Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Hello and welcome to 2018! One of my New Year's resolutions is to keep this blog better updated... As a result, not all books will get reviews, not all those with reviews will be full reviews, just whatever I feel like writing and I hope that will help. In terms of challenges, I am participating in the round robin challenge, and I'm also going to try and tick off a few from my World challenge, US States challenge and the 1001 list, but no set numbers on each - just whatever I feel like! Also... to reduce (slightly) the old TBR. Pretty similar aims to last year, let's see if I can do them this time...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) BOOKS READ 2018JANUARY Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 3/5 Age of Anger by Pankaj Mishra 4/5 Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor 4/5 Joyland by Stephen King 3/5 Heresy by SJ Parris 3.5/5 Swallowdale by Arthur Ransome 3/5 FEBRUARY I Believe in Miracles by Daniel Taylor 4/5 The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich 3.5/5 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 5/5 MARCH A Perfect Silence by Alba Ambert 4/5 The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell 4/5 Me Before You by JoJo Moyes 3.5/5 Time and Time Again by Ben Elton 3/5 APRIL The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon 4/5 No Time Like the Past by Jodi Taylor 4/5 Not in your Lifetime: The Assassination of JFK by Anthony Summers 5/5 Reef by Romesh Gunesekera 2/5 MAY 2 Sides by Rio Ferdinand 3/5 Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel 4/5 Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 3.5/5 Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond 5/5 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald 4/5 JUNE The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 5/5 The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach 4/5 Bridget Jones' Baby by Helen Fielding 3/5 JULY Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen 4/5 Indignation by Philip Roth 2/5 AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) TBR A-K Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of LondonDouglas Adams - Hitchhikers Guide to the GalaxyCecilia Ahern - The Marble Collector Uwem Akpan – Say You’re One of Them Frederick Lewis Allen – Only Yesterday Frederick Lewis Allen – Since Yesterday Frederick Lewis Allen – The Lords of Creation Maria Angels Anglada - The Auschwitz Violin Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins Fredrick Backman – A Man Called OveDavid Baldacci - Absolute Power Sam Baldwin - For Fukui's SakeJG Ballard - Empire of the Sun Nonna Bannister - The Holocaust Diaries Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending Anthony Beevor - StalingradJeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian – The SystemDennis Bergkamp - Stillness and SpeedH G Bissinger - Friday Night Lights Malorie Blackman - Noughts and Crosses Tracy Bloom - No one Ever Has Sex on a Tuesday Judy Blume - Tiger Eyes Attilio Bolzoni - White Shotgun Kathryn Bonella- Hotel K Anthony Bourdain - Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain - A Cook's Tour Mark Bowden - Killing Pablo Tom Bower - No Angel: The Secret Life of Bernie EcclestoneRay Bradbury - Farenheit 451 Rodric Braithwaite - Moscow 1941: A City and it's People at War Anne Bronte - The Tenant of Wildfell HallMax Brooks - World War ZBill Browder – Red NoticeHelen Bryan - War Brides Edward Bunker - Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade Jimmy Burns - La RojaJessie Burton – The Miniaturist Luca Caioli - MessiMichael Calvin - The Nowhere Men Mark Cappell - Run Run Run Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Noel Cawthorne - Witch Hunt: History of a PersecutionMichael Chabon - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay Tracy Chevalier - Falling AngelsLee Child - Killing Floor Lee Child - The Affair Noam Chomsky – Occupy Agatha Christie – Halloween Party Agatha Christie – Lord Edgware Dies Agatha Christie – Towards Zero Agatha Christie – The Sittaford Mystery Agatha Christie – After the Funeral Agatha Christie – Appointment with Death Agatha Christie – Curtain Agatha Christie – Destination Unknown Agatha Christie – They Came to Baghdad Agatha Christie – The Pale Horse Agatha Christie – Murder in the Mews Agatha Christie – Taken at the Flood Agatha Christie – Poirot’s Early Cases Agatha Christie – Postern of Fate Agatha Christie – Cards on the Table Agatha Christie – Crooked House Agatha Christie – Passenger to Frankfurt Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie – Cat Among the Pigeons Agatha Christie – Ordeal by Innocence Agatha Christie – N or M? Agatha Christie – Death in the Clouds Agatha Christie – One, Two, Buckle my Shoe Agatha Christie – Evil Under the Sun Agatha Christie – Sparkling Cyanide Agatha Christie – Dumb Witness Agatha Christie – The HollowSusanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell David Cohen - Bringing them up RoyalSuzanne