelines and sign-ups.

I used to read quite a lot of nonfiction, but haven't really read much in recent years. I'd like to remedy that, and this challenge is perfect for me -- no set numbers or categories to read. I'm not going to commit to any definite number of books, but I'd like to try for at least four or five.

Some I'm hoping to read in 2018:

• Blue Nights. Joan Didion (autobiography/memoir)
• Books. Larry McMurtry (memoir)
• Just Kids. Patti Smith (memoir) 
• The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Margaret Drabble (autobiography/memoir)
• South and West: From a Notebook. Joan Didion (essays, notes)
• The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion (autobio/memoir)

And I have a longer list of possibilities over on my challenge blog, where I'll be tracking my progress.

2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

2016 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Hosted by: The Introverted Reader

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2016

I meant to sign up for this one last month (actually, I thought I had!), so this is a little late. The Nonfiction Challenge is pretty straightforward: Read anything that's not fiction -- history, memoirs, travel, etc. You get the idea. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed, and you don't need a blog to participate.

I used to read quite a bit of nonfiction, but haven't read much lately; so I'm hoping this challenge will help get me back in the habit.  I'll be signing up at the "Dilettante" Level (1-5 books), and during the year I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog (HERE).

2015 Challenge Wrap-Ups: European, Foodies, and Nonfiction

Three more challenge wrap-ups for 2015. Didn't do terribly well with all of these, even though I did enjoy the books I read for them (mostly). And I want to say a huge thank-you to all the hosts!

The 2015 European Reading Challenge was hosted by Gillian @ Rose City Reader. One of my favorite challenges. I signed up at the Three-star "Business Traveler" level (read 1-3 books), and actually read four books:

1. The Third Man. Graham Greene (Vienna, Austria) 
2. The Room. Jonas Karlsson (Sweden)
3. The Witch of Painted Sorrows. M.J. Rose (Paris, France)
4. The Fifth Gospel. Ian Caldwell (Vatican City, Rome, Italy)

No reviews -- I might add one or two in the next few days. Or maybe not.

Foodies Read 2015 was hosted by Vicki @ I'd Rather Be At the Beach. I signed up at the first level, "Short Order Cook" (read 1-3 books), and just read one book that would qualify:

• Backstabbing in Beaujolais. by Jean-Pierre Alaux, Noël Balen (trans. by Anne Trager)

Obviously, I'm not much of a cook, even if the orders are very short.

The Nonfiction Reading Challenge was hosted by Jen @ The Introverted Reader. I had high hopes for this one -- I really do want to try to read more nonfiction. But in 2015, I read only one book that would qualify as nonfiction:

• Last Man Standing: Tales from Tinseltown. Roger Moore

Waiting to see if this challenge will be repeated in 2016. If it is, I might have to give it another go.

More wrap-ups to come....

2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

2015 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Hosted by: The Introverted Reader

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2015

See the announcement post to read all the guidelines and sign up.  There are several levels of participation to choose from:

• Dilettante -- Read 1-5 nonfiction books 
• Explorer -- Read 6-10 
• Seeker -- Read 11-15 
• Master -- Read 16-20

I'll be going for the Dilettante level again this year. I didn't do very well with the 2014 challenge, but I'm hoping for better behavior in 2015. During the year, I'll be tracking my progress over on my challenge blog.

Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2014

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2014

Hosted by: The Introverted Reader

See the announcement/sign-up page for all the details.  I'll be signing up at the Dilettante Level (1-5 nonfiction books).

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2013 Nonfiction Reading Challenge: The Wrap-Up

The 2013 Nonfiction Reading Challenge was hosted by The Introverted Reader.  I signed up at the "Dilettante" level (1-5 books), and read one book:

Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution, by Rebecca Stott

Not a great achievement - I really need to work more nonfiction into my reading routine.  Still, I enjoyed the one book I read, and want to thank my host for giving me some motivation.

2013 Nonfiction Reading Challenge

Hosted by: The Introverted Reader
Dates: 1 January - 31 December 2013
See the challenge announcement/sign-up page here

As the challenge host says:

Read any non-fiction book(s), adult or young adult. That's it. You can choose anything. Memoirs? Yes. History? Yes. Travel? Yes. You get the idea? Absolutely anything that is classified as non-fiction counts for this challenge.

I generally read at least a few nonfiction books each year, and there are several on my "must read" list for this year.  So this challenge sounds perfect for me.  But I'm playing it safe and signing up at the "Dilettante" level (1-5 books) -- I think that should be very doable.  Tracking my progress on my challenge blog (HERE).