Katrina Attempts 13 (Early start)

Last year I didn't participate in any group reads or challenges and actually quite missed it. Next year I have signed up for a TBR Dare (to only read from my TBR pile for 3 months - I'm personally aiming for 6) and I'd also like to do this challenge as it makes my reading more varied. I will focus on 1001 books and my TBR mountain.
I will be doing mine in steps.
13 1001 reads
12 group reads (from any group read)
11 dust gatherers (been on my shelves for longer than 5 years)
10 country hop (jump from one country to the next, they must be next to each other)
9 Trilogies (I'm rubbish at reading a whole trilogy and have a few lined up)
8 plays and poetry
7 19th century novels
6 YA novels
5 non-fiction
4 18th century or earlier
3 dust mites galore (lurked on mount TBR since university, or before)
2 ugly covers
1 doorstop

As I'm not participating in any challenges at the moment I'm going to start early

TBR - The ones which don't fit
1. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, Philip Pullman
2. The Magic Toyshop, Angela Carter

13 1001 reads

1 Felicia's Journey, William Trevor
2 Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys
3 Foe, J.M Coetzee
4 Moon Palace, Pual Auster
5 The Story of Lucy Gault, William Trevor
6 The French Lieutenant's Woman, John Fowles
7 The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
8
9
10
11
12
13

Possibilities: The Grapes of Wrath, Hawksmoor, The Jungle, A Visit from the Goon Squad

12 group reads (NOT restricted to this group's group reads)

1 Farewell, My Lovely, Raymond Chandler
2 Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
3 Anil's Ghost, Michael Ondaatje
4 The Lighthouse, Alison Moore
5 The Magus by John Fowles
6 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
7
8
9
10
11
12

Possibilities: The Gormenghast Trilogy, Farewell, My Lovely, Emile Zola

11 dust gatherers (been on my shelves for longer than 5 years)

1 The Key, Rosamunde Pilcher
2 Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice, A.S Byatt
3 East of the Mountains, David Gutterson
4 The Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald
5 Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller
6
7
8
9
10
11

Possibilities The Peacock Throne, The Woodlanders, North and South, Atomised, Jazz

10 country hop (jump from one country to the next, they must be next to each other)

1 I'm Not Scared, Niccolo Ammaniti (Italy)
2 Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller (France)
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

9 Trilogies and series (I'm rubbish at reading a whole trilogy/series and have a few lined up)

1 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson
2 The Girl who Played with Fire, Steig Larsson
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Possibilities The Gormenghast Trilogy, The Maze Runner Trilogy, Millenium Series, The Forsythe Saga

8 plays and poetry

1 Jane Eyre: A libretto, David Malouf
2 The Importance of Being Ernest, Oscar Wilde
3 The Cinnamon Peeler, Michael Ondaatje
4 Coriolanus, William Shakespeare
5 Coriolan, Brecht
6
7
8

Possibilities: Milton, Paradise Lost, The Bell Jar, Eurydice, Blood Brothers

7 19th century novels

1 Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (1001)
2
3
4
5
6
7

Possibilities: Crime and Punishment, The Three Muskateers, Jude the Obscure, Hunger, Martin Chuzzlewhit

6 YA novels

1
2
3
4
5
6

Possibilities: My Name is Mina, My Sister lives on the Mantlepiece,

5 non-fiction

1
2
3
4
5

Possibilities: New Europe, We Wish to Inform You Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families, The Day the World Came to Town,

4 18th century or earlier

1
2
3
4

Possibilities: A 1001 Nights, Oronoko, The Sorrows of Young Werther,

3 dust mites galore (lurked on mount TBR since university, or before)

1
2
3

Possibilities: Lord of the Rings, The Name of the Rose

2 ugly covers

1 Of Love and Shadows, Isabel Allende
2 The Feather Merchants and Tales of Other Fools of the Chelm, Steve Sanfield

Possibilities: Love and Shadows, Bellefleur,

1 doorstop (1000+ pages)

1

Possibilites: The Lord of the Rings, Don Quixote,

Some good categories there.

