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Week 1 of our challenge is almost over! Week 1 can be easily argued to be the hardest week of the year. A book with over 500 pages is crazy (especially if you aren't used to it)! This discussion thread is solely for your progress. (Book discussions go in individual threads.)


What book are you reading? (Feel free to link to discussion)

How far along are you?

Did you enjoy it? (feel free to link to your book review)

Would you recommend this title?

Was this a difficult week for you?

I read Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I actually finished around Christmas time (I'm a cheater, I know). I really enjoyed the story, but my review of it isn't that great (I'm still learning). I would recommend this story to any fantasy and book lover!

I'm reading Elantris and haven't gotten as far as I want. About a quarter through it so far. Have enjoyed what I've read and would recommend to others.

I read The Lies of Locke Lamora. I finished about 5 days early...was surprised I did. But that's what happens when I enjoy the book...I get through it faster. :-) I remember reviewing it but not a clue how to find it or even link it. LOL!
It's definitely an intersting read. It would be good for anyone who likes fantasy. Must be willing to "travel" mentally to a completely fictional country--which can be difficult for some of us.

I'm reading The Old Curiosity Shop. I'm about 225/736 pages through it. It's not what I was expecting but I am enjoying it, it is quite long but that's not something that I find off putting in a book. Most books I read are 400+ pages and as I like classics, a lot of them are even more than that. My issue is if there are long chapters, I hate long chapters!

I finished a few days ago reading Digital Fortress. I did enjoy the book but not as much as I wanted too. I would recommend it to people who love tech thrillers or have a deep love for programming or IT in general.

@Jessica I have to admit something here. I'm a cheater too,but I'm getting back to the challenge for week 2 :)

I finished Battle Royale on monday. Was and wasn't difficult. Was in terms of pages, I spent a lot of weekend time on it. But at the same time it wasn't so difficult, because the story is so good you don't realise the time flying! I was really entertained. :)
I highly recommend it!! :D

I was lucky of being able to complete this first book in less than a week. I spent mostly of my weekend reading this. (Normally i don't have all this time in weekends for reading or for myself).

I'm reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I've only read about 40% but I'm really, really enjoying it. And yes, I would recommend this title to anyone. My exams started this week and will continue till February so I couldn't finish it in time but I wouldn't say it was a difficult week since I'm really enjoying the book.

I'm now just shy of 300 pages. I'm hoping I can get to 400 tonight actually. I'll still have just over 300 to go but I'd like to conquer the half way stage tonight! I did read a 600 page book in 3 days before New Year but I loathe to count that as book 1 OR admit defeat. But I may read my week 3 book before my week 2 book simply because 2 classics in a row is a little heavy!

I read Battle Royale And finished it during my hollidays. And I love the book! I was surprise by the end and little disappointed. I cry a lot but I'm a sensitive person xD. Even if people told me about the violence in the book lot of scene was shocking. But I love the plot, I love the character and I love the fact that we go from surprise to surprise. Despite that Hunger Games and Battle royal have a similar plot it's totally different, but I will recommand the book it's a great one.
It wasn't a difficult week because the story was so intense that i can't stop reading xD

I'm reading The Signature of All Things. I'm actually doing it as an audiobook, so it will probably take me a little longer than if I had been actually reading it. Unfortunately for the book (and for my physical well-being), I have been slacking on going to the gym this week, which is when I get most of my audiobooking done. Enjoying it so far, though!

I'm reading Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Holy crap, I LOVE it!! I haven't read as much as I'd like to because I'm visiting my parents, but last night I decided to read a bit. I went to bed at 5 am!! Seriously, it's a great read :D

I'm currently at the 52% mark, which means page 410. It is, however, a manuscript, so it's not all that word-heavy.

I may lag a bit behind, since I haven't finished week 1, and especially since my next book will be an audiobook and those always take longer to read (at least for me). I chose to continue with Sanderson and try his first published book (see what I did there? ;D), which is Elantris. I only found the Graphic Audio, however, so I'll give that a shot!

