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2009 ~ The Year of Reading Challenges
Before I take a look back at 2008, I’m looking forward to the year to come. I did not have more than a vague notion of what I wanted to accomplish in 2008. It was also somewhat of a turning point with my blog. I started it as a means to chronicle my goal of reading 52 books in 2007. With no clear vision and with ARCs starting to pour in, my idea of reading 12 tomes did not get farther than a couple hundred pages into Anna Karenina. This year is going to be different.
Now that my ARCs are more under control, I’m making 2009 my year of reading challenges.
Book Award Challenge II: I joined this challenge earlier this year. I haven’t really gotten started with it, but there is still time to complete this challenge. I have really wonderful books waiting for me.
War Through the Generations: I joined this challenge as soon as I read Serena and Anna’s announcement. This year the focus is WWII and I’ve challenged myself to read 6 books this year that focus on that. I may end up reading more, but I didn’t want to over extend myself. See, I have learned much from my ARC crisis this year. 
ARC Reading Challenge: Speaking of learning from my ARC crisis, I don’t want to get back into that place again. I joined this challenge because it was definitely for me. I am going to read at least one ARC per month in 2009.
Dewey’s Reading Challenge: Today I am officially joining Dewey’s Books Reading Challenge. I am going to read one of the books Dewey reviewed throughout the life of her wonderful blog, The Hidden Side of the Leaf. Here are the books I selected by year:
2003 Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
2004 Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos
2005 Old School by Tobias Wolff
2006 Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
2007 Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
2008 Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier
So, 2009 is shaping up to be a great reading year. I’ll have some award winning books, some books about WWII, some of Dewey’s books, and maintaining control of my ARCS (which 7 to 8 times out of 10 are good books). I’m looking forward to what lies ahead.
What are your reading plans for 2009?
Who the Tudor Are You?
I found this fun quiz sponsored by The Tudors on today’s Early Buzz on PopCandy (thanks Whitney!). It’s entitled “Who the Tudor Are You?” and after answering a few simple questions, it identifies who you would be in Tudor England. To my surprise and shock (being Roman Catholic and all…), I am a Bishop and can expect to live for another 11 years so long as I keep the King happy – lucky me:
Who the Tudor are you?
#132 ~ The Conqueror
The Conqueror
The Conqueror tells the story of William the Conqueror, from his bastard birth, to his life as the Duke of Normandy, and finally to his triumphant rise to the throne of England. Given the circumstances of William’s life and the political climate of both Normandy and England in the 11th century, this is quite an undertaking.
After reading The Reluctant Widow, I was very excited to start The Conqueror. My thinking was that if I loved her Regency Romances, I would really love her historical fiction. I was mistaken. Unlike The Reluctant Widow, this novel took me over a week to finish. This was mainly due to the slow and inconsistent pacing of the plot. While much time and energy was spent on William the Conqueror’s numerous battles, very little was spent on his relationship with Matilda or who he really was as a man. This lack of character development was true throughout, filling pages with numerous supporting characters between whom I could not readily distinguish. For me, they further bogged down the story and made it seem even that much longer than it really was.
There were flashes of Heyer’s brilliance when she tells of the circumstances of William’s birth, when she introduces Raoul, the fictional man through whom we meet William as a man and learn of his exploits, and when she tells of William’s “courting” of Lady Matilda. I also found it interesting to learn of ways in which William modernized the warfare of the day through strategy and the inclusion of archers. Clearly, William is a man capable of capturing the imagination of readers nearly a full century after his full and adventurous life. Unfortunately, this potential was lost to me amidst the superfluous characters and many of the battles in Normandy that did not add to the plot or provide any additional insight into William or, for that matter, Raoul or Matilda.
While The Conqueror did not engage me or take me away to time and places of William’s life, I am glad to have read it. This novel is best approached as one to read over a period of time. It would be interesting to read this in chapters or sections as a prelude to a thorough biography. I am curious to learn more about William, Matilda and and the lives of their children. In that way, this novel was a success. I hope to find a good book that focuses on the life that William and Matilda shared. If you have any suggestions, I would be most appreciative.
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To buy this novel, click here
SantaThing
Thanks to a fun post written by Fyrefly, I found out about SantaThing, a wonderful Secret Santa type of book exchange facilitated by LibraryThing. I received my SantaThing books yesterday and I’m so exicted! I got Charity Girl by Georgette Heyer and The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman. I am loving Georgette Heyer these days (review of The Conqueror coming soon), so Charity Girl is right up my alley. I haven’t heard of The Dress Lodger before, but it sounds really good. Many thanks to my Santa.:)
I also had fun playing SantaThing, too. I selected The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. She likes a combination of literary and historical fiction, so The Monsters of Templeton was the first thing that came to my mind. To fulfill her literary fiction needs, I thought the combination of F. Scott Fitzgerald and a current Brad Pitt movie would hit the spot. I’m looking forward to reading that myself next year.
I think that SantaThing was a huge success and I’m looking forward to participating again next year. For the LibraryThingers out there, did you participate? If so, tell me all about your loot!
