2018 Reading Self-Challenge

[Lily Valley]

JEEZ my reading has gone down the tubes this semester.  Finally finished Ally.  Working on Space Opera.

23.  Space Opera by Cat Valente  Eurovision goes Galactic, this book is pretty funny ala absurdist and bleak humor about the nature of life, the universe and everything.  I'm enjoying it so far.   Earth is given probationary sentient status and must send Glam Rocker Jones to defend mankind against certain re-absorption into Earth's biosphere.

[Isildur's Mane]

Finished a couple more this month. Hopefully next month I can get some more finished. 

My goal is 25.

So far I've read:

1- Metro Winds - by Isobelle Carmody

2- I Choose You (Pokemon) - by Tracey West

3- Island of the Giant Pokemon - Tracey West

4- Attack of the Prehistoric Polemon  - by Tracey West

5- Royal Assassin -  by Robin Hobb

I read 2 more

6- Warwick the Kingmaker - by Michael Hicks

7- Pokemon: Pikachu's Vacation - by Tracey West

 

[Lily Valley]

24 - Head On-by John Scalzi   Follow-up to Lock / In another police procedural mystery with the FBI agents from Lock In.  I really like Agent Vann and her relationship with her partner.   This one was fun, too.  I think I'm headed to a mystery binge. Eyeballing @Lany Freelove Cassandra's magic shop mysteries...They look like brain candy.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

1 minute ago, Lily Valley said:

24 - Head On-by John Scalzi   Follow-up to Lock / In another police procedural mystery with the FBI agents from Lock In.  I really like Agent Vann and her relationship with her partner.   This one was fun, too.  I think I'm headed to a mystery binge. Eyeballing @Lany Freelove Cassandra's magic shop mysteries...They look like brain candy.

That's a nicer way of putting it  They were light and fun...like cotton candy  the Witches of the Midwest were my favorite

[Lily Valley]

1 minute ago, Lany Freelove Cassandra said:

That's a nicer way of putting it  They were light and fun...like cotton candy  the Witches of the Midwest were my favorite

Are those mysteries?  My brain hurts right now.  I want FLUFFA LORIUM.  Just grabbed A Purr-fect Crime (Willow Bay 1) because there's a TALKING CAT.

25- A Purr-fect Crime - by Samantha Silver Young witch gets drawn into a murder mystery with her trusty talking cat.  This sounds totally perfect for 8-year-old me and I'm feeling childish and exhausted right now.  I'll be finished with it tonight.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

1 minute ago, Lily Valley said:

Are those mysteries?  My brain hurts right now.  I want FLUFFA LORIUM.  Just grabbed A Purr-fect Crime (Willow Bay 1) because there's a TALKING CAT.

25- A Purr-fect Crime - by Samantha Silver Young witch gets drawn into a murder mystery with her trusty talking cat.  This sounds totally perfect for 8-year-old me and I'm feeling childish and exhausted right now.  I'll be finished with it tonight.

yes they are, (murders) plus a crazy old aunt who keeps hexing people/things and grows marijuana

[Mlle. Zabzie]

On 4/18/2018 at 11:52 AM, Mlle. Zabzie said:

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board 

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

11.  Death on the Nile

12.  Taste of Marrow

13.  The Westing Game (I forgot how good it is - kids adored it.  They made me read pretty much until I had no voice.  Interestingly my husband didn't like it, but read it - it's way, way, way ahead of its time).

14.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

Currently reading:  Girl of Ink and Stars (to the kids: hopefully this takes - I've never read it either....); Down Among the Sticks and Bones; Last Days of Night.

Next up:  The Invasion, Gnomon, History of Wolves.

15.  Murder on the Links

16.  Down Among the Sticks and Bones

17.  Gnomon

Currently reading:  Girl of Ink and Stars, Tom Sawyer, Last Days of Night, The Invasion.  Next up:  History of Wolves

[red snow]

I'm certainly enjoying my relaxed approached to reading this year. Getting through about the same amount of stuff but covering a lot more genres. Although weirdly it seems to be a bit of a dark ages england (Warlord books and the wake) and mythology based year if any theme was emerging.

