Rebeki's 2008 Challenge

Hello,

I'd like to aim to read 50 books this year (I think the most I've previously read in a year is 48).

I love buying books, particularly second-hand ones, and the size of my to-read pile is distressing me! I'd like to get through as many books as possible in order to make future trips to second-hand bookshops a bit more guilt-free!

I don't have a list in mind. I prefer to pick up whatever I fancy reading at the time.

So far this year, I've read:

1. Stasiland by Anna Funder
2. The Stars' Tennis Balls by Stephen Fry
3. Typisch Ossi -Typisch Wessi by Michael Jürgs and Angela Elis
4. Mein deutsches Dschungelbuch by Wladimir Kaminer
5. The First Circle by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
6. Saturday by Ian McEwan
7. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Restless by William Boyd

I'm currently reading The Death of Yugoslavia by Laura Silber and Allan Little and the rather hefty Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West.

9. The Death of Yugoslavia

I finished this yesterday. It's a highly detailed and fascinating account of the Balkan Wars of 1991-1995. I was too young at the time to pay attention to the news reports, although it seems a great deal of what was happening didn't receive the media attention it deserved. I was quite shocked at how little the international community understood of the region, and also at how callous and cynical the region's leaders were.

10. The End of a Family Story by Péter Nádas

I didn't get a great deal out of this. The 'story' is told from the point of view of a young boy brought up by his grandparents in communist Hungary and consists of his thoughts and observations interwoven with stories told to him by his father, grandmother and, chiefly, his grandfather, who also passes on stories told to him by his grandfather before him, many of them about the family's history.

It is certainly very well written and the storytelling very vivid, but it didn't move me as I thought it would. I think I like my narratives a bit more structured.

Alarmingly, I have calculated that I have already bought at least 26 books this year, more than half the number of books I aim to read by the end of 2008! And I have finished just 10 books so far...

Given that I was actually hoping to make my to-read pile smaller, I've decided to impose a book-buying ban, initially for three months. I've previously banned myself from buying books for a year and, while it did some good, I did succumb to temptation on a few occasions, as a year seemed such a long time. Setting myself smaller targets might be more helpful.

In reading news, I've been reading With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia by Åsne Seierstad, but have decided to put it aside for a bit in order to make some headway with Black Lamb and Grey Falcon.

Woo-hoo! I had a good reading day yesterday and have finished the section in BLaGF that deals with Croatia. I'm on to Dalmatia next! I really want to get to the section on Serbia, as I'm off there in two-and-a-half weeks. Only 316 pages of small print stand in my way...

Good luck with your book-buying ban! I won't even tell you how many books I have purchased this year, but suffice to say, it would make you feel better about your total. I keep saying I am going to read some before I buy more, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

Thanks! I find the only thing that works for me is not going into a bookshop in the first place!

11. With Their Backs to the World: Portraits from Serbia by Åsne Seierstad

I read this book a couple of years ago and loved it, and decided to re-read it in the run-up to my holiday.

Seierstad, a Norwegian journalist, decided to write about the Serbs after covering the war in Kosovo, and the book was written between 2000 and 2004. She gets to know Serbs of all different ages, backgrounds and political beliefs and lets them do the talking. After Milosevic's warmongering, Serbia became the outcast of Europe and suffered UN sanctions and Seierstad was keen to present an unbiased portrait of this much maligned people.

I can't recommend this enough.

So, I've realised that the total of 'unread' books I own is 107. I'm hoping that this is the highest this total ever gets!

I must confess to bending the rules of my book-buying ban by buying some French and German books on a visit to France and Germany. I consider this to be acceptable, as any opportunity should be taken to stock up on books that will stop my French and German getting rusty!

I have a few books on the go. Hopefully, I'll finish one soon and make a small dent in my unread pile.

12. Café Europa by Slavenka Drakulić

This is a short and highly readable collection of observations by a Croatian writer on the struggles of Europe's former communist countries to adapt to capitalism and democracy, based on first-hand experience and the accounts of friends.

