Bookbugg's 2009 Challenge

Hi everyone, this is my first post on Library Thing!

So far in 2009 I have read;

1. 'Sold' by Patricia McCormick
2. 'Coming Home' by Rosamunde Pilcher
3. 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith
4. 'The Shell Seekers' by Rosamunde Pilcher
5. 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver
6. 'The Country Girls' by Edna O'Brien
7. 'The Notebook' by Nicholas Sparks
8. 'The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet' by Colleen McCullough
9. 'The English Patient' by Michael Ondaatje
10. 'Q & A' by Vikas Swarup
11. 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald
12. 'A Walk to Remember' by Nicholas Sparks
13. 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte
14. 'A Spot of Bother' by Mark Haddon
15. 'Intensity' by Dean Koontz
16. ''The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga
17. 'The Secret Scripture' by Sebastian Barry
18. 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak

Don't know if i'll make it to 50 by 31 December but i'll give it my best shot!

Welcome to Librarything and the 50 Book Challenge. It looks like you are off to a great start with your reading.

The Book Thief is one of my favorite books from the past couple of years. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for your welcome message d perlo!

I really loved The Book Thief too and am recommending it to everyone! It definitely ties with I Capture the Castle for favourite book of the year so far...

Thanks for your message and welcome to librarything. Why did you dislike Atomized? I also loved the book thief, it is a very good book.

At the risk of sounding like a prude, i kind of felt it was essentially porn masquerading as high literature!

Hi Bookbugg!

The Book Thief is my favourite book so i found it interesting that you thought it tied with I Capture the Castle. I tried to listen to I Capture the Castle via audiobook & just couldnt get into it.. It was my first audiobook and i havent tried another since so you have inspired me to read the book!

I Capture the Castle is one of my favourite books of all time - Any book that starts with 'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink' has to be good!

19. 'The Ladies of Missalonghi' by Colleen McCullough

I have a soft spot for books by Colleen McCullough though I have to say that this one left me a little confused... was Una a ghost the whole time?!?!

I have been giving (The Ladies of Missalonghi) some further thought and have concluded that Una could not have been a ghost or mere figment of Missy's imagination. After all she signed Powers of Attorney and ran a library for heaven's sake. I saw it mentioned on an online forum that she was a ghost and I got the run of myself. However, I am still somewhat confused, did she fake her own death if she was JS's former wife that was drowned, or was JS lying about her death the whole time and was actually divorced (which wouldn't have gone down well in Hurlingford Society)? Either way, I'm really giving too much thought to what was in essence, a very silly book.

20. Wild Mountain Thyme by Rosamunde Pilcher

Inoffensive book but will have forgotten it this time next week. Onwards and upwards!

Big delivery of books arriving this week.... excitement!

21. The Island by Victoria Hislop

This is a compulsive read about a girl tracing her family history. It is a journey that takes her to the Cretan Island of Spinalonga, home to the former Grecian Leper Colony. She learns of family members exiled there during and shortly after the Second World War and discovers the tragic story of her grandparents. This is one of the most unusual books I have read in a while, leprosy being a subject matter that one doesn't often come across! I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a 'good read'.

Hi, Bookbugg! I just noticed your thread, so a belated, "Welcome!" I noticed you recently added Behind the Scenes at the Museum. I thought that was a really good book.

Thanks Bonniebooks! I haven't read Behind the Scenes yet but i'll let you know what I think!

22. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

I think this has skipped to the top of my favourites list for the year so please anyone who has an interest in Indian culture give this a go! However, it is one of the bleakest books I have read in a long time so prepare to be depressed. Set against the backdrop of 1970s India, it is the story of four people whose lives cross paths - a naive student from the North, a middle aged Parsi widow maintaining a tenuous independence from her overbearing family and an uncle and nephew, both Hindu tailors of an 'untouchable' caste. While telling the story of their lives Mistry touches on the injustices of the caste system, details the monstrosities committed by Indira Gandhi's Government and documents the Muslim and Sikh riots of the 70s. The story is beautifully intricate and horribly tragic - I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

I so agree with you about A Fine Balance; it has remained in my Top 25 favorite books for all the reasons you stated. I would have found it difficult to describe this book so succinctly. I hope your review convinces lots of LT-ers to read it!

Thanks Bonniebooks! I have heard great things about his other books too, particularly Family Matters. Have you read that one and would you recommend it?

Hi Bookbugg. All of Mistry's books are well worth reading, although A Fine Balance is his best in my opinion. Family Matters is much more subtle but very well written.

I haven't read it, but it's one of my tbr's that I'm actually looking forward to reading.

23. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory

This is the latest instalment of Philippa Gregory's Tudors series. It was disappointing at best. It certainly lacked the momentum of her other books and seemed quite repetitive at times. This wasn't necessarily PG's fault, the simple fact is that Mary Queen of Scots just wasn't as interesting or as scandalous an historical character as the likes of Anne Boleyn or Henry VIII. Don't let this deter you from PG's other books, The Other Boleyn Girl is particularly good!

24. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

Incredibly thought provoking book on Germany's 'next generation' and how they came to terms with the atrocities committed during World War II. In particular it focuses on Michael Berg's guilt and shame at having loved an Auschwitz prison warden, Hanna. This novel tries to get the reader to sympathise with Hanna, which has undoubtedly earned Schlink much criticism. However, I think this is an extremely important book because of this - defining the perpetrators purely by reference to their inhuman actions would lead to a very one dimensional understanding of the Holocaust. It is important to look at the humans behind the inhuman actions to understand how the Holocaust happened, and indeed how to prevent it ever happening again.

Lord knows I could do with a cheerful book for a change - any recommendations?!

I haven't read The Reader but recently watched the movie. It was incredibly interesting. I remember reading a review in this group a while back that said that the story makes you wonder "what would you have done?" (I think Hanna actually says that one point too). That's what has stuck with me ever since. We're all so quick to condemn after the fact but what would any of us have done?

25. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

I can easily see why people find these books so addictive! I tried to hate it but couldn't! Running out now to lay my hands on a copy of New Moon. . .

I've hit the half way mark! Hopefully will make it to 30 by the end of the year, fingers crossed.............

26. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

And already halfway through Eclipse! I rarely read supernatural/fantasy books but am really finding these books absorbing...

>21 Feefy: I read The Reader very recently for part of my course at Uni and I've actually got to write an essay on it (I'm supposed to be doing that right now really :P) I found it very interesting and it does make you think about what we, as later generations would have done if we were in that position the whole question "What would you have done?" kind of stuns you as you can't really give a definite answer as you really can't know how you would have acted under those circumstances.
On a slightly more light-hearted note - the first line I capture the castle really is brilliant isn't it? :)

I Capture the Castle is a magical read from start to finish! I might give it a reread over Christmas, if I can rob it back from the friend I lent it to!

I agree that the Reader makes you question what you would have done in the circumstances. Would you have been one of the truly 'bad', who relished the opportunity to unleash the evil that was so obviously lurking under the surface the whole time, but kept in check by societal norms? Or would you have been one of the 'afraid', who followed orders for fear of the consequences of disobedience? Or would you have been one of the rebellious 'good', of whom there were so few? Chances are, most of us would have fallen into the second category. But we'd still have to accept our part in the atrocities.

But the question posed by the Reader that I found most interesting was how we would have reacted if it had been our parents, teachers, politicians that had committed those acts? How would we react to them, and would we have felt guilty, though we had nothing to do with those acts? Curious.

I should go to bed and stop rambling!

27. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

Hooked...........

28. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

A short story about a young Pakistani named Changez growing increasingly disillusioned with his adopted homeland of America in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

I'm a bit conflicted about this book. I loved the style of writing, but sort of felt the story lacked substance. In particular, I thought the author could have focused a bit more on Changez's growing resentment of America or examined his inner turmoil in a bit more depth. It was an interesting idea but I think Hamid could have done more with it.

Curious to hear other LTers thoughts on the ambiguous ending........

29. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

I really enjoyed this book although i wanted to give the main character Eilis a shake at times. She struck me as someone who just wanted what she had right at that moment and resisted any sort of change - she didn't want to go to america in the first place, but eventually was happy when she got there - then didn't want to return to ireland but circumstances forced her - then once in ireland didn't want to return to america again! I wish the story went on a little longer and we found out what happened to her when she returned to Brooklyn and to Tony...

30. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

I just LOVED this charming book and can't recommend it highly enough - it is a story told through a series of letters from certain of the Guernsey Islanders to a London Journalist, Juliet. These eccentric Islanders explain how their Literary and Potato Peel Society came into being, and reveal their recollections of the German Occupation of the Island during the war. I particularly loved how one errant letter from a stranger provided Juliet with such inspiration and totally changed the course of her life (I don't want to give too much away...). The quirky style of writing made me laugh out loud more than once, and yet other parts of the book were positively heart breaking.

One extract from one of Juliet's letters made me think of my fellow LTers!
'That's what I love about reading; one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you on to another book, and another bit there will lead you on to a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment'.

Five stars!

31. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

The Queen of England chances upon a travelling library and becomes obsessed with reading. A charming book about how books can take over your life!

32. The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

There had been suggestions that The Ladies of Missalonghi (which I read earlier in the year) plagiarised this book by LM Montgomery. Certainly it would be hard to explain as 'coincidence' the many similarities that appear between these books. Both stories centre around 'little old maids' with no prospects of marriage or happiness. Both Valancy of TBC and Missy of Ladies are dominated by overbearing and strict mothers. They are members of society families but feel out of place and trapped. Both escape their dreary existences when illness frees them of reserve. Both propose to dashing men of 'ill repute'.

Notwithstanding the above, I really enjoyed this quaint story, and it was a lovely romantic novel to end the year on. In particular I was bewitched by the blossoming love between Valancy and Barney once they married - their happy and isolated existence on Barney's island surrounded by nature and colour was nothing short of idyllic.

Loved it, but it definitely wouldn't be to everyones taste! I'm just a schmuck for a weepy and innocent romance!

I got The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society book as a graduation gift last year, I'm hoping to get around to it this year. I'm glad to see more glowing reviews of it!