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

I am in for the Olympic Challenge, but I just have a quick question - Do the books that I count for this challenge have to be ones that I read from now, or can books that I have already read this year (I keep a list) count as well?

I finished Out this afternoon and really enjoyed it. I was a bit hesitant to read this as I usually dislike crime novels, but I decided to give it a go and am extremely glad I did! Highly recommended, but not for the squemish! 4/5 I have now started Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I have given up on this book previously (at the 100 page mark), but decided to give it another go.

I think that you can choose that for either Germany (because of the author) or the Ukraine (because of the setting). ABC will be able to verify that, though

I can see why! A very humerous and engaging book, I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and was almost sad that it was over - I rate it 4/5. I have now started on Out by Natsuo Kirino

I just finished Magician by Raymond E Feist, and to be honest I'm not as enraptured with either this book or the author as most other people seem to be. While I liked the book overall, I thought that the writing was a bit flat at times, and the constant descriptions of landscape and battles bored me - I didn't really care for the overly-long battle scenes. I found that Feist repeated facts several times and that he repeatedly used a single word numerous times while describing or explaining something, both of which detracted from the flow of the novel. The characters could have used a bit more work also, with some of the minor characters, and even a few of the major, still feeling a bit like strangers at the end of the novel. I didn't find the characters nor their actions believable either, as I found myself puzzling constantly over the sudden change of opinion in a character, or the immediate acceptance of something that would have usually have taken days to believe, let alone accept. Overall an ok book, but I don't think that I will be picking up the other books in the Riftwar saga, especially as this book has been heralded as Feist's crowning "glory". 3/5 I have now started Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ah, right. I put The Colour of Magic as a 3/5 because although I enjoyed it, I don't think that the book was of a quality as high as Going Postal - I didn't find it as interesting, nor as humerous, and I found that the beginning lagged a bit.

I finished The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea this morning, and have now started on Magician by Raymond E. Feist. Overall I enjoyed TSWFfGwtS, but had to give it a 4/5 because I just wasn't in the mood for it - I was counting down the pages until it ended, which is never a good thing. The prose was exquisite, the plot compelling and the characters intriguing, but I think that a lot of the brilliance of the book escaped me because of my lack of experience and maturity in the reading of literature, something which I have been trying to work on. I think that I will pick this one up in a few years time when my reading ability has developed, as I'm sure that I would get so much more out of it. A recommended read, but definitely not for the queasy!

Which one was that?

Finished The Waste Lands yesterday afternoon - another great installment in the Dark Tower series! After much deliberation, I decided upon The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea by Yukio Mishima as my next read

I really enjoyed this book - it was definitely weird though! There were times where I was a bit confused as to what was going on and to what people were referring to, however the beautiful prose more than made up for it. I loved the fact that the Indian culture was a major aspect of the book as I really enjoy reading books that are both entertaining and educational. Definitely one of my favourite reads of this year, and possibly of ever . I can understand why it won the Booker.