Collins - The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins - Catching Fire Suzanne Collins - Mockingjay David Conn - Richer Than God Thomas H Cook - The Last Talk with Lola Faye Susan Coolidge - What Katy Did George Cooper - The Origin of Financial CrisesRobert Dallek - John F Kennedy: An Unfinished LifeJames Dashner –The Maze RunnerRobert Davies - The Man Who Lived at the End of the World John Deering - Bradley Wiggins: Tour de ForceBarbara Demick – Nothing to EnvyDiana Dempsey - Falling Star Becky Dennington - Me and the Ugly C Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Crime and PunishmnentDavid James Duncan - The Brothers K Mark Dunn - Ella Minnow Pea Steven Dunne - The Reaper Sam Eastland - Siberian RedDamien Echols - Life After Death: Eighteen years on Death Row Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith - My Secret Sister Nick Edwards - In Stitches Ben Elton - Two BrothersBen Elton – Time and Time AgainTan Twan Eng - The Gift of RainMichel Faber – The Hundred and Ninety Nine Steps Rio Ferdinand - 2 Sides Charles Fernyhough - Pieces of Light Helen Fielding - Bridget Jones' BabyJoseph Finder - ParanoiaHelen FitzGerald - The Cry Jonathan Safran Foer - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Ken Follett - Pillars of the Earth Eric Foner - Give Me Liberty John Foot - Calcio Michael Frayn - Skios Barbara Freethy - Ryan's Return Dawn French - A Tiny Bit MarvellousFrancis Fukuyama - Political Order and Political DecayNeil Gaiman - Stardust Neil Gaiman – Anansi Boys Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane Neil Gaiman – Everwhere Alex Garland - The Beach Antonio Garrido - The Corpse Reader Lisa Genova - Still Alice Tess Gerritsen - The Silent Girl Tess Gerritsen - Bloodstream Stella Gibbons - Cold Comfort Farm George Gissing - The Unclassed Guinevere Glasfurd – The Words in my Hand David Goldblatt - The Game of Our Lives Alex Grecian - The Black Country Graham Greene – Brighton Rock Phillippa Gregory - The Kingmaker's Daughter John Grisham – The Whistler John Grisham – A Time to KillGeorge Grossmith - Diary of a Nobody Richard Guard - Lost London Heather Gudenkauf - These Things Hidden Carla Guelfenbein - The Rest Is SilenceRomesh Gunesekera - ReefMatt Haig – The HumansDuncan Hamilton - Provided You Don't Kiss Me Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese FalconChad Harbach - The Art of Fielding Jane Harper - The Dry Robert Harris - Imperium Thomas Harris - Red DragonJonathan Harvey – The Secrets We KeepNadia Hashimi - The Pearl that Broke its Shell Ben Hatch - The P45 Diaries Noah Hawley - The Good Father Terry Hayes - I am PilgrimJohn Heilemann and Mark Halperin - Double Down Richard Herley - The Penal ColonyJason Hewitt – The Dynamite Room Howard Hockin - High StakesAndrew Hodges – Alan Turing: The EnigmaSteena Holmes - Finding Emma Ninni Holmqvist - The UnitA M Homes – May We Be ForgivenRafael Honigstein – Das RebootAnthony Horowitz- MoriartyAnthony Horowitz - The House of SilkJohn Hoskison – InsideVictor Hugo - Notre Dame de Paris Victor Hugo - Les Miserables Graham Hunter – BarcaChristopher Isherwood – Goodbye to Berlin Eowyn Ivey - The Snow ChildQuintin Jardine - Lethal IntentLiz Jensen - War Crimes for the Home Lisa Jewell - The House We Grew Up In Jonas Jonasson - The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and DisappearedAndy Jones – The Two of UsOwen Jones - The Establishment Rachel Joyce - PerfectBen Judah - This is London M R C Kasasian - The Secrets of Gaslight LaneAndrew Kaufman – Born Weird Oliver Kay - Forever YoungCarolyn Keene - The Secret of the Old Clock Lindsey Kelk - I Heart Hollywood Lindsey Kelk - I Heart LondonHannah Kent - Burial RitesSimon Kernick – RelentlessSimon Kernick - The Business of DyingJudith Kerr- When Hitler Stole Pink RabbitYasmina Khadra – What the Day Owes the NightStephen King – JoylandStephen King – Mr MercedesStephen King – The StandStephen King - ITBarbara Kingsolver - Flight Behaviour Ayse Kulin - Last Train to IstanbulChris Kyle – American Sniper Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) TBR L-ZCamilla Lackberg - The Ice PrincessPaul Lake - I'm Not Really HereErik Larsen – In the Garden of BeastsDoreen Lawrence - And Still I RiseValerie Lawson - Mary Poppins, She Wrote John Le Carre - Call for the Dead Debra Lee – TakenHarper Lee – Go Set a WatchmanSheri Leigh - Graveyard Games Sinclair Lewis - Main Street Eric Lomax - The Railway Man Jack London - White FangKaren Lord - Redemption in IndigoSamantha Mackintosh - Kisses for Lula Kevin Maher - The Fields Emily St John Mandel – Station ElevenNelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall Scott Mariani - The Alchemist's Secret Howard Marks - Mr Nice Andrew Marr - History of Modern Britain Andrew Marr - My Trade Ian Marshall - The Class of 92 Ann M Martin - Kristy's Great Idea Daniel Martin - Black Tie, White NoiseGeorge R R Martin – A Clash of KingsGeorge R R Martin – A Storm of Swords: Steel and SnowGeorge R R Martin – A Storm of Swords: Blood and GoldGeorge