Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

We're nearing the midway point of the month of April and still no sign of spring in Michigan. All the more time to curl up with a book, right?

This week (or last depending on your perspective), I finished two books, both of which I was able to fit into the challenge. I read Winter, which was my "book" for book/prequel and The Debt of Tamar, which was my book club pick for the month and I'm using my "library book" slot.

I really enjoyed The Debt of Tamar. It was a book I knew nothing about before it was selected for my book club. We meet in a few hours so I'll hear what the others had to say about it. I gave it four stars. It was from an era that I know nothing about (Ottoman empire) and wove its story across generations. It was the debut novel for the author and well done to her in my humble opinion. There were little things that bugged me like how she/her editor used the word "stationary" when she was looking for paper to write a letter (not once but twice) and the fact that she insisted on referring to the car as a Bimmer on every reference.

I'm at 21/41 so half way. (Also, woo hoo!)

Question of the week: which prompt are you most dreading?

For me, I think it was book/prequel and 600-page but now that I've got those out of the way (and I've read more books of more than 600 pages this year than in any year of my life #truestory), I'm not sure which one will cause the procrastination/anxiety.

Let's hear from you now, my fellow readers. How was your week?

I'm at 22/41.

Spring keeps peeking out here in Virginia followed by some cold, windy days. The next week is looking super nice though so we may have finally turned the corner!

I finished three books in the last week:

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks - This was my self-improvement book. I'm not a novice cook, but I've been in a rut lately and just needed some motivation. I picked out several tidbits in this book that really helped motivate me in the kitchen.

Death Wears a Mask - This was my murder mystery. This is the second book in a series, and I just love them. They are classy, smart and low-gore mysteries with likeable characters. Can't wait for the next one to come out later this year!

Virgins: An Outlander Novella. My "guaranteed to bring me joy" book. I had to wait until April to fill this prompt because the book was just released on 4/8, but anytime I can get just a bit more of these characters I feel joy :)

Currently I am reading:

Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawhon - about the final flight of the Hindenburg.
Watership Down - this is my second attempt at reading this (this time trying Audible). I can't quite figure out why this is so popular. I can only assume I haven't read far enough into it yet...

I think the prompt I was least looking forward to was a toss-up between sci-fi and graphic novel. My apologies for those who enjoy those categories but they just aren't me. I lucked out this year with Ready Player One for sci-fi. On thinking this over, maybe the prompt I was actually dreading the most was the book written by a comedian. I don't read many celebrity books. I read Bossypants and am just glad to have it out of the way. Thankfully I have already filled all of these prompts.

Week 15. I am now at 54%. 22 out of 41 done.

I finished 4 books this week, only 1 which met the criteria for the challenge

A book that's under 150 pages
Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson.
My review: /review/show...
This book would also qualify for: a classic from the 20th century; a book you can finish in a day; a science fiction novel; a dystopian novel.

I currently have 60 books in various stages of progress.

I am currently reading the following for the indicated prompts:

A National Book Award Winner: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A book set in your home state (Washington): Creep by Jennifer Hillier

A book set in Europe: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

A book that's becoming a movie this year: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

A political memoir: Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle by Ingrid Betancourt

Oh I hate "Bimmer"!! That is a "nickname" that just does NOT translate well to text. I was all set to look at that book and maybe add to my TBR list until you mentioned that - I've got too many books on my TBR list anyway ;-)

I learned last year to tackle dreaded prompts early. The one I most dreaded was "100 years older than you" (and sure enough, I did not enjoy my choice, but it's done now!). Next dreaded was "political memoir" so I picked a short one and got that out of the way. Now I'm dreading "book recommended by someone you just met" - I'm such an introvert, I don't want to approach someone! I keep hoping it will just happen naturally ...

(My weekly check-in is pending .... I'll log it later from my computer so I can add links!)

I think it's "Beamer".

Still here at 37/40. The tasks I were dreading were a book by a comedian and Opera book club.

I was disappointed in the audio version of .
I ended up liking the audio version of .

I'm currently working on for my book at least a 100 years older than me and am enjoying.

Oh Woman in White was my 100 years older book too! I hope you like it better than I did :-)

Nadine wrote: "Oh Woman in White was my 100 years older book too! I hope you like it better than I did :-)"

It looks like it has lots of mixed reviews. It was the book picked as a group read for one of my goodreads groups for April/May so hopefully the discussions will add to the reading.

I've read both Woman in White and Collins' other book The Moonstone. I prefer The Moonstone much more.

Nadine wrote: "I learned last year to tackle dreaded prompts early..."

Nadine, I learned this lesson last year as well. I have already checked off many of my more challenging prompts. I am saving the really open-ended ones (book from the library, etc) for later. I can always backfill those with something I've read.

A book by someone you just met is tough for me too. I'm also an introvert and just don't meet new people much (much less jump into a "what book do recommend" conversation). I am stretching that one a bit. I have a friend from work who recommended Neil Gaiman to me not too terribly long after we started chatting with each other last year. So I'm going with that and hope to read American Gods. That's another one I'm nervous about because aside from one of his short stories I have not read anything by him and am not entirely convinced I will like it. Really need to buckle down and start it!