So far, I'm LOVING week one! :D

I read Brandon Sanderson's Elantris and it was fantastic. Loved it and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good stand alone fantasy book.

Now I am starting the arduous task that is Gone With The Wind

I read The Paying Guests. As Sarah Waters is a very slick writer, it was easy to get through, I just didn't enjoy it very much unfortunately.

I would still recommend it though as a lot of people seem to have enjoyed it (who weren't me) and she's a good writer.

I am now in my comfort zone again for week two - Romance my fav! Already halfway through The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan <3

Jessica wrote: "Week 1 of our challenge is almost over! Week 1 can be easily argued to be the hardest week of the year. A book with over 500 pages is crazy (especially if you aren't used to it)! This discussion th..."

I read "Dust" by Patricia Cornwell. I finished it; it wasn't a terribly difficult read. But I really liked her earlier books about Dr. Kay Scarpetta more than this one or the ones I've read in the past few years. Just didn't feel very attached to the characters anymore and the too-quick resolution at the end was kind of annoying. I would only recommend it to huge Scarpetta fans who want to read all of Cornwell's books about this complicated character.

I read A Clash of Kings (Game of Throne #2), just finished it and left a 2 stars review on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ (I'm expecting some hating comments :p).

I didn't enjoyed it but it wasn't a surprise as I started it 2 years ago and challenged myself to finish it in 2015.

I won't recommend the book to anyone, except to those who read the 1st book and fully enjoyed it. I found the 1st correct but not great, and liked more the first season of the tv show.

I have just comepleted The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, today, January 7, 2015, and will be moving on to Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, for romance.

I really enjoyed the book, although the ending was sad. It did take some getting use to the format of the short chapters and the lists, but I found it a good read. I have taking to borrowing books from the library and then buying if I enjoy them and really want to read them again! I am writing a review later. I would definitely recommend this book!

I finished Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James a couple of days ago (January 4th), it was really interesting, I would recommend it to those dirty minds out there. But overall it's not all about sex, but to learn how to love. The type of relationship in the story is just like a bonus for those kinky readers, but I really did enjoy the book.

I am reading Pandemic and not as far as I hoped. I didn't get started until Sunday and thought I would have had more time to read this week but life sometimes just gets in the way. I have about half the book left and will finish. It started really slow and was thinking about giving up until about page 80 it has gotten a lot more fun and would recommend it. It is the third in a trilogy but I think it could stand alone; however the other two are good books so wouldn't be bad to start with those.

For week one I read Beautiful Creatures. This was a fairly easy read for me. I typically read about 500 pages (if not more) a week. Also, YA books are much quicker to get through.

Overall I gave this book 3 stars. The characters in this book are fantastic (including all the supporting characters)!! I had this book sitting on my shelf for a couple years because (a) I'm not a huge fan of male POV YA books and (b) I wasn't crazy about the movie adaptation (which I saw first). Both of these ended up not being a problem at all. I shouldn't be surprised that the book is much better than the movie :)

I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys YA books with more depth to them. I frequently drop YA books because they are TOO YA - too 'fluffy' (is that a good word for it? Meh.) and childish. I didn't get that from this book. It does - of course - have the standard high school dance scene. Wouldn't be a YA book if it didn't!

Just finished Blood Promise. Love this series! Week one done :) Although YA it's a great read!

Finished Life After Life a few days ago and moved on to Week 2 (The Princess Bride). I really enjoyed the book, reviewed it as well, but I'll spare the link. I would recommend it if you like historical fiction, books written in a "different style", or just a good story. I can see why some would be turned off early, but I wasn't and it only got better.

Lora wrote: "I read Brandon Sanderson's Elantris and it was fantastic. Loved it and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good stand alone fantasy book.

Now I am starting the arduous task that is Gone With..."

This looks like an interesting read. I have not read any of Brandon Sanderson's books, but I am going to give this one a try.

Yeah! The Woman Who Stole My Lifeis now added to my read list. I picked it up at the library on Sunday afternoon, and completed it this morning.
I was expecting a different story, but preserved through my initial disappointment. The story was a good one in which all of the characters develop and grow. It was nice to read a quasi romance that has a middle aged woman as the main character. I recommend it to those who enjoy romance without the sappiness.

