Book challenge update!

I expect that some of you have forgotten that I am even working on the 888 Book Challenge - I had practically forgotten myself!!! So here is a quick run down of some of those books in the challenge that I have now read.

The first one that I want to talk about is Alistair Cooke's biography as written by Nick Clarke. For those of you who have never heard of him, Alistair Cooke had a weekly radio programme called "Letter from America" which was very popular. Anyway, the biography was very interesting, I had expected it to be somewhat dry - a mere listing of facts and figures to do with the man. I wouldn't say it was "unputdownable" as it isn't really that kind of book, but Nick Clarke certainly managed to give a very good impression of the man - one who was quite old fashioned and a stickler for manners, but who also had very little financial awareness and it was only on the part of others in his life that Cooke managed to get paid anything at all for his work, particularly for the Guardian. In an interesting aside, I came across a word that I had never seen before and definitely had to get the dictionary out for it - psephologist - a political scientist who specialises in the study of elections; an electoral analyst or commentator - I bet you don't hear that word much these days!!

The other books that I have read recently are my Australian books (which would make sense as four of them I bought whilst out in Australia and I either read them whilst on holiday or shortly after I came back).

Tony Parson's "Silver in the Sun" has on the back cover - "an authentic Australian story about one man's spirited efforts to transform a whole town" - that much was certainly true, but I did feel that it was rather a formulaic story and would have benefited from a far deeper insight into the lives of the characters in the book; for instance so much in the book seems to be skated over and I just want to know more about the where and why. Having said that, I did enjoy the book as it gave me some idea of what the Australian outback was/is like.

Jojo Moyes' "Silver Bay" is all about a small community that has to deal with a possible new hotel that could affect the local dolphin and whale watching companies due to the environmental effects of jet boats and other water sports. This book was quite moving and is not just about the new hotel as there are other stories woven into this one with a quite unexpected twist at the end of the book and I shall be giving away no secrets - go and read it - I enjoyed it!

The other fiction book from Australia is "Beneath the Southern Cross" written by Judy Nunn - of Home and Away fame no less! (I was recommended Judy Nunn as an Australian author who writes about Australia and was a bit surprised when I recognised her photo on the back page!)Anyway, this is a saga in the true sense of the word as it covers a span of time from 1788 right up to the present day and deals with one family that splits into two and covers much of the issues of what makes Australia Australia. I certainly enjoyed this book very much and would definitely read Judy Nunn's other books if I came across them.

The final Australian book to be covered in this section (as I haven't read any of the others yet) is "Black kettle and full moon: daily life in a vanished Australia" by Geoffrey Blainey. Clearly this one is non-fiction and describes a small section of Australian social history, indeed, the author recognises that he cannot possibly cover everything! Blainey still manages to cover areas like how people lit their homes, what meat they ate and fascinating facts such as the delivery of ice all the way from Boston in America!! While the book contained fascinating sections of history I did think that it was a bit heavy going - it was definitely written by a long-term history professor!! (of the University of Melbourne no less!)

So, that's it so far - I still have plenty more books to read and will be back later to tell you all about those! I still hope to finish the challenge by the end of 2008 as this is what it's all about!

888 book reviews

I have now read a couple more of my Triple Eight challenge books and they were both very strange!! The first one that I finished was 30 Days in Sydney: the writer and the city by Peter Carey.

The premise of the book is that a Sydneysider returns to Sydney from New York for thirty (!) days and then writes about his experiences. It is a small book so you'd think that I finish it fairly soon, but I started it, put it down, and didn't pick it up again for ages as I just couldn't really get into it!

But then I thought that I had really better finish it since I am off to Sydney soon. Anyway - a strange book, more about Peter Carey's friends and what they got up to rather than about Sydney itself. Despite the fact that there were some interesting bits I didn't think that there was much structure to the book, it just didn't flow or seem to have any clarity! Then again, that's just me, I am sure that other people enjoyed the book, but I very much doubt that I'd try and read it again!

The other book was Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin and although I have put it in the romance section it is not your typical romance, in fact, it is not your typical novel! At first I wondered what I was letting myself in for by the time I had read a few chapters as it is quite a peculiar book with it's own language (much like fantasy books though so I should be used to it!). What was intriguing was the way the author would start a new chapter with new characters and events without making any connection between characters, so the whole books is a bit more like a collection of short stories that in the end all merge to form the one story.

My biggest criticism of Winter's Tale is that the blurb at the back of the book is misleading in that it suggests that the lead character deliberately sets out to travel through time to bring back the woman he loves after she dies. This is not actually the case, Peter Lake does not set out to do this, he does mourn her, but doesn't intend to go back in time to bring her back.

Nevertheless this is an intriguing story that took me a while to get into and even when I closed the book at the end, I was still puzzling over quite what it was all about! I think that the in the end the reader simply has to put his or her own interpretation on the story and what it all means.

