TSS: 2010 Challenges Round-Up 1

So the year is coming to an end. Time to sum up the reading done. Since much of my reading has been for challenges I am going to start by wrapping up those challenges I have not yet written wrap up posts for. Since I took part in quite a few challenges I’m doing them in batches (also I am still living in a somewhat vain hope that I will get a few more books read before the end of the year and thus get in a few more challenges done).

My start of challenge post
Level: Suffragette (8 books, at least 3 non-fiction)
My List of Books:
Fiction

1. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
2. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (short story)
3. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren 
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
6. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal 
7. The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
8. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

Non-Fiction

1. Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl
2. Lilla Feminist-boken (The Little Feminist Book) by Sassa Buregren
3. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
4. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine
5. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent 

I enjoyed all the books I read for this challenge. The books that stayed with me the most though are Gaudy Night and Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers. I read Gaudy Night on the recommendation of several bloggers and although I enjoyed the earlier books in the series this one pretty much bowled me over. I stayed up late several evenings to read it. I really couldn’t put it down. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers was interesting from a different perspective as I felt that it gave me a nice insight into a world that I didn’t even know existed. In addition to this from a very geeky perspective, I found reading the methodology and reasoning for the methodology to be quite interesting. I am definitely glad I took part in this challenge.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read 3 Books
My List of Books:

1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal 
3. Haunting Bombay by Shilpa Agarwal

My favourite here was beyond a shadow of a doubt Haunting Bombay. It was really quite spooky but also very interesting. I will admit that I was disappointed by The Namesake. I really liked Interpreter of Maladies by the same author but this book suffered from not having a proper ending. You can tell that this story was originally meant as a short story. This is a challenge I will be repeating in 2011.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read 20 Books
My List of Books:

1. Young Adult
   1. My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
   2. The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson
2. T.B.R. **
   1. John Adams by David McCullough
   2. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
3. Shiny & New
   1. White Noise by Don Delillo
   2. A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
4. Bad Blogger’s ***
   1. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent
   2. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers
5. Charity
   1. The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson
   2. Emma by Jane Austen
6. New in 2010
   1. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb 
   2. Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Older Than You
   1. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
   2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. Win! Win!
   1. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
   2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
9. Who Are You Again?
   1. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
   2. The Distance Between Us by Masha Hamilton
10. Up to You! Memoirs
    1. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
    2. True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

I really enjoyed that this challenged made me read a wide variety of books. Since I have already spoken of my love for Gaudy Night I will comment on some other books I read for this challenge. I found True Compass to be absolutely fascinating. I am at times a bit of a political junkie and it was so interesting to hear about American politics in the last 50+ years from someone who saw it from the inside. Further this was an audiobook for me and I really enjoyed the narration. A Fountain Filled with Blood is part of the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series that I discovered at the beginning of this year and absolutely adore! I can’t wait for the next book in the series which is due out in April.

My start of challenge post
Level: Cashier at Ankh-Morpork Mint (3)
My List of Books:

1. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
2. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett 
3. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

I’ve loved Terry Pratchett for many many years and that particular love affair continues. Hogfather was a re-read that I enjoy reading around Christmas. The Last Hero was a beautifully illustrated book which I HIGHLY recommend. The illustrations elevated a great book to awesome. I enjoyed Unseen Academicals both because of its discussions of football (soccer) and it’s commentary on social classes. All of the books were fantastic.

My start of challenge post
Level: Read at least 4 Memoirs/Biographies/Letters/Diaries
My List of Books:

1. Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama
2. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton 
3. Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent  
4. The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson 
5. John Adams by David McCullough 
6. True Compass by Edward M. Kennedy

Since I’ve already talked about True Compass in this post I wanted to highlight two other books: Baby Catcher and John Adams. Baby Catcher was really interesting for me even though I have never given birth. The experiences of Vincent’s patients sound so incredibly different from all the birth stories I hear here in Sweden. Yes she has an agenda but still… John Adams was a very interesting look at American history. I have to admit that although I have a fair general idea of American history the two books by McCullough I have read have really helped me understand the history around the formation of USA. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history. This is another challenge that I am repeating for 2011.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Unseen Academicals

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Corgi

Category: Fantasy

Challenges: Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge, R.I.P. V Challenge

Synopsis: How can one write a synopsis for a Terry Pratchett book? I I feel like it is trying to herd cats. So bare bones here we go: It is about finding out about yourself. And also about how to make the street brawling previously known as football into a more elegant game played by gentlemen like the wizards, also about pie. And love. And fashion. But in a very Ankh-Morpork way.

