Soffitta1's BC Challenge
Talk For BookCrossers: Reduce MTBR Challenge 2014
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1soffitta1
Looks like I have 53 books registered by others, actually that is more than 2/3 of the books I have that have been bookcrossed (70 in total).
I'd like to read 21 of those books and get my pre-2014 registered amount of books to 2 pages on BX.
I'd like to read 21 of those books and get my pre-2014 registered amount of books to 2 pages on BX.
9soffitta1
I'll keep adding the books up there. This is a good way to keep track of my books, and to encourage me to look them out to read them!
10BoekenTrol71
Wow, you are organised!!
Great list :-) Have fun reading and I look forward to seeing your progress / read comments.
Great list :-) Have fun reading and I look forward to seeing your progress / read comments.
11soffitta1
This way, I won't be able to avoid these books!
1. Birds of a Feather
Finally got round to reading this, enjoyable mystery with links back to WW1.
1. Birds of a Feather
Finally got round to reading this, enjoyable mystery with links back to WW1.
12soffitta1
2. Eugene Onegin
I saw the film adaptation a couple of years ago, so had a rough idea of the plot as I read this. I was most impressed by how the translator had managed to keep the book in verse form. An interesting book, a lot happening despite it being quite a quick read.
I saw the film adaptation a couple of years ago, so had a rough idea of the plot as I read this. I was most impressed by how the translator had managed to keep the book in verse form. An interesting book, a lot happening despite it being quite a quick read.
13mathgirl40
Wow, you are doing well with your challenge, with two books finished already!
14soffitta1
Thanks! I think typing up the books put them in my mind and so I picked them up to read. Now, I go back to work on Monday, so the reading rate will slow down.
15SqueakyChu
You're making me feel guilty. I admire your progress so far. I actually picked up a BC-acquired book yesterday and started reading it. Your guilt inducing worked! ;)
16ardachy
Well done Soffitta. I haven't started yet but fortunately my challenge is not quite so big.
17BoekenTrol71
>14 soffitta1: Well done!
I've finished one and have started 2 new ones (one in English, one in Dutch). Both are biggies (605 and 720 pages), I think it'll take some time before I'm through.
How are things with your reading rate? Mine has dropped dramatically.... Really, work is too time consuming! If only....
I've finished one and have started 2 new ones (one in English, one in Dutch). Both are biggies (605 and 720 pages), I think it'll take some time before I'm through.
How are things with your reading rate? Mine has dropped dramatically.... Really, work is too time consuming! If only....
18soffitta1
I'll be lucky if I hit two books a week at the moment, lots to get done. I have 2 and a half weeks left at my first placement, then a week in Germany at a Grundschule followed by 2 weeks back at uni, finally one week off to finish first round of assignments before starting second placement in the last week of Feb. I think I'll start reading again at a more normal rate for me in July! However, reading for me keeps me sane, there is only so much reading and prep I can do for my course / classes.
Ardachy - nice to see you - I am sure I have at least one that has been through your hands!
Ardachy - nice to see you - I am sure I have at least one that has been through your hands!
19soffitta1
3. Aloft
Jerry Battle is an Italian American, he has a complicated love life - unresolved issues with his ex-girlfriend - as well as a complicated family life. He is at a stage in his life where a person starts to reflect, especially when you are not where you expected to be. Jerry dwells on the past - his late wife and her illness, the family business. So many things that get in the way of his present.
I've had this for a while, not wanting to read it as I was worried it wouldn't live up to A gesture life, which I had previously read. I was disappointed at first, and in trying to pin point why I think it was the very different back drop. A gesture life is set against the WW2 and its aftermath whereas Aloft is set in the present day. I didn't warm to the main character, but I did think the story was well told and overall I am please I read it.
Jerry Battle is an Italian American, he has a complicated love life - unresolved issues with his ex-girlfriend - as well as a complicated family life. He is at a stage in his life where a person starts to reflect, especially when you are not where you expected to be. Jerry dwells on the past - his late wife and her illness, the family business. So many things that get in the way of his present.
I've had this for a while, not wanting to read it as I was worried it wouldn't live up to A gesture life, which I had previously read. I was disappointed at first, and in trying to pin point why I think it was the very different back drop. A gesture life is set against the WW2 and its aftermath whereas Aloft is set in the present day. I didn't warm to the main character, but I did think the story was well told and overall I am please I read it.
20SqueakyChu
Chang-rae Lee is one of my favorite authors. I'm now reading On Such a Full Sea and find it much different from what this author has written before.
Lee's Native Speaker is very good. If you get a chance to read it, do so. It's about the experience of being of Korean ethnicity in America.
