souloftherose's 11 in 11

I enjoyed the 75 books challenge so much in 2010 that I've decided to extend myself this year and sign up for the 11 in 11 challenge too.

I'm very good at making reading plans and not always very good at following them through so I'm hoping this challenge will encourage me to stick to my plans, however I'm adopting a strict no guilt policy so if I don't make the challenge then I'm not allowed to beat myself up about it.

My category ideas so far are:

1) Fairy tales, myths and legends 7 of 11
2) The best of science-fiction and fantasy 10 of 11
3) Historical fiction COMPLETED
4) Old friends - classic rereads 8 of 11
5) All things book related 11 of 11 COMPLETED
6) I've started so I'll finish COMPLETED
7) Young at heart COMPLETED
8) New to me COMPLETED
9) Lost in translation? 9 of 11
10) Non-fiction COMPLETED
11) Graphic novels 6 of 11

1) Fairy tales, myths and legends

Fairy tales, myths and their retellings are books that I've only become aware of recently and I'd like to try more in this category. I'd also like to read more around Arthurian legends.

1: Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
2: Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
3: The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
4: Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
5: The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
6: American Gods by Neil Gaiman
7: The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable by Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidby
8:
9:
10:
11:

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Alexander McCall Smith
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke
Taliesin by Stephen Lawhead
Beowulf
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Beowulf: Dragonslayer by Rosemary Sutcliff
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers

Other possibilities:
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg by Dubravka Ugresic
Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

2) The best of science-fiction and fantasy

I want to broaden my science fiction and fantasy reading so I'm going to use the SF and Fantasy Masterworks publishers series and books which were nominated for or won the Hugo, Nebula or Arthur C Clarke awards.

1: The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe - Nebula nominee 1980
2: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin - Nebula nominee 2010
3: The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe - Nebula winner 1981, Hugo nominee 1982
4: Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A. MacAvoy - Nebula nominee 1983, Hugo nominee 1984
5: The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold - Hugo nominee 2002
6: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Hugo nominee 1993, Nebula winner 1993, Arthur C Clarke shortlist 1993
7: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Retrospective Hugo for 1953
8: The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold - Hugo winner (novella) 1990, Nebula winner (novella) 1990
9: The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold - Hugo winner 1991
10: The Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe - Hugo nominee 1983, Nebula nominee 1982
11:

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman read for mythology category
The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison
A Fall of Moondust by Arthur C. Clarke
The Compleat Enchanter by L. Sprague de Camp
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
The Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Forever Peace by Joe Haldeman
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers

3) Historical fiction

Anything set about 50 years or more before it was written is the definition I'm going to try and use for this category. I don't have any specific time periods in mind as this is a genre I'm still fairly new to.

1: The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (1867, Canada)
2: The Red Coffin by Sam Eastland (1939, Russia)
3: Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (1800-1830, Britain)
4: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (1862, London, Britain)
5: HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (late 18th century/early 19th century, nautical fiction)
6: Dissolution by C. J. Sansom (1530s, England)
7: Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer (Regency England)
8: The Night Watch by Sarah Waters (WWII, London)
9: At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper (Great Plague, 17th century, London)
10: Imperium by Robert Harris (1st century BC, Ancient Rome)
11: The Observations by Jane Harris (19th century, Scotland)

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Dissolution by C. J. Sansom
Winter in Madrid by C. J. Sansom
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
Pompeii by Robert Harris
Imperium by Robert Harris
The King's General by Daphne du Maurier
Credo by Melvyn Bragg
Possession by A. S. Byatt
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly (aka A Northern Light)
Regeneration by Pat Barker
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

4) Old friends - classic rereads

I read a lot of classics as a teenager and it's been too long since I read some of them so I wanted to include a rereads category. Specifically this year I would like to reread some Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. There's going to be a group read of Jane Austen's 6 major novels in publication order in the 75 books challenge for 2011 and I'm going to add Dickens' first five novels to that.

1: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
2: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
3: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
4: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
5: Emma by Jane Austen
6: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
7: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
8: Persuasion by Jane Austen
9:
10:
11

To read:

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens

5) All things book related

Books about books, books about authors and anything else I can think of.

1: Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
2: Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature edited by Andrew M. Butler
3: Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe
4: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
5: On Books and the Housing of Them by G. E. Gladstone
6: A Memoir of Jane Austen and Other Family Recollections by James Edward Austen-Leigh
7: Is Heathcliff a Murderer?: Great Puzzles in Nineteenth Century Fiction by John Sutherland
8: Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin
9: Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
10: Jane's Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman
11: Jane Austen's Letters by Jane Austen and Deirdre Le Faye

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:

Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature edited by Andrew M. Butler
Biblioholism: The Literary Addiction by Tom Raabe
Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis by Michael Ward
J. R. R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey
The Return of the Shadow: The History of the Lord of the Rings, Part One edited by Christopher Tolkien
Is Heathcliff a Murderer?: Great Puzzles in Nineteenth Century Fiction by John Sutherland
Giving up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel
Come, Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie
Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
One Hundred Best Books, with Commentary and an Essay on Books and Reading by John Cowper Powys
The Victorian Age in Literature by G. K. Chesterton

Other possibilities:

6) I've started so I'll finish...

