The New Year Starts Today

I'm hooked.
This is a great way to keep track of the books I've read throughout 12 months and even write a little review about them.
Usually I just put a finished book onto the shelf and pick up a new one...
This is also a sublime motivation to finish
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell this month and start selecting books for November.

Here's my preliminary list:

Harry Potter 5-7
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
The Liar by Stephen Fry
The Constant Gardener by John Le Carré

Hi BriannaNo2 and welcome. I started my 50 book challenge a couple of weeks ago. You're right. It's a great way to keep track. Look forward to checking your progress.

Long time no writing....

I've been pretty busy lately, finally I've found the time to catch up with my latest readings.

Finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
What a drag, it took me 6 month to work my way through this mess.
I loved the idea Susanna Clarkecame up with, but her plot got somewhat complicated and crowded with all those characters and parallel plots.
It got easier after 400 pages, but still, this book is definately not in my Top 10.

Then came Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I loved it. It's rich in details and plotted so intelligently. I saw the movie last year and it thrilled me so much that I started reading the books and I've been hooked ever since. Though I can't wait to start the last 2 books, I'll probably be devasted when I finish volume 7....

Since I have plenty of time on my train rides to work I took on Saturday by Ian McEwan as well. Wow, what a story. So much wisdom, opinion and reflection put into 1 day, described so beautifully. Absolutely worth a re-read.

I have at least another 6 books on my TBR pile..so I decided to re-establish my November list.
I put aside the Potato Peel Pie Society and
The COnstant Gardener.
Of course, Harry's still on ;)

Righty, another 2 weeks have passed and I have only managed to read The Liar by Stephen Fry.
It began pretty confusingly. There were frequent changes in time and you never knew who was who and how old anybody was at what time. What a mess...at least if you happen to read it on a 20 minute train ride. This is definately not enough time to read between the lines.
In the end of course everything gets sorted out. But I think it would have been more entertaining if you weren't left in the dark for so long.
I did enjoy his romantic monologues though. He may have quoted other writers but still, absolutely dreamy and touching.

My colleague, a professional reader and book reviewer, told me to read The Story of the Starfish and the Mule by Sergio Bambaren. We had a little talk about books that you just can't seem to finish, them being terrribly unbearable. Sergio Bambaren is known for philosophical works like The Dolphin: Story of a Dreamer. Usually I like reading about other people's epiphanies. They give you somthing to ponder over. And from time to time you even find thruth. But this starfish story is shamelessly copied out from the Old and New Testament. He made up a little tale about Noah's Arch and Jesus Birth and tried to connect them in Heaven....terrible. His so-called wisdoms are nugatory. He's lucky there's no copyright on the Bible...

A few weeks ago I found this cute little British corner here in Hamburg. It sells all sorts of imported foods and stores all kinds of second-hand books, from non-fiction and references to the classics and worst of chick lit you can find. A real treasure chest.
So all the time I was rummaging about the shelves I'd go: 'Ohhh I've been looking for this book for ages!!!' Soothes your conscience nice and easy...
But I decided to be strong this time and only chose one book:
4.50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie
I always had the notion of Agatha Christie books to be absolutely terrifying. No idea why. But I was more than pleased to find the story wonderfully entertaining. And in the end even quite surprising.

After one year I finally started and to my own great surpise finished a book a friend of mine gave me for my birthday...Maeve Binchy's Scarlet Feather. You look at the cover and want to scream: No, no, no, please, no chick lit.
Well, it is a fairly easy read. But the story has some very unexpected turns to it and ultimately you do get rather attached to the characters. I was quite sad when I reached the last page...

Now, when I have counted correctedly I shall be 7 books into the year.

Maeve Binchy is my favourite easy read author. She is such a good storyteller and her characters are so real. I shall be reading Scarlet Feather as part of my 999 Challenge.

Maeve Binchy's books are definitely easy reads. :)

Brianna, if you really liked Scarlett Feather I have just finished Quentins and it refers a bit to the owners of Scarlett Feather. It also has some of the characters from Tara Road in it too. All three books are set in the same area and you hear mention of several of the same people.

I would never call Binchy chick lit. I just feel like I am sinking into her books. You get drawn into her character's lives and the rather long books seem to fly by.

Thanks for the tip jalinda. I was thinking about reading Quentin's too. The Tom Feather smile has turned my head ;)

Hmmm, I might have to move Scarlett Feather further up my TBR pile.