Wonderful categories ... may I suggest some assistance from those of us that are also trying to read books off our books shelves http://www.librarything.com/topic/144170 and http://www.librarything.com/topic/144573. Also the list of group reads is already growing .... http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Group_Reads_of_2013

Hope to see you around!

Best of luck with the challenge! Don't forget to post pictures of the ugly covers ;)

Thanks for the messages. I'll have to figure out how to upload pictures on here, I have one book with such an ugly, and very steamy, bookcover that I'm afraid to read it in public, yet it's an Isabel Allende book which I am desperate to read!

Welcome!! I must say I'm sympathising with the dust mites category - plenty of those around my house! :)

Haha, love the "ugly covers" idea!

Great to see you will be starting right away! Nice categories. Ugly covers.... there are some real douzies out there! Have fun with your challenge.

Can't wait to see those ugly covers!

Thanks for the messages, I'm already reading my first book and really enjoying it

Looking forward to watching you fill those categories.

Katrina - you have some great categories -- love country hop and dust gatherers (I think the last one is the same as my oldest books in my closet, although mine aren't dusty because every once in a while I like to pull them out and look at them all. Stirs up the dust). I may join you with the 19th century, or, as we already discussed, ugly covers. When I did that last category a few years ago it was really satisfying to get rid of those ones.

Working out my country hop books certainly made a good use of half an hour when I should have been essay writing

Ha ha! Yes, my closets were never so clean as when I had to study.

I'm with you on that. While my bedroom is normally referred to as looking like nuclear bomb site, it was impeccable when I had exams and essays to study for and finish.

GROUP READS: I just finished Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler. Crime is not a genre I normally read but I picked this up as part of a group read. I really enjoyed the first 100 pages, the pace was fast, lots was happening and my brain was busy picking over connections. In the middle I lost interest, there was a few chapters of violence which lost me - I'm not sure why, I can normally handle a violent scene and have read far worse. After that I drifted along until the final three chapters when all the connections began to come clear.
I won't be attempting another Raymond Chandler for a while.

Bummer on the Chandler. I haven't read any of his works, and like you, crime is not a genre I usually gravitate to. Here is hoping your next book is an improvement!

Haha Allende! I couldn't understand why I was getting strange books on a recent holiday. I was reading Ines of my soul, the Spanish version with a naked lady sprawled across the cover.

Looks like some great reads, I will be following closely.

#31 I picked up my book from a community bookshelf and it wouldn't fit in my bag, I had to walk around Stoke all day with in in my hand. I spent all my time trying to hide the cover!

I do enjoy noir quite a lot, but for some reason, I've not actually read any Chandler. I've seen a few films based on his books, though, but I'm wondering what I'll think once I get around to trying the original.

welcome - sad to see you didn't get on with Chandler - I've loved everything I've read by him so far, including farewell my lovely!

1001 reads Felicia's Journey by William Trevor
It was an uncomfortable feeling watching Felicia being circled by Mr Hildicth and not wanting to witness what was going to happen.
In places this worked really well but the were other places in which I felt that the novel just drifted - often these were in the chapters with the religious fanatics.

Plays and Poetry
Jane Eyre: A Libretto by David Maloufa very short little version of the play. This just focus on the relationship between Jane, Rochester and Mrs Rochester, the focus is on the numerous voices in the text, they often talk over each other and Rochester mumurs 'Jane, Jane, Jane' under her speech throughout. Enjoyable and read in less than 40 minutes - including the introduction.

Group reads
Fahrenheit 451 for library thing's Monthly Authors group. This book has been on my radar for so long but I always thought of it as sci-fi and didn't realise that it is actually a dystopian novel in which 'firemen' are hired to burn books, and possibly those who harbor them.
A great read, one I'd recommend to people.

At least you had an idea, even if it wasn't entirely complete (it is sci-fi as well, just the more natural type :))! I've been hearing this book's title practically my whole life and hadn't the faintest notion what it was about! And somehow had never picked it up! haha. But I'm thrilled I wound up leading the group and we're reading it and discovering its awesomeness. :D

There is a copy of this in school, I might nick it to read over the weekend. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks for the review - like you I've heard of the book for so long but really didn't know what it was about. Now it's definitely going on my wishlist.

For my plays and poetry section The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde.
When I started this play I really wasn't enjoying it, I could see that it was meant to be funny but it wasn't mt type of humour. However at just 58 pages and being a group read I decided to carry on to the end and I'm glad I did.
As soon as Gwendolen arrived the play suddenly changed for me, and I was suddenly eager to see what was going to happen next, I loved all the crossed identities and the silliness of the whole thing and would love to go and see this in the theatre.

I love that play! One of my all time favorites. The movie version is decent but not as good as my imagination.

Seconding LittleTaiko, though I quite liked the movie too! :)

Group Reads: Anil's Ghost, by Micheal Ondaatje. I've been laying in bed finishing this for the last few hours - a perfect way to start the new year :) Anil is a forensic scientist who returns to her home country of Sri Lanka during the 1980s/90's civil war. Her return is through invitation by the Human Rights Comittee and yet she finds doorways blocked and data withheld much as you would expect. Her discovery of 'Sailor' a body buried within the last 5 years at a government restricted archeological site is the basis for the story.
The language is beautiful, the pace moves well and you are constantly kept on your toes. A recommended read.
On my tbr pile since March 2011

I loved this book, so well written. One of my few 5* books.

The Ondaatje book sounds interesting--I'll add it to my Wishlist. I have to admit I found his English patient a vast annoyance.

TBR Stacks The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman
I wasn't intending to read this but I discovered that I'd left it in my friends house in France last time I was here. The text is large so the 250 pages were quick to read. Pullman reimagines the story of Jesus for the Cannongate Myths Series, in this version Jesus has a twin brother Christ who is almost an unseen shadow, writing down and adding to Jesus' teachings.
This book is about stories and the way they are created and changed, the afterword by Pullman shouldn't be glossed over, it's interesting to read how and why he wrote this book.

I don't think that Pullman book is ever one I would have discoverd on my own, but I think I might just have to pick it up!

I must have missed this one as well, although I have read a few of the Canongate Myths series, and have enjoyed all of them.

#48/49 I hope that you both enjoy it, it is the third book I've read in this series and probably the one I have enjoyed the most.

1001 Books
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
This was a reread for me and I think I prefer it the second time around. I am rereading this and Jane Eyre as I am witing an essay about the voices in these two text this month.
The novel is a prequel to Jane Eyre which tells the history of Bertha/Antionette, a glimpse at her life in Jamaica, the life of a Creole family who live between the Black people who despise them for their wealth and the White people who despise them as they are of mixed race. The family live against the vivid backdrop of the Caribbean islands. The family madness, which is recounted in JE is shown developing and being provoked by this hatred of the Creole people and their treatment.
The text has mixed narratives between Antionette's memories, dreams and that of her husband. The voices of gossip, obeah and a stream of consciousness also haunt the text.
The text is split between Jamaica, Dominica and the UK, but the largest section is set in Dominica.

Something I never thought of before. Mr. Rochester married a mixed race woman, the implications of which are totally ignored by Jane Eyre

She is white Creole, so the mixed race is not shown in her skin colour but in the descriptions of her acting like a 'savage animal' and a 'dog'. I can't remember if in Jane Eyre (which I'm just about to reread) he marries because his father makes him or not, in WSS he is the poor second son and the marriage is a business arrangement. Although he is not a nice character he is viewed sympathetically, and allowed to tell his own side of the story.

19th Century novels
Jane Eyre another university read, been a long time since I read this one, a really good read but a bit to gushing in places for me, I wonder whether in 10 years time when I try and reread it again I will like it more or less?