Lee's Native Speaker is very good. If you get a chance to read it, do so. It's about the experience of being of Korean ethnicity in America.
21soffitta1
Thanks for the tip, will look out for it.
4. Ceremony
thoughts to come!
5. Cinnamon City
Very quick read on the plane back from Germany.
4. Ceremony
thoughts to come!
5. Cinnamon City
Very quick read on the plane back from Germany.
22mathgirl40
You're doing very well in your challenge! The Surrendered is the only Chang-Rae Lee I've read. I liked it very much and hope to read more of his works.
23soffitta1
Thanks! I'll look out for both of those books.
6. Far from the Madding Crowd
I picked this up because it was H or R in the AlphaCat this month. Started it on the way to uni and really got into it. Lots of detail of country life as you would expect, a farmer falls for an independent woman, she refuses him, but life keeps throwing them together.
6. Far from the Madding Crowd
I picked this up because it was H or R in the AlphaCat this month. Started it on the way to uni and really got into it. Lots of detail of country life as you would expect, a farmer falls for an independent woman, she refuses him, but life keeps throwing them together.
24soffitta1
7. Prisoner in Baghdad
The true story of a nurse who gets arrested on suspicion of espionage. The book takes us into the interrogations and the cells, showing her evolving thoughts on life in Iraq. Glad I read it.
8. Rickshaw Girl
A short book picked up for my Olympic Challenge. Set in Bangladesh, this is the story of a young girl who wants to help her struggling family. It highlights the day-to-day life for a women in Bangladesh, but there is hope in the story.
The true story of a nurse who gets arrested on suspicion of espionage. The book takes us into the interrogations and the cells, showing her evolving thoughts on life in Iraq. Glad I read it.
8. Rickshaw Girl
A short book picked up for my Olympic Challenge. Set in Bangladesh, this is the story of a young girl who wants to help her struggling family. It highlights the day-to-day life for a women in Bangladesh, but there is hope in the story.
25ardachy
I was going to say I have read Rickshaw Girl too, then I realised it was actually the copy I read so you know that already :-)
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12192760/
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12192760/
26SqueakyChu
> 25
Ha! Isn't that the fun of BookCrossing?!
Ha! Isn't that the fun of BookCrossing?!
27soffitta1
Small world!
9. Requiem for a Wren
Read on the way back to London this weekend. I was sent this in a bookbox and decided to pick it up for this month's RandomCat. A brother returns home to Australia, still haunted by WW2 and his brother's death in it. Sad, showing what happened to those who survived - a mixture of guilt and nostalgia for a period in which so close to death, they were so alive. Worth the read.
9. Requiem for a Wren
Read on the way back to London this weekend. I was sent this in a bookbox and decided to pick it up for this month's RandomCat. A brother returns home to Australia, still haunted by WW2 and his brother's death in it. Sad, showing what happened to those who survived - a mixture of guilt and nostalgia for a period in which so close to death, they were so alive. Worth the read.
28mathgirl40
Good RandomCAT choice! I'm also using the 2014 CAT challenges to help me get through my BC backlog.
29soffitta1
And another two from the Cats -
10. The Colour of Forgetting - AlphaCat (M) and GeoCat (Caribbean)
11. Shame in the Blood - AlphaCat (M)
Very different books, yet the similarity lies in the stories being told and retold. I'd recommend them both, much more interesting than planning lessons.
10. The Colour of Forgetting - AlphaCat (M) and GeoCat (Caribbean)
11. Shame in the Blood - AlphaCat (M)
Very different books, yet the similarity lies in the stories being told and retold. I'd recommend them both, much more interesting than planning lessons.
30soffitta1
12. The Tailor of Panama
Slow start, but got more exciting towards the end.
Slow start, but got more exciting towards the end.
31soffitta1
13. The Dressmaker of Khair Khana
14. Home
Went to Dublin to accompany my Mum on a business trip and managed to get some reading done. The Dressmaker was an interesting read, reflecting on life as the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as well as what is happening now. We are surrounded by distressing images in the West - on the news, in the papers, but it can be too easy to distance yourself from it without a personal connection, a face to put to the story. That's why I enjoyed reading the book, to get more of an idea of what happened and what is happening over there.
Home is a family saga, a little disjointed at times, but full of the ups and downs, petty jealousies that turn into wedges that drive people apart as well as the the situations that bring them together. Worth the read.
14. Home
Went to Dublin to accompany my Mum on a business trip and managed to get some reading done. The Dressmaker was an interesting read, reflecting on life as the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as well as what is happening now. We are surrounded by distressing images in the West - on the news, in the papers, but it can be too easy to distance yourself from it without a personal connection, a face to put to the story. That's why I enjoyed reading the book, to get more of an idea of what happened and what is happening over there.