This book was published in 1996, not long after the war in Bosnia, and it was especially interesting to discover Drakulić's thoughts on this war and on her own country's fledging democracy and failure to deal with its past.

13. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

Wow. This was an eye-opener. From the moment I started reading this book, I felt that I no longer had to be part of a competition that I (or any other woman, for that matter) can never win. I feel angry that women are encouraged to feel bad about themselves and now want to convince every woman I know that she's beautiful the way she is!

14. L'Etranger by Albert Camus

I first read this at University 10 years ago and decided it was due a re-read. I think I got more out of it this time.

While it's difficult to accept Meursault's complicity in the 'punishment' of Raymond's mistress, you can't help admiring his character. He lives honestly and is ultimately condemned for this honesty. I was much more aware this time of the hostility of the ever-present sun and Meursault's sensitivity to the sights, sounds and smells of his surroundings. He is a man in love with life.

I haven't abandoned Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, but it's rather too large to carry around! I skipped ahead to the section on Serbia in preparation for my trip and will now have to go back to the section on Dalmatia.

I'm enjoying the book, but it's not an easy read. I've calculated that I'm a third of the way through. Given that most of my reading is done on the move, my aim is to finish it by the end of June (the halfway point of this challenge). In the meantime, I will of course be reading some more portable books!

15. Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene

This is the first book I've read by Graham Greene and I really enjoyed it. It was funny and great escapism.

I've been trying to read The Habsburg Monarchy 1809-1918 by A.J.P. Taylor, but nothing's going in. I feel that A.J.P. Taylor assumes some knowledge I don't have. It would probably be better to try reading this again once I've acquired some more knowledge of the period, which is a shame, as I was hoping this book would provide me with an introduction.

So I've now turned to something more enjoyable: Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood.

16. Life Before Man by Margaret Atwood

This wasn't one of my favourite Atwoods, but since she's my favourite author, it still rates much higher than many books I've read.

I liked the structure of the book, with narration from the points of view of three very different characters. I warmed to Nate and Lesje, but even found it easy to understand Elizabeth's behaviour. That's what I like about Margaret Atwood's writing: I always find myself immersed in the mind of her characters.

I need to think about this one a little more though. I'm not sure how the references to prehistory, i.e. most obviously in the title, but also Lesje's occupation, tie in with this story of human relationships. Interpreting literature isn't really my strong point...

17. The Lonely Empress - Elizabeth of Austria by Joan Haslip

This was brilliant - so involving! The life of Empress Elizabeth reads like a work of fiction and this biography also gives a great background to the history of the time - for me, much more effectively than the book by A.J.P. Taylor.

I'd be really interested to read more about the Wittelsbachs.

18. Ni d'Eve ni d'Adam by Amélie Nothomb

This is an account covering the same period of time chronicled so amusingly in Stupeurs et tremblements, but focusing instead on Nothomb's life outside work, mainly her relationship with a young Japanese man.

I wasn't instantly won over, but I ended up really gripped. I never fail to love Nothomb's style of writing, although I had more vocabulary problems than usual. I think this merits a re-read with a dictionary to hand.

Aaaggh. The book-buying ban's going terribly. I ended up buying three books on Monday and, because I'd spent €15, I got one thrown in free! So that's four more to go on the unread pile! The only thing that can be said in my defence is that they're all in French. I've also realised that I've only violated the ban outside Britain (in Germany, France, Serbia, Austria and Luxembourg, to be precise). There's going to be an awful lot less gallivanting from the end of next month, so hopefully that'll mean I'll actually have some resolve!

My book buying ban is going horribly, too, if that makes you feel any better. But, I had to buy books! I found a used bookstore near the place I like to go for Sunday brunch, and I had to check it out, didn't I? And, the Borders near me that was closed forever due to a water main break? I had to go see it after it reopened, hadn't I? Now, if I can just stay away from the official re-opening activities this weekend....