Bob "Literate Housewife" Cratchit
I walked into work this morning at 9:15. This is what temperature it was inside:
It was 58.2 when the first person came in to the office. Here is my response to this situation:
Another piece of coal, please!?!?!?!??! You think I’m exaggerating? Here are some of my other co-workers:
Need I say more? Happy Festivus everyone!
Does Size Matter?
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. What about by the length of its chapters?
After finishing The Conqueror over the weekend, I started reading Loving Frank. Content completely aside, the books are like night and day. The Conqueror is broken down into four sections with five to six chapters each. I wouldn’t consider any one of those chapters especially long (some of them may have felt that way), but I often found myself flipping the pages to find out when each chapter ended. Loving Frank, on the other hand, has extremely short chapters of just a few pages. In a way, this was like a breath of fresh air because it was easy to find stopping places when needed. Overall, it feels chaotic.
Every time I pick up a book to read I look to see what the last page number to determine the half way point. I’ve always done it and although I can’t specifically say why, I always knowingly do it. Perhaps it’s for a sense of accomplishment or figuring that the mid-point can signal when the plot is going to take an upswing. Regardless, it’s something of a ritual for me that eases me in to a book. This weekend, however, was the first time I really gave much thought to the distinctions I make with chapters and how I use them to pace myself. This too appears to be a part of my reading ritual.
When I’m reading a book that I love, I often tell myself that I’ll stop at the end of a chapter when I need to pry myself away (usually when I need to go to sleep). This works about 10% of the time the first time I make that decision, 50% the second time, 65% the third time, and if I haven’t put the book down after the fourth time I have this little conversation with myself, I won’t put it down at all. I use the same technique when I’m tired and I really need to read more than I feel like to keep on schedule or if I’m not enjoying the book (can you say Melmoth the Wanderer?). No matter how a novel is structured, I do semi-consciously keep track of that throughout each book, whether or not I’m enjoying it. This works really well when there are moderate to large size chapters involved. It’s not so convenient for chapters that are just a couple of pages and this is a little disconcerting for me. This will not make or break a novel for me. It will be more like reading a beloved novel in a slightly uncomfortable chair. Does that make sense?
Am I alone in this? When you’re reading a book, how much are you impacted by length of a chapter? Do you prefer short chapters to long? Vice versa? Do you have other rituals during your reading?
Mailbox Monday ~ 12.22.08
A ton of stuff came in over the past week or so… Wow!
In the stores during holiday shopping I picked up the following:
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer
Black Sheep by Georgette Heyer
To Hold the Crown by Jean Plady
I snagged the following from November’s Early Reviewers:
Etta by Gerald Kolpan
I am hosting a couple of book tours next month and the following book arrived last week for a date toward the end of January:
The Sinner’s Guide to Confession by Phyllis Schieber
The following all arrived from the publisher:
A Silent Ocean Away by Deva Gantt
The Firemaster’s Mistress by Christie Dickason
The Jewel Trader of Pegu by Jeffrey Hantover
With Violets by Elizabeth Robards
My Mistress’s Sparrow is Dead edited by Jeffrey Eugenides
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (can’t wait to see the movie after I read it!)
Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West
Last but not least, I always forget to use my Audible credits because it takes me so long to get through one book. So, last night I went hog wild with three credits and downloaded:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stroud
What’s been in your mailbox?
#131 ~ The Jewel of Medina
The Jewel of Medina
A’isha is a 6 year old girl who, after her parents betrothed her to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, was required to remain in her family home until she had her first menstrual period. For an adventurous girl such as herself, she is tortured by the limitations placed on her simply because she was betrothed. She dreamed of escaping to freedom with the Bedouins with Safwan, her childhood friend during the entire length of her purdah. When she witnesses a woman from her clan dragged away by a man who would disgrace her as well, A’isha can barely contain herself from taking up a sword and defending her neighbor herself. She may have been young and she may have been a girl, but she had the heart of a warrior. It was this spirit which caught the eye of Muhammad and changed her destiny.
I first heard about this novel in August when it was reported that Random House was pulling its publication for fear of angering Muslims and perhaps inciting violence. This reminded me of the events surrounding Salmon Rushdie and The Satanic Verses. I found the decision disappointing. Self-censorship out of fear of what might happen is in some ways worse than forcible censorship because it isn’t always as visible. How many other books have never been published out of fear? Thankfully, it was finally published by Beaufort Books in the United States. When I snagged a copy of this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, I was very curious to see just what it was that caused such a large publisher to back down. This is a novelization of a portion of Muhammad’s life through the eyes of his most notorious wife. Still, he was portrayed with warmth and empathy. His charisma and love of Allah are obvious, but so is his humanity. While I suppose any fictionalization of Muhammad may anger some Muslims, no offense was intended. Canceling this publication was much ado about nothing.
As most established religions have struggled against the treatment of women and their roles in society, A’isha’s character is especially interesting as (to Western eyes) Muslim women seemed to be the most imprisoned by their faith, family, and spouse. The only issue I had with this novel was the story line surrounding the way in which the rules surrounding facial covering became part of Muslim life. Making a vision seem convenient to Muhammad felt like an “easy out” that was not at all in line with his character. I do not know exactly how this came to be part of the Islam faith, but it seems to have sprang more from the existing culture than from Allah.