Home is a family saga, a little disjointed at times, but full of the ups and downs, petty jealousies that turn into wedges that drive people apart as well as the the situations that bring them together. Worth the read.
32soffitta1
15. India with Sanjeev Bhaskar
A personal look at India from the actor. I liked his tone, and his own connections with India made the book more interesting as he tried to reconcile his own views of India based on family visits and stories with the country's own history and diverse present.
A personal look at India from the actor. I liked his tone, and his own connections with India made the book more interesting as he tried to reconcile his own views of India based on family visits and stories with the country's own history and diverse present.
33soffitta1
16. Émigré Journeys
Alright, though the voices didn't always ring true.
17. The Thing Around Your Neck
Great writer, a series of short stories.
Alright, though the voices didn't always ring true.
17. The Thing Around Your Neck
Great writer, a series of short stories.
34soffitta1
18. Between Extremes: A Journey Beyond Imagination
Been dipping into this, an interesting read - part travelogue of the road down to Patagonia, part reflection of life as hostages in Iran.
Been dipping into this, an interesting read - part travelogue of the road down to Patagonia, part reflection of life as hostages in Iran.
35soffitta1
19. Fly by night
A long commute means a long book off my TBR pile. This is the first in a teen series, Mosca lives in a time of uncertainty, with a struggle for power linked to religion and the printing of books. Not bad, a little slow in the middle, but will add it to the box for my students to read.
A long commute means a long book off my TBR pile. This is the first in a teen series, Mosca lives in a time of uncertainty, with a struggle for power linked to religion and the printing of books. Not bad, a little slow in the middle, but will add it to the box for my students to read.
36soffitta1
20. Bel ami
Good book, really enjoyed it, even if the main character is particularly nauseating!
Good book, really enjoyed it, even if the main character is particularly nauseating!
37soffitta1
Long time since I read one from here, but hopefully I'll read a few more before the end of the year.
21. Nausea
22. Dreams of Joy
21. Nausea
22. Dreams of Joy
39SqueakyChu
You did it! Congrats!!
41soffitta1
24. Geisha of Gion
Turns out I had two bookcrossed copies of this! Would be cheeky to count it twice, wouldn't it?!
A quick read, one that inspired Memoirs of a Geisha.
Turns out I had two bookcrossed copies of this! Would be cheeky to count it twice, wouldn't it?!
A quick read, one that inspired Memoirs of a Geisha.
42mathgirl40
I'm just catching up with the threads in this forum. Belated congratulations on finishing your challenge!
44soffitta1
27. Three Sisters
An interesting read as three very different sisters look for their paths in China.
An interesting read as three very different sisters look for their paths in China.
45soffitta1
28. The Vagrants
A good book, a young woman is being put to death for being a counter revolutionary in China and the whole community is affected. Li jumps between characters, so you need your reading wits about you, but this helps to give a multi-faceted look at life in China.
A good book, a young woman is being put to death for being a counter revolutionary in China and the whole community is affected. Li jumps between characters, so you need your reading wits about you, but this helps to give a multi-faceted look at life in China.
46mathgirl40
Your last two books look interesting. I always enjoy reading books set in China and other parts of Asia.
48ardachy
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12823663 was my only 100% asian based book this year. I recommend it though. Checking this I discovered that I have read a surprisingly high number of books based in South or Central America this year.
49SqueakyChu
>48 ardachy:
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
I have that book! I got it because I was so impressed with The Reluctant Fundamentalist. If you haven't read that book yet, you *must*.
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
I have that book! I got it because I was so impressed with The Reluctant Fundamentalist. If you haven't read that book yet, you *must*.
50soffitta1
Thanks for the tip, I also enjoyed The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Any recommendations for South / Central America? I also enjoy reading books set there.
51SqueakyChu
You question simply makes me think more of books I haven't read yet but should. I thought the following books were good, but I read them so long ago. I'm not sure what I'd think of them now. My international reading now leans greatly toward fiction by Japanese authors although I'm married to a Central American (from El Salvador).
Try these:
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read
Papillon by Henri Charrière
My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey through Chile by Isabel Allende
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett was fascinating although she is an American author. I read this more recently.
Try these:
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read
Papillon by Henri Charrière
My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey through Chile by Isabel Allende
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett was fascinating although she is an American author. I read this more recently.