Had a pretty good week, thanks to a solo trip to visit my parents - and a visit to the local bookstore! 5 books completed for the challenge:

�9. A book under 150 pages (2): Xavier Galmiche, Écrits dyonisiens , Le mot et le reste, 2006, 72pp.

�27. A murder mystery: Leonardo Sciascia, A chacun son dû , Gallimard, 1984 (trad. de l'italien, éd. orig. 1966).

�28. A book written by a comedian: Pierre Desproges, Des femmes qui tombent , Points, 1998 (1ère éd. 1985).

�4. A book you haven't read since high school: Robert Merle, Un animal doué de raison, Folio Gallimard, 2002 (1ère éd. 1967).

�1. A book based on a fairy tale: Boris Vian, Conte de fées à l'usage des moyennes personnes , Paris, Le livre de poche, 1999 (manuscrit de 1942).

All those being in French, which is rather atypical for me (it's usually 50% English, 50% French). This should even up in the end, especially since I'm trying to pair books in French and in English for each prompt - when possible: I won't be doing that for the NBA prompt, for instance.

I am now 31/82; 12 prompts still empty, 3 with two books read. I'm reading 3 books now, and 3 other scheduled.

To answer our benevolent moderator's question: I'm worried about the self help books. I dislike these so much! The "book guaranteed to bring you joy" is sort of looming, too...

I am at 13/41. I just finished Winter. I liked it but I agree with a lot of reviews that it was just too long. And I'm someone who likes long books but this one had too many pages for too little plot. I put it in the category of YA bestseller and I'm glad I managed to fit the series in. Next on deck for me is A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy. I am so looking forward to this one to fill the autobiography category.

The prompt I'm dreading the most is also self-help. I don't even know where to start. Also not looking forward to political memoir.

Greetings from Kansas, where we're having a week of glorious weather that's making it hard to sit inside with a book!

I'm still at 17/41, though I'm at last making progress on The Black Poets for my book of poetry. I'd really like to finish that one in April, since it's National Poetry Month, after all.

I had to return A Little Life to the library before I was able to finish it, so I'll probably speed through some other books now that I'm not so focused on that one. Such a beautifully written novel, but so incredibly difficult to read.

I did finish 2 books this week, both for other challenges, both first-time reads: A Gentleman's Position and The Giver.

Hello everyone from beautiful Kansas City! The weather here is absolutely perfect and I'm planning to read out on my deck this afternoon and enjoy the sunshine!

Not a lot of reading happened in the past week because we are working hard to get our house ready to put on the market. I did finish 1 book, Red Queen. I'm using it for the dystopian novel prompt. I gave it 4 stars. It was very predictable but not bad. I think I'll continue to read the series, but just maybe not right away. I'm not in too big of a hurry.

I've started Scarlet and I'm still slogging through Outlander. I really like Outlander, it's just hard for me to get through huge books like that! So I think that would be one of the prompts that I'm dreading, the book over 600 pages. They just seem to drag on and I lose interest. I was also dreading the graphic novel prompt, but got that out of the way early.

I'm not 12/41!

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I think it's "Beamer"."

It's not even that easy. According to my gearhead husband, who finds the nomenclature ridiculous as well, a Bimmer is a BMW automobile but a Beamer is a BMW motorcycle. #getoveryourselfBMW ;-)

I had another week of good progress, I finished four books for the Challenge! I am now 33/41. My progress is going to start slowing down, because I am reading more non-Challenge books, which is fine because what will I do when I finish the Challenge? Will we still talk??

In week 15 I finished for the Challenge:
* a book with a protagonist who has your occupation (Engineer): Devices and Desires - this one had been recommended to me by a coworker when I mentioned the Challenge. I found it to be extremely male-centric (hey! just like real-life engineering! hahaha) and tedious.
* a New York Times best-seller: My Name Is Lucy Barton - every one seems to be raving about this book ... I didn't feel it. It was okay, not amazing.
* a dystopian: The Children of Men - this was quite different from the movie, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would. Very bleak, very thought-provoking.
* a political memoir: Off the Sidelines: Raise Your Voice, Change the World - I'm in NY and Kirsten Gillibrand is one of my Senators. I'll still vote for her, but I ended up liking her LESS after I read this book.

Right now I'm reading a book published in 2016, and a book based on a fairy tale (I already checked off this category, but decided the book I read didn't really fit the prompt, so I chose another).

Sara wrote: "Nadine wrote: "I learned last year to tackle dreaded prompts early..."

Nadine, I learned this lesson last year as well. I have already checked off many of my more challenging prompts. I am saving ..."

When I get to this prompt, I think I'm going to ask the newest of my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ friends.

Once again, I've read two books that I was unable to fit into this challenge. Luckily, though, I was able to fit one of them into another challenge. They were Earthbound and Not F*ing Around: The No Bullsh*t Guide for Getting Your Creative Dreams Off the Ground.

I am least looking forward to the book of poetry and the book 100 years older than me. Just not my thing. Hopefully, they won't be as painful as I'm expecting, and I should really stop putting them off.

This week I only finished one book for the challenge, putting me at 13/41, but I've read 2 books.

