Marank's (newcomer) 75 books challenge 2011

As I am Dutch, some of the books I read are translations into Dutch. I will try to give the English title so everybody knows what I'm talking about (except for books written in Dutch originally).




I believe I'm reading a lot of thick books this year (>300 pages) in comparison to last year... That's why I'm also keeping track of the number of pages I've read this year (last year I read about 25000 pages):



January
1. The Last Empress - Anchee Min
2. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
3. Spiegelspreuk - Linda Dijkstra
4. Sonny Boy - Annejet van der Zijl
5. De Pater en het Meisje - Gerard van Westerloo
6. Solitude Of Prime Numbers - Paolo Giordano
7. One Step Behind - Henning Mankell

February
8. The Babes In The Wood - Ruth Rendell
9. Als Slachtoffers Daders Worden - Koos Groen
10. The Black Death; A History of Plagues 1345-1730 - William G. Naphy
11. Vogelvrij; de Jacht op de Joodse Onderduiker - Sytse van der Zee

March
12. At Home - Bill Bryson
13. Those Who Save Us - Jenna Blum
14. Pelgrim in Auschwitz - Jos Pauwels

April
15. A Place Called Here - Cecilia Ahern
16. My Father's Keeper - Stephan Lebert
17. De Kraai - Kader Abdolah
18. HhhH -Laurent Binet
19. How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
20. Water For Elephants - Sarah Gruen
21. Blood Of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani
22. The Terror - Dan Simmons

May
23. Fatimas Hand - Ildefonso Falcones
24. Company of Liars - Karen Maitland
25. The Hunting Sketches Bk. 1 - Ivan Turgenev (audiobook)
26. Guns, Germs And Steel - Jared Diamond
27. Melnitz - Charles Lewinsky
28. Fidali's Way - George Mastras
29. 4.50 From Paddington - Agatha Christie
30. Whose Body? - Dorothy L. Sayers

June
31. Komt een vrouw bij de dokter - Kluun
32. A Kingdom's Cost - J.R. Tomlin
33. Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide - Jill Homer
34. Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie
35. We Were Young And Carefree - Laurent Fignon
36. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

July
37. A Caribbean Mystery - Agatha Christie
38. 61 Hours - Lee Child
39. Tipboek Klarinet - Hugo Pinksterboer
40. De Saxofoon en de Klarinet; een praktische gids om zelf te leren spelen - Chris Coetzee
41. 1492: The Year the World Began - Felipe Fernandez-Armesto
42. At Bertram's Hotel - Agatha Christie
43. Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indridason

August
44. Het Diner - Herman Koch
45. The Scold's Bridle - Minette Walters
46. Incendiary - Chris Cleave
47. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet - David Mitchell
48. The Help - Kathryn Stockett

September
49. The A.B.C. Murders - Agatha Christie
50. Ik was een van hen - Giusy Vitale
51. My Heart Stopped Beating - Chamed
52. The Shack - W. Paul Young
53. Survival in Auschwitz - Primo Levi
54. Mysteries in Gelderland - Martijn J. Adelmund

October
55. Second Glance - Jodi Picoult
56. Death Angels - Ake Edwardson
57. Appointment with Death - Agatha Christie

November
58. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
59. Congo; een Geschiedenis - David van Reybrouck
60. Sing You Home - Jodi Picoult
61. And Then There Were None - Agathe Christie
62. The Echo - Minette Walters

December
63. I am the Messenger - Marcus Zuzak
64. Snowdrops - A.D. Miller
65. The Best Man to Die - Ruth Rendell

Welcome to the group! Looks like you have made a great start on your reading year!

Yes, looks OK doesn't it. BUT.. last year I had also read 24 books at this time of the year, and I only got to 65. So I have to squeeze in (is that good English?) another 10 somewhere...

Welcome to the challenge. I have Guns, Germs, and Steel waiting on my shelf to be read. Some day...

I like it a lot. It makes you think about a lot of things you take for granted. Well worth reading.

Aha, finally another member who speaks Dutch here in the 75-group. Being Flemish, I'm looking forward to your reviews or comments on Dutch books (sorry Stasia and all others who do not know Dutch :-)).

I've just finished listening to The Hunting Sketches by Ivan Turgenev. I got this book from Early Reviewers.
Unfortunately this audiobook was a big disappointment. It was boring. The stories in itself may be good, but the way they were read was not. I had a lot of trouble staying focused.

Welcome!

#7: I find a good narrator can make or break a book. I am sorry that your ER book was so disappointing in that respect.

Welcome to the group!

