100 + Reading Challenge - Completion Post

2010 was the first time I'd participated in the 100+ Reading Challenge. While I didn't make it to 100 books, I reached my 3rd highest book total. I finished 68 books in 2010.

The books I read are:
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee - Rebecca Miller
Good Luck Girl - Kerry Reichs
Invisible - Paul Auster
The Innocent - Harlan Coben
The Best Day of Someone Else's Life - Kerry Reichs
The Portrait - Willem Jan Otten
The Wild Things - Dave Eggers
50 Ways to Find a Lover - Lucy-Anne Holmes
The Wonders of a Godless World - Andrew McGahan
A Single Man - Christopher Isherwood
Astrid & Veronica - Linda Olsson
Saturday - Ian McEwan
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
Ice - Louis Nowra
Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Suspect - Michael Robotham
Death of a Gossip - M.C. Beaton
Death of a Cad - M. C. Beaton
Death of a Snob - M. C. Beaton
Death of a Glutton - M. C. Beaton
Death of a Prankster -M. C. Beaton
Death of a Perfect Wife -M. C. Beaton
Death of a Hussy - M. C. Beaton
Death of an Outsider - M. C. Beaton
Tell No One - Harlan Coben
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
A Fair Maiden - Joyce Carol Oates
The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid
Death of a Traveling Man - M. C. Beaton
Death of a Charming Man - M. C. Beaton
Death of a Nag -M. C. Beaton
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Who Moved my Blackberry - Lucy Kellaway
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Marked - P.C & Kristin Cast
Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
Betrayed - P. C & Kristin Cast
Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone - J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
The Short Life of Bree Tanner - Stephenie Meyer
Horror High: Toxic Beauty - Caroline B Cooney
Green Angel - Alice Hoffman
Foretelling - Alice Hoffman
Tamburlaine Must Die - Louise Welsh
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Restaurant at the End of the Universe - Douglas Adams
Sam Silverthorne: Quest - Gary Crew
In The Miso Soup - Ryu Murakami
The Burning Wire - Jeffrey Deaver
The Murder Farm - Andrea Maria Schenkel
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Elmore Leonards 10 Rules of Writing - Elmore Leonard
My Name is Memory - Ann Brashares
The Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark
Life, The Universe and Everything - Douglas Adams
The Lost Mother; a story of art and love - Anne Summers
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed - Alan Alda
Spare Room - Helen Garner
Snow Country - Yasanari Kawabata
The Mercy of Thin Air - Ronlyn Domingue
People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
Player One - Douglas Coupland
White Cat - Holly Black
How to Live Safely in a SciFi World - Charles Yu
Generation A - Douglas Coupland
Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K.Rowling
Preincarnate - Shaun Micallef

Alpine for You - Maddy Hunter

Alpine for You is the first of the Passport To Peril Mystery series by Maddy Hunter.


About the Book
Emily Andrew is on a Seniors tour of Switzerland with her grandmother. Things aren't going right on tour from the start with her being assigned to room with Andrew Simon, the tour escort. Things don't get much better as the tour goes on... bad rooms, wet watches and lost luggage... and people on the tour start dying. The only good thing that happens is meeting Etienne Miceli.


My Thoughts
I quite liked this book because it was set in Lucerne and reminded me of the Swiss part of the European Tour I did in 2010. In fact I think I stayed in a hotel similar to the one in the book. The rooms were disappointing, and the food not so good! However the scenery was lovely! There were a couple of annoying things in the book - what was with Emily getting her watches waterlogged? It happened 3 times and never went anywhere. It's also odd to read about film cameras now. My favourite character was Marion Shippel, Emily's grandmother.

Diary of a Mad Bride - Laura Wolf

I finished the first book for 2011!


About the Book
Amy Thomas was not sure that she wanted to get married. Her friend Mandy was driving her mad with endless phone calls about her wedding, making Amy vow to not be the same type of bride. Then Amy's boyfriend proposes and Amy accepts. This is the beginning of Amy's transformation. Told in diary form it documents the lead up to the wedding.