R R Martin – A Feast for CrowsGeorge R R Martin – A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and DustGeorge R R Martin - A Dance with Dragons: After the Feast Robert K Massie - Nicholas and Alexandra Kimberly McCreight - Reconstructing Amelia Bob McElwain - Free to Die Katie McGarry - Pushing the Limits Brian McGilloway - Little Girl Lost Reg McKay - The Last GodfatherChristina McKenna - The Disenchanted Widow Philipp Meyer - American Rust Ben Mezrich - The Accidental Billionaires Candy Miller - Kalahari Passage Kimberley Rae Miller - Coming Clean Pankaj Mishra - Age of Anger Brian Moore - Beware of the DogLiane Moriarty - What Alice ForgotRoger Mortimer and Charlie Mortimer - Dear Lupin: Letters to a Wayward Son JoJo Moyes - Me Before YouHaruki Murakami - 1Q84 Urzula Muskus - Long Bridge out of the GulagsJo Nesbo - Nemesis Jo Nesbo - The Redeemer Jo Nesbo - Phantom Jo Nesbo - The Snowman Jo nesbo - The Devil's Star Jo Nesbo - The Leopard Patrick Ness - A Monster CallsPatrick Ness - The Crane Wife David Nicholls - Starter for TenJohn Niven – Kill Your FriendsSolomon Northup - 12 Years A SlaveSean O’Connor - Handsome BruteJoseph O'Neill - Crime CityLouise O’Neill – Only Ever YoursMichael Ondaatje - The English PatientChuck Palahniuk - Fight Club S J Parris - HeresyS J Parris - Treachery James Patterson - Kiss the Girls James Patterson - Cat and Mouse Chris Pavone - The ExpatsChris Pavone – The Accident Keith A Pearson - The 86 FixStef Penney - The Tenderness of WolvesKaren Perry – The Boy That Never Was Sarah Perry - The Essex Serpent Caryl Phillips - Final Passage Sylvia Plath – The Bell Jar Ian Plenderleith - Rock and Roll SoccerOliver Potzsch - The Hangman's DaughterJeff Ragsdale, David Shields and Michael Logan - Jeff, One Lonely GuyIan Rankin - Fleshmarket Close Arthur Ransome - Swallowdale Lexi Revellian - Replica Tom Reynolds - Blood Sweat and TeaKate Riordan – The Girl in the Photograph Graham Robb - Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris Benjamin Roberts - Gunshots and Goalposts Trevor Roberts – Caught by Cameras Veronica Roth – Divergent Angus Roxburgh - Strongman: Vladimir Putin and the struggle for RussiaEdward Rutherfurd – SarumDorothy L Sayers – Whose BodyVictor Sebesteyen – 1946: The Making of the Modern World Tina Seskis - One Step Too FarAnna Sewell - Black BeautyGeorges Simenon – Pietr the LatvianMartin Sixsmith - Philomena Karin Slaughter - Indelible Christopher Smith - Fifth Avenue Tom Rob Smith - Child 44Bradley Somer – FishbowlDiana Souhami - Murder at Wrotham Hill Dana Stabenow - A Cold Day for Murder Kathryn Stockett - The HelpHarriet Beecher Stowe – Uncle Tom’s CabinMari Strachan - The Earth Hums in B Flat William Styron - Sophie's Choice Anthony Summers - Not in your Lifetime Antal Szerb - Journey by MoonlightDonna Tartt - The GoldfinchDaniel Taylor – I Believe in MiraclesHunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Lesley Thomson - The Detective's Daughter Rosy Thornton - Ninepins Peter Thurgood - The Stories behind London's Streets Nicholas Timmins - The Five Giants Amor Towles - A Gentleman in Moscow Scott Turow - Reversible ErrorsAnne Tyler – A Spool of Blue ThreadKurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse FiveDavid Wailing - Fake Kate Karen Thompson Walker - The Age of MiraclesSam Warburton - Refuse to be Denied Mark Ward - Hammered Mike Ward - Gullhanger Heather Wardell - Seven Exes is Eight too Many Sarah Waters - Tipping the VelvetSarah Waters – The Paying GuestsSarah Waters - FingersmithS J Watson – Second Life Katherine Webb - The MisbegottenAndy Weir – The Martian Irvine Welsh - Skagboys Scott Westerfeld – PrettiesKate Williams – The Storms of WarBarry Wilner and Ken Rappoport – On the Clock Sarah Winman - When God was a Rabbit David Winner - Brilliant Orange Scott Wittenberg - The May Day Murders Christian Wolmar - The Great Railway Revolution Jennifer Worth - Call the MidwifeNathan Yates - Beyond Evil A B Yehoshua - Friendly FireCarlos Ruiz Zafon - The Angel's GameMarkus Zusak – I Am the MessengerStefan Zweig - The Post Office Girl Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) BOOKS ACQUIRED 2018 The Very First Damn Thing by Jodi Taylor Christmas Present by Jodi Taylor No Time like the Past by Jodi Taylor Munich by Robert Harris A Perfect Silence by Alba Ambert Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell The House by the Lake by Thomas Harding How Hard Can it Be by Allison Pearson The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald Indignation by Philip Roth T2: Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh Dead Men’s Trousers by Irvine Welsh The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver by Shawn Inmon The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan The Rainbow Troops by Andrea Hirata Disney by Rees Quinn What Could Possibly Go Wrong by Jodi Taylor Once In A House On Fire by Andrea Ashworth Fifty Years of Hurt by Henry Winter Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) THE ENGLISH COUNTIES CHALLENGE - ALEX'S VERSION One more book to finish so will post some general thoughts here when done. Books in RED are ones I've read. 1. Bedfordshire - My Uncle Silas by H. E. Bates 2. Berkshire - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame 3. Bristol - The Misses Mallett by E. H. Young 4. Buckinghamshire - The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper 5. Cambridgeshire - The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers 6. Cheshire - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 7. City of London - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 8. Cornwall - Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier 9. Cumbria - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome 10. Derbyshire - Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks 11. Devon - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie 12. Dorset - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 13. County Durham - Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens 14. East Riding of Yorkshire - South Riding by Winifred Holtby 15. East Sussex - Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne 16. Essex - The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James 17. Gloucestershire - Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee 18. Greater London* - Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf 19. Greater Manchester - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 20. Hampshire - Watership Down by Richard Adams 21. Herefordshire - On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin 22. Hertfordshire - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 23. Isle of Wight - The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham 24. Kent - The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates 25. Lancashire - Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson 26. Leicestershire - The Right to an Answer by Anthony Burgess 27. Lincolnshire - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot 28. Merseyside - An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge 29. Norfolk - The Go-Between by L. P. Hartley 30. North Yorkshire - Dracula by Bram Stoker 31. Northamptonshire - Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 32. Northumberland - The Stars Look Down by A. J. Cronin 33. Nottinghamshire - Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence 34. Oxfordshire - The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford 35. Rutland - Set In Stone by Robert Goddard 36. Shropshire - Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse 37. Somerset - Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore 38. South Yorkshire - A Kestral For A Knave by Barry Hines 39. Staffordshire - The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett 40. Suffolk - The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald 41. Surrey - Emma by Jane Austen 42. Tyne and Wear - Another World by Pat Barker 43. Warwickshire - Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes 44. West Midlands - Middlemarch by George Eliot 45. West Sussex - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 46. West Yorkshire - Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 47. Wiltshire - Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope 48. Worcestershire - The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall Edited January 5, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) US STATES CHALLENGE Another list! My experience of US literature is alarmingly bad, so this is the list I am working off. Only one (Alabama) is/was a reread Books in RED are ones I have read. 01. To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee (Alabama) 02. White Fang - Jack London (Alaska) 03. The Bean Trees - Barbara Kingsolver (Arizona) 04. True Grit - Charles Portis (Arkansas) 05. East of Eden - John Steinbeck (California) 06. Plainsong - Kent Haruf (Colorado)07. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (Connecticut) 08. The Saint of Lost Things - Christopher Castellani (Delaware) 09. To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway (Florida) 10. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt (Georgia) 11. From Here To Eternity - James Jones (Hawaii) 12. Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson (Idaho) 13. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow (Illinois)14. The Magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington (Indiana) 15. A Thousand Acres - Jane Smiley (Iowa) 16. The Wizard of Oz - L Frank Baum (Kansas) 17. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe (Kentucky) 18: Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice (Louisiana)19. The Cider House Rules - John Irving (Maine) 20. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant - Anne Tyler (Maryland) 21: Walden - Henry David Thoreau (Massachusetts) 22. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides (Michigan) 23. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis (Minnesota) 24. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (Mississippi) 25. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain (Missouri) 26. A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean (Montana) 27. My Antonia - Willa Cather (Nebraska) 28: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson (Nevada) 29. Peyton Place - Grace Metalious (New Hampshire) 30. Independence Day - Richard Ford (New Jersey) 31. Red Sky at Morning - Richard Bradford (New Mexico) 32. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (New York) 33. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (North Carolina) 34. The Round House - Louise Eldrich (North Dakota) 35. The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace (Ohio) 36. Paradise - Toni Morrison (Oklahoma) 37. Sometimes a Great Notion - Ken Kesey (Oregon) 38. Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Pennsylvania) 39. The Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (Rhode Island)40. The Invention of Wings - Sue Monk Kidd (South Carolina) 41. Welcome to Hard Times - EL Doctorow (South Dakota) 42. A Death in the Family - James Agee (Tennessee) 43. No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy (Texas) 44. The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff (Utah) 45. Pollyanna - Eleanor H. Porter (Vermont) 46. Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver (Virginia) 47. Snow Falling on Cedars- David Guterson (Washington) 48. Washington DC - Gore Vidal (Washington DC) 49. Shiloh - Phillis Reynolds Naylor (West Virginia)50. The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach (Wisconsin) 51. Close Range: Wyoming Stories - E. Annie Proulx (Wyoming) 7/51 completed Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE Challenges to me: 1. Willoyd - Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb 2. Madeleine - Heresy by S J Parris 3. Karen.d - The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins 4. Chesilbeach - Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters 5. Chaliepud - Time and Time Again by Ben Elton 6. Little Pixie - 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami 7. Frankie - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon 8. More reading time required - Joyland by Stephen King 9. Ben - The Beach by Alex Garland Challenges by me: 1. Willoyd - The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters 2. Madeleine - The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 3. Karen.d - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte 4. Chesilbeach - The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry 5. Chaliepud - Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel 6. Little Pixie - Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver 7. Frankie - Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth 8. More reading time required - Skagboys by Irvine Welsh 9. Ben - The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig Edited July 22, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Spare post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Thread open! Cookies for all. Although after last night we are an alcohol free zone! Happy 2018 everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Mjam cookies, don't mind if I do.. *eats a cookie*. Happy 2018 to you too Alexi ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Happy new year, Alex! Well done on the English Counties challenge ... only one book to go! I'm really looking forward to the Round Robin to replace it this year. I quite like having a challenge that others are doing at the same time, even if we're not all reading the same books. Wishing you a very happy reading year in 2018. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen.d Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 I hope 2018 has some great reads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 7 hours ago, Athena said: Mjam cookies, don't mind if I do.. *eats a cookie*. Happy 2018 to you too Alexi ! Thanks Athena! 7 hours ago, chesilbeach said: Happy new year, Alex! Well done on the English Counties challenge ... only one book to go! I'm really looking forward to the Round Robin to replace it this year. I quite like having a challenge that others are doing at the same time, even if we're not all reading the same books. Wishing you a very happy reading year in 2018. Couldnt agree with you more! It’s really nice to be able to compare notes and see how everyone is getting on. I am going to try and read the 14 books - those I have challenged others to as well as those that have been challenged to me. Looking like some crackers in the list! 19 minutes ago, karen.d said: I hope 2018 has some great reads! And to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Happy new year! Hope you have a great year of reading. I haven't read most on your TBR list, but I loved Slaughterhouse Five. Best of luck with your challenges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Have a great 2018, Alex! Hope it is a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 Happy New Year, Alex Well done on nearly completing the Counties Challenge. I'm still some way off finishing it. I did manage to find England England by Julian Barnes in a charity shop, so that'll do for the Isle of Wight, seeing as I've already read The Day of the Triffids twice. I love the idea of the Round Robin challenge, but I don't really wanted any added reading pressure. If I'd finished the EC Challenge I'd have loved to have done it. I hope you have a good reading year (and a good year in general) in 2018. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 On 1/2/2018 at 2:15 AM, Lara said: Happy new year! Hope you have a great year of reading. I haven't read most on your TBR list, but I loved Slaughterhouse Five. Best of luck with your challenges Thank you Lara! On 1/2/2018 at 11:15 AM, chaliepud said: Have a great 2018, Alex! Hope it is a good one. Thank you - same to you On 1/2/2018 at 7:54 PM, Janet said: Happy New Year, Alex Well done on nearly completing the Counties Challenge. I'm still some way off finishing it. I did manage to find England England by Julian Barnes in a charity shop, so that'll do for the Isle of Wight, seeing as I've already read The Day of the Triffids twice. I love the idea of the Round Robin challenge, but I don't really wanted any added reading pressure. If I'd finished the EC Challenge I'd have loved to have done it. I hope you have a good reading year (and a good year in general) in 2018. Thanks J! I loved The Day of the Triffids, much to my surprise actually, but like you I have tried to largely read new books for the challenge (I think there was one exception, which I struggle to remember right now... ah yes, Cumbria!). The round robin challenge proved too intriguing for me to pass up, and looking at my final list (I now have 14 out of 16 books set) it has sufficient variation that I shouldn't get too bogged down - although I inadvertently appear to have challenged several people to door stoppers! So we will see how I get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons Synopsis: Winner of the 1933 Femina Vie Heureuse Prize, COLD COMFORT FARM is a wickedly funny portrait of British rural life in the 1930s. Flora Poste, a recently orphaned socialite, moves in with her country relatives, the gloomy Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm, and becomes enmeshed in a web of violent emotions, despair, and scheming, until Flora manages to set things right. (From Goodreads) Thoughts: I appear to be in the minority here. I wanted to love it, but I couldn't. I left it to the last book of my English Counties challenge hoping to finish on a high, but preferred my second to last one (Mansfield Park) by a considerable distance! I just didn't find it very funny, and I found a lot of the characters to be closer to caricatures than I prefer - even when that is designed for humour. Flora Poste is fun, with her common sense to the nth degree, and Aunt Ada Doom was brilliant. The scene with the counting was my favourite, but elsewhere the book felt like it dragged a bit. The story was enough to keep me reading, and bizarrely I found myself seriously rooting for Reuben by the end. I liked the book enough to give it a 3, but that is relatively disappointing by the standards of the rest of the challenge. General thoughts on that to follow. 3/5 (I liked it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 (edited) English Counties Challenge - 48 books in review Well, what a fantastic challenge! I joined to expand my experience of English literature (and bizarrely, it helped me win a pub quiz about a year ago!) and it certainly ticked that box. But there were so many books I might not otherwise have read that proved an absolute joy. I reread one (Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome for Cumbria) that I haven't read since childhood but the rest were all new reads. The best: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte The Stars Look Down by A J Cronin The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett (Not necessarily in that order by the way!) I think my biggest surprise was Mansfield Park. Although I had read and enjoyed P and P and Emma, they took me a while to get through. I raced through MP, with what felt like an eminently easier style. Maybe just getting used to Austen? This felt like a comparatively hidden jem, when considered next to the total fame of the other two novels. Now must read the other three Austens! Biggest disappointments: An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge (just awful) Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence Another World by Pat Barker (just because of the let down ending) But on the whole, what a list! Consistently good, highly rated books. A resounding success and thanks to fellow participants Claire, Janet and Willoyd! Edited January 5, 2018 by Alexi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Congratulations on finishing the challenge !