HelenNZ 75 Book Challenge 2011

I am already to go on the first now. Exciting to have a new reading goal and I hope to have a more methodical approach incorporating my Bots and Alphabet challenges. Should be fun.

1. Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones
2. DogBoy by Eva Hornung
3. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff
4. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
5. The Book of Emmett by Deborah Forster
6. The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams
7. Music and Silence by Rose Tremain
8. Freeing Grace by Charity Norman
9. As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong
10. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
11. The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea by Randolph Stow
12. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson
13. Solar by Ian McEwan
14. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
15. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
16. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell
17. Valley of Grace by Marion Halligan
18. Rocks in the Belly by Jon Bauer
19. 26a by Diana Evans
20. The Age of Orphans by Laleh Khadivi
21. Mother's Day by Laurence Fearnley
22. The Infinities by John Banville
23. Snake by Kate Jennings
24. Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey
25. The Whole Day Through by Patrick Gale
26. Settlers' Creek by Carl Nixon
27. The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
28. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
29. The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
30. Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna
31. The Word Burners by Beryl Fletcher
32. Fantastic Street by David Kelly
33. Solo by Rana Dasgupta
34. Hokitika Town by Charlotte Randall
35. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
36. Divinity Road by Martin Pevsner
37. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
38. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
39. Crossing the Lines by Melvyn Bragg
40. As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong
41. The Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans
42. The Devil that Danced on the Water by Aminatta Forna
43. Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs byLinda Olsson
44. The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker
45. Far to Go by Alison Pick
46. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
47. Smut by Alan Bennett
48. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
49. Zoli by Colum McCann
50. Johnno by David Malouf
51. Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute
52. Kangaroo by D H Lawrence
53. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
54. Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears
55. Bereft by Chris Womersley
56. Underfoot in Show Business by Helene Hanff
57. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
58. The Duchess of Bloomsbury by Helene Hanff
59. Apple of My Eye by Helene Hanff
60. Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff
61. Pounamu Pounamu by Witi Ihimaera
62. Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy
63. The Arrivals by Meg Mitchell Moore
64. The Conductor by Sarah Quigley
65. That Deadman Dance by Kim Scott
66. Legend of a Suicide by David Vann
67. Fall Girl by Toni Jordan
68. Kissing Alice by Jacqueline Yallop
69. Safety by Tegan Bennett Daylight
70. Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre
71. Across the Dreaming Night by Judith White
72. The Tax Inspector by Peter Carey
73. The Quarry by Damon Galgut
74. Mira and Inge by Marianne Frederiksson
75. All Our Worldly Goods byIrene Nemirovsky
76. An Innocent Gentleman by Elizabeth Jolley
77. The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
78. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
79. Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee

Ooh.. you have a challenge besides a 75 goal? Ok... I get Alphabet challenge but what's a Bots challenge, Helen?

Hi Caroline, thanks for stopping by my thread. BOTS is Books off the Shelf, another LT group, the idea being you read as many of your existing stacks of unread books as possible. I have not been very successful this year. In fact, my husband gave me some lovely new shelves for my birthday in August and they are now full of new, waiting to be read books. So I will use the Alphabet challenge to work my way through these books. Well that's the plan anyway...
This 75 group is obviously a doddle for you. You seem to have read a huge number of books this year. I see you have visited our fair shores. Have you sampled any of our literature? I'm thinking Maurice Gee's In My Father's Den might suit you.
HelenNZ

Welcome to the group, Helen!

Hi Helen I see you've got yourself set up. I came by to star you so I can find you easily.

Hi Helen! Glad to see you over here!

Welcome! Check out our wiki for more group links!

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Groups:75booksin2011

Happy New Year Helen!

Hi Helen. Found you and starred you.

Hi Helen, found and starred you. What did you think of Hand Me Down World? I read Mr Pip years ago and thought it wasn't to bad.

Found and starred!

Hi Helen - starred of course! Best of luck for the year :)

So busy reading I hadn't forgotten to record progress. Some good reading so far.

Hi Helen, I loved 84 Charing Cross Road (a LT recommendation) and am currently reading the sequel, A Duchess in Bloomsbury Street which is great so far. Well worth ordering from the library.

Another good one by Helene Hanff is Q's Legacy.

After ordering 84 Charing Cross Road online, I found Helene Hanff's Omnibus in a local secondhand bookstore for $9. It includes both of those titles and two others. So I look forward to reading it sometime.

I am so jealous, I'm on the lookout for her books as well as The Duchess of Bloomsbury I have now finished and it was fantastic.

I am very pleased that I have completed 9 books already this year, especially as I am also reading Anna Karenina at the same time. However progress will slow with work this week. My ninth is a reread of a favourite, As the Earth Turns Silver. I enjoyed and savoured it even more on a second reading.

#18: I had not heard of As the Earth Turns Silver before. Thanks for the mention, Helen. I will see if my local library has a copy.

I heard of As the Earth Turns Silver on this group last year, and managed to get a review copy of it via the Bookbag.

This book won the NZ Post Book Award in NZ last year. I bought my copy from Book Depository, but read it prior to it's win through my local library.