Anastasia wrote: "Lora wrote: "I read Brandon Sanderson's Elantris and it was fantastic. Loved it and would recommend it to anyone who loves a good stand alone fantasy book.

Now I am starting the arduous task that..."

I've only read the last few books of the books he wrote to finish Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time series. It sounds like I need to fit some Brandon Sanderson into my list somehow...

I read Shake Hands With the Devil by Romeo Dallaire (which is about the Rwandan genocide). It's, uh, kind of tough to say whether I enjoyed it and whether I'd recommend it. I'm definitely happy I read it; it was very informative and interesting, but it made me pretty mad. As for recommending it, uh, well, DON'T read it if you're squeamish, I'll say that much. He does mildly describe the genocide and just, ugh. But if you're interested in African history, don't mind being a little bored (his writing is very dry), and can handle the anger and disgust, it's definitely worth reading. Just maybe not in a week. XD

I just finished The Night Circus which I absolutely loved. I tend to be an impatient reader, always wanting to see what happens next, but with this book I actually forced myself to read more slowly so I could take everything in. Work's been slow so I was able to read it in a couple of days.

It's been a very long time since I've read a new book that I have loved so much and I highly recommend it. However, I think the book description is a little misleading. The competition is less a Harry Potter-style duel and more of an intricate chess games lasting years. And there's not a lot of action. There is a lot of description of the circus itself, which I surprisingly enjoyed.

I didn't get to get to the library in time to get my book so in that case I will be doing week one and week two together!

For the first week I read Emma by Jane Austen. I managed to finish it on Sunday but that was thanks to the New Year holiday. I had plenty of quiet reading time and just stormed through it.

I gave it four stars and I really enjoyed it, even though I could kind of see where it was going from the start. It was a good start to the year.

I'd normally read a book like that over a couple of weeks but I liked pushing myself to read it quicker so I could squeeze in an extra book before Week 2 started.

I read "where did that little girl went" - IT is so good to read a book that keeps You reading for a long period and this is why no problem of reading it through with 3 days :)

Cat wrote: "I read The Paying Guests. As Sarah Waters is a very slick writer, it was easy to get through, I just didn't enjoy it very much unfortunately.

I would still recommend it though as a..."

I'm also currently reading it, but I find it to be a very slow read - likable though, but somehow the language is such that I don't progress that swiftly (compared to e.g. some YA books, which you just can breeze through). Will continue until finished, although will take probably another week, as I need to read another book on the side.

I'm reading Wildwood by Colin Meloy. I'm about 36% done with it, and I wish I had given myself more time to read it than I did. I do still plan to finish it, so I'm continuing to read it while reading other books (currently on par with my week 2 book to finish on time, so I might give this one some attention for a couple hours tonight.)

I'm 56% done with The Book Thief. I was devouring it when I first started it but I really hit a plateau mid-way through. I am off this weekend and I believe I will be able to finish it and, possibly, my Week 2 book also (or at least a good chunk of it).

I'm reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.

I finished yesterday!

I loved it. Here's my review.

I would definitely recommend this title.

This wasn't too difficult a week because for half of it, I was still on Xmas break, so I got a lot of reading in.

I read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, started on the 4th and finished last night (the 8th.) I enjoyed the book, although it won't go on my "best" list. I found her writing very descriptive, but some of the character development was lacking. Also, she used a lot of flashback and the narration was done by different characters and that sometimes was a little confusing. A pleasant read though, and a different take on the Dracula mythos. I would recommend it. Definitely not a difficult week-especially after reading Biology textbooks for the last few semesters!

I'm reading Dragonfly in Amber and I'm nowhere near close to finishing...I'm like 200 pages in out of 900-something. To be fair, I read three other books from the library (for the challenge as well) this week. Dragonfly in Amber is dragging a bit for me.

I'm saving my 500 page read for later. The Liar by Nora Roberts will be out in April. Per Amazon, it has 512 pages.

