50 Book Challenge for 2011

[Annu]

21. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
22. War by Sebastian Junger
23. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer

The Christmas train was little bit North by Northwest, nice story about man who is travelling through America during Christmas. Lovely characters and I like how easily story goes on.

War is more like true story from American soldiers in Afganistan. It's more like Hurt locker style than usual hero material, there are excitement, companionship but also boredom and afraid. I don't know if this make me like war any better but surely gives little background while reading news.

Well, Bree Tanner, when this book was published I had no idea who she is even if I read all books. I like Twilight better films than books, and have to say that this book would have easy to forget. Nothing new, nothing worth reading.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

I have taken up multi-reading, for I am terribly behind on my reading schedule:

15 // Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
16 // My Booky Wook by Russell Brand
17 // The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

[saann]

I bought The Imperfectionists awhile back... excited to hear some reviews later!

So I finally finished it and it was ok, though I had to read the others in between so I don't think I gave it a fair shot. I didn't find it as great as the reviewers were going on about but I do think I would have found it better if I read it without interruptions. I would give it a 6.5/10

The other books I read while reading this are Faiza Guene's 'Du rêve pour les oufs' and Alan Sillitoe's 'Saturday night and Sunday morning'. Guene's book was a really good and quick read, I recommend it.

1-14
15. the Lover - Marguerite Duras
16. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
17. the Imperfectionists - Tom Rachman
18. Adam and Evelyn - Ingo Schultz
19. Du rêve pour les oufs - Faiza Guene
20. Saturday night and Sunday morning - Alan Sillitoe


I'm going to be taking a break just to finish some exams and then be back with book number 21

 

[ChrissyM]

the fact that goodreads is telling me i'm 3 books behind is giving me anxiety
i think i beat myself up too much though...

and all the books i have that i want to read are long! ugh...
i just have to keep things in perspective and figure i'll catch up when i'm not so busy...
i've got about 100 pages to go in the book i'm currently reading

 

[Susann]

nr.9 At Night under the Stone Bridge by Leo Perutz

 

[Belowen]

01: American Subversive by David Goodwillie
02: The Collector by John Fowles
03: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
04: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
05: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
06: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
07: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
08: The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan
09: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
10: The Odyssey by Homer
11: The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
12: The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
13: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
14: Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

15: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton​

16: The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham

17: Bossypants by Tina Fey​

18: Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

19: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
​

 

[ChrissyM]

B, how did you like Brief Interviews With Hideous Men? I tried reading it 5 years ago and never really got into it (I don't know if that's partially because I'm not great with short stories?)

 

[lucy92]

^i started to watch the "brief interviews..." movie and found it unwatchable.

i finally finished "anna karenina". it took me around 3 weeks to read which is quite a long time for me. i found it very readable, however there are some superfluous passages which pushes the book past 700 pages. tolstoy also reminds the reader who the different characters are which is good, because some of them have more than one name. its very worth reading, IMO.

 

[mari]

(31) Crome Yellow - Aldous Huxley
(32) A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
(33) Beastly - Alex Finn
(34) Beauty - Robin McKinley
(35) The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa
(36) The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

'Crome Yellow' and 'A Moveable Feast' went straight to my favourites list. They're both wonderful books and I highly recommend them.
I watched Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' again (love it) and then 'Beastly' (what was that? ughhh) and felt like reading different versions of the tale. 'Beastly' was far from good, but it had many funny moments that saved it from being a complete waste of time. 'Beauty' was such a fun, entertaining read! Robin McKinley made it so real and believable it's hard to understand how 'Beastly' could have been chosen over 'Beauty' for a movie adaptation.
'The Book of Disquiet' is one of the best books I've ever read. I've just re-read it and I can't get enough of it.
'The Hobbit' was okay. I know many people who love this book and I was thinking it would be this amazing, hello-new-obsession kind of book... perhaps my high expectations had a influence on my disappointment, but I'm planning on reading LOTR soon and hopefully it will be better!

 

[Belowen]

B, how did you like Brief Interviews With Hideous Men? I tried reading it 5 years ago and never really got into it (I don't know if that's partially because I'm not great with short stories?)

As is my experience with the short story collections that I have read in the past, I didn't love it. In fact there were probably only 5 or 6 stories within the whole collection that I enjoyed but I can't deny being utterly enthralled with the way that David Foster Wallace's mind worked. His talent is undeniable.

 

[ChrissyM]

^^i've definitely intended to pick it up and try again at some point... thanks for the mini-review!

we'll see if i manage to get to it this year

 

[Tinetush]

I've had a crazy year so far, and thus haven't been able to read much, but that is all going to change as of today. I just finished my exams, so I have plenty of time (right now)

I'll have to do some catching up on my reading and this thread is perfect as motivation.

