Ooooh! Dorothy Sayers. One of my favorite authors of all times. And two of my favorites. You have a treat in store.
I like your categories - I'm also doing Historical Fiction, Nonfiction, and Biography for 999.
You might want to consider
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - it would fit in under Ocean Adventures of 1001 Books... I read the brand new translation for my 888 challenge and loved it.
See you around!
I like your interesting categories. I agree with karenmarie--you picked the two best Sayers mysteries outside the set that includes Harriet Vane (my favorite Sayers is
Gaudy Night--the 3rd of the 4 that have Harriet in them.)
I think I will borrow "Ocean Adventures" from you the next time I do a category challenge--that one sounds like a lot of fun. I will be interested to see what else you pick. I love
Treasure Island but haven't read
Blue Latitudes. This year I'm reading Horwitz's
Confederates in the Attic for my Civil War category.
I'm very anxious to see what you choose for "Musical Reads" because I'm a musician and I will probably want to read some of your choices.
I'm looking forward to following your progress next year.
# 2- I'm putting 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on my TBR list. Filling the Ocean Adventures category is a lot of fun!
#3- I had never read Sayers before and loved the experience! I also really enjoyed Blue Latitudes and look forward to reading more of his books. I felt like I was reading a history and a travelogue at the same time, and I liked the comparison of Cook's journals and Horowitz's impressions at the same places hundreds of years later.
Not sure how I will fill up the musical reads section. Might need help on that.
OK, I'm trying to update my list. According to my own personal rules I'm doing this challenge between Sept 9/08 and Sept 9/09. So far I have completed 20 books, so I'm about on track to meet the goal of 81 books. I'm keeping track my finished books in message 1 and will slowly try to catch up on my reviews in this thread.
#1-
Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
I love mysteries I can't believe I hadn't read Sayers before! The Nine Tailors is a beautifully-written story that goes beyond being a clever whodunnit and into the realm of great literature. This tale of bell ringing is detailed and nuanced, and the haunting ending will remain with me forever.
This book was a great start to the challenge!
I am so glad you liked
Nine Tailors--It is one of my favorite books. I agree with you , it goes well beyond the genre category and is great literature--on so many levels. Nice comment you made.
I love
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I bought it at the airport on my way home from Amsterdam last Thanksgiving, and then gave it to my mom and another friend for Christmas. My book club ended up picking it as one of our selections this year- it was just as great the second time around. The narrator (death) is hilarious. What I find interesting is that over here people classify it as YA, but in Europe it is adult fiction. While the concepts aren't too much for young adults, I think the writing style may be hard for them. I hope you enjoy it!
For amysnortts :)
#2-
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I approached this book dubiously because I had to search for it in the Teen section of my library next to all the gossip magazines. I think I would classify it as adult fiction which is accessible to a younger audience. It was a quirky book, and almost lighthearted at times which surprised me given its setting in Nazi Germany. I liked the various ways books were woven through the story (stolen books, unfinished books, books made out of old pages of Mein Kampf, stolen hours in libraries.) This book could have a big impact on a teen, so I'm glad it was in the young adult section and I'm going to recommend it to a 12yo neighbour of mine. (4.5/5)
Hannahjo
Thanks for the review! I have
Book Thief on my list for the 999 challenge and was reconsidering because I don't read a lot of YA (at least not yet! with LT, you never know!). I will definitely keep it in the list--it sounds like I will love it!
HannoJo, I agree! When I describe the book to people I have a hard time explaining that it's about a German girl in Nazi Germany, but that there are a lot of wonderfully funny moments- people don't believe the two can exist!
MusicMom, definitely read it! It's interesting to read a book about Nazi Germany that isn't told from a Holocaust victim- but just an average German citizen torn between the political times. Excellent book.
Both
Cloud Atlas and
The Book Thief made my list of top 5 books of 2008.
It
is interesting that
The Book Thief is classified as adult in Europe. It seemed to me that it was written for teenagers, though with a great deal of appeal for adults, and I gave it to 2 of the teenagers on my Chistmas list.
#3 -
Beijing ConfidentialThis is a follow-up to Jan Wong's fascinating
Red China Blues in which she recounts her time as a starry-eyed Maoist studying as one of the first foreigners at Beijing University in the 1970s. In that book we learn that Wong reported one of her classmates to the authorities for asking for help to go to Canada. In
Beijing Confidential Wong returns to China with her husband and teenagers 30 years later to try to discover the fate of that classmate.
Catching up with all her old acquaintances I met in the first book was enjoyable, and Wong's writing is absorbing and full of gossippy detail. Lots of irony is in evidence as she examines the changes China and her friends have gone through in the past decades. Great book, but read
Red China Blues first.
#4-
Dancing With Cuba by Alma Guillermoprieto
I was disappointed with this one. Guillermoprieto tells her story of becoming a dance teacher in post-revolution Cuba. I am not a dancer, but enjoyed the dance aspects of the book (her working with Martha Graham and Twyla Tharp, and discussing how dance could be political). On the other hand, I found her politics and her love life so muddled I found myself wanting to reach into the book and shake some sense into her.
#5-
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
A pleasant, quick read. Each chapter traces back the invented history of the owners of the painting. Some turns of phrases were clever, and I learned a little about Vermeer and his life. Overall quite good for what it is. I don't think I'll remember it for the rest of my life, but it would be a nice companion on an airplane.
#6-
The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux
I read this because it is considered a classic in the travel writing genre. I can't say I was overly impressed. Perhaps it has just not aged very well. His impressions seem shallow and he complains an awful lot. Don't think I'd recommend this except maybe as an example of superficial travelling
# 7-
Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics, and Professional Hedonism by Thomas Kohnstamm
I seem to be writing a lot of negative reviews lately! I'm not really a sourpuss, just sometimes unlucky :)
This is a book I grasped off a library shelf in a desperate effort to get something to read while my two little boys ran madly off in all directions. I vaguely remembered hearing the title somewhere, and thought it might be a good light read.
Kohnstamm writes about his experiences as a Lonely Planet writer in Brazil. The problems he faces are that he does not have enough money or time to visit all the destinations/hotels/restaurants for the guide, so he has to cheat. I disliked Kohnstmm immensely as he fills the pages with how he got drunk/high/laid (repeat as necessary). I wanted to throw the book across the room as he told how he was forced to become drug dealer to support his work. What a jerk.
You are having a run of bad luck, HannahJo. I see you like travel writing. I'm sure you've read the Provence books of Peter Mayle, but have you tried M.F.K. Fisher? She has written some books about Provence and also Paris. She has also written a lot of books about food--as in good eating usually associated with travel or living abroad. They are older but her writing is wonderful and she has charm--and is very opinionated. It's been a while since I read her so I can't think us any titles off the top of my head.
Ooh- thank you MusicMom for the lovely suggestion. I've never heard of MFK Fisher before but I like the idea of crossing food writing and travel writing. I've checked her
Long Ago In France out of the library and will give it a shot.
I'm really enjoying
The Coffee Trader right now so hopefully I'm out of my rut.
I really disliked the two Paul Theroux books I read! It upset me to read about him whining his way across the exotic places I would love to visit! And I'm sure the locals loved having him around! If you'd like to wallow in whining, I can also un-recommend
Travels by
Michael Crichton, in which he whines that no one thinks he'll make it up Mt. Kilimanjaro, that his hiking boots hurt (he unpacked them from the box directly before starting the climb) and, in my favorite section, complains that his guide did not adequately impress upon him the importance of what he was being shown so that he didn't bother to pay attention and missed something good.
Drums Along the Congo, on the other hand, detail the adventurous travel of a guy who just relishes every single encounter he has in the Congolese jungle to the point of not being upset to wake up with giant cockroaches snuggling against him for warmth.