And now I am reading the biography of Alistair Cooke - so far so good, it is interesting reading and is thus far well written! I shall be back at some point to tell you about that one!

Quick reads

I am now making an official start on my Triple Eight book challenge and am reading the quick and easy ones!! By quick and easy, I mean my re-reads and my romantic novels - they may not be short, but either I am familiar with the books or am happy to devour them in one go rather than spread them over a week or so (like I am with Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin as it is a bit heavy going - not your typical romance!!).

A couple of the books in the reread and romance category actually tie up; for instance, I reread The Shop on Blossom Street and then bought the follow-up - A Good Yarn. Both of which I liked very much, they are to be found in the romance section of your local bookshop, but I actually think that they are more just simple romances as both books focus on more than one pair of lead characters. The first book looks at a knitting class in a newly opened shop and follows a year (or so) in the life of the shop owner plus the three people that joined the knitting class. The second book (A Good Yarn) is still in the same place with the shop owner, but looks at another class and we see those people live their lives. This is actually quite typical of Debbie Macomber as she has written other series that focus on a particular town - like Cedar Cove - and we get to see familiar faces popping in and out of each book, and I think that this is a lovely way to see how people and their relationships develop without trying to cram all the detail into one book.

I have also now read Without a Trace by Nora roberts - I had been looking for this one for a while as it is the fourth book in a series about the O'Hurley triplets and their brother. Unfortunately, I was not as taken with this book as I was the other O'Hurley books (or other Nora Roberts books for that matter), I don't know why - perhaps I have just read too many of Nora's books lately and am getting a bit fatigued by them!

Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch (or Outlander) series contains some of my favourite books, so I thought that I would reread those - Cross Stitch is done and I am now part way through Dragonfly in Amber. If you are not familiar with these books - they are about Claire and Jamie - Claire is a 20th Century English woman, whilst Jamie is an 18th Century Scotsman! The story seems a little implausible in that Claire travels into the past through the standing stones at Craigh na Dun, but Diana Gabaldon makes it all seem very possible and the books are hefty tomes full of detail and are hard to put down, particularly at the end of a lunch break at work! ;-)

posts for the 888

All my categories for the Triple Eight Challenge are now below!! They are also in a tidy little clickable list somewhere on the left of this page if you are interested in following along with what I am reading! (or attempting to read!)

Of course, any suggestions, recommendations, even of the"don't touch with a barge-pole" variety are more than welcome!

Australia

Given that I am visiting Australia this year, I thought that this would be a particularly apt choice! This section includes both fiction(F) and nonfiction(NF) and I think that I will leave a few spaces for some books actually bought in Australia!

• 30 days in Sydney: the writer and the city* (NF) by Peter Carey
• The dig tree: the extraordinary story of the ill-fated expedition* (NF) by Sarah Murgatroyd
• The explorers* (NF) by Tim Flannery
• Beneath the Southern Cross (F) by Judy Nunn
• Silver Bay (F) by Jojo Moyes
• Black kettle and full moon: daily life in a vanished Australia (NF) by Geoffrey Blainey
• Convict women (NF) by Kay Daniels
• Silver in the sun (F) by Tony Parsons

*already sitting on my shelves!

Award winners

If these books have won awards, then they must be good - surely!?

• American Gods by Neil Gaiman (Hugo Award)
• A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (Carnegie Medal)
• Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (Booker Prize)
• Rough Crossings: Britain, the slaves and the American revolution* by Simon Schama (National Book Critics Circle Award - USA)
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

*already sitting on my shelves!

Biographies

Anyone who knows me would, I think, generally agree that I am nosy! Biographies are one way to be politely nosy!! ;-)

• Samuel Pepys: the unequalled self by Claire Tomalin
• Spilling the beans by Clarrisa Dickson Wright
• Shakespeare: the world as a stage by Bill Bryson
• The two of us: my life with John Thaw* by Sheila Hancock
• Diana: story of a princess* by Tim Clayton
• The first American: the life and times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands
• Alistair Cooke: the biography by Nick Clarke
• The story of the Trapp family singers* by Maria Augusta Trapp

*already sitting on my shelves!

Crafty stuff

The sharp eyed among you will notice that this one has changed from Children/Young Adults to Crafty Stuff - this is because I have a number of craft books (mostly card making) that I want to actually make the proper effort to read a bit more! (I am also thinking that craft will cover all manner of things from card making to knitting (which I want to try and learn one day) to cooking and baking (two entirely separate things I think you'll agree!)

• Quick and clever handmade cards* by Julie Hickey
• The complete guide to card making* by Sarah Beaman
• How to be a domestic goddess* by Nigella Lawson
• The ultimate cookie book* by Catherine Atkinson
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

*already on my shelves

Classics

I've always felt that I don't read enough of the classics and as I already have some on my shelves (*) I thought that I would take advantage of this and read them!!