My Thoughts: I loved the message of love and acceptance in this book. Acceptance of others but above all acceptance of oneself. And also not judging a book by its cover. All this done with Pratchett’s usual humour and insight.

As I said way back when in my Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge introductory post I wanted to read this book partially because of my life long love for football (or to use classic Pratchett Foot-the-ball). And I wasn’t disappointed. The explanation of the off-side rule was just brilliant! Not to mention the discussion of fans and who is really in charge of the game.

I will admit that I have not read these books in any sort of sequence (publishing or otherwise) but I had no problem following along in the sequence of things. The wizards, with the Archchancellor always in the lead, really need no explanation. Add to that the fact that the wizards are really background characters, and it matters little if you have read the previous books. The main characters in this book are (I believe) pretty new to the series, and if not that then expertly presented in this book. 

Although this book deals with football I don’t want the non-sports fans out there to shy away from it because of it. It is much more about other things. The football aspect is (and please excuse me, I’m about to put to use my behavioural psychology classes to use) much more about the dynamics of team work, about establishing new rules for old things and as I said in the introduction about finding and accepting yourself. All themes (and now the English teacher hat goes on) that are familiar to anyone, regardless of how you feel about sports.

Overall this was a fantastic book one I really recommend (even though Death only makes a cameo in it)!

Purchase Unseen Academicals from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Last Hero

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett

Illustrated by Paul Kidby

Category: Fantasy

Challenges: Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge and 2010 Challenge

Synopsis: Cohen the Barbarian is angry with the Gods for letting men grow old and die. With him he has the silver horde. They are all old. Their plan is discovered and the Wizards are asked for help in stopping Cohen and the horde. Yes they asked the wizards of the Unseen University. Mayhem ensues. A big bird is built. It is Pratchett what do you expect?

My Thoughts: Please excuse me while I go and sit in a corner and marvel over the pictures in this book for a while.

Thank you!

They are absolutely amazing.

Pratchett is Pratchett and I have much love for him and the illustrations in this book just makes the book even better. Pratchett’s writing is flawless as usual. All the normal characters appear with a cameo by Death pondering Schrodinger’s cat but he ultimately dismisses it because “I DON’T HOLD WITH CRUELTY TO CATS” (pg69).

As usual Pratchett’s book connects with something in our world (or several somethings), in this case the hero myth. In stories heroes never grow old and die. Yet a tenant of the hero myth seems to be that they are invincible. So what does a hero that has grown old do? Why he has to go down in a blaze of glory, that is what heroes do. This is the premise of this story. Throw in some Leonardo da Vinci, pardon me, Leonard da Quirm, the brilliant but slightly spaced inventor/painter and you have a story that is supremely recognizable yet very very fresh.

I’m going to go back to the illustrations for a bit (did I mention that they are awesome?) because they reminded me of my first contact with the Discworld. My first contact with the fantastic world of Terry Pratchett was sometime in the mid ‘90s when we played the Discworld computer game. I grew up playing PC games. And the Discworld was one of the games we played as a family with my brother or me at the controls and whom ever wasn’t controlling the game and our mum telling the controller what they should be doing (aka “helping”). We loved that game. Along with the Kings Quest games (primarily Kings Quest VI: Heir today, Gone Tomorrow). Anyway this was a side point to say that when I finally got my hands on the books a few years later (1998 or there about) I already had a familiarity with the characters. I knew how the world worked…or you know…What I guess I am trying to say is that computer games aren’t always bad, sometimes they are gateways into the world of books too. And I am glad that the illustrations in this book reminded me of that.

Back to the book: This is a fairly short book (175 pages) and I read it in one day. For anyone who is looking for a quick Pratchett fix this is a great read. I am however not sure that this is a good first book. It skates over some things that the longer books explain in greater detail such as why the wizards are the way they are. I’m glad I had a passing understanding of the world before I read it. And as always with Pratchett’s work it helps to be well read in general as much of his wit and irony would be lost on those who do not know our world.

Great book!

Terry Pratchett’s website

Copyright ©2009-2010 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Teaser Tuesday: The Last Hero

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“Lord Vetinari found it best to set up a committee system. More of the ambassadors from other countries had arrived at the university, and more heads of Guilds were pouring in, and every single one of them wanted to be involved in the decision-making process, without necessarily going through the intelligence-using process first.” (pg 38)

From The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett

 

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

2010 Challenges

All Challenges that end in 2010 live here. It will be update throughout the year as I finish books.