I don't think Theroux would be able to handle the Congolese jungle! Don't think I would, either, but it would make an interesting tale to tell!
#8
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
I think I never read this book as a child because it was made into a cartoon with unappealing animation, and it seemed to be targeted to boys. Now I can have happy memories of spending a rainy weekend curled up with a rolicking good tale. Loved the salty characters and the spine-tingling adventure. I am really enjoying filling up my ocean adventures category and reading a lot of good books I wouldn't normally reach for on the shelves.
I felt the same about
Treasure Island - it is a great timeless story. I finally got round to reading it a couple of years ago as I noticed that a lot of children's writers enthused about it. I've just read
The Coral Island which was published earlier than
Treasure Island, and is another great adventure story about boys and shipwreck in the South Pacific.
Hey! I have a recommendation for your ocean adventures category: how about
Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea by Gary Kinder?
It's a dual story of the 1857 sinking of the SS Central America thanks to a couple of hurricanes, and a modern day salvage effort to recover the tons of gold that went to the bottom with the ship.
Wisconsin Public Radio has something called Chapter-a-Day, where one chapter of a book is read over the air each weekday until the whole book has been read to you. Kinder's book was fascinating. Truly a nail-biting story.
The half hour chapters aired at lunchtime. When WPR did Kinder's book (and also when they did
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz), it made me cranky if anyone tried to talk to me during that half hour.
I've never heard of The Coral Island before, but feel like I should have. I'll put that on my list to read on a stormy weekend.
And thank you for the suggestion ReneeMarie- I could use a sunken ship story in that category! I admire those who search for sunken treasure in the same way as those who climb Mt Everest (Not something I could ever see myself doing, but terribly romantic...) I must have some pirate blood in me because this section of the challenge has been so much fun for me.
And since you mention Tony Horwitz, I'll mention the two of his that I have finished for the 999...
#9
Blue Latitudes and
#10
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World Blue Latitudes follows the voyages of Captain Cook, visiting Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, the Aleutians, England and Hawaii. Horwitz and revisits Cook's journals in light of Horwitz's own impressions of those places. The combination of history and travelogue is entertaining (the more things change, the more they stay the same...), and Horwitz provides insights about subjects such as how Cook's childhood in the quiet English countryside paradoxically made him into a great explorer.
I read
A Voyage Long and Strange because I enjoyed Blue Latitudes so much. Horwitz takes a similar approach to exploring Europeans in America before Plymouth Rock. I can't say I'm a big American history buff, but Horwitz is such a good storyteller it didn't matter. Of the two books, Blue Latitudes was a little more enjoyable to me as I liked the diverse exotic locales. I'm looking forward to reading more of his books, and I see that his wife is Geraldine Brooks, so maybe I'll try one of her books for my historical fiction category.
#11
Long Ago In France by MFK Fisher
Really enjoyed this one. Fisher talks of arriving in Dijon as a happy newlywed, and how the people and food affected her. Many of her memories involve meals or cooking or ingredients, and I found it very moving how remembering her friends evokes wonderful feasts. Something wistful about the writing- knowing that her marriage would end and the war was about to start was always lingering in her words. Glad that MusicMom41 introduced me to her.
HannahJo
I'm glad you liked MFK Fisher. I love her style of writing. Before we took our tip to Provence a few years ago I read her
Two Towns in Provence and although it had been written fifty years before our visit, I still saw things that she had described. For her times she was a very "modern woman."
I will have to look for
Blue Latitudes--you make it sound very appealing. I really enjoyed the book we read last year (
A Pirate of Exquisite Mind) about Dampier who was compared to Cook and I'm loving
Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz. I guess that's reason enough to try the Blue Latitudes! :-)
#12-
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
This was for my musical reads category. Terrorists in a South American country hold a diverse international group hostage, including a famous opera singer. One blurb on the dust jacket said that instead of Lord of the Flies this was like Lord of the Butterflies, as the captors and captors alike find beauty and love in such an unexpected setting.