Christmas is over again :( I hope everyone had a wonderful time and enjoyed the festive season with their family. Over the holidays I finally had time to read some more, since those were my first 7 days off work for over a month now. And what could possibly be better to read at Christmas than Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol? A classic is a classic and there is nothing more to say than: brilliant excellence.

From time to time it is nice to relax the brain muscle and go back to some German books. Friends gave me a short story collection for my birthday called Trockensümpfe (dried out moors....I guess). They are supposed to be erotic in some way...but they are not. At least the very first story, a chapter taken out fromThommy Jaud's Vollidiot gave me reason enough to read his book, also in German. And it's brilliant. The finest comedy I've read by a German author so far. His style is light-hearted but still captures human nature truthfully.

With this I finish the first 1/5 of my year's challenge. 10 books in 8 weeks. I'm in for a good start. And now, terribly ill and snoozy as I am, I'm going back to bed to fight my flu. Good night, everyone.

Hope you get well soon! Night! Night!

I had a delightful visit to Hamburg (I'm assuming Germany, right?) two years ago. I live in Missouri in the U.S. and love to visit Europe. That is one reason that I am starring your thread.

Reason #2 is that I felt just the same about Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell -- a good idea that went on way too long! I like the older Binchy books as a way to relax and enter a perfect English universe, but her latest ones didn't have quite the same effect on me.

Thank you, englishrose. I'm trying my best not to sleep through the New Year, which has already arrived here. It's 00:20 am. Happy New Year to everybody!!

You guessed correctly donna, I'm from Hamburg, Germany. Lovely to hear that you enjoyed your stay in the world's most beautiful city :)

Hi, BriannaNo2,
I hope that you are over your flu now. Happy New Year!
--BJ

My last two weeks in Germany have begun. And then I'm off to London....Thus I haven't really found the time to read. But I finished the sixth Harry Potter and Patricia Cornwell's Jack the Ripper portrait.
Scary and at times disgusting. What a read...

I'm in London! Finally, after the "blizzard" delayed my arrival for 36 hours. There's absolutely no snow laying around here anymore, but the pavements still very slippery.
I planned on looking for a nice little vintage book shop around the area I live in, but as it turns out the family I live with own every book I've always wanted to read.
Despite Ryanair's limitations on baggage weight I took Harry Potter and the deathley hallows and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbirdwith me.
I still managed to finish Gods behaving badlyand a book by Arne Dahl that hasn't even been published yet, before I left Germany. I'm very serious about abiding Ryan Air's rules ;)
So nice that I eventually have enough leisure time to catch up on my reading and have a good chance to achieve my 50 books in a year -goal.

Who would have thought just how diffifcult it is to squeeze in a couple of reading hours into an au pair day. 'Cause basically I don't do much. My day doesn't begin until the afternoon. But with all this sightseeing and shopping and meeting friends I'm totally bushed by the end of the day.
Anyway, I try not to forget the challenge and keep up with my progress. Lately I read I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe, Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray and McSweeney's current issue, filled with extremely depressing short stories.
I immensely enjoyed Tom Wolfe's writing. He has a way of capturing emotions and different characters that leaves you amazed and astounded. I couoldn't stop reading and everytime I picked it up again I was flooded with excitement. What joy!
Dorian Gray was surprisingly enough absolutely not what I had anticipated. And though it has its lengths when it comes to epiphanies and wisdoms, the plot was thrilling, engaging and fast.
I wonder what will await me in the next few weeks.

I just finished Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson. Lovely written,iit makes for an absolutely fluent reading and offers an engaging story. I love family anthologies and the leaps between the 1950s and the early nineteenth century slowly revealed the family secrets. I might try another Kate Atkinson novel.

BriannaNo2--l loved Behind the Scenes at the Museum, too! Atkinson is a terrific writer. Your reaction to Wolfe is interesting to me. I read most of his nonfiction and loved/greatly admire it, but his fiction just fails me, somehow. Haven't tried I am Charlotte Simmons, though. I think I just gave up on him in the fiction category.

Looks as though you are having an interesting reading year.

Situation Comedy read and not viewed. I absolutely loved Armistead Maupin's...no touchstones..tztztz...Tales of the City. Homosexuality, drugs and San Francisco make a dazzling novel. Thank goodness there are more and further tales told.