[Cyrin]

I'm doing 45. That's a little less than one a week which should be doable for me. I read more than that last year but I read a lot of trash and I can get through those faster. I'm also doing /r/fantasy's Bingo this year so that has me branching out and reading a wider variety to fill my squares, which is fun. So far I have:

1. Fire & Fury by Michael Wolf

2. Marx's Capital: An Illustrated Guide by David N. Smith

3. Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia McKillip

4. Tempt the Stars by Karen Chance

5. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

6. The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer

7. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip

8. The Bear & The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

10. Silver Birch, Blood Moon by Ellen Datlow

11. Ready Player One by Earnest Cline

12. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

13. The Demons We See by Krista D. Ball

14. Dreams of Distant Shores by Patricia McKillip

[Inigima]

5. Fool's Assassin, Hobb. Very good, return to form.

6. Norse Mythology, Gaiman. Fine, kind of simplistically written.

7. The Whitefire Crossing, Schafer. Pretty good debut, a little sloppy in some ways I hope the author will improve over time with a good editor but pretty complex.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5605419-rob

[Mlle. Zabzie]

On 5/7/2018 at 12:52 PM, Srta. Zabzie said:

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board 

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

11.  Death on the Nile

12.  Taste of Marrow

13.  The Westing Game (I forgot how good it is - kids adored it.  They made me read pretty much until I had no voice.  Interestingly my husband didn't like it, but read it - it's way, way, way ahead of its time).

14.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

15.  Murder on the Links

16.  Down Among the Sticks and Bones

17.  Gnomon

18.  The Last Days of Night

19.  The Invasion

Currently reading:  Girl of Ink and Stars, Tom Sawyer, An Argumentation of Historians, Dark Queen

 

[Pilusmagnus]

My goal was 40. Sub-goals:

1/ I want to read at least 10 non-fiction books, among which:

• At least 3 books of social sciences
• At least 3 books of literary theory
• At least 1 book of history

2/ I want to read at least two books in Spanish

3/ I want to read at least 5 translations of books already read

 

It's almost the middle of the year and I'm far from reaching my goal! I'll have to spend the whole summer reading to manage it.

- William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return, by Ian Doescher
- Elric of Melniboné, by Michael Moorcock
- Imperium in Imperio, by Sutton E. Griggs
- Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and translation by Philippe Jaworski
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, translated by Daniel Lauzon
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, translated by Daniel Lauzon
- Cyrano de Bergerac, translated by Christopher Fry
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki

8/40

Translations read: 4/5
Social sciences: 0/3
Literary theory: 0/3
History: 0/1
Books in Spanish: 0/2

[red snow]

1 book left of my "not restricting what I choose to read based on the time it will take to read" easy challenge.

Managed to keep a nice mix of fiction and nonfiction as well as try more booker winner/nominees.

I should probably up my graphic novel intake as they've largely been ignored this year and I have a stockpile that should be easy to clear

[Inigima]

On 5/7/2018 at 12:52 PM, Srta. Zabzie said:

15.  Murder on the Links

16.  Down Among the Sticks and Bones

17.  Gnomon

Currently reading:  Girl of Ink and Stars, Tom Sawyer, Last Days of Night, The Invasion.  Next up:  History of Wolves

I'm interested in your thoughts on Gnomon. I loved The Gone-Away World, but none of Harkaway's other books have lived up to it.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

On 6/30/2018 at 6:31 AM, Don Inigima said:

I'm interested in your thoughts on Gnomon. I loved The Gone-Away World, but none of Harkaway's other books have lived up to it.

I have read none of his other works.

I really enjoyed Gnomon.  It's a clever book.  It has a "Message", which I usually hate, but I thought that the puzzle and the structure were so interesting in and of themselves (and the "characters" such as they are, so compelling), that I really didn't mind.

[Queen of Procrastination]

On 3/7/2018 at 11:28 AM, Queen of Procrastination said:

Great! Thanks for opening the thread. 

I'm setting my goal at 60. Should be doable, since I've already read 12 books.

1. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

2. Fire and Fury: Inside the Trum White House by Michael Wolff

3. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

4. Under the Udala Treees by Chinelo Okparanta

5. The Black Tides of Heaven by Jy Yang

6. Words are my Matter by Ursula K. Le Guin

7. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

8. Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

9. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (audiobook)

10. Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

11. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton

12. The Obelisk Gate by N. K. Jemisin

Haven't updated in quite some time:

13. Infomocracy by Malka Ann Older

14. Kiribati Aspects of History by various Authors

15. Traditional Stories from the Northern Gilberts by Ten Tiroba

16. A Clash of Kings by George R. R Martin (Audiobook)

17. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

18. The Language of the Third Reich by Victor Klemperer

19. Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

20. Deutschland Schwarz Weiß by Noah Sow

21. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

22. Legend by Marie Lu

23. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

24. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

25. The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

26. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board 

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

11.  Death on the Nile - Christie

12.  Taste of Marrow - Gailey

13.  The Westing Game (I forgot how good it is - kids adored it.  They made me read pretty much until I had no voice.  Interestingly my husband didn't like it, but read it - it's way, way, way ahead of its time).

