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Round Robin Challenge 2018


willoyd

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These are copied from my blog:

 

First up, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  The story is told by sixteen-year-old Starr, who lives in a black neighbourhood but goes to school in the suburbs.  After gunfire breaks out at the party she's gone to, her old friend Khalil gives her a lift home, but they are stopped by a policeman, who shoots Khalil dead.  What follows is how Starr, the only witness to the shooting, has to deal with her two separate lives at home and at school, alongside trying to do the right thing to get justice for Khalil.

 

Clearly inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, this is a totally compelling YA story, that puts you in the middle of Starr's life and the prejudice she must face, the dilemmas where she must chose between her two different social situations, and what she can do to make a difference.  I found it hard to put down the book, and it gives you a very comprehensive insight into a black community, gangs and the impact of drug culture on the poorest areas of the US, and why there has become a need for BLM and other activism in society today.  Not a comfortable read, but an important one, and proves how books allow you into a world that you can't experience first hand, and allow you to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

 

The next was The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and I found it difficult to put into words my feelings.  I’d initially bought the book on sale on Kindle but when I started to read it, I kept finding my mind wandering, so I decided I’d try the audiobook instead but unfortunately that wasn’t much better either.  I found I couldn’t engage with the characters and kept losing track of where I was in the story and going back a few minutes (or more) and listening again.  I think it was because the writing felt like an external experience of what the characters were going through, instead of being there with them.  I felt a remoteness from the story that I couldn’t get over, and unfortunately, I only really kept going because it was on my Round Robin challenge list.

 

I was disappointed in myself for not enjoying the book more, as I often enjoy books set in Indian, and am fascinated with the multitude of different perspectives you can have and the variety of society and stories that huge sub-continent and its history has to offer, but unfortunately, this book was not for me.

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I've also read Touch Not The Cat (loved it) and Middlesex (loved it) from the challenges to me list, and Miss Hargreaves (loved it) from the challenges by me list, but haven't written reviews for them yet.  I must try and catch up with some reviews soon!  I'm currently reading To Serve Them All My Days from the challenges to me list and it's so good, I'm rationing myself to a chapter a day so that I don't rush through it without savouring it.

 

That brings my totals up to having completed 7/9 of the books I was challenged to read, and 2/9 of the books I challenged others to read.

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  • 1 month later...

Half way through the year!  Completed The Radetzky March, yesterday, making it 5/9 of books I have been challenged with, and 3/9 of those I've challenged others with, 8/18 altogether, so just about on track (especially given the first half of the year has four days less than the second! :D ).  TRM itself was definitely one of the better ones this half, a solid 4 stars, although I'd still put The Shell Seekers marginally in front on the top of the pile.  Thanks for the challenge @Little Pixie

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4 hours ago, willoyd said:

Half way through the year!  Completed The Radetzky March, yesterday, making it 5/9 of books I have been challenged with, and 3/9 of those I've challenged others with, 8/18 altogether, so just about on track (especially given the first half of the year has four days less than the second! :D ).  TRM itself was definitely one of the better ones this half, a solid 4 stars, although I'd still put The Shell Seekers marginally in front on the top of the pile.  Thanks for the challenge @Little Pixie

 

Ooh, glad you enjoyed it. :D

 

I`ve not Round Robinned yet - just had a 3-month Kindle Unlimited Thingy - `may` start this month. :)

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  • 4 months later...

With just over a month to go, how are people getting on, if at all?!

 

I've not done as well in the second half as I hoped, being put off, if I'm really honest, by the anticipated loss of the forum - I seemed to lose my rhythm of reading and of going for the challenge.  So far, I've managed 6 books of my challenge, and just 4 of those I challenged others with (a bonus set!), leaving 3 and 5 to go respectively.  I'm hoping to get a few more done for the end of the year, maybe even finish my challenge, but I doubt I'll complete my extended list, so may have to carry one or two over to next year.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, given the response to my last post, I suspect there's not been much going on, and several of those who took up the initial challenge haven't posted since the board started up again earlier in the autumn (thanks for your response @Madeleine. I certainly stuttered when we lost the forum in the summer, and finished up the year having not made any progress in the last month, so have read 6/9 in the main challenge, and 4/9 of those I challenged others with, making a total of 10 / 18.  That's another 10 from my TBR pile that I suspect I wouldn't have got round to, which is what the challenge was all about, so definitely something achieved there, even if not finishing them all! 

 

I'm going to make a real effort to read the others, but I'm not sure I'm going to suggest doing the challenge again this year, not because I wouldn't be up for it (I  would), but because there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm otherwise.  It was worth a try though, and I'd still be interested to know how people got on.

Edited by willoyd
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I read about 4 I think. I did anticipate reading at least another 2 more before the end of the year, but I lost a few months of reading to work/exam busyness so it just wasn't possible in the end. They are still on my list to get through earlier than later though and I shall attempt to finish the others by the end of this year. :)

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