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

Well, I should be halfway there…but I’m not.

Bev at My Reader’s Block has called for a half-year check-in on her Mount TBR Reading Challenge. I pledged to read 50 books – the Mount Kilimanjaro level. So far, I’ve read only 15 books that were on my own shelves on December 31, 2011.

Bev asks:
• How many miles does that correlates to on the real mountain?

In this case 5,800 – that’s over a mile high so maybe I’m not doing so badly. But I still have a long way to go. (Mount Kilimanjaro is 19,340 feet high.)

• Who has been my favorite character so far?

In the books from my bookshelves (as opposed to new books & those borrowed from the library), I’d have to choose Rush Melendy from The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. I had a huge crush on Rush when I was pre-teen and I still think him to be talented, sensitive, and smart. All the things a girl could want in a guy. [sigh]

• Have any of the books I’ve read surprised me?

I was surprised that I had a dislike for Mickey Spillane that came from my gut. I like mysteries, I’ve read noir before, but Spillane was just too hard-boiled for me.

I was also surprised by Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. I’ve wanted to read that book for 40 years – and I should have done it when I was younger. Now, I just wanted to shake him and tell him to grow up.

This is for you, Bev – it’s not a poem, but it uses(with poetic license) 12 of the 15 titles on my list.

ONE LONELY NIGHT
a girl had
A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT DREAM
in which she saw
THE MAPPING OF LOVE AND DEATH
and
A SUITABLE BOY

Upon waking, she made in her heart
A PLACE FOR JOHNNY BILL
and they spent
THE SATURDAYS
of their youth walking
THE MARKET SQUARE DOG

When they retired from
(THEIR) FINANCIAL CAREER AND OTHER FOLLIES
they spent
THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS
in
WALDEN
while
THE COYOTE (SANG) TO THE MOON

So: only fifteen of the 54 books I’ve read this year met the criteria for this challenge.

Time to burn (well, maybe hide) my library card.

This year, have you read mostly borrowed books, new books, or old friends from your own shelves?

It’s summer now and time to take stock as to how I did with my personal reading goals in the Spring Reading Thing, hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days.

Katrina gave us some questions to help us sum up. Herewith, the answers, near as I can figure.

1) Did you finish reading all the books on your spring reading list? If not, why not?

I came up four books short of my eighteen book goal (missing Bertons’ Canadian Food Guide, Jane Eyre, Leacock: His Remarkable Life, and The History of the World in 100 Objects.) But I also read another 11 books that weren’t on the agenda. You can see my original list here.

2) Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along?

See the answer to #1.

The library books I just had to read (but that weren’t on my list) included A Dog’s Journey, The Land of Decoration, Gillespie & I, and Notes to my Mother-in-Law.

3) What was your favorite book that you read this spring? Why?

I’ve read some good books so far this year but I’ve most enjoyed The Colony Of Unrequited Dreams, a fictional account of the life of Newfoundland’s first premier, Joseph Smallwood. I just loved Wayne Johnston’s style of writing. I’ve read a number of novels set in mid-century Newfoundland outports, but this was my first exposure to the attitude and experience of the “city people” from St. John’s – and of the politics that led to Newfoundland joining Canada in 1949.

4) Did you discover a new author or genre this spring? Did you love them? Not love them?

I read my first really hard-boiled detective novel: Mickey Spillane’s One Lonely Night. It’s a genre I won’t be exploring further. I found the protagonist’s attitude toward violence to women very disturbing.

I also explored some modern African writing via African Love Stories: An Anthology. I was intrigued and will definitely be trying to expand my reading horizon to include more by African authors.

5) Did you learn something new because of Spring Reading Thing 2012 – something about reading, about yourself, or about a topic you read about?

I confirmed that I continue to be distracted by all the glittery new books I see. I think it’s a sickness, but at least it’s books and not Gucci bags.

6) What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

The Spring Reading Challenge really helped me get a chunk of my 2012 Required Reading done, so I’m that much closer to meeting the other 63 challenges I’ve entered this year.

I particularly enjoyed cogitating on question #5. So I’m interested – what about you? Have you learned anything new from your reading this year – something about reading, about yourself, or about a topic you read about?

Thanks to Katrina for hosting this challenge!

Y’all may have heard that C.B.’s TBR Double Dare is officially over as of April 1st. How’d I do?

As I’ve said recently, not as well as I’d hoped, even though I stuck to the rules. I did learn, though, what will make this more effective next year: a much smaller December 31st library holds list.

I also entered a number of other TBR challenges for this year. Here’s a quick update.