Hi There

I'm compiling a list of birthdays of our group members. If you haven't done so already, would you mind stopping by this thread and posting yours.

Thanks.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/105833

I am happy in my progress in this challenge, hopefully I will achieve 2 more before the months end, keeping me ahead of target.

You've been reading some great books - Music and Silence is one of my favourites, did you enjoy that one?

Your thread had got buried because you are updating the first message but not adding new ones, so it does not rise to the surface. But I found you through the wiki page list of everyone's thread addresses. I've just received my copy of Divinity Road at last this morning; I expect yours may be a while still if they posted it at the same time.

I have The Finkler Question in my TBR pile, but haven't made a start on that one yet: how did you find it?

Hmm... The Finkler Question. Unfortunately I didn't particularly like the main character Julian Treslove, who is a wannabe Jew, nor his longtime Jewish friend, Sam Finkler. There is a great deal of navel gazing, which I believe can become unhealthy. Neither of them treat women very well either.
It did make me consider how attitudes within and without the Jewish community have changed with regard to their claim and entitlement to Gaza. After years of international empathy post World War ll, to a certain amount of condemnation to their more aggressive stance. I guess it is the confusion between the religious and political line, which has always been present.
I remember reading my father's copies of Leon Uris's novels, and have probably not read enough recent Israeli writing to understand the complexities of the situation.
But Julian Treslove, just seemed to lack backbone and personal direction to me, playing at philosophising on the big questions in life.
You probably will have a very different interpretation bringing your own prior knowledge and life experiences to the book. There is a huge number of positive reviews and quotes peppered within and without the book. I wonder if they were males of a similar ilk.
Yes , I'm aware I haven't been commenting on books on my thread. I admit to focusing more on ticking them off.

Hi Helen, I see you've read Hand Me Down World by Lloyd Jones, what's your verdict? I won it in a Penguin Books competition and was so pleased, but haven't read it yet.

Hi Megan, that's a great win. I have read and enjoyed all ofLloyd Jones' books(except Choo Woo). Hand Me down World is no exception. It is very original in its format and takes us on a journey. I hope you agree. I'll await your verdict.

I was a little disappointed in Aminatta Forna's Ancestor Stones. I assume her latest which has been shortlisted for two awards, is a more engaging read. I found Ancestor Stones very confusing and I failed to be moved by it.

I need to pick up the pace again if I am going to meet this challenge. But life has been some what hectic over the last few months. Not so much free time or too tired to read.

Do not stress about the numbers, Helen. Just take the reads as you can and enjoy them.

I agree, its not all about the numbers, but enjoying the read at life & time allows ...... hence my numbers :)

#45. Far to Go by Alison Pick. Well, at least it was a quick read. But Man Booker standard, I think not. Disappointing.

Good to see you back again Helen - and like the others said, don't worry about the numbers, just let us know what you've been enjoying (or not, as the case may be) when you have the chance. Sorry to hear the Pick is not what you hoped from a Booker nominee. I've not got onto any of this year's list so far myself.

#46. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See. I loved this sequel to Shanghai Girls. I recommend both these books to those who enjoy Asian Fiction. It was fascinating reading about the chinese cultural revolution and it's impact on both the cities and villages.

Hello Helen

I hope your birthday was a good one and that it was a special day for you.

Thanks Linda. I had a very pleasant lunch with my family and one of my 3 daughters gave me a book voucher. Now to decide which book off the wishlist.:-)

Aaah, decisions decisions- it's tricky isn't it!

I purchased Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. More for the TBR shelves!

#39: A couple of good ones too from everything I have seen about them. Congrats!

#51. According to my calculations I have 24 books to go to achieve this goal, an average of 6 a month. It is once again looking possible. However, I have a grandchild due in December and another in January. That could prove my undoing... We shall see.

Hi Helen, A Fine Balance is absolutely brilliant - but the most depressing book I ever read! Just when you think things can't get worse for the poor sods in it ... they do. Will be keeping an eye out to see how you like it. I have another book by Rohinton Mistry on my shelf called Family Matters but can't quite bring myself to open it yet :)

O and congratulations re the expected grandchildren! You'll certainly have your hands full over the next while!

Not a good reading month in either quality or quantity.These pregnant daughters have both had hospital stays. To acheive my goal I need to read 7 a month for the next 3 months. 21 to go and hopefully some page turners.

I have just finished Helene Hanff's Omnibus and it definitely lifted the quality and quantity of my reading. She is so modest about her achievements and so personable. Highly recommended.

#63. Got a bit sidetracked by more daughter's library book, which I read before returning. Mainly because the subject matter struck a chord with me.

Well I made it . My biggest reading year yet 75! Bells and whistles please. I think I expected my ticker to start flashing or something...I will have to consider my favourite reads of the year but back to Books off the Shelf challenge for the next few days.

Congratulations on making 75! There is a bragging thread if you want to report in there.

Congrats!

Congratulations on managing 75!

And Happy Christmas!

I've finally - very belatedly - got round to reading Divinity Road this month; now must get the review done too. I thought it was pretty good, though the conversations about religion seemed a little forced.

Happy new to you all !!! bit early but just in case I don't get here tomorrow

Alex