MonkeyCatcher

I finished The World According to Garp a couple of days ago (finally!) and have now started on The Farseekers by Isobelle Carmody (Book 2 of the Obernewtyn Chronicles). Overall I found TWATG enjoyable - the style was captivating and unique, as were the characters and plot - however as I read it over such a long time period, I am finding it extremely hard to form an opinion of the book as a whole. It seems as if I have read a series of short stories rather than a novel! I will definitely be picking this one up again in the future so that I can get a better feeling of the novel in its entirety. For now, I give it a very tentative 4/5 (mainly because of the fantastic writing style)

I finished Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon a few days, and while enjoyable, I don't think that it was quite up to the standard of the Outlander books - the writing style didn't seem quite so polished, and the storyline not so intriguing. I also missed Jamie, of course! So while I will be picking up the next book in the Lord John series, my expectations will not be quite so high as that of the next Outlander installment. 3/5 I have now begun The World According to Garp by John Irving. I'm only a little way in, but am enjoying it so far. The unique writing style, while a bit wierd, is highly entertaining.

I'm horrible with bookmarks - I'm always losing them! At the moment I'm using one with cocktail recipes on it (I went to a talk for a hospitality course), although I'm not sure how long that one will last before it too goes missing. Usually I just use a trivial pursuit card - that way I learn something new everytime I open my book

I finished Middlesex last night after reading it for what seems like forever. Overall a great book, although I thought that the ending was a bit rushed. Naming one of the characters Chapter Eleven was also something that bugged me a bit - it made it less believeable. 4/5 Have now started on Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon - I felt like something short and light after my previous read.

Oh, thanks for bringing that to my attention, Lilywhite - I can't wait!

The Hobbit is one that I have read numerous times, as well as The Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling and the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden.

Finished The Last Juror this afternoon - I enjoyed it, but crime/thrillers aren't really my type of book. I found it lagged a bit, and the most of the events described in the blurb didn't occur until about 100 pages to go (it was a 500 page book). The title doesn't really make sense to me either :? 3/5 I have now started on Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

I finished A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian this morning - while I liked it overall, I found it a tad light for my taste and lacking in character development. I gave it a rating of 3/5. I have now started The Last Juror by John Grisham. I just had to find out if Grisham is as good as people suggest.

Again, I gave up on Catch-22. I did find it humerous, and saw some potential in it, but I just wasn't up to giving it the focus it needed (especially because of the "unique" writing style). I have now started A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka, which will count as my Germany book for the Olympic Challenge.

I'm a wee way into it at the moment, and so far I'm really enjoying it. The only complaint I have is with the unusual paragraph structuring (it appears to be almost random), but I'm sure that I'll get used to it.

I was browsing for some authors for the Olympic Challenge, and thought that this page might come in handy for those who are having trouble finding books for African countries: The List (complimets of Wikipedia.org)

I've noticed that you have read quite a few obscure books for this challenge - how did you manage to get books that weren't available from the library? (I can see that I'm going to have a bit of trouble with that)

I don't see why you can't count them, since the challenge was first issued in mid December of last year. Everyone else doing this started then or at the first of the year. Use what you've already done so far. Thanks for the reply. I will use some of what I have read, but I will try to read new ones as much as I can.

I thieved quite a few off your list (the ones with the * next to them) - hope you don't mind :angel:

red = book intended to be read for this country green = book read for this country Afghanistan - Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi Albania - Broken April by Ismal Kadare Algeria - The Stranger by Albert Camus American Samoa Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia - Jessica by Bryce Courtenay Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada - Bitten by Kelley Armstrong Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile - The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende China - Wild Swans by Jung Chang Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) Colombia - 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Comoros Congo DR Congo Republic Cook Islands Costa Rica C