My start of challenge post

Level: Suffragette (8 books, at least 3 non-fiction)

My List of Books:

Fiction

1. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
2. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (short story)
3. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
4. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren 
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
6. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal 
   

Non-Fiction

1. Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl
2. Lilla Feminist-boken (The Little Feminist Book) by Sassa Buregren
3. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
4. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine 
   

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Read 5 books

My List of Books:

1. The Babysitters Club: Mary Anne Saves the Day by Ann M. Martin
2. A Horse Called Wonder by Joanna Campbell
3. Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery
4. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
5. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: The Unshepherded Path

My List of Books:

1. Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama
2. Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine
3. The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose 

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Read 3 Books

My List of Books:

1. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Lambda 4 Books

My List of Books:

1. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
2. En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Literati 6 Books

My List of Books:

1. Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb
2. Madicken by Astrid Lindgren
3. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
4. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
5. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
6. En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Cashier at Ankh-Morpork Mint (3)

My List of Books:

1. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
2. The Last Hero by TerryPratchett

Wrap up post

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Read 12 Books

My List of Books:

1. Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb
2. The Girl Who Played with Fire (Flickan som lekte med elden) by Stieg Larsson
3. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Luftslottet som sprängdes) by Stieg Larsson
4. Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb
5. Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb
6. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Ceremony in Death  by J.D. Robb
8. In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming
9. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
10. A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
11. Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming
12. To Darkness and To Death by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Read 20 Books

My List of Books:

1. Young Adult
2. T.B.R. **
3. Shiny & New
   1. White Noise by Don Delillo
   2. A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming
4. Bad Blogger’s ***
5. Charity
6. New in 2010
   1. Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb
7. Older Than You
   1. Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
   2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
8. Win! Win!
   1. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
   2. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal
9. Who Are You Again?
   1. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
   2. The Distance Between Us by Masha Hamilton
10. Up to You! Memoirs
    1. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Wrap up post

 

My start of challenge post

Level: Read at least 4 Memoirs/Biographies/Letters/Diaries

My List of Books:

1. Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama
2. Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

Wrap up post

My start of challenge post

My List of Books/media:

January: Freedom in Exile by Dalai Lama

February: None

March: Mias Systrar (Mia’s Sisters) by Maria Eriksson and Kerstin Weigl

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

What Actions did I take:

January: None

February: Entry into Water Race

March: Donate to BRIS

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

Wrap up post

My Start of Challenge Post

Level: Level 4: 10-15 POC books

My List of Books:

1. Freedom in Exile by the Dalai Lama
2. The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
3. Tracks by Louise Erdrich
4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
5. The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

Wrap up Post

The Sunday Salon: Terry Pratchett

What Caught My Fancy This Week
Today I bring you a goodie. A interview/town hall kinda thing with Terry Pratchett from the Guardian. He talks about Unseen Academicals which I haven’t read yet but I will be getting after Christmas, if I don’t get it from Santa. I particularly liked his comments about the fans of the books and fans of fantasy in particular. We are not all fourteen year old boys named Kevin.

If you have not read Pratchett I urge you to try some it is fantastic. His website is here and has loads of goodies and then come join us at Marg’s Reading Adventures for the 2010 Terry Pratchett Challenge which is in full swing!

 

I’ve recently reviewed Hogfather and Reaper Man and will be reviewing The Last Hero and Unseen Academicals during 2010.

Reading

The Epic of Gilgamesh I am having some mixed feelings about this particular translation. I am beginning to think that I need to read another translation and see how that looks.

 

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome by Susan Wise Bauer. Hoping to make some real headway with this now that school is almost over (I have some editing to do on my essay. I will do it today. Yes I will). I also have a galley copy of The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade that I am reading to review.


Reviewed

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

 

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

Challenges

I posted the last of my challenge sign-ups this week. I have one post left for organisational purposes and that will go up the last week in December.

Fun Stuff

Nothing super fun this week, but my mum has started reading The Year of Living Biblically by A. J. Jacobs. Apparently me reading sections out loud and laughing hysterically at others has meant that she wanted to read it to. SCORE!

 

Book Review: Hogfather

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Category: Fiction

Challenge: 2010 Terry Pratchett Challenge and 2009 Holiday Reading Challenge

Synopsis: From the back of the book “It’s the night before Hogswatch and it’s too quiet.

Where is the jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker…

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won’t be a morning. Ever again…

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: You’d better watch out…”


My Thoughts:
I have a great fondness for the Discworld novels in general and for novels about Death in particular. This novel was a re-read for me but it has been many years. It didn’t disappoint this second time around either.