The Jewel of Medina is a fast paced and engrossing look at the beginnings of Islam through the eyes of a young girl who eventually becomes the third wife of the Prophet Muhammad. At the beginning I was reminded of The 19th Wife because of the common themes of plural marriage and being married to a prophet. The 19th Wife and The Jewel of Medina are both ambitious novels attempting to provide insight on the origins of world religions through the stories of the women involved. Interesting that both novels would be published this year. For me, Jones’ novel worked where Ebershoff’s did not. From the moment that A’isha is married to the much older Muhammad, I could not put the book down. This novel’s insights into living among sister-wives were more compelling and, as there is only one voice telling the story, the reader is always fully aware of the opinions coloring the story. While we can’t truly understand today without knowledge of the past, by leaving the modern out of The Jewel of Medina Sherry Jones brought early Arabic culture and the roots of Islam to life without much of the cynicism of today.
I cannot recommend this novel enough. It is a wonderful way to learn about the origins of Islam through the eyes of a complex and strong young girl and then woman. A’isha does not conform to my ideas of a typical Muslim woman anymore than she did during her day and age. She had to fight for her place in Muhammad’s harim and for the place of women in her society. Being so much younger than her husband, A’isha’s story does not end upon Muhammad’s death and I am eagerly waiting for the sequel. The Jewel of Medina, like all of the historical fiction I’ve enjoyed, has peaked my interest in Islam, Muhammad and his wives. I absolutely enjoyed the adventure and I’m sure you will, too.
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To buy this novel, click here
Historical Fiction Lovers Book Club
I really am enjoying Book Clubs on Facebook! I set up a book club for historical fiction called Historical Fiction Lovers and our first novel is going to be Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. One of my high school classmates suggested it a few months ago. I’ve been to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater near Ohiopyle, PA, but I had no idea that he was involved in a scandalous affair while working on a house in Grand Rapids, MI – my hometown! This makes me even more excited to read this novel.
What’s nice about having the book club on this application is that it allows for a wall like your Facebook profile, has a discussion board, and has a neat built in discussion guide form that each member can fill out. Based on everyone’s responses, you can really start some great conversations. I definitely like this more than just a stand alone forum. I think you will, too.
So far, ten people have signed up, but there’s always room for more! We’re going to begin our discussion on January 5th. If you’d be interested in joining us, here is a link to the club. You do need to be a member of Facebook, but it takes just seconds to join. I’d love to have you. If historical fiction isn’t your thing (for shame!), there are currently 52 other book clubs. Best of all, you can always add your own.
2009 ARC Reading Challenge
So Many Precious Books, So Little Time is sponsoring a reading challenge specifically for ARCs. This is right up my ally since I’ve been trying to make my pile more manageable over the past couple of months.
Here are the rules:
1. To sign up, leave a comment (here) and a direct link to your blog post about this challenge that includes your list from rule #2.
2. List all of the ARC’s that you have to read right now. Then throughout the year, you must continue updating that list as you receive more ARC’s. (This is important). You should also strike out the ones that you finish.
3 a. All of us who have or will have more than 12 ARC’s must read and review 12.
3 b. All of us who have or will have less than 12 ARC’s must read all of the ARC’s we have. Note, that if you have 11 ARC’s and then receive a 12th one you will be bumped up to category a.
4. You don’t have to make a list of which ARC’s you plan to read, but you can if you want.
5. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed and Audio-books are allowed as long as they are ARC’s.
6. Read the books and review them on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, you can post your review on sites like Powells, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Leave a comment on this post with a link to each of your reviews.
7. Please subscribe to my blog, as I will be posting updates to the challenge periodically.
8. Enjoy!
Note of clarification: The term ARC is used loosely. Anything sent from a publisher or author is an ARC for this challenge because they are sent to us with the expectation that we will review them.
Here are my ARCs:
a. Tomato Girl
b. The Triumph of Deborah
c. Kept
d. Revolutionary Road
e. The Second Elizabeth
f. Broad Street
g. Etta
h. The Sound of Butterflies
i. The Book Borrower
j. Annette Vallon
k. Bedlam South
l. The Sinners Guide to Confession
m. Death and the Devil
n. Soul Cather
0. The Grass Singing
p. The Firemaster’s Mistress
q. A Silent Ocean Away
r. With Violets
s. The Jewel Trader of Pegu
t. Mermaids in the Basement
That’s 20 books, so I’m definitely in the read 12 books category. My plan is to read them in this order through the end of January. After that, I’m going to mix them in with other books from my library. If you have ARCs, I’d love it if you would join us!
Book Blogger Con
Have you heard about the 1st Annual Book Blogger Convention that will be held in NYC during the BEA? You should check it out. I know it will be a fantastic experience. Unfortunately I won't be able to attend due to family obligations, but I'll be trolling blogs for up to the minute news.
WE Magazine’s A Woman Blogger to Watch
Literate Challenges
What's in a Name? 3
Random Reading Challenge