Finished Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond today. It took me a long time to read (started in December 2010), but that doesn't mean I didn't like the book. On the contrary, it was very interesting. I learned a lot. It was just not a book you read in one go (at least for me). One chapter at a time, and then some time to think things over.
Why were the Europeans the ones to concur the world, and not the Africans, the Australians or the Native Americans? Were the peoples themselves different, or is the environment in which they lived the main reason why some peoples were 'stronger' than others. It all sounded very convincing to me. Sometimes I thought; yes, but you forgot about this or that. And then 'this or that' would be dealt with in the next paragraph or chapter. Very thorough and complete.
I was surprised to see that this book is in so many libraries (over 13,000!), there are not that many books in my library with that number of readers. And this is not an 'easy read' in my opinion. So I still find that hard to believe, but on the other hand; I would highly recommend reading this book.

Great review of Guns, Germs and Steel. This has been a book I've wanted to read but been intimidated by. I'm glad you mentioned how long it took to read. You've convinced me to give it a try.

Just take it one chapter at a time and you'll be all right. It is well worth the effort!

Hello. Welcome to our group AND Happy Birthday to you. I hope today is special for you!

Hope you're having a very Happy Birthday!

I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Happy Belated Birthday from me too!

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

I've just finished reading Melnitz by Charles Lewinsky. This was the first book I ever read on an eReader. Not my own. I've borrowed it from my library to try out. Now I know I definitely want to buy one.
The book is about several generations in a Jewish family in Switzerland in the time before WWII. It makes you realize once again that anti-Semitism is not something that happened just during WWII; it is something of all times (unfortunately). Nice book, glad I read it.

#18: I wish Melnitz was available in English. I would love to read it.

Congrats on your first eReader experience! I love my Nook - more than I ever thought I would.

I've started re-reading some old mysteries and detectives I read a long time ago when I was just starting to learn the English language. Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ruth Rendell, etc.

Started with 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie. I read it before, but had no idea about the outcome. It was good. Just as good as I remembered. Love the Miss Marples!

I am re-reading Sayers books over this summer. I am glad to see you are enjoying your re-read of the Christie books!

Finished Komt een vrouw bij de dokter by Kluun. It's about a woman with cancer and how her husband deals with this fact and her death. Very emotional. Couldn't stop crying. Couldn't stop reading either :)

I saw an English translation of Komt een vrouw bij de dokter in the Bruna this week. It was called "Love life" by Ray Kluun.
I've read the book too, but I didn't like the man's behaviour! However, it was written in a way that I did want to read on.

Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide by Jill Homer was great! I won the book in the Member Giveaway in April or May I believe. But because it was an eBook, I couldn't read it until I had my own eReader. And now I have, so I immediately started this book.
Only problem I had with it; I just couldn't put it down again! I finished it in 2 days. It's a well written, exciting story about a woman (Jill Homer) riding the Great Divide on a Mountain bike, from Canada to the Mexican border. I find it unbelievable that there are people who do things like this. I wish I had the courage and the stamina to complete such a challenge. I haven't, but I do like to read about it. I looked up the route on the internet, and while reading the book I kept checking where she was exactly at that moment in the book (on http://tourdivide.org/leaderboard). For me that added a lot of fun to reading this book. And all the time I'd be thinking; it's impossible. Riding a bike for over 100 miles per day on good roads, with good weather, on flat terrain is a great achievement in itself, if you ask me. But this route is over mountains, gravel roads that turn into mud when it rains (and it rained a lot), through snow and deserts. Incredible! Jill; I'm proud of you.

The day after tomorrow the 2011 Tour is starting. Before I'd read this book I had never even heard of this event. But this year I'll be following it day by day!

BTW I just found out Jill Homer wrote another book, about the Iditarod trail in Alaska: Ghost Trails. I hope I can get hold of that somehow here in the Netherlands..

Great review!

In the 80's I was a teenager, and Laurent Fignon was my hero. Other girls had pictures of pop stars on their bedroom walls. Mine were covered with pictures of Laurent Fignon. The best day of my life (at that time) was when the Tour of the Netherlands started in my home town and I had the chance to see Laurent Fignon in real life! The worst day of my life was when he lost the 1989 Tour de France from Greg LeMond by 8 seconds.

I was a bit scared picking up We were young and carefree, that is why I postponed it for a long time. Scared that my memories of that time and of Laurent Fignon would be spoiled by reading the book he had written about that time. Scared that it would be a boring book; Fignon was a great cyclist, not necessarily a great writer. But it was just the opposite. While reading this book all my memories came back to the great races I watched in those days; the Classics, Giro, Tour de France. And it is a well written, exciting story about cycling, about what happened in the team, about injuries, winning and defeat. At least, it was for me, a fan. There were a lot of people in those days who hated Fignon, and I'm sure they will also hate this book, because it is his view on the things that happened.

All I can say is that after reading this book, Laurent Fignon is still my hero.

I've been reading some books on Saxophone and Clarinet, because I want to start lessons after the summer. Had to make a choice which instrument it is going to be. Think my choice will be the Clarinet.

Good luck with the clarinet lessons! I have always wanted to learn to play, but never had the opportunity.