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 11 hours ago, Alexi said: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons I enjoyed it more the second time round. (I read it first for this challenge, and then it was chosen for my Book Club). The BBC adaptation was very good. Quote Mansfield Park by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte The Stars Look Down by A J Cronin The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett Oooh, interesting. I have read P&P, but not as part of this challenge, and I have yet to read Mansfield Park (and Persuasion, but obviously not as part of this challenge) but I loved all of those books (I think I gave The Old Wives' Tale a 4/5, but now I'm wondering why it didn't get 5!)... Quote An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge (just awful) Lady Chatterley's Lover by D H Lawrence Another World by Pat Barker (just because of the let down ending) ... And these are amongst my least favourites. I totally agree about the ending of Another World! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 Congratulations on finishing! It's a great challenge isn't it? Like Janet, I enjoyed Cold Comfort Farm much more on second reading. I think it's very much of it's time though - it's only really funny if you've read any of the books that it was spoofing. I enjoyed most of your favourite's list, even if none quite made it on to my favourites list, although I didn't reread P&P for the umpteenth time , but substituted previously unread Howards End (which I loved). The one exception to this was The Stars Look Down, which was actually my Duffer of the List! Same with your duffers list - I agreed with most of them (I refused to reread Lady Chatterley's Lover I thought is so awful last time I read, but I did enjoy Lawrence's Sons and Lovers as substitute). My exception here is An Awfully Big Adventure which, whilst again not a favourite, held up well for me. At least you didn't have to suffer 800 or so pages of it though! If you want to do a compare, my review after finishing is here. I hadn't spotted your US Challenge list before. Glad to see somebody else giving one a go. How did you come up with the list you have? We have quite a lot of points of contact, but there are some obvious differences too (I rejigged mine slightly before the end of the year, so it's a little bit more different than it was). It'll be good to compare notes, although you've started at such a lick I suspect I won't be keeping up! Good luck with it, anyway. I hope it provides as much fun for both of us (it's been good so far). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 The quality and the variety of books made it a fantastic challenge - even if we do say so ourselves, given BCF created the list I enjoyed your review and it’s reminded me of more thoughts too! The Day of the Triffids was possibly my biggest surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed it - raced through it in fact. Totally agree on the disappointment of Cider with Rosie, and the dirge that was The Well of Loneliness! As for the US States challenge, I think I started with your list and then began making some changes. That’s also why the list is misleading! Four of the books “ticked off”, I’m searching for alternatives as I read them before the challenge began (New York, Oregon, Georgia and Kansas). I did the same with South Carolina. The original was The Secret Life of Bees, which I had ticked off, but have now removed in place of another book by the same author - which beats it by my reckoning! - but my completed number stayed the same. So I haven’t started at quite the advertised lick I’m not sure how many I will read this year but there are a few on the TBR now so let’s see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexi Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 5:59 PM, willoyd said: I hadn't spotted your US Challenge list before. Glad to see somebody else giving one a go. How did you come up with the list you have? We have quite a lot of points of contact, but there are some obvious differences too (I rejigged mine slightly before the end of the year, so it's a little bit more different than it was). It'll be good to compare notes, although you've started at such a lick I suspect I won't be keeping up! Good luck with it, anyway. I hope it provides as much fun for both of us (it's been good so far). Following this discussion, I have updated the list to reflect the actual status of the challenge! I have replaced four books and I will now read: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (Georgia) The Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum (Kansas) Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey (Oregon) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (New York) That takes me down to four out the 51 books completed. It's a really varied and interesting list and I'm looking forward to tackling more of it. A lot of the books on the list I hadn't even heard of before beginning the challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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