14.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Christie

15.  Murder on the Links - Christie

16.  Down Among the Sticks and Bones - McGuire

17.  Gnomon - Harkness

18.  The Last Days of Night - Moore

19.  The Invasion - O'Guilin

20.  Girl of Ink and Stars

21.  An Argumentation of Historians - Taylor

22.  Dark Queen - Hunter

23.  Death in the Clouds - Christie

24.  The Collapsing Empire - Scalzi

25.  Cards on the Table - Christie

26.  The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - North

Currently reading: Tom Sawyer, Treasure Island, Starless, Quiet.  Next Up:  Revenant Gun

[Caligula_K3]

My goal was 40 for this year. I definitely fell behind in the last few months, but some of the books I've read this were were also 1,000 pages +, so that doesn't help. Here's my list so far:

 

1. Donna Leon- Drawing Conclusions

2. James S. Corey- Abbadon's Gate

3. Emma Cline- The Girls

4. Victor Hugo- Les Miserables (Norman Denny translation)

5. Alice Oswald- Memorial

6. J.R.R Tolkien- The Silmarillion 

7. Josiah Bancroft- Senlin Ascends

8. Josiah Bancroft- Arm of the Sphinx

9. Ann Leckie- Provenance

10. Mary Beard- Women and Power

11. Melissa Lane- The Birth of Politics

12. Brandon Sanderson- The Way of Kings

13. Brandon Sanderson- Words of Radiance 

14. Salman Rushdie- Fury

15. Homer- The Iliad (Catherine Alexander translation)

16. Poul Anderson- The Broken Sword

17.  Cixin Liu- The Three Body Problem

18. Dee Brown- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

19. Mark Lawrence- The Prince of Thorns

 

Highlights: Silmarillion re-read, Alexander's translation of Homer, Arm of the Sphinx, Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, The Three Body Problem, Les Miserables

Lowlights: Abbadon's Gate, The Prince of Thorns, Fury,  Words of Radiance

[Pilusmagnus]

My goal was 40. I'm now dropping it to 30. Sub-goals:

1/ I want to read at least 10 non-fiction books, among which:

• At least 3 books of social sciences (dropping that)
• At least 3 books of literary theory
• At least 1 book of history (dropping that)

2/ I want to read at least two books in Spanish (dropping to one)

3/ I want to read at least 5 translations of books already read

- William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return, by Ian Doescher
- Elric of Melniboné, by Michael Moorcock
- Imperium in Imperio, by Sutton E. Griggs
- Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and translation by Philippe Jaworski
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, translated by Daniel Lauzon
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, translated by Daniel Lauzon
- Cyrano de Bergerac, translated by Christopher Fry
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki
- William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace by Ian Doescher
- William Shakespeare's The Clone Army Attacketh, id.
- Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
- Three other comic books which I count as one
- William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge by Ian Doescher

13/30

Translations read: 4/5
Literary theory: 0/3
Books in Spanish: 0/1

 

Let's hope I'll be able to increase my rythm now that I'm on holiday.

[Mlle. Zabzie]

1.  The Rift by Nina Allen:  Unreliable narrator about the fall out when someone who has been missing for decades returns, claiming to have stepped through a portal to an alien world.

2.  Under the Volcano by Malcom Lowry:  20th Century Classic.  Planning on reading 5 from Modern Library list that I have never read this year.  

3.  The 101 Dalamations by Dodie Smith:  Childhood classic.

4.  Cast In Deception by Michelle Sagara:  Complete YA guilty pleasure

5.  Persepolis Rising by James A. Corey:  No summary needed on this board 

6.  Grant by Ron Chernow:  Biography of the general and president.  Highly recommend.

7.  Provenance by Ann Leckie

8.  River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey - love me some hops.

9.  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:  CS Lewis. childhood classic.

10.  Misty of Chincoteague:  Marguerite Henry, Childhood classic.

11.  Death on the Nile - Christie

12.  Taste of Marrow - Gailey

13.  The Westing Game (I forgot how good it is - kids adored it.  They made me read pretty much until I had no voice.  Interestingly my husband didn't like it, but read it - it's way, way, way ahead of its time).

14.  The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Christie

15.  Murder on the Links - Christie

16.  Down Among the Sticks and Bones - McGuire

17.  Gnomon - Harkness

18.  The Last Days of Night - Moore

19.  The Invasion - O'Guilin

20.  Girl of Ink and Stars

21.  An Argumentation of Historians - Taylor

22.  Dark Queen - Hunter

23.  Death in the Clouds - Christie

24.  The Collapsing Empire - Scalzi

25.  Cards on the Table - Christie

26.  The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - North

27.  Starless - Carey

28.  Quiet - Cain

Currently reading: The Dark is Rising, The Traitor Baru Cormorant (trying again, doing better), Spinning Silver, Revenant Gun.  Next up, Space Opera, a biography to be identified.