My Thoughts
I quite enjoyed this book. It was a light read but fun read. Sometimes in these types of books I get annoyed with the main character, I didn't with Amy.

Bibliophilic Reading Challenge - Completion Post

I aimed for Litlover, with a view to making Bibliomaniac in the Bibliophilic Reading Challenge. Happily I made it half way between the two! The LitLover level was to read 6 books, and the Bibliomaniac level was 12.


The books I read are

1. How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe - Charles Yu
2. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
3. Book of Unholy Mischief - Elle Newmark
4. Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
5. Elmore Leonards 10 Rules of Writing - Elmore Leonard
6. Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
7. Beautiful Creatures - Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
8. Invisible - Paul Auster
9. Foundation - Isaac Asimov
10. Good Luck Girl - Kerry Reichs

Aussie Author Challenge 2011

After successfully completing the Aussie Author Challenge in 2010, I'm looking forward to doing it again in 2011.
I'll aim to be True Blue about it and read & review 12 books by at least 9 different Australian Authors. There were quite a few books on my sign up post from last year that I haven't read, that I can consider reading this year.


Here are the details from Booklover Book Review's blog:
Challenge period:  1 January 2011 -  31 December 2011

Objective: Read and review books written by Australian Authors - physical books, ebooks and audiobooks, fiction and non-fiction!

Challenge Levels: TOURIST or TRUE BLUE!

TOURIST - Read and review 3 books by 3 different Aussie Authors
TRUE BLUE - Read and review 12 books by Australian authors (at least 9 different authors)

True Blue is Australian slang meaning 'the real thing'. Listen/watch this music video of the iconic Australian song "True Blue" written and sung by John Williamson.

How to Join
Check out the sign up details on Booklover Reviews: 2011 Aussie Author Challenge

Art History Reading Challenge 2010 - completion post

 I thought I was fascinated about Art History, but apparently I was only Curious. For the Art History Reading Challenge, I only managed to read 3 books about art history.


The books I read are:

1. The People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
2. The Lost Mother: a story of art & love - Anne Summers
3. The Portrait - Willem Jan Otten

Aussie Author Challenge 2010 Completion Post

It's the beginning of a new year and time to wrap up the reading challenges of 2010. I have successfully completed the Aussie Author Challenge. YAY! I aimed to achieve the Fair Dinkum Status - 8 books by 5 different Australian Authors.


The books I read and reviewed are:

1. Preincarnate - Shaun Micallef
2. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
3. Spare Room - Helen Garner
4. The Lost Mother:a story of art and love - Anne Summers
5. Quest: Sam Silverthorne Book 1 - Gary Crew
6. Suspect - Michael Robotham
7. Ice - Louis Nowra
8. Wonders of a Godless World - Andrew McGahan

Preincarnate - Shaun Micallef

About the Book
Alexander Pruitt is a twig. He is murdered and wakes up as Richard Cromwell, son of the famous Oliver. The narrator is trying to solve his murder, and eventually tries to prevent it.
 

My Thoughts
I don't know what to make of this novel. Shaun Micallef is quite witty on tv, but this book seemed a bit confused. It swapped between narrators... I think... and sometimes the story was interrupted by an aside for a joke... which is ok... if it was relevant... or funny.

I'm a bit annoyed with this book. Again I was suckered in with the time travel theme... although it was by soul transference. It had a really interesting story line where after being murdered one of the character's soul was transferred to Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

About the Book

Charles is a time machine repair man who is avoiding work as much as possible. One day he meets himself and his action that follow get him caught in a time loop... or do they?


My Thoughts

I am a sucker for time travel books. I enjoyed this book and the concepts that were discussed, such as purchasing a time loop where you relive a favourite moment again and again. But I wasn't wowed by it. I think it is quite similar to Time Machines Repaired While You Wait by K A Bedford, which I read a couple of years ago. My favourite character was Ed the dog, and also the boss who is a computer program, but spends most of the novel thinking he's human and has a wife.

There was also an interesting side story of writing a book that was never written, when Charles is given a copy of a book he wrote by the future him. However, the book gets written when Charles reads it. I'm going to use this to include in the Bibliophilic Reading Challenge