I finished reading Scarlet earlier this week. I really enjoyed it. It is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles. Just waiting for the 3rd book to become available at my library.

I definitely recommend even if you are not into fantasy/sci-fi types of reads...I'm not and am thoroughly enjoying myself.

This week has been a good week for me in terms of reading.

Britteny wrote: "I read The Lies of Locke Lamora. I finished about 5 days early...was surprised I did. But that's what happens when I enjoy the book...I get through it faster. :-) I remember reviewing..."

I loved the Lies of Locke Lamora but I think the series shows its brilliance more in the following books. Or maybe I was just pained by the lack of female characters, which gets fixed later on.

No wonder you read it very quickly! I couldn't resist once I got to the point where all the schemes finally unfold and everything is explained, heh.

About halfway through The Way of Shadows . I... am not enjoying it terribly, I feel that both the plot and the writing could have been managed better. However, I'm curious how it will end, so I will keep reading and suspend judgement until I finish.

I had tried to start my first week with The Time Traveler's Wife but I couldn't shake off the creepy vibes from the love story (and I mean, I like my romance messed up as much as anyone, but it's important to me that the author seems aware of how and why it's dysfunctional. This is not the feeling I got from this book. Maybe later on in the book this gets fixed, but I gave up soon).

It seems I didn't have much luck with my first week ): Which is weird, I'm not generally a picky reader!

I'm about a quarter of the way through Great Expectations . I have read this before in the past, but really enjoyed it so figured i'd read it again. I would recommend this book to others, especially if you enjoy reading classics. Haven't had much time to read the past week due to my little ones and other things going on. Hopefully i'll get some major catch up time this weekend.

Amanda wrote: "I finished reading Scarlet earlier this week. I really enjoyed it. It is the second book in the Lunar Chronicles. Just waiting for the 3rd book to become available at my library...."

I will be reading Cress (purchased for my Kindle) for the "author under 30" week! Just hoping I can remember what happened in the first two books cuz it's been a while!

Cham wrote: "Britteny wrote: "I read The Lies of Locke Lamora. I finished about 5 days early...was surprised I did. But that's what happens when I enjoy the book...I get through it faster. :-) I r..."

Glad to hear that it gets better in later books. I too was curious at lack of female characters...and how they'd mention this one in regards to Locke but we never met her...hmm...

I knew I wouldn't have time to read Game of Thrones in one week. So I decided to read slowly and then start on the week 2 book. As it turns out I've already finished my romance book so I'm enjoying reading Game of Thrones for the rest of the second week.

Mabomanji wrote: "I knew I wouldn't have time to read Game of Thrones in one week. So I decided to read slowly and then start on the week 2 book. As it turns out I've already finished my romance book so I'm enjoying..."

That's what I did too. I'm not done with my romance book yet, but I'm going through it a lot quicker than I was with my week #1 book, so I can read both of them.

Done! Finally done! No more Goldfinch for me! How I do hate nihilism. Now onto romance!

Done! Finally done! No more Goldfinch for me! How I do hate nihilism. Now onto romance!

I'm so behind :( Holiday traveling a new semester of grad school about to start... but I have read well over 500 pages! My fault for picking a book with over 800 pages haha.

Finally finished my week one challenge. I read Night Film, and oh my goodness. I absolutely loved it. Very chilling at times. I would definitely recommend it if anyone still needed suggestions for a mystery/thriller later in the year.

I cheated far too much and instead of reading a longer novel, read Firestarter instead (maybe 300 pages, I didn't have 500 in me during the first week back of school.) I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, but I didn't find it that 'horrifying', at least, not in the monsters or mutilation way I usually associate with the genre.
I would recommend it, with the caveat that King really likes playing up the "mystic Native American" trope, something I find annoying and that he doesn't seem particularly aware. It's well paced and interesting and who hasn't thought about destroying enemies with the power of pyrokinesis?
This week wasn't difficult. I did spend a LOT of time reading though; I'm not sure if I'm going to have the same time resources in the future.