Susan, not holding my breath

Ha Ha. Somehow it feels rude to go into a bookshop and then leave without buying something, doesn't it?

19. If This Is A Man and The Truce by Primo Levi

These two books were in one volume and come to only 400 pages altogether, and so are to be considered as one book for the purposes of this challenge.

In the first book, Primo Levi describes life at Auschwitz and, in the second, his long way home after the liberation of the camps.

As was his stated aim, he carries out this task as objectively and unemotively as possible. By that, I don't mean that he doesn't describe his own feelings, but that he never becomes hysterical or vents any anger. Instead, his account is thoughtful and considered. The details of everyday life are both shocking and fascinating, but somehow not too harrowing to read.

The Truce makes more hopeful reading and Levi's descriptions of the characters he meets on his journey are vivid and amusing.

I was happy to find somebody whose choice of books/themes closely resembles mine. I'm also in the middle of several books on the Balkans and authors from the region. Looking forward to ur thoughts on BLaGF. My copy is just waiting till i finish a couple of other challenging reads, one of which is also from the region - The Dictionary of the Khazars.

Your reads #9-11 sparked my interest, while #12 has been in my sights for some time now after I read her novel S. After discovering Primo Levi (shamefully) only early this year, Book #19 has been in my must read soon list since.

And don't feel guilty about violating that book-buying ban, either. U have plenty of company here at LT.. :-) I was in the middle of a self-imposed 3-month ban myself after buying well beyond my monthly limit in the beginning of the year (and having a mountain of TBRs as well). Unfortunately my resolve couldn't stand up to the temptation that long... :-( i ended up ordering from Amazon within a space of 1 month, 25 books purely for leisure reading 300 euros worth! was i guilty? Yes, and while i could conjure up a dozen justification, i knew too that it wouldn't stop me from perhaps another binge. I had to resort to the drastic measure of cutting up my credit card... :-( so there, i believe i just forced myself to concentrate on the unread ones i have just waiting to be picked up. hope this strategy works!

Hi deebee! Thanks for your comments :) I've been very slow with BLaGF, mainly due to the fact that it's too heavy to take anywhere! However, I also find I can't read too much of it at once. I really like Rebecca West's style of writing, but she includes a hell of a lot of detail about the history of the region and I can't take in too much at once. In my copy, the print is also rather small... Anyway, I hope to make some headway with it this week!

I had a look at your 75-book challenge thread and you're reading some pretty interesting books too. I haven't read any of Slavenka Drakulić's fiction, but I'd really like to. I almost bought S while surfing Amazon one day, but managed to stop myself. If I do well with this challenge, I might treat myself around Christmas! The Master and Margarita and Crime and Punishment are also on my mental list of books I want to read. Although perhaps I'll borrow them from the library (what a novel idea!).

I have a feeling that the further you get down your unread pile and the longer you manage to keep your resolve, the easier the book-buying ban gets. At least that's what I keep telling myself! I'm officially restarting mine as of yesterday. Good luck with yours!

20. A Guide To The Serbian Mentality by Momo Kapor

This is a collection of short articles on Serbs and Serbian life that I saw in a shop in Belgrade and thought would be a good souvenir of my holiday (I love bookshops wherever they are, even if they're full of books I can't understand, but this was one of the few books in English, so I had to buy it!).

It's fairly lightweight, but contains some interesting insights into Serbian customs and values. Some of the chapters I found a bit lame, but I enjoyed reading about eating and drinking, the north-south divide in Serbia and a comical meeting with an advertising agency on how to 'market' Serbia. The book also made me want to go back and experience all the things I missed the first time.

Kapor's translators don't always do him justice, I think (there are several spelling and vocabulary errors), but I pretended to myself that Kapor had written the articles in English and this helped me think of the wonky English as charming rather than seeing it as a source of irritation.

21. Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen

I really enjoyed this! Even though I was familiar with the story from having watched the Emma Thompson adaptation (one of my favourite films), I found I was gripped. I also think this book has some of Austen's best comical characters.

On reading the book, however, I did find myself less satisfied with Austen's resolution of the tale. I don't want to give anything away to those who haven't read the book/seen any adaptation of it, but I wasn't convinced of its plausibility, particularly with regard to Marianne.

22. The Train Now Departing by Martha Grimes

This book consists of two novellas, but I confess to having read only the first one before deciding I'd had enough! In my opinion, this counts towards the total, as the novella I read was by far the longer of the two and I could have spent the time I was struggling through it reading something else!

It seemed to me more like an exercise in creative writing than anything else. I just didn't believe it. The characters were two-dimensional and the whole thing just dull, dull, dull.

23. Black Lamb And Grey Falcon by Rebecca West

Four months on (and only two days later than my personal deadline), I've finally finished this mammoth book! It's a truly extraordinary book. I won't pretend that I found it easy to read or that I've fully absorbed the wealth of ideas and historical information West wishes to communicate to the reader, but I did find it a really rewarding and enriching read.

Rebecca West acts as the reader's personal guide around Croatia, Dalmatia, Herzegovina, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Montenegro in 1937, educating the reader in the history of each region and providing her impressions of the people and places she sees on her travels. We are also given an insight into the political health of the young country of Yugoslavia, not least through her fascinating friend, Constantine, and her driver, Dragutin.

What I especially liked was the fact that this is an intensely personal book. It is clear that West loves both Yugoslavia (seeming to be particularly fond of Serbia and Macedonia) and the Yugoslav people and I caught some of this enthusiasm. I have been to Serbia, but would love now to see Bosnia, Croatia and Macedonia (possibly in that order). This book is full of her opinions and I wouldn't have it any other way. I accept that this is one person's view of a country and a situation, but Rebecca West seems such an interesting, intelligent and compassionate personality that I was very happy to hear her opinions.

The epilogue to the book, written in the early 1940s, when this country West so loved, which had already suffered so much in the previous 1000 years, was under attack, is especially moving. I would love to know what she made of post-war Yugoslavia and what she would have made of Milosevic et al.

24. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

I had never heard of this book before I picked it up in an English-language bookshop in Austria, but I understand it is considered a classic.

I wanted to like it - Bolling seemed a likeable character and the idea of a search for authenticity appealed - but I didn't really get it. I quite enjoyed Percy's writing and imagining what New Orleans must be like, but this book didn't engage me emotionally. I didn't feel that the "search" was properly developed and didn't understand what motivated Bolling's behaviour towards the end of the book.

As I've now finished all the books I started prior to 30 June, I consider this an appropriate place to stop and reflect on the first half of this challenge.

So far, I've read 24 books, which is pretty much on target. I feel quite pleased with myself, as my reading year got off to a slow start and Black Lamb And Grey Falcon was a long and demanding read. I've also read more non-fiction than I would usually and I get through fiction at a faster pace.

My aim for the second half of the year is to keep working my way through the books I already own, without buying too many more. I imagine that will involve reading more British and US fiction than I have so far this year, as it forms the core of my library.

I'm also setting myself the specific target of reading my first Dickens (I own David Copperfield and A Tale of Two Cities), my first Dostoyevsky and my first piece of Irish literature. Suggestions for the latter are welcome, but preferably something readable - I have no plans to tackle Ulysses!

congratulations for finishing BLandGF! great to know that you found it rewarding and worth the effort. i was actually meaning to write u for some "encouragement" before i open the first page of my copy which i hope to do this week... :-) frankly i'm a bit intimidated by its its breadth and volume, but since i'm just 2.5 months off before my Serbian trip, i'm forcing myself to take the challenge...

oh, i'm a big Dickens fan and A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite classics. how about Crime and Punishment for your first Dostoyevsky? for me, this book simply exemplifies truly great literature.

Thanks! It was quite a marathon, but definitely worth it. In some ways, it would have been better to read it slower and really savour everything, but I don't like to be reading the same book for too long and I didn't want to lose momentum. But it's a book I will certainly return to.

The fact that you're doing the 75-book challenge means you read much quicker than me, so I'm sure you'll be fine. If necessary, you can always skip ahead to the section on Serbia like I did - it's mostly concerned with Serbian history, which I found good to know before I went. Good luck!

A Tale of Two Cities looks the more appealing Dickens right now because it has bigger print ;) And I was thinking of starting with Crime and Punishment simply because it's Dostoyevsky's most famous work. I just need to wait for the local library to reopen...

Hi Rebeki.

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is one of my all time favourite books. I have been dipping into it for around 20 years now, and I'm not convinced that I have yet read every page.

The Balkans as a physical, cultural and historical entity has always fascinated me.

And like you I find Rebecca West the best tour leader you could wish for - as long as you have a lot of time to spare!

Hi Zenomax!

Yes, there's rather too much to take in at once, but I can see me returning to it again and again.

25. Death in Breslau by Marek Krajewski

This is a detective novel by a Polish author, but set in the 1930s, before the German city of Breslau became the Polish city of Wrocław. The story takes place against a backdrop of increasing Nazi repression and corruption. I warmed to the central character, Eberhard Mock, but he is not above using dirty tricks and his connections to get what he wants. The atmosphere is wonderfully seedy and noir.

I wasn't necessarily blown away, but I would like to read the other books in this series (I gather they're currently being translated into English). The story was very unusual and I like the idea of an author recreating in his own style his city's past under a foreign power.

26. Winter Under Water by James Hopkin

Continuing the Polish theme, one of the main characters in this novel is the city of Kraków. This is the tale of a young British man, Joseph, who moves to Poland to be closer to a Polish woman with whom he has fallen in love. However, as the author himself has said, this book really concerns the love affair between Joseph and Kraków. Through Joseph's eyes we explore every corner of the city, which is known for its beauty, yet also has a darker side.

Having spent a short time in Kraków, I loved reading the descriptions of the sights, sounds and smells of the city. I think Hopkin captures them beautifully. His style of writing is very poetic - perhaps a little too poetic for me - and the book gets rather philosophical at times, but this was a gripping and moving read.

27. The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

This novel begins gloomily, with the middle-aged, recently divorced Nathan Glass moving to Brooklyn apparently "to die", although he has actually survived lung cancer. However, it soon becomes much more upbeat as he makes a new life for himself and is reunited with family members. This is not to say that unpleasant things don't happen along the way - or aren't alluded to at the end - but I found this to be an optimistic book overall.

I like Auster's writing and his characters are engaging, but this is the second book of his I've read (the first was Oracle Night) and both of them have left me strangely unaffected. As I was reading them, I was constantly aware that they were novels, that they were not real. This may sound silly, but my favourite fiction is the kind that draws me in emotionally rather than leaving me thinking that I'm simply reading an accomplished and entertaining piece of writing.

28. Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka

This was a very entertaining read, but not at all a frivolous one. At the start of the book, we are introduced to a group of foreign workers employed on a strawberry farm in Kent, for the most part illegally, and we gradually discover their different histories and read about their different experiences working in the apparently civilised West.

It is a love story, but also makes some serious points about the treatment of migrant workers and about the nature of the changes brought by the fall of the Iron Curtain, with a particular focus on Ukraine.

I felt, however, that the plot took a turn for the silly in the last third of the book, which marred the pleasure of reading it.

29. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

A re-read of what is probably my favourite book. This is the third or fourth time I've read it, so the huge impact it had on me the first time was diluted somewhat, and it probably had more resonance when I read it as a 17-year-old, but I saw different things this time. For a start, I noticed how blackly humorous it is. I love this book.

30. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

I decided to go with this Dickens first, as it was a paperback and I wanted to read something easily portable. It was a dense read, but highly enjoyable throughout. I was interested to read that David Copperfield was Charles Dickens's favourite of his own books and am pleased that I read it first, particularly as it is autobiographical in part. I'm now looking forward to reading the rest of his works!

31. The Man Of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld

I'm pleased to report that I joined the local library a month back and this the first book I borrowed.

I read Prep two years ago and really enjoyed it, so decided to try Sittenfeld's next book. The Man Of My Dreams covers similar themes - a teenage girl coming of age - although I somehow found it less substantial and more teen-fiction in style than Prep.

I think I'd have been disappointed if I'd bought this book new, but, as it is, I found it an enjoyable read and the perfect book to read after spending a month on David Copperfield.

32. The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

Another book borrowed from the library. I've heard of people reading this book in one sitting because they found it so gripping, but that wasn't my experience.

The book concerns the lives of four young people in London in the 1940s and is split into three sections - 1947, 1944 and 1941 - in reverse chronological order. The Second World War is both the backdrop to and the focal point of the action and it is clear that Waters did an awful lot of research.

I enjoyed the book and thought it well written, but felt my attention flagging at times. And, despite the sometimes sombre subject matter, it ultimately felt a little lightweight.

Hmmm. It's not looking like I'm going to reach my goal this year. Up until July this year, I was doing a lot of travelling, which gave me plenty of reading time. I'm now living in London full-time and working from home, which means I only really get to read before I go to sleep. Sometimes I think it would be bliss to get on a train and embark on a long journey, destination unimportant, just so as to have the luxury of reading!

33. White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Wow, what an epic novel - not unlike Dickens in its scope and characterisation. It was very funny, particularly the dialogue. A brilliant tale of immigrants in Britain and the impossibility of moulding the characters and determining the actions of others.

34. Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

Another library book - happily, getting books out of the library seems to satisfy my previous urge to buy books, even if it's not helping me get through the unread books sitting on my shelf.

This is the story of David, a young American man living in Paris, and engaged to be married, who finds himself drawn into a relationship with an Italian barman named Giovanni.

It is beautifully and sparingly written and, although it is easy to recognise that David's behaviour is selfish and despicable, he is so honest a narrator that you cannot help but understand why he does what he does.

35. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This is the reason for my month-long silence. Reading such long and challenging books isn't going to help my progress towards the 50-book target, but it's about quality and not quantity, right?

This is quite a book. I found it tough-going in places and was occasionally unsure how much I was enjoying it, but the ending had a very powerful effect on me.

Raskolnikov is a fascinating character and it is interesting how much it is possible to sympathise with him even though it is impossible to accept his arguments in justification of what he does.

I also loved the descriptions of the chaotic, dirty and seedy St Petersburg - the perfect backdrop to his mental turmoil.

good to see u again, rebeki. yes, i agree, it's all about quality...and looking at ur list of reads, u need not sweat about the numbers :-)

isn't Dostoyevsky just great? glad u liked C & P.

Hi deebee! Yes, I'm looking forward to reading more by Dostoyevsky - I'll have to see what else the library has on offer...

36. Black Earth City by Charlotte Hobson

Continuing the Russia theme, but with something a little shorter and lighter in style, although often no less serious in the subjects it addresses, this is the account of a year spent in Voronezh in southern Russia by a British student of Russian. As a Modern Languages student, I spent time studying in France and Germany, but this is a somewhat different 'year abroad'. Charlotte Hobson happened to be going to Voronezh in autumn 1991, as the Soviet Union was breaking up.

She introduces us to a range of characters (in both senses of the word) living at the student hostel and describes everyday life in a country in the midst of an identity crisis, as well as economic turmoil. Her impressions are supplemented by the stories of the people she meets, revealing the hardship of life in 1990s Russia, but the strength and warmth of the Russian people.

Hobson's writing produces such vivid images that I could picture myself there. A really engaging book.

