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I got ambitious and signed up for 3–count ‘em, ONE, TWO, THREE–reading challenges. But this is a good thing. I’ve been in a literary rut. Nothing wrong with that, because even then I’m reading mostly good books with a bit of brain candy here and there. But still, it’s nice to expand the horizons from time to time. So I made a rule for myself that I can’t have anything on these lists that I’ve already read, and no counting a book two or three times. It counts once. Period. So, with no further ado, here are my choices:
For the Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge, we’re to pick six books that take us elsewhere in the world. And it has to be real worlds, so no Middle-Earth or galaxies far beyond our own. Here are my tentative picks for this challenge:
- AUSTRALIA: The Broken Shore – Peter Temple
- INDIA: The Space Between Us- Thrity Umrigar
- JERUSALEM: Someone to Run With- David Gossman, Vered Almog & Maya Gurantz, translators
- MOSCOW: The Archivist’s Story – Travis Holland
- WARSAW: The Polish Complex- Tadeusz Konwicki, Richard Lourie, translator
- CAIRO: The Cairy Diary- Maxim Chattam, Susan Dyson, translator
Something About Me: Each participant picked 5 books that represent herself or himself and posted them on the blog. For the fun part, we get to pick books listed by the other participants, and read them. Here are my choices for now (know that this list will probably grow longer):
- I, Elizabeth- Rosalind Miles. This was on Soleil’s list, and she’s been spot on with her recommendations thus far.
- Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading- Maureen Corrigan. This is on several people’s list, and as I have frequently uttered the sentiment whether aloud or silently, it seems like one I need to read.
- So Many Books, So Little Time – Sara Nelson. I know nothing about it beyond the title, and the fact that it is another non-fiction. But I love the title!
- The Historian- Elizabeth Kostova. I had actually bought this on sale at Half-Price Books a few weeks ago. But Lisa says it’s okay if we start reading early, which is good, because I started reading this during my lunch break today.
- The Man with the Beautiful Voice – Lillian Rubin
The Book Awards Challenge has us reading at least 12 books by award-winning authors. The approved awards are listed in the sidebar at that block, but include the obvious (Nobel, Pulitzer). There are a lot to choose from. Here are my tentative selections for this challenge:
- Chasing Vermeer- Blue Balliett. Edgar winner.
- Acceleration- Graham McNamee. Edgar winner.
- The Boy in the Burning House – Tim Wynne-Jones. Edgar winner.
- Coraline- Neil Gaiman. Hugo winner.
- Maisie Dobbs- Jacqueline Winspear. Agatha winner.
- Amelia Peabody’s Egypt: A Compendium- Elizabeth Peters, Kristen Whitebread, Dennis Forbes, editors. Agatha winner. This is the only exception to my rule about the books being books I neither own nor have looked at. I do own this one, and I have skimmed it. But I’ve never sat down and really read the whole thing.
- Feed – M.T. Anderson. National Book Awards winner.
- Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy – Carlos Eire. National Book Awards winner.
- March – Geraldine Brooks. Pulitzer winner.
- A Confederacy of Dunces- John Kennedy Toole. Pulitzer winner.
- The Sea- John Banville. Booker winner.
- Behind the Scenes at the Museum- Kate Atkinson. Costa/Whitbread winner.
wow, that’s ambitious! I especially like the one from differnet parts of the world… since I’m not taking a vacation this summer, maybe that could be a good substitute.
I’ve only read 2 of these–I, Elizabeth and the Compendium, of course. Both are excellent. I was pretty much enthralled by I, Elizabeth. I read it one sitting, which, if you know me says a lot.
And the compendium is fun because besides the very interesting bits of factual information and history, she sneaks lots of fun bits about Amelia and crew throughout the book.
I should do something like this, but I don’t get the time like I used to. Maybe after the Juarez show…