Monday, August 21, 2017

2017 Reading Challenge: August 21, 2017

I finished reading A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor for week 21 and loved it as much as I did book #1.  I'm restraining myself from starting the third book in this series, but I know that'll be on the "must read" list for sometime in early 2018 - or if I get the 2017 challenge finished up early.

I zipped through week #13's topic - a book recommended by one of your favorite authors: The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Durrseon. Author Gail Carriger, who wrote the Parasol Protectorate series, does a blog post usually once a month about some of her favorites and this was one she recommended.  A nicely written fantasy epic-type book, albeit a short read, but a caveat that there are some fairly intense sex scenes that are probably not to everyone's personal tastes.

I'm currently reading two books:
First up, Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adams for week #24 - a book with at least 2 authors. This nonfiction compilation of all sorts of social history tidbits from the late 18th and early 19th century is a fun read. Not a fast one, but I love all of the details in it about the world Jane Austen grew up in and the one which influenced her writing.

Secondly, via audiobook, I'm reading A Death in Sweden for week #15 - a book written or set in Scandinavia.  Sort of a cross between John Le Carre's writing style and the Wallander series, it's a bleak picture about the life of a former-CIA operative.  All kinds of intrigue and subtle tension that builds as the story goes along, I'm enjoying listening to this one as I craft in the evenings. A bit outside my normal sort of thing, but that's what the challenge is all about, right?

I'm starting to be a little bit worried about week #18 and actually getting that finished by the end of the year.  I think I'm going to try to get everything else completed and then, if I need to, I'll carry that over into 2018 as it's a LONG one.


The 2017 List
1. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2016: The Moon in the Palace by Weina Dai Randel.
2. A book with at least 2 perspectives (multiple points of view): Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce.

3. A book you meant to read in 2016: 
4. A title that doesn't contain the letter "E":  Longbourn by Jo Baker.
5. A historical fiction: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe.
6. A book being released as a movie in 2017:  Olive Kitteredge by Elizabeth Strout. 
7. A book with an animal on the cover or in the title: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.

8. A book written by a person of color: The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead.
9. A book in the middle of your To Be Read list:
10. A dual-timeline novel: The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor.
11. A category from another challenge: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier.
12. A book based on a myth:  Summerlong by Peter Beagle.

13. A book recommended by one of your favorite authors: The Lodestar of Ys by Amy Durreson.
14. A book with a strong female character: The Ornatrix by Kate Howard.
15. A book written or set in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland): A Death in Sweden by Kevin Wignall. 
16. A mystery
17. A book with illustrations:  Prairie Girl by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

18. A really long book (600+ pages): The Time Traveler's Almanac, edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer.
19. A New York Times best-seller: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
20. A book that you've owned for a while but haven't gotten around to reading: Just One Damn Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor.
21. A book that is a continuation of a book you've already read: A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor.

22. A book by an author you haven't read before:  The Secrets of Wishtide, by Kate Saunders.
23. A book from the BBC "The Big Read" list (linkPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
24. A book written by at least two authors: Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adams.
25. A book about a famous historical figure: The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg.
26. An adventure book
27. A book by one of your favorite authors: The Paris Wife by Paula McLain 
28. A non-fiction: The Lost World of the Old Ones by David Roberts.
29. A book published outside the 4 major publishing houses (Simon & Schuster; HarperCollins; Penguin Random House; Hachette Livre) - check all the editions.  Wool by Hugh Howey.
30. A book from Goodreads Top 100 YA Books (
link)
31. A book from a sub-genre of your favorite genre: Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster.
32. A book with a long title (5+ words, excluding subtitle):  I Shall Be Near to You by Erin McCabe.
33. A magical realism novel: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman.
34. A book set in or by an author from the Southern Hemisphere
35. A book where one of the main characters is royalty: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor.
36. A Hugo Award winner or nominee (
link): The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Kowal.
37. A book you choose randomly: A Book of Bees by Sue Hubbell.
38. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature
39. An epistolary fiction: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
40. A book published in 2017
41. A book with an unreliable narrator: His Bloody Project by Graeme McRae Burnet.
42. A best book of the 21st century (so far)
43. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold):  Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase.
44. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (
link)
45. A book with a one-word title: Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
46. A time travel novel:  Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon.
47. A past suggestion that didn't win (
link)
48. A banned book

49. A book from someone else's bookshelf: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguru.
50. A Penguin Modern Classic - any edition
51. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays) : Beyond the Woods; Fairy Tales Retold by Paula Guran.
52. A book set in a fictional location


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