37. The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I'm not really sure how much I liked this book. I started off gripped, then lost enthusiasm somewhere in the middle, which I then regained towards the end, when the book became a real page-turner.

I loved the descriptions of the settings, in particular the Aldaya mansion, and the depiction of Daniel, who seemed a fully flesh-and-blood character, but I thought that some of the other characters, such as Fumero, Bea and Penélope seemed rather two-dimensional.

I think I have a tendency to stop and think, "Well, this is rather silly", when I should just accept that it's a story and enjoy the fact that it's far-fetched. Having said that, I've managed to enjoy the Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings trilogy without worrying about the 'silliness' of what's happening.

Anyway, there's no doubt that this book is highly readable. Perhaps I'll leave it at that.

38. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

This was really interesting. There's no doubt I found the account of Orwell's time in Paris as a kitchen dogsbody the more enjoyable part of the book. His description of Parisian working-class life and his eternally optimistic Russian friend, Boris, are very amusing. However, the latter part of the book, based on his experiences living as a tramp in and around London, was certainly more instructive. I had no idea of the existence of special boarding houses for the poorest members of society and how 'tramps' were trapped in their circumstances by the ridiculous one-night lodging rule. I wonder how the lives of the homeless and impoverished have changed/improved since this book was written.

39. Past Mortem by Ben Elton

Some light holiday reading. This is a fun, if rather gruesome, detective story. The last Ben Elton book I read was Popcorn, which I didn't like very much. This, by contrast, has a likeable protagonist, and I liked the way it pokes fun at the Friends Reunited generation.

Rebeki, for me George Orwell does the reportage on life at the bottom of the heap better than anyone else. He brings colour and character to the people who live there, and makes you realise they have thoughts, cares, worries as much as any of the rest of us.

You might be interested to know that his diary is being published online day by day at present (each entry corresponding to the exact day 70 years ago).

At orwelldiaries.wordpress.com.

Thanks, Zenomax, I shall take a look at that site. I certainly like the matter-of-fact way in which Orwell writes.

I'd previously only read Animal Farm and 1984, but I'm now very keen to move on to Homage to Catalonia and The Road to Wigan Pier.

40. The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley

What a wonderful book. The way it was written, I felt completely enveloped in the world of Brandham Hall, where 12-year-old Leo spends what should be an idyllic summer. Even though, as they say, 'the past is a foreign country', I was able to identify fully with this naive schoolboy at the turn of the century. This was a joy to read.

And I'm into the 40s! Woo hoo! There's no way I'm going to make my target, but I hope to manage a few more books this year and making it to 40-something is much better psychologically than being stuck in the 30s.

41. Engleby by Sebastian Faulks

I loved this. You can see right off that something is not right about the narrator, but his honesty (in almost all regards) and matter-of-fact tone somehow make him likeable and you can't help rooting for him. Disturbing and compelling.

PS. I wonder whether anyone else had 'Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine' by The Killers playing in their head while reading this.

42. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

Well, I could have sailed through the challenge if all the books were this length. An entertaining book imagining the Queen experiencing a new-found enthusiasm for reading. I expect most people reading this book will wonder whether the Queen has also read it. If she has, then I'm sure she would like the way she's portrayed. It does have rather a nice pop at politicians though, as well as at the general bafflement tinged with alarm of non-readers when books and reading are mentioned in their presence!

I wonder whether wishing you could spend your time reading to the exclusion of anything else is a common feeling (common as in shared by many as opposed to occupying a low position in society!)? I could identify with HM here, as I would love to devote the rest of 2008 to trying to meet the 50-book challenge and am more interested in reading than anything else right now. This doesn't seem a very healthy feeling to have and I'm hoping it's just because I don't like Christmas or all the preparations it requires...

Aaagggh. Why won't my post appear?

ETA: OK, have added it again - in a rather laborious manner, but at least it's there!