2 books ticked off of mount TBR this weekend, one a bookring which has only been here a month and the second a book which has been with me at least 5 years travelling from house-to-house with me.
GROUP READS:The Lighthouse by Alison Moore arrived to me at the beginning of the year as part of a cycle of books which will enable me to read the 2012 Booker shortlist. This is the first of these books and I have to say I didn't find it very enjoyable in the least.
TBR FOR FIVE YEARS The Key by Rosamunde Pilcher is a tiny 50 page collection of three short stories, I think the boring cover probably led this book to sit unread on the bookshelf for years.

Another Dust Gatherer dusted down and read. Elementals: Stories of Fire and Ice by A.S Byatt. I've had this collection of stories for at least 5 years, I seem to have read half of the stories and then stopped reading by the position of the bookmark so I finished the four stories which were left. The stories had religious links to all of them which may have been more effective if I knew more of the Bible than Noah and the nativity.

And another dust gatherer, this one is the bookcrossing book which I have had on my shelves the longest - since Nov 2012. East of the Mountains by David Gutterson The book is more like a romance to the Washington county than anything else. Ben's tale, his search to end his life, his various experiences and the people he meets seem to come second place to the area this is set in. I enjoyed the book, but did know the ending from very early in the novel.
I also tick off a poetry book, The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje, not a collection I particularly enjoyed, just finding the odd poem here and there.

Another play read for university, Coriolanus by good ole William Shakespeare. I think I understood most of it but I'm sure in the days to come when I read more about it I'll realise I missed a lot!

Looks like February has pretty much got away from me, do you fancy reading Jazz in March, or would you prefer after Easter?

Easter please, I have 2 weeks off.

Another book group read, this time for a group read on this challenge forum. The Magus for 'Fowles in Febraury' (yes I'm a little behind!)
The Magus by John Fowles Nicholas Urfe is a fairly typical young man, fairly intelligent and attractive he drifts from job to job, meaningless relationship to meaningless relationship. When offered a job in a remote island of Greece he quickly jumps on board despite having many reservations, including his recent off-on relationship with Allison.
Once in Greece he becomes quickly board with his teaching job and explores the remote areas of the island, discovering Conchis a reclusive millionaire he quickly becomes entangled in a mind game. Meeting many figures whose identity and stories change, develop and fall back on themselves Nicholas is placed in the middle of an experiment/game.
As a reader I wanted to scream at him not to return, not to ask so many questions, just to enjoy the beautiful girls, to stop being blind etc and yet like him I would learn a new story and quickly accept this despite being aware that a few pages later all would unravel.
Well worth a read and certainly an author I will be picking up again sometime soon.

Another book group read, this time for the Monthly Authors group as we are reading Aldous Huxley this month I thought I'd start with his most famous one, Brave New World.
Set in a clinical world where all children are born in a testtube, where the idea of a mother is obscene but casual sex promoted, where socialization is state controlled and regulated, where class divided it decided at the fertilization stage and clones specialise in areas of the work force there is bound to be a few unhappy embryos floating around.

Moon Palace by Paul Auster: I thouroughly enjoyed this book, I've been listening to this on my ipod whilst getting ready for work in the mornings as well as when zentangling and cleaning the house. Having read The New York Trilogy and The Book of Illusions I was expecting something weird and postmodern, but this was a pretty standard novel with a lot of coincidences in it. A great way to start Auster if you haven't read any of his other stuff.

Foe by Coetzee: This book is the opposite to the one above, it's very postmodern and aware of itself as a book. In the novel Foe inserts a character into Robinson Crusoe, she is then rescued and returns to England desperate to tell her tale. She meets the author Danial DeFoe and relates the tale so that her can make it into a story. This will not be everyones cup of tea, however I like it when writers play with our minds. Just 4 more of Coetzee to go and I'm hoping to read one of these tomorrow.

I really enjoyed Foe, I've also read 6/10 of his books. Before I started reading them, I did wonder how an author could have so many books on the list, but(except for Elizabeth Costello) I found them to cover a variety of topics and styles. A good writer.

I really enjoyed Elizabeth Costello, but hated Disgrace with a passion. I have to read Dusklands this week but have been warned it is very grim - some people on our university course have refused to read it, which makes me all the more eager to give it a go :)

I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti a griping Italian novel about a child's world falling apart when he realises he cannot trust the adults around him. Scary in places and definitely haunting this was a great read, but not something I would have expected to find on the 1001 list. This was more like a holiday book for me, fast paced, simple to read etc. However. I eagerly polished it off in one afternoon and would recommend it to any one wanting an easier read.

This is used to start my country hop challenge.

The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor on audiobook. This is a great read about the story of a yound Irish girl who's decision to run away from home one day shapes her whole future. A nice gentle Irish novel. My second novel by William Trevor from the list, I definitely won't wait long to read the third book of his which is listed.

Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende.
I'm on a roll this week!
I've always enjoyed Isabel Allende's work and this was no different, a great novel with good pace and characters. I found this book in a pub up North and was always a bit embarrassed by the cover, a gorgeous 1980s movie cover from the look of things - it looks like a 1980s version of 50 Shades of Grey! However except for a few OTT scenes around page 200 it was a standard Allende. Not sure that I would class it as one of the 1001 books you must read.
I will wild release this tomorrow and hope someone is brave enough to pick it up.
I couldn't find a link to the exact book cover but this is very similar http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTIwOTMxMjk4OV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzUzODkyMQ...

I have her book Aphrodite on my desk waiting to be read and I was intrigued by her latest, Maya's Notebook. Looks like I have yet another title of her's to read. I like her stories, too.

The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles on audiobook. Despite having finished this three days ago I'm still not 100% sure on my feelings. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book but then couldn't believe the main relationship in the book and the second half of the novel. I much prefered The Magus, this one seemed far more bogstandard and like many stories I had read before. An enjoyable read, but not one I would consider a 'must'.

->70 katrinasreads:
I bought the book after seeing the movie, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It's (with its many, many friends) on Mt. TBR. :)

#71 The 1001 bookgroup on librarything are reading this at the moment as their read-a-long if you need a push.

The Great Gatsby, this is a reread for me. I was supposed to read this before seeing the film but it didn't happen that way which meant I could skim read it because I had onle seen the film a few days before. I enjoyed the book more than the film but I still can't see it as this great work of literature that everyone builds it up to be.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatto: I've had this triology sat under the bed since the Sweedish film came out and I crumbled under the gaze of a 3 for £5 offer in Sainsburys. At the time everyone was raving about this but I still wasn't sure whether to read it or not.
Last week I picked it up to try thinking that if I didn't like it I could bump three chunky books off of the tbr pile, within a page or two I knew I would just keep reading and reading. This took me a whole week to read, but only because I am meant to be writing an essay at the moment and needed to devote some serious time to Robinson Crusoe so I can scrap a pass in this essay. I'm tempted to read the next one straight away but I'm going to save it for my holiday and try to read a few short 1001 books instead.

The book has been criticicsed for its writing style, having never read detective fiction I wasn't expecting a literary masterpiece so this didn't hinder my enjoyment. My only bug bear was the need to tell me which apple product each person was using, whether the furniture was from Ikea or not - and I happen to like Ikea - and which crime novel he was dipping into next.

I have Larsson's trilogy sit unread collecting dust. I have been thinking of tackling it as part of my summer reading so I am happy to see the story in the first book drew you right in and carried you along.

I got a kick out of how much coffee fit into their lives. People were always buying coffee, making coffee, and drinking coffee. I was very happy with the ending of the trilogy.

#75 So true, constant coffee, coffee, coffee!

Oh yes! Every time somebody did something it seemed to involve coffee.

Fika is detrimental to Swedish society - it's the very epitome of our culture. :)

I kind of feel that way about Starbucks. Unfortunately, it is representive of what America is all about. Wehave 6 in our town and I personally think the coffee is swill. Luckily there are still a couple of independent coffee shops.