SUCCESS!

The Color-Coded Reading Challenge is one of my favourites. I spent most of year not knowing how I was going to get ‘yellow’ but finally found a book in September.

Did you participate in this challenge?

I needed to read a book with the following colours in the title:

Blue***Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan Completed Mar 2012
Red***Trixie Belden and the Red Trailer Mystery by Julie Campbell Completed Feb 2012
Yellow***Yellowthread Street by William Marshall Completed Sep 2012
Green***Falling Into Green by Cher Fischer Completed July 2012
Brown***The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton Completed Mar 2012
Black***The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham Completed Jun 2012
White***White River Junctions by Dave Norman Completed Mar 2012
Any other colour***These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder Completed Jan 2012
Implied colour***In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Completed Sep 2012

The goal in the Read Your Name Challenge was to read my name or the name of my blog in book title first letters. Since I was already in for the A- Z Reading Challenge, I figured I’d covered off every letter of the alphabet at least once. So, riding the wave of signing up for so many challenges, I super-sized this one and decided to read both my name and my blog name.

SUCCESS! (But just barely – man – those “E”s were hard to get!)

This was a lot of fun! What do you think of my choices?

D***Divine Ryans, The by Wayne Johnston
E***Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
B***Blizzard of Glass by Sally M. Walker
B***Birth House, The by Ami McKay
I***I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley
E***Echo Maker, The by Richard Powers

@***At Bertram’s Hotel by Agatha CHristie

E***11/22/63 by Stephen King
X***oXford Messed Up by Andrea Kayne Kaufman
U***Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
R***Recipe for Bees, A by Gail Anderson-Dergatz
B***Beggar’s Garden, The by Michael Christie
A***Absolutist, The by John Boyne
N***Notes to my Mother-in-Law by Phyllida Law
I***I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
S***Sisters Brothers, The by Patrick deWitt

SUCCESS!

This seemed like a fun challenge and one that is a bit different: instead of using book titles, it looked at the images on the covers of books.
To complete the Find the Cover Challenge, I had to find images on my book covers starting with the letters that spell out the year: Two Thousand Twelve.

But it really wasn’t that much fun. There are often so many different covers for a book that I felt as if I wasn’t connecting with anyone with my choices. Nonetheless, you can find my choices on my sign-up page.

SUCCESS!

Since there are so many enticing new series out there, this challenge was sure to be a cinch. I opted in at the basic level to read 3 series starts.

Although I exceeded my ‘start’ goal, I found only 1 series in 5 that I’ll invest any more time in – an interesting statistic to me.

1. The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller Completed Mar 2012
Set in post-WWI England and featuring Laurence Bartram, this is the only series I started this year that I will continue.

2. The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe Completed Mar 2012
I was hopeful for this series starring Hazel Micallef, chief of Port Dundas, Ontario police. It was solidly plotted but, ultimately, a little dark for me.

3. Yellowthread Street by William Marshall 1975 Completed Sep 2012

4. The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham 1929 Completed Jun 2012
The first in the famed Albert Campion series.

5. Death at the President’s Lodging by Michael Innes 1936 Completed Nov 2012
Inspector Appleby’s debut

SUCCESS!

I’m glad I took on this challenge because it helped me get caught up on some favourite series. I finished the three series I set out for myself, plus a fourth.

Chet & Bernie by Spencer Quinn
The Dog Who Knew Too Much Completed Aug 2012
A Fistful of Collars Completed Oct 2012

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear
The Mapping of Love and Death Completed Apr 2012
A Lesson in Secrets Completed Aug 2012
Elegy for Eddie Completed Aug 2012

Flavia de Luce by Alan Bradley
I Am Half-Sick of Shadows Completed Jan 2012

Bess Crawford by Charles Todd
An Unmarked Grave Completed Jul 2012

SUCCESS!

I entered this at the easy level, committing to one book from each of the seven continents. In fact, I read more than one in 5 of the categories.

Here are my official titles.

• Africa
African Love Stories, edited by Ama Ata Aidoo (various countries) Completed May 2012

• Asia
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (India) Completed Apr 2012

• Australasia/Oceania
The Secret River by Kate Grenville (Australia) Completed Feb 2012

• Europe
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyen Completed Mar2012

• North America
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield (Arkansas, USA) Completed Jan 2012)

• South America
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder (Peru) Completed Sep 2012)

• The Seventh Continent (here I could choose either Antarctica or my own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, history, the future – whatever).
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (space) Completed Sep 2012

SUCCESS!

I booked as a Business Traveler last year, committing to read at least three books set somewhere in the 50 sovereign states of Europe. In fact, I ended in a five star Deluxe Entourage!

Altogether I read a total of 10 books set in Europe, covering 5 different countries (7 countries if you break out the United Kingdom).

Germany: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyen Completed Mar 2012
Spain: Chickens, Mules, & Two Old Fools by Victoria Twead Completed Feb 2012
France: The Absolutist by John Boyne Completed Aug 2012
Iceland: The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesay Completed Jul 2012
United Kingdom (Wales): How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn Completed Oct 2012
United Kingdom (Scotland): Gillespie & I by Jane Harris Completed Apr 2012
United Kingdom (England): The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins Completed May 2012
United Kingdom (England): Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Completed Jul 2012
United Kingdom (England): Oxford Messed Up by Andrea Kayne Kaufman Completed May 2012
United Kingdom (England): The Return of Captain Emmett by Elizabeth Speller Completed Feb 2012

SUCCESS!

When I joined Swapna’s South Asian Reading Challenge, I committed to reading only two books. But what B-I-G books they were!

I’m happy to report success.

1. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (set in India) 1,488 page Completed April 2012

2. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (set in India & Pakistan) 536 pages Completed Oct 2012

SUCCESS!

I entered this at the “Sweet Tea” level, needing to read three books – and three books is what I’ve read.

Bring on the tea!

1. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (Kentucky and Louisiana) Completed January 2012

2. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake by Jenny Wingfield (Arkansas) Completed January 2012

3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (Texas) Completed September 2012

I think it’s time to start recording the results of my 2012 reading challenges. I thought I’d start with this one since I hosted it.

SUCCESS!

All of the books on my list but one were by new-to-me authors. The one repeat author is a favourite of mine. After a slow start, I did read all the books and greatly enjoyed them all except for the repeat author (go figure). This was my year to finally read Wayne Johnston for the first—and second—time, but not the last.

If you entered the challenge, please feel free to link your wrap-up post in the comments. If you don’t have a wrap-up post, then let me know in the comments how you did. Did you discover any new authors? Whether or not you participated in the challenge, tell me: Have you enjoyed any Canadian books this year?

Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize: (1991) The Divine Ryans by Wayne Johnston 5 stars

Canadian Authors’ Association Award for Fiction: (1999) The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston 4½ stars

Scotiabank Giller Prize: (2011) Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyen 4½ stars

Amazon.ca First Novel Award: (2002) Crow Lake by Mary Lawson 4 stars

Governor-General’s Literary Award: (1966) A Jest of God by Margaret Laurence 3 stars