Well, I've slowed down slightly in the run up to Christmas (which means the usual combination of illness, manic cleaning and horror at the amount spent on food that will never get eaten), but I hope at least to finish the book I'm currently reading before the year is out, which is Man Without A Face (touchstone linking to wrong book), the autobiography of Markus Wolf, the GDR's legendary spymaster. It's a good read, but not a quick one with the abundance of detail it contains.

I'm already looking forward to next year's challenge and who knows? Maybe 2009 will be the year I crack the 50. I'd love to set myself some noble task of reading 'outside' Europe and North America (my comfort zone), but I know that it would give me a huge feeling of satisfaction to get through the many unread books I own. I would, however, like to read more French- and German-language fiction than in 2008, which fits in fine, as I have a fair bit of that sitting on the shelf.

Roll on 2009!

43. Man Without A Face by Markus Wolf

An illuminating book describing Wolf's formative experiences in Stalin's Soviet Union after escaping from Nazi Germany and his career as East Germany's foreign intelligence chief.

Clearly, you never can tell with autobiographies, but Wolf seems to write candidly about the techniques employed by his service, as well as his country's shortcomings. It is fascinating to read about the extent to which the GDR managed to infiltrate West Germany and the way in which this was done.

Wolf also comes across as erudite, likeable and fairly philosophical about the ultimate demise of the GDR.

I'm now more than halfway through The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and will therefore add it to my 2008 list. This makes my total 44, which I'm pleased with, bearing in mind that I spent a month apiece on David Copperfield and Crime and Punishment and managed to read the mammoth Black Lamb and Grey Falcon.

I'm also pleased with the quality of my reading this year. Of my new reads in 2008, I would say that my very favourite were The First Circle by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and The Lonely Empress by Joan Haslip.

In the second half of the year I managed to buy only a handful of books. Unfortunately, this fact isn't reflected in the size of my unread pile, as the local library has now taken the place of second-hand bookshops. But at least I've saved some money!

I'm now looking forward to starting all over again in 2009. Happy New Year and Happy Reading to all!

congratulations, rebeki, on your reading accomplishment! that mammoth BLandGF should be counted as 4 books at least! :-)

book #63 seems interesting --- would have to note that down. Perez-Reverte is one author i plan to try in 2009 --- how are u liking this read? i've not read The First Circle but would like to some time soon. i read Solzhenitsyn's One Day... and The Cancer Ward this year and liked them very much.

looking forward to your 2009 list --- u mention planning to read more French and German fiction which is also one challenge i've set for next year. would be interesting to compare notes with you.

happy new year and wishing you another or perhaps an even more book-filled year!

Deebee, I loved Cancer Ward, but, in my opinion, The First Circle is even better.

I've now finished The Seville Communion (short review to follow) and, while it was enjoyable, it didn't make much of an impression on me. I wouldn't be put off trying another of Pérez-Reverte's books though.

I studied French and German at university, but managed not to read many books in French and German! That started to come a little later, but I still get frustrated by gaps in my vocabulary and this puts me off trying! I've joined the French version of the 50 Book Challenge as an incentive and to get some suggestions, but I mainly plan to get through some of the books I already own. I'm a fan of Amélie Nothomb, not least because of her accessible style and the brevity of her books! Anyway, I'd be happy to compare notes and I look forward to seeing what's on your reading list this year!

44. The Seville Communion by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

This is the first book I've read by this author, although I gather he's very popular in Spain. I was attracted by the title, having just returned from a holiday in Seville.

The story concerns strange happenings at a church in Seville threatened with demolition, which Lorenzo Quart, a Vatican official, is sent to investigate. The comments on the back of the book suggest that it is a whodunnit, but the pace is rather slow and Pérez-Reverte seems to be as concerned with evoking the city's steamy atmosphere and rich history and dealing with the personal torments of the main character. I enjoyed the descriptions of the city, but found some of the characters a little two-dimensional and clichéd.

My 2008 challenge has thus ended and my progress in 2009 can be followed on the new thread I have started. Let's see if I can get a little closer to the target this year!

Bumpety bump