By the way - should anyone quibble about what constitutes a classic, I have decided to go with the list of classics as mentioned in LibraryThing - clearly if the majority of readers have decided that it is a classic, then who am I to argue!

• Robinson Crusoe* by Daniel Defoe
• Robin Hood* by Howard Pyle
• Around the world in 80 days* by Jules Verne
• Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
• The once and future king by T.H.White
• The age of innocence by Edith Wharton
• The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• Silas Marner by George Eliot

History

This section includes both non-fiction (NF) and fiction (F) so that I don't get too fed up with the non-fiction!

• Alchemist's Daughter by Katherine McMahon (F)
• Craze: Gin & debauchery in an age of reason by Jessica Warner (NF)
• Sex with kings: 500 years of adultery, power, rivalry and revenge by Eleanor Herman (NF)
• Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell (F)
• March by Geraldine Brooks (F)
• TBC
• TBC
• TBC

Re-reads

I do like to re-read books, mostly because I loved them so much in the first place that I want to read it again Occasionally I will even read a book again because I have forgotten that I have already read it - this is annoying as by time I have read a few chapters I begin to realise that this is all very familiar and I twig that I have read it before!

Anyway, my selection for this category is as follows:

• The Belgariad, Vol. 1 by David Eddings
• The shop on Blossom Street* by Debbie Macomber
• Sahara* by Clive Cussler
• Cross Stitch by Diana Gabaldon
• Draonfly in Amber* by Diana Gabaldon
• Voyager* by Diana Gabaldon
• Drums of Autumn* by Diana Gabaldon
• The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

*already on my bookshelves! By the way, this section clearly looks like an excuse to reread the Cross Stitch series (also known as Outlander) by Diana Gabaldon, but then I have not read them for so long that I am really keen to read them again.

Romance

Of course, I had to include this section (despite what my brothers think of romance reading!!)

• The Hollow by Nora Roberts (pub. May 2008)
• The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts (pub. Dec 2008)
• Captivated by Nora Roberts
• Entranced by Nora Roberts
• A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
• A Hopeless Romantic by Harriet Evans
• Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
• Without a Trace by Nora Roberts

Hmmmm - I clearly love Nora Roberts' novels!! I have most of them on my shelves I think, but not those above!

Settling...

...on books for the Triple Eight challenge is not easy!! Although I am now beginning to identify the books that I want to read, some of which I even have at home already but have not yet read (or they are obviously in my re-reads category!).

So, I am now going to set up various links and postings each relating to one of the eight categories, so do excuse me if my blog suddenly goes a bit funny or keeps changing on you!
Just to let you know - each section wont be complete yet as I am still looking and pondering on my selection! Fortunately the rules of this challenge also allows participants to change their minds, so don't be too surprised if you find that my choices change!

I have to admit that it is rather fun choosing books and being picky about everything. It has actually opened my eyes a bit more as to what sheer variety is out there. I already knew that, but somehow it had never really registered with me, particularly when I stand in bookshops and bewail the fact that 'there's nothing to read'! Which is patently untrue, it was just that either I was bewildered by sheer choice, not in the mood for a book, or just being far too selective!

Still thinking....

....about this book challenge!! I need to go and sit in Borders and make a good list of what I want to read, or I can simply sit at my computer and rummage around LibraryThing! The trouble is that I like to know what a book is about before I commit to it and need to read the blurb on the back, so LibraryThing may not be the place to look!

Anyway, I am slowly coming up with possible categories that I feel that I can get to grips with!

How about the following:

• Australia (any book about or from Australia)
• Award winners (from the Booker to the Pulitzer!)
• Biographies (I am just nosy!)
• Romance (gotta have that in there somewhere!)
• Children and Young Adults books
• Classics that I should have read years ago!
• History (including historical novels!)
• Re-reads cos I love them so much!

I could keep going, but those are the categories that are getting (and holding!) my attention at the moment. Now, I need to fill those categories with eight books each - I am trying not to have any overlap! Can I really commit myself to 64 books, I know that I can certainly read that many, but still, the thought of saying I will read this book and that book and that one too...still makes me hesitate!!

I think that the list above is quite a nice one - I will let you all know what I am going to put in each section as soon as I know!!

Triple Eight Book Challenge

There are several Book Challenges within the blogosphere - the chunkster, the pub challenge, what's in a name and many many more! Not to mention from the stacks that I am taking part in and have nearly finished!

However, I think that this one beats all comers! This is the 888 Book Challenge - which equates to eight books in eight categories for 2008! This challenge is so phenomenal that it terrifies even me - yes, me - who reads too much too fast anyway! I don't quite know what it is that alarms me about this challenge; it is the fact that I am being asked to categorise and plan my reading before I begin, or because it really does take me out of my reading limits, which if I am honest, are rather narrow - romance, fantasy, history and the odd non-fiction.

Having said that - what is the point of a doing a challenge if it doesn't (ahem) challenge you!? So, I think that I am going to ponder this one and see what I can come up with - watch this space!