Patchett has a beautiful style, full of detail and captivating. I found myself excited reading about the transformative power of art and beauty. I really was set to love this book. Frustrating for me, though, was how the book set the scene for terrorists with hearts of gold, the most unlikely love affairs, perfect communication and mutual respect. Who would have thought a hostage incident could be so saccharine?
So I suppose I would give this book 5 stars at the beginning, 3 stars in the middle, and 1 star for the silly ending.
#13- Rowboat in a Hurricane by Julie Angus
In 2005 Julie Angus became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a rowboat, taking five months to travel from Portugal to Costa Rica. Can't say that this would be a challenge that would appeal to me personally, and I can't believe that people would actually attempt it. Angus is personable, and she effectively alternates between writing about the voyage itself and science and her background and memories. I enjoyed reading about the details of their menus and the wildlife they encountered. Part of what made this book interesting to me was how she talked about how she came face to face with environmental change, including two hurricanes at the end of an intense storm season, weakened trade winds, and dwindling fish stocks in the ocean. Really good page turner-couldn't put it down!
I've just started reading
Bel Canto and came across your review, I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed by the plotline so far - so glad to read your thoughts and I might ditch the book in favour of something more substantial. This is my first attempt at reading Ann Patchett.
Catching up! I've now completed 45 books, so I'm over halfway through this challenge! I started in September, though, so I've only got 5 months to go.
#14-
Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
This was a gorgeous read and I feel so priviliged to have read it. It is based on a true story of a cellist who played Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor for 22 consecutive days in a bomb site as a lament for each of the people killed there while lining up for bread. With this as the backdrop, we follow several characters struggling to retain a sense of dignity as their country is descending into hell. Beauty being a weapon against inhumanity, without being sickly sweet.
I'm so excited to be able to hear Galloway speak next week.
#15- The Soloist by Steve Lopez
Rather glad to have read this one, too, although the trailers for the movie look like they've Hollywoodized it. Steve Lopez is a journalist who writes about his relationship with Nathaniel, a homeless man who he first encounters playing a two-stringed cello on the street. After hearing that he had studied at Julliard, Lopez delves into the story and learns how schizophenia destroyed his career.
Over time, Steve and Nathaniel become friends, and Steve helps Nathaniel gain access to instruments and orchestras, as well as housing and support. Steve sounds like a good guy, and the relationship is genuine. I really liked how the book shows the struggles of living with mental illness, and it is painful to see Nathaniel progress and regress.
Personally, if I had written this book I would have used a different style than just seemingly piecing newspaper articles together. I would have liked to have more information about the disease itself, as well as had different voices tell the story. Nathaniel's music is clear and beautiful while his thinking and life are chaotic, and I think that could have been better communicated with stronger writing.
Still, I would recommend this book and I hope it does some good.
Message edited by its author, Apr 16, 2009, 2:07pm.
#16-
The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
This was a sweet indulgent read. Maria is quite fun, and her character shines through as she tells the story made so famous by the Sound of Music. Faith plays a big role in the family's life (what do you expect from an ex-nun!), and I was impressed by how the whole family stood up to the Nazis (one of the older boys turned down a position as a doctor as he knew what was happening to the Jewish doctors, and one of the younger girls would not pledge allegiance to the Nazis and got in trouble with the school). The book also follows the family to America, where it is newly-poor but rich in love. They faced so many hardships, but as Maria notes it was the difficulties which showed her the amazing character of her children. This would be a good read for a 10 year old who loves the movie, and might spark some interesting discussions.
I read
The Trapp Family Singers when I was in college and I thoroughly enjoyed it--it was one of my "study break" books. As I recall it wasn't nearly as saccharine as the movie. Don't get me wrong--I like the movie, too. Luckily I saw the movie before I read the book!
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