Ricey accepts your challenge!

Can you believe that another year has flown by yet again? Once again it is time for me to start a new challenge to read 75 books in a year. In 2010 I only managed 38 book, and I thought I might do a bit better in 2011, but sadly didn't manage to reach that total.
It always astounds me how fast some people can read, but I'm slowly coming to accept that I read at the pace that I do, and that is that. So, while I join the 75ers each year in the hopes that I might read that many books, I will be happy if all I manage to do is break my record of 38.
Here goes...





Currently reading...
Batavia - Peter Fitzsimons

August
18. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes
17. The Yard - Alex Grecian

July

June
16. Mawson - Peter FitzSimons

May

April
15. Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
14. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
13. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See

March
12. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
11. The Cookbook Collector - Allegra Goodman
10. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
9. This is a Call: The Life and Times of Dave Grohl - Paul Branigan
8. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins

February
7. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
6. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
5. A Dance with Dragons - George R. R. Martin
4. Ape House - Sara Gruen

January
3. The Bone Man of Kokoda - Charles Happell
2. A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin
1. The Reader - Bernhard Schlink

Welcome back!

Hey Jessie! Glad to see you back with us again for 2012!

We do not care what kind of pace you read at, you know :)

I know. I'm just always in awe of people's reading pace!

I know what you mean!

Off to a flying start so far. I just finished A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin, which is book 4 in the Game of Thrones series. I have really been enjoying this series to date, but this instalment seemed a little bit forced. It wasn't as much of a pleasure to read as the previous books have been.
Oh well.
On to A Dance with Dragons...

Glad to hear your reading year is off to a flying start, Jessie!

Hello Ricey! How did you like The Reader? I read it some years ago and it didn't leave such a great impression. I guess, it's time for a re-read!

I actually enjoyed The Reader. I haven't seen the movie, so I had no idea what the story was about when I started reading it. There were parts in it that I thought were written a bit poorly (long, complex sentences that jumped around a lot), but I thought that the story was very interesting. My husband and I read this book aloud to each other on our long journeys in the car to see family, and he has said that the story angered him somewhat and had a large emotional impact on him. I would have to agree. And that doesn't happen all the time in books these days.

Hi Ricey, Thanks a lot for giving me this insight! I haven't seen the movie neither: I read the book before it was made a movie - so, long, long time ago, so it must be the time to read it again. How I love the idea of reading to each other in the car! Unfortunately reading in the car makes me ill.

It used to make me sick too, but as long as I keep my head up so that I can see the road above the book, I seem to be cured!

Hello Ricey - glad I am not the only one who felt a little angered by The Reader - nothing against the book itself but I wanted to feel like something had been answered or resolved - it made me mad (but in a good way!) that I was left with more questions than answers.

Have been looking at the Game of Thrones series - wondering whether to give them a go - my OH loves fantasy type books and I'm not that keen so I struggle to find things we both enjoy that we can chat about!

Hi chrissybob - I love the Game of Thrones series. I'm not usually a big fantasy reader, but these are a bit different. They don't seem to be your full-on fantasy books. Yes, there are dragons and other mythical creatures, but they are more about the war, politics, etc of the world that they are set in. They talk alot about kings and queens, and all of the noble houses in this land that Martin has created. The 'Game of Thrones' is what everyone in this world is engaged in playing... from loyalties to certain houses, to people stabbing other people in the back, etc. Everything that happens is related to playing the Game of Thrones.
I'm not usually very good with explaining what books are about, but I hope that this has given you an idea. Try the first book and see how you go! What have you got to lose?

#13: I have heard so much positive things about Game of Thrones, so that I am now considering reading it. Let's check the catalogue of my local library...

I have just finished A Dance with Dragons. It was a VERY long book, and seemed to take me an age to read it.

The acknowledgement pages in the last two books have suggested that Martin has found writing these two books very difficult, and unfortunately, it shows in reading them. They have been a bit of a struggle, really. It didn't help that my copy is a harcover monstrosity of over 1,000 pages, which made it very uncomfortable to hold in any position for any amount of time.

Now comes the waiting for the next in the series...

Hi--I saw we shared a TIOLO read of Ape House. so I popped over to see what you thought about it.