Hm, I'm wondering, does listenening to an audiobook also qualify for the challenge?

I say yes. Different people have different rules, but I think that most people count audio books. I have been meaning to try one, but I haven't yet. Have a great day!
--BJ

I count audio books.

Decided to include the audio book which I'm still listening too.
Old-fashionedly I turned the pages in Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby who was rather mediocre than great. Really don't get the fuss which is made about this book. It resembles a short story rather than a novel and what really annoyed me was that although Nick constantly talks about how much he detests Gatsby and in the end was so full of praise for him that you could think he fell in love. I was a bit disappointed.

I picked up 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff at a second-hand book shop in Notting Hill and finished it in no time. Cute story with a bitter ending. And the morale: do never ever postpone trips to London!

Puuh, I'd say I just made it in time to finish 25 books by the end of April. Six months (half a year!) have past now and I managed not to be adrift.
My last reads have rather been very solemn. Jules and Jim didn't really help in cheering up the mood. I dragged myself through 180 pages. I couldn't particularly warm to the characters, and I found the narrative absolutely disturbing- log book style.
And the ending...more than predictable.

But my audio book brought back childhood memories of holidays at my Granny's. I used to watch Anne of Green Gables as a TV series and having it read by, I think, 4 different people added new dimensions to Marilla, Matthew and Mrs Rachel Lynd. It was a treat whilst running around London.

Now I do need something light-hearted and upbeat.
Off to the next 25!

I just love Anne of Green Gables!
--BJ

Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller
Far better than I remembered it. Started reading it a couple of years ago and had to put it down after 2 pages. I found it excruciatingly boring. But last week I read it for my lit class and absolutely enjoyed it. Somebody here wrote that we aren't always ready for a particular book. Guess this holds true for the salesman.

44 Scotland Street was an easy read that made for a nice pasttime. But it reminded me too much of Tales of the City which I found ten times better. Therefore I couldn't really warm up to the characters and was rather glad when I finished it.

I picked up What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami mainly to boost my motivation for the 10K race I'm taking part in in 2 weeks. And it left me in tears.

Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

Atonement by Ian McEwan
I just love Ian as an author, can't get enough of his books.

I haven't read any Ian McEwan yet but his book is on my shelf waiting to be read. Now I'm looking forward even more to reading it!

>33 stephxsu: enjoy!

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My childhood classic. I read it over and over when I was little, but only in the German translation. Now I finally got my hands on an original hardcover. And it still works its magic ...puuh...

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer was such a surprisingly charming book. Although I planned on reading it about a year ago I was a bit hesitant since I've read too many bad reviews about it. But it leaves such a profound
impression. One of the letters even left me in tears.
I'm so glad I read it.

Finally, after dragging it along for nearly 4 months now I managed to finish Watching the English by Kate Fox. Yes, it was funny and witty and more than once did I detect the written excentricities acted out by numerous Brits. But chapter after chapter ended with the same conclusion so by the time I was half through the book I did wonder why it took her nearly 3 years to find out that the English are a reserved people, full of hypocrisy and humour, who only overcome their social inadequacy when fully drunk. Charming though at times nevertheless. It was alright, but I'm glad it's over.

I received Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society as a belated graduation gift and I'm really looking forward to it after reading comments like yours. I love books that leave you feeling better for having read them!

How kind.
Well, I do hope you'll enjoy it just as much. This book gives you so many ideas on what to read next.
But I'm currently taken aback by American Psycho... Quiet a stark difference in language...

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Couldn't fall asleep after I finished it, had the feeling somebody was luring behind my door, waiting for the right moment to leap at me and scoop out my eyeballs. Disgusting, disturbing and demonic.

Das Leben ist keine Waldorfschule by Mischa-Sarim Vérollet

Bitter Fame by Anne Stevenson

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

So book number 40 is Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore. A bit disappointing, cause I wasn't to keen on the whole supernatural theme. But maybe my expectations were just too high after reading What I talk about when I talk about running. Having read so many reviews about Kafka on the Shore might have added to setting such a high bar...

Right, I don't think I'll be able to read ten more books in 4 weeks, others might, but I actually have other things to do as well.
Anyway, 40 books in a year is quite an effort. And I don't think I'll do it again. Somehow the joy of reading got lost, cause I had to rush through the story to finish it asap to start the next book.
So, I guess this is it.
Good Night And Good Luck.