Reading Challenge 2015

In the home stretch!  This week I finished Muse which is a historical fiction novel about the woman who fathered the poet, Petrarch's, children.  Set in 14th century Avignon, this story imagines what type of young woman was the mother of his children, and follows this character, Solange Le Blanc, from her days in a nunnery where she learned to be a scribe, through her years as Petrarch's mistress, and eventually her return to the nunnery where she grew up.  It ties in all sorts of great history including the years when the plague came to Avignon, and Pope Clement's reign in the city during that time period.  There is virtually nothing known about the actual woman who was the mother of Petrarch's children, but this story ties in enough details of the time to create a believable character.  I really enjoyed this one. 

You'll also note that I read a graphic novel this week.  I'll come clean here and say I don't "get" these.  Are they comic books?  Regular books?  So I decided I would find a freebie on Amazon - which I did - Saltwater Witch - and read it.  I LOVED the first 4 pages; gorgeous underwater watercolors with beautiful colors and just a touch of the macabre.  And then the text started and it lost me completely - an orphan teen getting tormented and beat up in her group home.  Good thing it was only 35 pages.  I'm not sure I could have gotten thru much more. 

And I am on to my final novel, The Last Unicorn.  Peter Beagle's fantasy book about the last remaining unicorn.  (The main issue with the bad reviews I read was that it had "too much magic" in it, which is what I love about it.)  I'm planning to finish that one up this week and then I'll be ready to start the new challenge list in 2016 when the new year arrives!

WEEKS & TOPICS

1. a book with more than 500 pages: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth. FINISHED.

2. a romance: Katherine by Anya Seton. FINISHED

3. a book that became a movie: The Hours by Michael Cunningham. FINISHED.

4. a book published this year: The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck.  FINISHED.

5. a book with a number in the title:  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. FINISHED.

6. a book written by someone under 30: Eragon by Christopher Paolini. FINISHED.

7. a book with nonhuman characters:  The Greyfriar by Susan Griffith.  FINISHED.

8. a funny book: Bossypants by Tina Fey.  FINISHED.

9. a book by a female author: Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson.  FINISHED.

10. a mystery or thriller:  Séance in Sepia by Michelle Black. FINISHED.

11. a book with a one-word title: East by Edith Pattou.  FINISHED.

12. a book of short stories:  Tapping the Dream Tree by Charles deLint.  FINISHED.

13. a book set in a different country: The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak. FINISHED.

14. a nonfiction book:  The Fossil Hunter by Shelley Emling.  FINISHED.

15. a popular author's first book: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.  FINISHED.

16. a book from your favorite author that you haven't read yet: Forests of the Heart by Charles deLint.  FINISHED.

17. a book a friend recommended: Botelo by Alyson Hagy. FINISHED.

18. a Pulitzer-prize winning book: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. FINISHED.

19. a book based on a true story: The Wild Princess by Mary Hart Perry.  FINISHED.

20. a book at the bottom of your to read list: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J Watson.  FINISHED.

21. a book your mom or dad loves: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  FINISHED.

22. a book that scares you: The Blackhouse by Peter May. FINISHED.

23. a book more than 100 years old: Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.  FINISHED.

24. a book based entirely on its cover: Twilight of Avalon by Anna Elliot. FINISHED.

25. a book you were supposed to read in school but didn't: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. FINISHED.

26. a memoir:  Two Rings by Millie Werber and Eve Keller.  FINISHED.

27. a book you can finish in a day:  India Black by Carol Karr.  FINISHED.

28. a book with antonyms in the title: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt. FINISHED.

29. a book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: Iceland by Betsy Tobin. FINISHED.

30. a book that came out the year you were born: Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser. FINISHED.

31. a book with bad reviews: The Last Unicorn.

32. a trilogy (the first):  Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clarke. FINISHED.

33. a trilogy (the second) Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clarke.  FINISHED.

34. a trilogy (the third)  Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clarke.  FINISHED.

35. a book from your childhood: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell.  FINISHED.

36. a book with a love triangle: Muse by Mary Novak. FINISHED.

37. a book set in the future: Cinder by Marissa Meyer. FINISHED.

38. a book set in high school: The Small Rain by Madeline L’Engle.  FINISHED.

39. a book with a color in the title: Scarlet by A.C Gaughen.  FINISHED.

40. a book that made/makes you cry:  Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. FINISHED.

41. a book with magic: Grave Witch by Kalayna Price.  FINISHED.

42. a graphic novel:  Saltwater Witch, book 1, by Chris Howard.  FINISHED.

43. a book by an author you've never read before:  My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.  FINISHED.

44. a book you own but have never read: The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. FINISHED.

45. a book that takes place in your hometown: Magic America by C.E. Medford. FINISHED.

46. a book that was originally written in another language: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende. FINISHED.

47. a book set during Christmas (or similar holiday): A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas.  FINISHED

48. a book written by an author with your same initials: Silver Lies by Ann Parker. FINISHED.

49. a play: The Odd Couple by Neil Simon.  FINISHED.

50. a banned book: Beloved by Toni Morrison. FINISHED.

51. a book based on OR turned into a tv show: Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs. FINISHED.

52. a book you started but never finished:  The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes. FINISHED.