I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to do the group read, but didn't end up counting it for the challenge.

Then I read A Letter of Mary by Laurie King for my book set during summer prompt. Either that or I will count it as a murder mystery, as the late summer part didn't really feature as much as the murder mystery.

The prompts that I am not looking forward to are the political memoir and the book by a comedian. I don't care much about politics, but I have a few things in mind for that and hope it won't end up too bad. The comedian one, I'm just not that interested in reading an autobiography again. But I still have to look into that one

Tatra - I read Modern Romance for that one. It's not a memoir or autobiography. It's actually a very interesting book about how the new generation finds a mate. It is funny but also very educational.

For the political memoir, I am listening to Ingrid Betancourt's memoir of the time she spent when she was kidnapped by the FARC in Colombia: Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle

My problems will probably be the self-improvement and the poetry.

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "Tatra - I read Modern Romance for that one. It's not a memoir or autobiography. It's actually a very interesting book about how the new generation finds a mate. It is funny but also..."

I read Modern Romance for this Challenge too, and I also recommend it! (I may have used it for "book by a celebrity" but whatever, either one works) - it was much more interesting AND entertaining than I expected. Not 5 stars worth, but good enough.

Tatra: Consider one of Steve Martin's novels like Shopgirl. He is a great writer.

Katherine wrote: "I am least looking forward to the book of poetry and the book 100 years older than me. ..."

For the book 100 years older than you, could you maybe find a children's book? That might be an easier read if you don't normally read older books.

I did a quick search and it looks like most of the ones I thought of are less than or about 100 years old now. Black Beauty was published in 1877 though so depending on your age, that might work. Little Women as well.

Finished Modern Romance for my book written by a comedian.

Current about halfway through Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII for Book About a Culture I Am Unfamiliar With.

Sitting at 19/41

The one category that struck me as unpleasant was the Book of Poetry. I cannot stand poetry.

Just one finished this week: The Fellowship of the Ring for a book I haven't read since (junior) high school. About halfway through listening to The Kite Runner for the book about a culture I'm unfamiliar with, but I can really only listen to it when I'm home and I'm barely ever home alone long enough to get to listen to an entire disc.

Out of what I have left, I think I'm mostly dreading the protag with my occupation. Apparently no one wants to write books about an accounts payable clerk at an industrial laundry facility.

Mike wrote: "Finished Modern Romance for my book written by a comedian.

Current about halfway through [book:Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of ..."

I know... how about nursery rhymes?

Finished Paper Towns by John Green this week and slotted it under finish in a day. I liked it a lot. His dialogue was so genuine and very revealing. It always makes me happy find a YA book that's solid.

I think my most dreaded category would have to be dystopian, I'm just so over it and I've barely read any of it. I tend to find it depressed and unoriginal. I'm currently working on this one by reading The Road. I figure if I'm going to suffer through but as well be with a book that has a strong literary background and was one of the earlier end of the world stories.

I'm at 11/41 after finishing The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(satire) last week. I was also able to get about 100 pages into To Kill a Mockingbird(20th century classic) this week, so hopefully I'll finish that this coming week.

I didn't check in last week, but I finished Paper Towns for my local library book club. Decided to put it under Book about a Road Trip. It's not all about a road trip, but it has a road trip in it and I decided it should count :D

This week I finished Armada for Book with a Blue Cover. Not as good as his first book (Ready Player One) but I still enjoyed it. Video gamers would love it.

I'm at 22/41 for this challenge.

What am I dreading the most? Definitely the Political Memoir. I'm not much into politics. Reading up on the candidates the day before, and voting are the extent of my political activity.

I just finished The 5th Wave and I thought it was a really good book. I was continually thinking about it and now that I'm finished, I am still absorbing it. I can't wait to see the movie now. I read it for my science fiction selection.

Now I will attempt The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for my satirical prompt. I hope I like it...

I think I'm 14/41 now.

I only finished one book, Pretty Little Liars, and it was part two of the book/prequel. I'm at 35/41. Getting there!

Out of the prompts I have left, my most dreaded is a book recommended by a family member because none of my family members are readers, so I have to get creative.

OMG! You're nearly done and the year isnt even 1/2 over yet! No one in your family reads? Absolutely no one? How sad!

12/41

I only finished one prompt - Book published this year - Hidden Bodies was my selection. It was the follow up to You. I enjoyed it - didn't love it, but enjoyed it.

I think I might be in a reading slump. Just going to let it pass. Might need some lighter reads to get me back in to the spirit of reading.

Question of the week: which prompt are you most dreading?
When I first looked at this list way back when it was definitely the political one. But i knocked that out first with an audiobook. Of my remaining prompts I'd say maybe book 100 years older than me or the classic from the 20th century. I'm going to have to do more research and read everyones suggestions to find good books!

Oh man! I haven't check in awhile but, I am currently 12 out of 41 prompts completed. I recently just finished The Host for romance set in the future and The Summer I Turned Pretty for a book set in the summer. Happy reading everyone! :)

This week, I read A Room with a View by E.M. Forster for the prompt: a book set in Europe. Loved it! That's #13 for me!