pagesofjulia

My last update was at the beginning of June. Time to check in again.

Where Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books. The idea is to read one book from each of the 50 states within the 2011 year. (Bonus points are awarded for foreign locations.) Take a look at my map to see where I’ve been. So far, I’ve read in 25 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Washington DC, Wyoming) and 17 foreign locations (Canada: Toronto and BC, Wales, Mexico, Dresden, Dublin, Kenya, London, Nepal, Paris, St. Mark’s, Stockholm, Switzerland, Jerusalem, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Okinawa).

This has been a fun challenge because, so far, I’ve yet to start hunting down locations at all. It’s interesting to see where I’m reading. But soon… the pressure builds, and I think I’m going to have to start searching for some of these locations. It’s funny to see what’s been easy and what’s been difficult; I’m not surprised that Texas (home state), Louisiana (neighbor), New York, and California (big, important states) were easy to take care of. But I was surprised to see places like Nebraska and Connecticut get ticked off so easily. It will certainly be an interesting game to pull it all together in the final weeks of December!

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The Classics Challenge is hosted by Courtney at Stiletto Storytime, and I signed up for the bachelor’s degree level, meaning 10 classics in 2011. It’s been a great motivator for me this year. I’ve read:

1. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
2. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
4. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
5. Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein
6. Don Quixote by Cervantes (just part one for now, but the rest is to come, I promise)
7. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
8. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
9. Othello by William Shakespeare
10. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (just parts one and two so far, the rest to come by mid-October)

HEY look at me! I finished this one with months to spare! Yay classics! I did, of course, read a number of very short classics – the two Shakespeare plays, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Tender Buttons (short, but not quick!!), and Main Street of moderate length. But I think Gone With the Wind and Don Quixote should more than compensate. I think there will be more to come, too. Why stop here? (I did do some post-bacc English coursework after my BA and before my MLS. I guess I won’t stop at the bachelor’s level of this challenge, either. :)) I’ve got Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood going on audio as we speak!

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What’s In a Name? is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. The goal is to read books with certain title attributes.

• A book with a number in the title: 61 Hours by Lee Child
• A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: I wanted to get away with Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein but thought that might be stretching things a bit. So I finally came up with Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier.
• A book with a size in the title: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
• A book with travel or movement in the title: Running Blind by Lee Child
• A book with evil in the title: Very Bad Men by Harry Dolan
• A book with a life stage in the title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Wow! Another one! I tell you, when I started drafting this “challenge update” post I had no idea I’ve have 2 out of 3 completed this early. Very exciting.

So now it’s just down to the Where Are You Reading? challenge. I knew that one would be a doozy. Soon, it might be time to start seeking books out by state, sigh.

Filed under: book reviews, challenges Tagged: | classics challenge, lists, what's in a name?, where are you reading?