1. Kommunikations- og kampagneplanlægning (Planning communication and campaigns) by Preben Sepstrup & Pernille Fruensgaard
2. Lord of the rings triology by J.R.R Tolkien
3. Harry Potter and the order of the pheonix by J.K. Rowling
4. Final Theory by Mark Alpert
5. Harry Potter and the half blood prince by J.K. Rowling
6. Communicating across cultures at work by Maureen Guirdham

 

[Alvedansen]

01. John Steinbeck - The grapes of wrath
02. Richard Matheson - I am legend
03. Joyce Carol Oates - Big mouth & Ugly girl
04. Ken Follett - The pillars of the earth
05. Haruki Murakami - Afterdark
06. Gayle Forman - If I stay
07. J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
08. Patti Smith - Just kids
09. J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
10. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The lightning thief
11. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The sea of monsters
12. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The titan's curse
13. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The battle of the labyrinth
14. Stephen Baxter - Ark
15. Markus Zusak - The book thief
16. Ethan Hawke - Hin und weg (original title: the hottest state)
17. Patrick Süskind - Der Kontrabaß (english title: 'the double-bass')
18. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt - Monsieur Ibrahim und die Blumen des Koran (english title: 'Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Qu'ran')
19. Eva Ibbotson - The secret of Platform 13
20. Justin Cronin - The Passage

now reading the fifth Percy Jackson

 

[Belowen]

^^i've definitely intended to pick it up and try again at some point... thanks for the mini-review!

we'll see if i manage to get to it this year

Maybe you could read one short story in between each book? That way you're sure to finish it by the end of the year

 

[iperlchen]

Just 4 books behind

01) Victor Pelevin - The Life of Insects
02) Albert Camus - The Stranger
03) Valerio Evangelisti - Magus, Il Presagio
04) Alain de Botton - Kiss & Tell
05) Haruki Murakami - Norwegian Wood
06) Alain de Botton - How Proust Can Change Your Life
07) Joost Zwagerman - Duel
08) Alain de Botton - The Romantic Movement
09) Alain de Botton - The Art of Travel
10) Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
11) John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
12) Paul Auster - The New York Trilogy
13) Simon van Booy - The Secret Lives of People In Love
14) Alain de Botton - Essays on Love
15) J.M. Coetzee - Disgrace (one of my favorite books I read this year)
16) Charles Dickens - Hard Times
17) Gustave Flaubert - Madame Bovary

 

[Alvedansen]

01. John Steinbeck - The grapes of wrath
02. Richard Matheson - I am legend
03. Joyce Carol Oates - Big mouth & Ugly girl
04. Ken Follett - The pillars of the earth
05. Haruki Murakami - Afterdark
06. Gayle Forman - If I stay
07. J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
08. Patti Smith - Just kids
09. J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
10. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The lightning thief
11. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The sea of monsters
12. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The titan's curse
13. Rick Riordan - Percy Jackson - The battle of the labyrinth
14. Stephen Baxter - Ark
15. Markus Zusak - The book thief
16. Ethan Hawke - Hin und weg (original title: the hottest state)
17. Patrick Süskind - Der Kontrabaß (english title: 'the double-bass')
18. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt - Monsieur Ibrahim und die Blumen des Koran (english title: 'Monsieur Ibrahim and the flowers of the Qu'ran')
19. Eva Ibbotson - The secret of Platform 13
20. Justin Cronin - The Passage
21. Daniel Glattauer - Gut gegen Nordwind (english title:Love virtually)

now reading the fifth Percy Jackson and 'A game of thrones'

 

[ChrissyM]

Maybe you could read one short story in between each book? That way you're sure to finish it by the end of the year

i think this may be the best idea i've heard all day!

great thinking... so i can avoid getting sick of too many short stories all at once. and totally achievable.

 

[Annu]

24. Sputnik sweetheart by Haruki Murakami
This was pretty good even thought story turned something else in the end.. But I love his writing style, it so light and easy

 

[kate_is_goddess]

I joined goodreads yesterday! Still haven't figured everything out yet, but it does tell me I'm 6 books behind
Go ahead and add me if you like, my user name is "hetzi"


1 // Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
2 // Limit by Frank Schätzing
3 // Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
4 // The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5 // Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
6 // Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
7 // The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
8 // The Collector by John Fowles
9 // The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett
10 // Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
11 // Slapstick! or Lonesome No More by Kurt Vonnegut
12 // Bei Einbruch der Nacht (L'Homme à l'envers) by Fred Vargas
13 // A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
14 // To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
15 // The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
16 // Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg
17 // My Booky Wook by Russell Brand

 

[Belowen]

01: American Subversive by David Goodwillie
02: The Collector by John Fowles
03: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
04: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
05: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
06: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
07: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
08: The Forest Of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan
09: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
10: The Odyssey by Homer
11: The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
12: The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
13: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
14: Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

15: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton​

16: The Day Of The Triffids by John Wyndham

17: Bossypants by Tina Fey​

18: Brief Interviews With Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

19: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins​

20: Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson