A Crown Of Swords

Well, I just finished book 7 in the Wheel of Time Series. I didn't make it a formal challenge to re-read all of the WOT books in order to be back up to "date" on the next book but it has felt like a formal challenge trying to read them all again one right after another. I started this back in January and between that and my new relationship, I haven't hardly had time to read anything else so blogging has kind of taken a back seat. I am generally a fast reader but to have only read 7 books (besides the short story collections) in 3 1/2 months feels like I'm suddenly reading very, very slow. Then I look at the length of these books and remember that each book is the length of 2 other books and don't feel so bad!

The downside to this is I'm suddenly very tired of Jordan's writing style. I feel the need to read something completely different RIGHT NOW. And so, I picked up Gossip Girl. Yep, I sure did. Mull that over for awhile! I did set myself to do the Young Adult challenge too, but I figured I would still be reading fantasy when I did that. Nope, I need something completely different, so Gossip Girl it is. I figure I'll have it done tonight an be blogging about it tomorrow. Big type and 199 pages. No Problem.

The upside to reading all the WOT books one right after the other is that I don't feel pissed off at Jordan anymore. I remember getting really upset with him by book 5 or 6 because it was 500 pages of nothing and 100 pages of action. It seemed nothing important was happening until the very end of the book and I couldn't figure out why his editor didn't do some good editing. Now I don't feel that way. Yeah, the books could still use a little editing but I've rediscovered the story and I LIKE IT again. I don't feel the sitting around discussing things is wasteful words. There is action in the words and all the characters are important to me again. The minor ones, in the past, were a waste of time to me. Now I don't feel that way.

To compensate for both feelings I'm going to continue my personal challenge of re-reading the books, however, I'm going to read something completely different in between each one. I think otherwise I may throw The Path of Daggers out the car window on my way to work!

Once upon a time III Challenge

This is a wonderful challenge being hosted over at Stainless Steel Droppings. There are many levels to this challenge and I'm sure, being the lover of Fantasy that I am, I could easily participate in one of the more involved levels. However, I'm going to honor the commitments I've made to myself to finish other challenges and read something outside of fantasy for awhile. So I'm going with The Journey (as explained on the Stainless blog):

This is really as simple as the name implies. It means you are participating, but not committing yourself to any specific number of books. All reading is a journey, perhaps none more so than reading fantastical fiction. By signing up for The Journey you are agreeing to at least read one book within one of the four categories during March 21st to June 20th period. Just one book. If you choose to read more, fantastic! If not, then we have still had the pleasure of your company during this three month reading journey and hopefully you have read a great book, met some interesting people, and enjoyed the various activities that occur during the challenge. It has always been of utmost importance to me that the challenges that I host be all about experiencing enjoyable literature and sharing it with others. I want you to participate. Hence, The Journey.

I will be choosing Memory and Dream by Charles De Lint. I already have it sitting on my shelf waiting to be read....I can't wait!

The Liar's Club: New Classics Challenge #2

This wonderful, inappropriately funny book took me an absurdly long time to finish. Not sure why, because I did like the book, but I had no "need" to read as I normally do with books I enjoy. (I just started Duma Key by Stephen King today and am already on page 57, even with working!) Maybe it's because I just don't really like non-fiction. I've never been able to finish a biography. I find people's lives really interesting but I would prefer to learn about them through documentaries, not literary biographies. I've read very few memoirs. I enjoyed them, but still don't go out looking for the next memoir.

This is Mary Karr's story of her tumultuous early childhood, mainly from the years of 1961 - 63. We get to live with her through her parents turbulent marriage, divorce, and reconciliation; her grandmother's overly orderly and abusive presence during a time when she's diagnosed with cancer; her families chaotic traditions; her mother's ultimate breakdown; and the many other crazy things that could have damaged a child without Karr's internal strength.

The book begins with Karr and her older sister being taken from home by the sheriff. We know that something terrible has just happened and we know that her mother is in a psych hospital for a "nervous condition." Throughout the story we're given glimpses of her mother's slow slide into "nervousness," just as a child might see small glimpses but not be able to see the whole picture until much later. We're also told about some mystery in her mother's past that is either caused by her "nervousness" or is the the cause of it. The most beautiful and poignant moment comes near the end when Karr, as an adult, finally confronts her mother. I actually cried. Of course that's not so difficult, I cry at sappy commercials too. It's truly sad.

If you like to read about other people pain, I definitely recommend this book. Otherwise, read it anyway. It's a good book!

New Classics Challenge Revised

So, considering I haven't started on this, I doubt I'll be finished by next week! I found a site using this same list a perpetual challenge. Just read all the books on the list and no deadline! I love that. So I guess that's what I'm doing. I'll leave the first six books posted on my challenge bulletin and then update it as I go; six at a time until I get down to the end. This revised challenge is hosted at The Review From Here. Check it out!

The New Classics Challenge

This challenge is hosted by It's all about me. It has been going on since August but I just found it and it sounds wonderful so I'm challenging myself to read 6 books in the next two weeks to finish this challenge! Here are the rules:

1) Copy the list 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! :-)


First of all I have to say that I love that Jon Stewart's book is on here! It just makes me want to do this all the more. Next, I have read surprisingly few of the books on here. Why are there so few fantasy/sci-fi books? Who's made up this list? I'm guessing Harry Potter made it simply because it was so popular. I loved it too but there are some equally wonderful fantasy novels that are not as well known.

I'm choosing my books by going right down the line. The first 6 books I haven't read. This will mean I have to try Toni Morrison again. This is her most popular book so maybe I'll like it better than the one I tried to read before.

Here are the books:

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)

The Whitcoulls Challenge

Ok, I've decided to become a part of the book challenge world. From what I can tell these are addictive. Everyone I've been reading has 10 or more challenges they're working through! I can't think of a better addiction. Here's the rules:

Read Your Way Through The Whitcoulls Top 100 List.

Time:
* From November 15th, 2008 to November 15th, 2009.

The Rules:
* Pick one of the 4 "Top 100" lists linked below and decide how many books (at least 4) you want to read from that list.
* The initial 4 have to be 'new' reads (new to you, that is).
* Books beyond the initial 4 may be rereads.
* All books may be cross-overs for other challenges.
* Audio-books are A-OK :)
* You may change your list at any time.
* If you read enough books to actually complete one of the "Top 100" lists, I'll make a post in your honour!

I was looking through the 2008 list and realized I've read at least half the books on that list. So, I'm going to start with that list and see if I can make it a full 100! I decided to pick books that I've wanted to read for awhile but have yet to get around to. Here are my first four:

1. The Power of One - Bruce Courtenay
2. Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt
3. Twilight - Stephanie Meyer
4. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller (I know, I know, but I'm finally gonna read it!)

As I finish these and blog about them, I'll add more to the list until time is up.