Tag: Reading Challenge 2019

2019 Reading Challenge Conclusion

Like 2018 and 2017, it’s been a mixed bag; but I must say that by challenging myself I am reading books that I never would otherwise, like reading Lolita in Tehran and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It’s also given my the opportunity to tackle those I was thinking about reading but never have, …

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
[Reading Challenge 2019]

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson Random House, 1972 (originally published in Rolling Stone magazine in 1971) [Challenge # 28 : A book everyone else seems to have read but you have not.] I’ve heard a lot about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, so that made …

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The Years of Rice and Salt
[Reading Challenge 2019]

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson Random House, 2004 [Challenge # 6: An alternate history] Kim Stanley Robinson’s alternate history novel The Years of Rice and Salt caused a sensation in the SF world when it came out in 2004. In this timeline, the Black Plague kills off the entire population …

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Reading Lolita in Tehran
[Reading Challenge 2019]

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi Random House, 2004 [Challenge # 48: A book mentioned or discussed inside another book.] Reading Lolita in Tehran is a book I remember seeing heavily promoted in past years, but I never thought to read it myself. It’s not often that I read a …

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Apples of Uncommon Character [Reading Challenge 2019]

Apples of Uncommon Character: 123 Heirlooms, Modern Classics, & Little-Known Wonders by Rowan Jacobsen Photographs by Clare Barboza Bloomsbury, USA, 2014 [Challenge # 18: A book where food, cooking, restaurants, chefs, etc. play a major role. ] I was all set to read American Pie as my foodie selection for the 2019 challenge, but then …

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A Murder in Thebes [Reading Challenge 2019]

A Murder in Thebes by Anna Apostolou St. Martin’s Press, 1998 [Challenge # 17: A historical of any genre. ] I’m not a big mystery reader, but I like historicals. The two put together like this book does provided a twist on what I already enjoy and gave me a history lesson to boot, though …

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Reading Challenge 2019 Update

All the books I’ve read for my 2019 Reading Challenge up to July, with ratings and links. 4. What you will read to your grandchildren: A children’s book (middle grade or younger). A Swiftly Tilting Planet, by Madeleine L’engle. 5. East meets West: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam) …

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The Last Samurai [Reading Challenge 2019]

The Last Samurai by Mark Ravina Wiley, 2005 [Challenge # 5: A book taking place in Asia (Turkey to Japan, Siberia to Vietnam.)] I really wanted to like this book. It’s a biography of Saigo Takamori, a Japanese historical hero who might be compared to Abraham Lincoln in American history, a down-home politician who embodied …

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A Wizard of Earthsea [Reading Challenge 2019]

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin Bantam, 1975 (originally published 1968) [Challenge # 49: A book you loved as a child.] Oh Earthsea, Earthsea, how little I knew thee! For my childhood revisit read for this years’ challenge, I chose Ursula K. LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea. I had read it way back …

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Being a Dog [Reading Challenge 2019]

Being a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz New York, Scribner, 2016 [Challenge # 9: A book with a dog on the cover.] Since I enjoyed Alexandra Horowitz’s first book, Inside a Dog, for its insights into the canines we share our lives with, I picked up Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of …

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