50 Book Challenge for 2011

[Neely]

Finished the Road a few days ago, it was my work's book club selection and I was the last to finish Now I need to find something to read for my second book of the year,,,

 

[fashionista-ta]

well i have to drive 30 min to uni by train, so that's 1 hour a day plus a little before i go to bed, but i gotta admit that there are way too many distrations at home (pc, tv, music) so i rarely read at home

fashionista-ta: i love potf (i'm 'only' re-reading it, because i loved it so much. first time in german, now in english, still about 500 pages to go, but that's my fave part of the book)

I read it with my book group, & was surprised everyone's fave character was the same--Ellen.

 

[xerq]

i haven't read in ages, i'm in.

 

[IAmLordZen]

i just finished reading 'A Gown of Spanish Lace' by Janette Oke and while I do not entirely recommend it for all to read, perhaps you will find the plot a bit too cliche for your taste, I found myself enjoying the saccharine-sweet, maybe even sappy, romance novel. Perhaps it is a much needed break from the Stephen King marathon I had before 2010 ended.

It helped that it was a Christian romance novel -- as I vowed to finish the Bible before the year ends (yeah, yeah, I'm a Bible freak but it's a really good book although I only enjoy reading certain parts like the Gospels and the Books of the Prophets in the Old Testament) -- so there were no sexual innuendos or any 'hot encounters' one would expect from typical romance novels. Just plain sugary romance which I really enjoyed.

The plot revolves around Ariana, a teenage pre school teacher, who was kidnapped by a gang of outlaws in hopes that he will awaken the man out of the boss's son Laramie. I think you could all guess what happened -- Laramie ultimately falls for her and decides that she needs to escape from captivity. He enlists the help of his friend and journeys with her to Montana to her uncle so she can stay there for a while. Laramie however is not comfortable with the idea of loving Ariana because of his past so he turns himself in and confesses to the police about his crimes. He also apologized to all the people he has wronged before. There's quite a different plot twist at the ending that will shed light to the book title.

Aaaannndddd despite the occasional rolleye, I found myself smiling throughout most of the book. I guess we don't see the type of a man who doesn't take advantage of a woman in TV nowadays, nor do we find women as sincere and as chaste as Ariana is. Haha. I give it a 4/5.

 

[papa_levante]

Does anyone have motivation for reading? I guess you could say that I am doing it for show until maybe I can actually work it into my real life, and eventually learn to love reading. I'm disappointed because I started To Kill a Mockingbird and didn't get past the first page.

I just hate reading.

 

[Alvedansen]

that might be the book (i seem to dislike american classics)

find a genre you like. do you prefer fast-paced, action-packed books? or rather character-based, find out which length of book you lik, a short, quick read or a bigger book with more detail and development. romance, crime, fantasy, scifi, fiction, non-fiction, (auto-)biographies...there's something for everybody, you just need to find out what you enjoy and then you'll easily find books that you can't put down.
maybe a series of books? you'll need to read the following books to know what happens to the characters etc.
the only website i can recommend to you is www.goodreads.com (or amazon, but i don't know exactly how that works) then click on "books" and you'll see lists with books of the same topic or on the side "genres" with books people put in that genre. click on the books and you can read reviews, maybe that will help you choose a book you'll really love

 

[misspistol]

I find many of the classics to be a hard read because they're written for an audience who only had books and relished never ending detail and passages that didn't necessarily aid the narrative. There are so many books with great stories that are weighed down to keep their intended audiences occupied (I find Charles Dickens and Jane Austen to be really guilty of that!). I can read a modern book in a few hours but classics take me a solid month!

 

[barbiestolemyDVN]

I think Jane Austen has been the only "classic" that I REALLY loved. Even Picture of Dorian Gray got me spacing out in certain sections. Usually I prefer fantasy adventure books, but sometimes stray to "classics" for the heck of it.

 

[loonaka]

Jane Austen makes me itch

 

[kito09]

Okay, I'm definitely joining. I love a good challenege, and completing 50 books within a year is certainly a challenge I welcome.

First book: The Postmistress by Sarah Blake.

 

[cloudyshambles]

i absolutely loved to kill a mockingbird!! one of my very favourites most books i find a little difficult at the start, i need some time to "get into them", but towards the end it's only getting better and better, especially mockingbird

 

[YoninahAliza]

I've read a few of the classics but their were only a few which I truly loved; Pride and Prejudice, The Catcher In The Rye (which in my opinion is brilliant!), Little Women, The Little Prince, and The Bell Jar. All the others were much harder for me to read. However, if you do want to read a "classic" try The Catcher In The Rye if you like witty writing and interesting characters. Also I think The Little Prince is one book which everyone should read, one would think its aimed at children but really their is a lot for adults to learn and love about it too.

 

[misspistol]

By classics I meant 1900's and earlier, authors like the Bronte's, Thomas Hardy, Tolstoy, that sort of classic.

 

[YoninahAliza]

Oh okay, sorry my misunderstanding! I suppose Little Women and Pride and Prejudice still count then though!

 

[e-v-elina]

for people who aren't really into classics, i'd recommend Thérèse Raquin. it's one of the better classics IMO and it's not that long either.

 

[from: sophia]

I know I am a late comer but I really want to do this! Reading Just Kids by Patti Smith started a few days ago.

 

[ParadEyes]

Currently reading: Beauty by Roger Scruton

 

[fashionista-ta]

I find many of the classics to be a hard read because they're written for an audience who only had books and relished never ending detail and passages that didn't necessarily aid the narrative. There are so many books with great stories that are weighed down to keep their intended audiences occupied (I find Charles Dickens and Jane Austen to be really guilty of that!). I can read a modern book in a few hours but classics take me a solid month!

Dickens, yes, but Austen? She is so well-edited. She isn't about plot, you always know they're getting together in the end. She's about irony. You have to read her novels at least twice to get all the irony, so maybe that's the issue. I know in my heart she is the best novelist of all time.

papa, maybe books just aren't your medium.

 

[papa_levante]

papa, maybe books just aren't your medium.

I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Of course, I can finish Holes by Louis Sachar because that is my favorite book. But it's a 6th grade reading level or something.

I want to read, but it is too difficult and I don't enjoy it. I dream of books on a shelf in my room and picking one up and enjoying it before bed, but books blow. I don't know which genres I even like!

I do know that 53 pages into a book I had been reading recently blew hardcore, so I gave up on it. I did start reading

fabaudrey.blogspot.com

but it really isn't a book. It has excerpts and photos and quotes, but I think that barely counts. It isn't as "substantial" as a book with "meat" in it. Naaaaa mean?

Oy.

I know this is all incredibly off-topic, but to be fair I did read one book. But the majority of it was photos and every chapter had one page of photographers' reflections.

 

[from: sophia]

^ Try reading Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote its a really fast read I read it in about 3 hours. Very different than the movie but it might be something nice and east to start with.