Pratchett manages to paint a picture of a world that is profoundly different from the one we in habit but at the same time the world is exactly the same. He pokes fun at those traditions that everyone in the western world will recognize even if they themselves do not take part in them. Take for example this quote:

“Death looked at the sacks.
It was a strange but demonstrable fact that the sacks of toys carried by the Hogfather, no matter what they really contained, always appeared to have sticking out of the top a teddy bear, a toy soldier in the kind of colourful uniform that would stand out in a disco, a drum and a red-and-white candy cane. The actual contents always turned out to be something a bit garish and costing $5.99”  (pg84)

I guess that I am not the only person who looks at the pictures of Santa with a certain amount of scepticism.

Not to mention the fact that as the daughter and sister of computer nerds I loved all the sections with Hex (the machine the student wizards at the UU are building). I especially liked this exchange:

“I don’t actually think’, he said gloomily, ‘that I want to tell the Archchancellor that this machine stops working if we take its fluffy teddy bear away. I just don’t think I want to live in that kind of world.’
‘Er,’ said Mad Drongo, ‘you could always, you know, sort of say it needs to work with the FTB enabled…?’
‘You think that’s better?’ said Ponder, reluctantly. It wasn’t as if it was even a very realistic interpretation of a bear.
‘You mean, better than “fluffy teddy bear”?’
Ponder nodded. ‘It’s better,’ he said” (pg441)

He makes astute observations on what it means to be human and what we humans expect out of life.

The book contains all the usual suspects, including the senior wizards at the Unseen University, who, as per usual, manage to make the situation worse while thinking that they are making it better.

Apart from Death the main character of this book is his granddaughter Susan. Susan tries very hard to be a perfectly normal human, thankyouverymuch, but this is somewhat hard when your hair’s default position is a prim bun, you see imaginary monsters and you can do the voice. Susan ends up being the heroine of this book after her grandfather expressly tells her to not get involved.

As with most of Pratchett’s books you don’t really have to have read any of them before to understand what is going on, but it certainly helps.

I find it very difficult to review Pratchett’s books because his writing is so fantastic in its wit and irony. I sometimes wonder if you have to be a certain personality type to enjoy them. My best friend and I discovered them in high school and we are both cynical and ironic (as only two 17 year olds can be). Our favourite teacher was our very acerbic history teacher who definitely did not have rose coloured glasses on. In addition to this she taught us to observe humans and human behaviour so Pratchett’s books which are very much about the human condition fit very well into what we were already learning. I am naturally an observer of people and cultures and I find his observations to be spot on.

The Miniseries

There is also an excellent miniseries that I haven’t seen in a while but I highly recommend!

Teaser Tuesday: Hogfather

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 

“BUT THE HOGFATHER CAN CHANGE THINGS. LITTLE MIRACLES ALL OVER THE PLACE, WITH MANY A MERRY HO, HO, HO. TEACHING PEOPLE THE REAL MEANING OF HOWSWATCH, ALBERT.”*  (pg 232)

 

From Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

 

*For those who have not yet read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series I am not shouting. That is Death speaking.

Terry Pratchett 2010 Challenge: Introductory Post

I went through a period in high school when I read nothing but Terry Pratchett (and assigned reading). I loved the books. My friends and I loved to quote the books (especially Death). For some reason I stopped reading them a few years ago and reading Reaper Man earlier this year I realised how much I had missed them, so I was really excited seeing this challenge hosted by Marg. The Challenge rules are very simple:

The challenge will start from 1 December 2009 and run through to 30 November 2010. There are several different levels of participation for you to choose from:

1-3 books - Cashier at Ankh-Morpork Mint
4-5 books - Guard of the City Watch
6-8 books - Academic at the Unseen University
9-10 books - Member of Granny Weatherwax's Coven
10-12 books - Death's Apprentice

You can either be reading the books for the first time, rereading, or even watching the TV adaptations if you like! As long as everyone has fun I will be happy! Please also do not feel limited to only reading the Discworld books as any books by Terry Pratchett will count for this challenge.

For a full list of the Discworld books in publication order, check out this page on the author's website for his page at Fantastic Fiction. The number of books either written by Terry Pratchett or about his work is a bit mind boggling really.

 

I’m aiming for the Cashier level although I might upgrade as the year goes on, they are the type of books that are hard to put down. My tentative list is

Hogfather. The commentary on our holiday traditions in this one are hilarious! This is also a cross challenge with The 2009 Holiday Challenge. I might also watch the excellent miniseries.

Unseen Academicals. This is Pratchett’s latest book and as a life long fan of football* I really want to read this!

*That would be soccer to those of you on the other side of the pond

The Last Hero. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. I’ve had it for ages but for some reason never read it. Now it is taunting me. So it will be read.