53ardachy
I can't agree with SqueakyChu re Bel Canto. It was one I read this year. See:- http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2955705
Other South/Central American books read this year were :-
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7012456/
The Jaguar's Children by John Vaillant http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12527600
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8337199
Other South/Central American books read this year were :-
The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7012456/
The Jaguar's Children by John Vaillant http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12527600
News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8337199
54ardachy
Re Asiian books I have just realised I should have included Last Man in Tower by Aravind Adiga http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/10162075 and possibly The Black Hole by Jan Dalley http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/12823659 which is a history book.
In my view How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid was every bit as good as The Reluctant Fundamentalist http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9501230/ and better than Moth Smoke http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9955931/
In my view How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid was every bit as good as The Reluctant Fundamentalist http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9501230/ and better than Moth Smoke http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9955931/
55SqueakyChu
>53 ardachy:
I can't agree with SqueakyChu re Bel Canto.
Haha! Bel Canto is always a book that is either loved or hated by readers. It's one of my best friend's favorite books. We always argue about it. It's also a multiple prize winner...which is why I forced myself to finish it. Different strokes...
Hey! I want to go to that Official BookCrossing Zone shelf at the Layer Fox!!
I can't agree with SqueakyChu re Bel Canto.
Haha! Bel Canto is always a book that is either loved or hated by readers. It's one of my best friend's favorite books. We always argue about it. It's also a multiple prize winner...which is why I forced myself to finish it. Different strokes...
Hey! I want to go to that Official BookCrossing Zone shelf at the Layer Fox!!
56SqueakyChu
>53 ardachy:
I found The Ministry of Special Cases to be a heart-breaking novel. Really. I also thought it was extremely concise and well-written with no words to spare. When I first started reading it, knowing nothing about the novel, I thought it was going to be humorous. Then I quickly realized that it was not humorous at all.
About the time in which that novel was set, I was living in Israel and made friends with a group of young Argentinians who were extremely warm and friendly. One remains a dear friend of mine to this day. I remember that many young Jewish Argentinians were immigrating to Israel because, if they differed politically from anything espoused by the Argentinian government, they were in real danger.
I also remember learning about the "desaparecidos" at that time. I had no idea how anyone could suddenly disappear. It was in this novel that I learned how that could happen. I also knew that Jewish individuals were often victims of this. To say I was shocked when I learned how individuals completely disappeared is putting it mildly. Being Jewish myself and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I always try to keep informed about life of Jews in all countries of the world when there appear to be problems.
I know this was a novel. However, in fiction, one can find the emotions of fact.
I found The Ministry of Special Cases to be a heart-breaking novel. Really. I also thought it was extremely concise and well-written with no words to spare. When I first started reading it, knowing nothing about the novel, I thought it was going to be humorous. Then I quickly realized that it was not humorous at all.
About the time in which that novel was set, I was living in Israel and made friends with a group of young Argentinians who were extremely warm and friendly. One remains a dear friend of mine to this day. I remember that many young Jewish Argentinians were immigrating to Israel because, if they differed politically from anything espoused by the Argentinian government, they were in real danger.
I also remember learning about the "desaparecidos" at that time. I had no idea how anyone could suddenly disappear. It was in this novel that I learned how that could happen. I also knew that Jewish individuals were often victims of this. To say I was shocked when I learned how individuals completely disappeared is putting it mildly. Being Jewish myself and the daughter of Holocaust survivors, I always try to keep informed about life of Jews in all countries of the world when there appear to be problems.
I know this was a novel. However, in fiction, one can find the emotions of fact.
57SqueakyChu
Soffita, add The Ministry of Special Cases to your list of books. I didn't recommend it earlier, although it was excellent, because it was not written by an author native to South America (but then, neither is Ann Patchett).
58soffitta1
Thanks for the great ideas, I have read some - including most of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's books (I recently finished Chronicle of a death foretold and loved it. Another one I came across in a charity shop was Tierra del Fuego, stories from a stark landscape. I did enjoy Bel Canto, though my brother didn't!
I hadn't heard of the Desaparecidos book, but it is a topic that I have come across many times - through films and other books. I do remember a film (with Ricardo Darín in it?) where parents had to disappear before being disappeared, and at least one of the parents was Jewish.
More books for my wishlist!
I hadn't heard of the Desaparecidos book, but it is a topic that I have come across many times - through films and other books. I do remember a film (with Ricardo Darín in it?) where parents had to disappear before being disappeared, and at least one of the parents was Jewish.
More books for my wishlist!
59SqueakyChu
Tell me what you think of The Ministry of Special Cases if you read it. It's a hard book due to its subject matter but one of my all-time great reads. Nathan Englander has also published two books of short stories, but those are not set in South America.