• I’ve successfully read two (of twelve) titles for RoofBeam Reader’s TBR Pile Challenge but have yet to post the reviews so they don’t qualify yet.

• I’ve counted six books for Evie’s TBR Challenge, but only three have been reviewed thus far.

• Bev helped me clarify what qualifies for the Mount TBR Challenge and I have six on that list, toward my goal of 50.

• And Bonnie’s Off-the-Shelf Challenge has easy-peasy rules, so I can count 13 titles completed there, out of 50.

The bottom line is: I’m off to a slow start on my reading and an even slower start on my reviews. I’m going to be drawing on my TBR pile for a while yet. Time for me to get cracking!

How are you doing?

Bev over at My Reader’s Block is calling for a mountaineering checkpoint – that is, progress on my Mount TBR Challenge.

Truth be told, although I stuck to the TBR Double Dare for these past three months, most of what I read were library books that had been on my Reserved list on December 31st.

Of the “owned” books I read, 3 were picture books, 3 were children’s literature for the Books That Made Me Love Reading challenge, 6 were e-books (do these count?) and 4 were review copies that I received in December. I may count these in this challenge or I may not.

But for now, the only books that I’m recognizing as “REALLY” part of my long-time mountain were:

1. My Financial Career and Other Follies by Stephen Leacock and
2. Walden by Henry David Thoreau

I’ve committed to the Kilimanjaro level of this challenge, which means I have to read 50 books from my TBR pile. Whether I count the picture books, children’s rereads, e-books & review copies or not, I clearly need to GET CLIMBING! Thanks for the check-in, Bev!

It’s the last Tuesday of the month, and time for the monthly poetry blog-along. Since Nova Scotia is shivering today in a frigid early-spring storm with strong northerly winds and blowing snow, I thought I’d make a call for spring by sharing this lovely classic of medieval poetry.

Westron wynde, when wilt thou blow,
The small raine down can raine?
Cryst, if my love were in my armes
And I in my bedde again!

Wikipedia says that this poem was used as lyrics to an early 16th century song which first appeared with words in a partbook of around 1530. Historians believe that the lyrics are a few hundred years older (‘Middle English’) and the words are a fragment of medieval poetry. (Here’s a sung version).

In a Globe and mail column several years ago, Fraser Sutherland pointed out that “twenty-five of [the poem’s] 26 words (the exception is “Christ”) have Old English, ultimately Germanic roots […] Twenty-four of the 26 words have one syllable, and the longest word has only seven characters.”

But, oh, what the poet did with those few letters! I have spent over 40 years wondering why these lovers were separated, and arriving at different conclusions at various times in my life.

What about you? Why do you think the author was apart from his (or her) love?

Katrina over at Callapidder Days is hosting her sixth annual Spring Reading Thing. It’s a fun, low-pressure reading challenge open to anyone and everyone. It will take place March 20th-June 20th (which is, not-so-coincidentally, the spring of 2012).

To participate, I need to create a list of some books I’d like to read or finish this spring. I have to list specific books. I can feel free to set some additional reading, but that’s optional.

Until March 31st, I’m still participating in C.B.’s Double Dare where the rule is that from Jan 1 to April 1, 2012, I can read only books that were in my TBR pile on December 31st. (Library books were allowed only if they were in my possession or on my holds list at 12:00 A.M. on Jan. 1.)

But it’s that “Library Holds List Loophole” that’s kept this challenge from being as effective as I had hoped. I thought I thinned that list in December, but it seems that there’s always something (completely within the rules) from the library demanding my attention and keeping me from making any real headway on Mount TBR.

So for the Spring Reading Thing, I’m committing to read a number of books from my December 31st TBR pile. Two are chunksters; and since there are still a couple of books coming from the library, I’ve included those. AND I’m including some books that were wins since January and that I’ve been anxiously waiting to start.

Currently reading:
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

From Mount TBR
White River Junctions by Dave Norman
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
The Canadian Food Guide by Pierre and Janet Berton
Stephen Leacock: His Remarkable Life by Albert Moritz and Theresa Moritz
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs, Book 7) by Jacqueline Winspear
One Lonely Night by Mickey Spillane

Library Books:
Broken Music: A Mystery by Marjorie Eccles
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor
Th1rteen r3asons why by Jay Asher

New arrivals (wins, gifts & ARCs)
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston
African Love Stories: An Anthology edited by Ama Ata Aidoo
Oxford Messed Up by Andrea Kayne Kaufman
Manners for Women by Mrs. Humphrey
Murder: A Crafty Business by Lila Phillips

I’m doing my level best to have these all read by June 20th. I’m also committing to keeping up with my personal Bible reading schedule. Let’s see how I do!