I have played the piano as a child, but that never was my first love. My daughter started on the trumpet last year, and that got me inspired. First I thought about sax, but after doing some research I think I like the sound of the clarinet more.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful time with the 'licorice stick.'

Finally finished 1492: The Year the World Began by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. It was very interesting, but not an easy read. Lots of long, complicated sentences that I had to read several times before I understood what they said. Not really an easy summer-read!

Time for something 'lighter'; another Agatha Christie...

It really does sound like it is time for something lighter! Congratulations on finishing 1492.

Read four (and two halve) books during my holidays in Scotland. Not as many as I wanted to, but that just means I was too busy doing other nice things ;D.

Best one of the four: Incendiary by Chris Cleave. It's a fictional story about a terrorist attack on a football match, and how a woman looses her husband and her young son, and how she deals with this (or not really). Very real and frightening, especially because in the beginning I didn't know if this was fiction or non-fiction. It could very well have been non-fiction, but thank God it wasn't!

#33: My local library does not have any of Cleave's books and I really wish it did.

Glad to hear that your Scotland holiday was a good one!

What I liked about The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitcell, was the historical aspect. I loved reading about life in 18th century Dejima and about the difficult relationship between the Japanese and the Dutch (or any other foreigners). I am not so sure about the whole story about the captured women. The book would have been interesting enough without that, I think. The end was a bit sudden. One minute you're in the middle of an attack by an English ship, Dejima is falling apart, those women are still being kept, etc. And in just a few chapters the story is finished (with quite a bit of loose ends left).

So all in all; a good read but it has left me a bit unsatisfied. And I still don't understand the title of the book...

I was like you - the book left me ultimately unsatified too.

I hope your next read is a better one for you!

Read another two books. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a great book. I've not lived in those times, and it seems absolutely unreal to me that black people were treated like that only just a few years before I was born!

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie was another nice re-read. I first read it about 25 years ago.

I must get to The Help soon!

I'm at two-third of my challenge! Only 25 books to go, and 4 months. No problem, I think.
Today I read a book about the Mafia: Ik was een van hen: de eerste vrouwelijke maffiabaas vertelt by Giusy Vitale, the first ever (and only) female Mafia boss. It tells the story of how she grew up and became part of the Mafia, and a boss in the end. Interesting. What shocked me most was how women were treated only a few decades ago: not allowed to wear make up, not allowed to wear short skirts, not allowed to fall in love with whoever they wanted, not allowed to even leave the house. And this was in the eighties!
I don't think there is an English translation of this book (at least; I couldn't find it)

I like reading about local history. Mysteries in Gelderland taught me quite a lot. I never knew there were Disney figures on top of our local church tower!

I've now read all Jodi Picoult books but one, I believe. I liked Second Glance, even though it is not a subject I'm very interested in. Ghost stories are not really my thing, but Picoult managed to make it interesting!

Just finished Death Angels by Ake Edwardson. Very complicated. I'm still not sure what happened exactly, and why. May be due to the translation..

Appointment with death was really nice. At first it seems a simple story, with an obvious murderer; Raymond. But then this is an Agatha Christie story, so nothing is ever simple! And I must say, I had my own theory (Sarah being the sent away pregnant girl, or her sister or something), but the real outcome was a surprise to me. Good!

I just love Bill Brysons books! They are funny, and very informative. This one about Great Britain as well. I really enjoyed reading about places I've been to myself, and about things I've noticed about the English people and their customs.

Welcome to the 75'ers! Numbers don't matter, we are just a friendly chatty bunch! I've recently read a couple of Dutch books - The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker, and I loved it! Last year I read Comedy in a Minor Key and found that to be fascinating read.

I started on Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult yesterday, as my book for the November ReadaThing. Couldn't put it down! I had to keep on reading, and finished it just a few minutes after midnight.

Just another quick Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, which I must have read before (a long time ago), but couldn't remember at all. Really enjoyed this one. Real suspense..

Well, it is obvious; I am not reaching 75. But 64 is a nice total. I didn't get much reading done this month, and started a few books that just couldn't keep my attention.Just finished Snowdrops by A.D. Miller. A sad book, but good. Maybe all books about Russia are sad in some way...

64 is a great total if you read some good books this year! Hope you join us next year!

65! Just had time to read another Ruth Rendell to finish the year. ;D

Time for my personal top 10 for 2011:

1. HhhH - Laurent Binet
2. At Home - Bill Bryson
3. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
4. Be Brave, Be Strong - Jill Homer
5. Komt een vrouw bij de dokter - Kluun
6. Fall of Giants - Ken Follett
7. A Place Called Here - Cecilia Ahern
8. Melnitz - Charles Lewinsky
9. Sonny Boy - Annejet van der Zijl
10. Incendiary - Chris Cleave

See you again in 2012!