Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
reading challenge
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Jul 26th
I’ve always wanted to read Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo — I’ve actually had a copy sitting on my shelf for several months now, but for a while there was some hype about it and I wanted to wait for it to dial down a bit. And then when I was looking for a book to read this weekend, the chartreuse cover got my attention so I finally took it out of its packaging, covered it in protective plastic (of course), and started to read it.
Originally written in Swedish, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first book in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. The novel has won multiple awards, including Sweden’s Glass Key Award in 2006 for best crime novel of the year, the 2008 Boeke Prize, the 2009 Galaxy British Book Awards for Books Direct Crime Thriller of the year, and the 2009 Anthony Award for Best First Novel.
Chunkster Challenge
May 5th
I’ve been meaning to join the Chunkster Reading Challenge ever since my book blogger friend Jo blogged about it, and because I’ve just started a real chunkster of a book (Roberto Bolaño’s 2666, in case you’re wondering), I’ve decided to formally join the challenge.
I’m an escapist reader by nature so I like thick, meaty reads, which is perfect for joining the Chunkster Reading Challenge, a challenge for “readers who like their books fat and chunky.” The challenge defines a chunkster as “450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction).”
Trivia, trivia #2
Feb 12th
A few months back, I did a review of a series of trivia books and I’ve finished a bunch more since then. I have a habitual vice of poring into tomes of useless information, especially when I’m too stressed to read continuously, or when I need a break from long narratives.
This time around, I have another set of four trivia books on a variety of subjects, from general information to language to etiquette and combat: Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? and 114 Other Questions edited by Mick O’ Hare; Red Herrings and White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Everyday by Albert Jack (illustrated by Ama Page); Directions to Servants by Jonathan Swift; and The Action Heroine’s Handbook by Jennifer Worick and Joe Borgenicht (books 237-240 of 2009).
A-Z Challenge
Feb 7th
Flipper friend Gege started the A-Z reading challenge this year (check out the full mechanics here), and I’m participating, because it’s a fun way to start reading authors I haven’t read before, and make a substantial dent in my TBR.
Basically, the objective is to read 26 authors with surnames from A to Z between January 1 to December 31, 2010. The more obsessive-compulsive participants are reading in alphabetical order, but I’ve always gone against the rules when it comes to reading so I’m striking off the names on my list as the mood strikes, until I finish the list off before the year ends.
Here’s my list, and my progress, so far (reviews to follow)
Atwood, Margaret
Bolano, Roberto
Camus, AlbertDunn, Mark
Eugenides, Jeffrey
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
Gavin, Jamila
Hornby, Nick
Irving, John
Jin, Ha
Keyes, Daniel
Le Guin, Ursula
McEwan, Ian
Nix, Garth
Orwell, George, Ondaatje MichaelPeju, Pierre
Q
Rushdie, Salman Stewart, Trenton Lee
Tartt, Donna
Udry, Janice May
Vonnegut, Kurt Willingham, BillXiaolong, Qiu
Yoshimoto, Banana
Zola, Emile
As you can see I’m still missing a Q (not feeling Quindlen), a U and an X. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
*cover photo courtesy of sxc.hu
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