What about you? What are your spring reading plans?

The Classics Reading Challenge hosted by November’s Autumn is the one I’m calling “Classics with a Twist” – the twist being that on the fourth of each month, Katherine posts a prompt to act as a basis for my discussion of the classic I’m currently reading.

This month, the prompt is LOCATION – and the classic I’ve most recently finished is Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

In 1845, Thoreau spent two years living in a small cabin in the woods near Walden Pond, Connecticut Massachusetts. (oops! See comments.) In his classic discourse, Walden, the author discusses in some depth the economic theory behind his experiment in living, as well as minute observations about nature, including the pond itself.

After the introductory essays, Thoreau doesn’t so much introduce the location, as he does analyze it throughout the book. In fact, location seems inseparable to the book. It is, after all, called Walden.

This is how Walden Pond looked about the time Thoreau lived there. It would have been nicer to see this in summer when there were leaves on the trees – that is how I imagined it even though Thoreau talks in depth about winter and spring at the pond.

Would the book have worked as well if Walden had been located somewhere else? The southern US? Above the Arctic Circle? The Australian outback? Surprisingly (to me, once I started considering this), I think the basic premise of the book – which was Thoreau’s experiment in opting out of established society – would be as strong no matter where it was set. Certainly, the description of the changing seasons would have been replaced by other observations of the natural cycles.

What do you think? Is Walden Pond inseparable from the book Walden?

Kailana at The Written World and Lu at Regular Rumination have started a monthly poetry blog-along. On the last Tuesday of every month, I’m going to join in and blog (very) informally about some of the poetry that I’ve read over the past month.

In January, I posted some of Shakespeare’s thoughts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This month, I thought I’d lighten the academic aspect of poetry by sharing some rhyme from the children’s book, There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen by Sherrie Fitch (illustrated by Sydney Smith.

The opening page features a picture of monkey bedlam and reads:

There were monkeys / In my kitchen
They were climbing / Up the walls
They were dancing / On the ceiling
They were bouncing / Basketballs

BUT…
Let me tell you
It was terrible
Hardest day
I ever had
So believe me / It was bad
IT WAS BAD.

So begins a wild tale of monkeys of all sorts throughout the house. And lest you forget that it’s Canadian:

I called the police / I called the RCMP
I was extra polite / I said “Pretty, pretty please”
As I shouted out, / “HELP!
Ch-ch-ch-Chimpanzees!”

Lots of fun!

How about you? When was the last time you read children’s rhymes?

For Canadian readers:
There Were Monkeys in My Kitchen

At the beginning of the year, our three-year-old grandson and his mom were living with us. That encouraged me to sign up for a couple of challenges that I would not have otherwise considered: the Picture Book Reading Challenge and the 3660 Minute Challenge for which I must read 10 minutes each day to a child.

But Laura and Steven left suddenly mid-month as an urgent family matter called them back to Vancouver. That left me with only 130 minutes of reading time logged with Steven – and a keening for him in my heart.

So I decided to have a story-time with Steven by phone every day, rain or shine (a new term he learned reading Madeline). His mom puts the headphones on him and he lies on his bed or the floor while we talk – because it isn’t just about reading, is it? It’s about asking questions, learning new things, and finding out what your child is thinking. Our times have ranged from 10-20 minutes and most days he’s fully engaged even though he can’t see the pictures in the books.

I’m pleased with the ongoing contact I’m maintaining with my grandson and hope that soon he looks forward to Gram’s story-time every day.

Here’s what we read together in January before he left, with links to reviews for all:

1. Dog in Boots written by Greg Gormley and illustrated by Robert Angaramo

2. The Market Square Dog written by James Herriot and illustrated by Ruth Brown

3. Giraffe and Bird written and illustrated by Rebecca Bender

4. I Want My Hat Back written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

5. Coyote Sings to the Moon written Thomas King and illustrated by Johnny Wales

I told myself on December 31 that I had signed up for all the reading challenges that I was going to do…”no more,” I told myself. But challenges continued to trickle in in January and weaken my resolve and I saw a few that I could do without adding more than one or two titles to my burgeoning 2012 reading list.

The ‘challenge’ part is becoming keeping track of all—wait for it—63 challenges I’ve entered. Yup – that’s right-sixty-three. It’s hard to believe, I know, but there some that I really wanted to join but just couldn’t this year (for example: African, Middle East, Eastern European, Irish, Edgar Winners, Read the Bible…and so on)

Anyway, I promise that this is it. All the sign-up posts are up today and that’s it. From here on in, I read and review.

I hope you’ve had a great start on your reading year!