To encourage me to keep going with book series I've started. These will be mostly science fiction, fantasy and crime/mystery.

1: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik (Temeraire series)
2: The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion series)
3: Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files series)
4: One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next series)
5: Monk's Hood by Ellis Peters (Cadfael series)
6: Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey series)
7: Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey series)
8: Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion series)
9: Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Foundation series)
10: Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey series)
11: Forward the Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation series)

Spillover:

12: Foundation by Isaac Asimov (Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation series)
13: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey series)
14: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (Lord Peter Wimsey series)
15: Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant series)
16: Miss Mapp by E. F. Benson (Mapp and Lucia series)
17: Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham (Albert Campion series)
18: Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files series)
19: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files series)
20: Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl series)
21: Heartless by Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate series)
22: Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan series)

Series started:

Cadfael series
The Dresden Files series
The Temeraire series
Asimov's Robot/Empire/Foundation series
Allingham's Albert Campion series
Fleming's James Bond series

7) Young at heart

Children's and young adult books because I love them :-)

From the library

1: The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud
2: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
3: Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
4: Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
5: Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
6: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
7: The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd
8: My Swordhand is Singing by Marcus Segdwick
9: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
10: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
11: Goliath by Scott Westerfeld

From my shelves

1: Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones
2: Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
3: In the Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce
4: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce
5: Sorcery and Cecilia by Patrcia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
6: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
7: Archer's Goon by Diana Wynne Jones
8: Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War by Clive Barker
9: Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones
10: Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle
11: The Blue Hawk by Peter Dickinson

Spillover:

12: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
13: The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
14: The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
15: The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E. Nesbit
16: The Wouldbegoods by E. Nesbit

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding
Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle
The Blue Hawk by Peter Dickinson
The Gift by Alison Croggan (aka The Naming)
The Boggart by Susan Cooper
The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff
Obernewtyn by Isobelle Carmody

8) New to me

Authors I haven't tried before because I am always getting distracted by shiny new things :-)

1: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
2: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
4: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
5: Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin
6: South Riding by Winifred Holtby
7: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
8: Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers
9: Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson
10: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
11: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Bonus books
12: Queen Lucia by E. F. Benson
13: Miss Buncle's Book by D. E. Stevenson
14: The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder
15: The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
16: Great House by Nicole Krauss
17: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
18: Empire of Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:

Spellwright by Blake Charlton
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
The Accidental Sorcerer by K. E. Mills
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Sundiver by David Brin
Jhereg by Steven Brust
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh

9) Lost in Translation?

I'd like to read more books by authors from different countries. For 2010 the majority of the books I read were written by authors from the UK, US, Canada or Australia so I'm giving myself the challenge of reading books which have been translated into English to broaden myself a bit. In particular, I'd like to add more countries to this map:

In 2010 and 2011 I have read books by authors from the following countries:


Read books by authors from 27 states (12%)
Create your own map of The World

1: The White King by Gyorgy Dragoman (Hungarian)
2: Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran (Chinese)
3: Silk by Alessandro Baricco (Italian)
4: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (German)
5: Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne (French)
6: The Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne (French)
7: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (French)
8: Baba Yaga Laid An Egg by Dubravka Ugrešić
9: Fair Play by Tove Jansson (Finnish author, wrote in Swedish)
10:
11:

Possibilities from the TBR piles are (author nationality in brackets):

The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig (Austrian)
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (Japanese)
Fair Play by Tove Jansson (Finnish)
The Trial by Franz Kafka (German)
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke (German)
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco (Italian)
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary (French)
Silk by Alessandro Baricco (Italian)
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (German)
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Norwegian)
Momo by Michael Ende (German)
Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg (Danish)

Other possibilities:

The White King by Gyorgy Dragoman (Hungarian)
Silverhorse by Lene Kaaberbol (Danish)
Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill by Dimitri Verhulst (Belgian)
A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse (French)
Sky Burial by Xinran (Chinese)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (Russian/French/stateless)
Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle (French)
No and Me by Delphine de Vigan (French)
The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (Italian)
Don't Look Back by Karin Fossum (Norwegian)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie (Chinese/French)

10) Non-fiction

What it says on the tin, because I want to try and read more non-fiction. I have no idea what I'll end up reading for this category. Possibly some christian books, maybe some science, some biographies and some history.

1: The Very Bloody History of Britain by John Farman
2: The Vile Victorians by Terry Deary
3: Rowdy Revolutions by Terry Deary
4: God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science by James Hannam
5: I Shall Not Hate by Izzeldin Abuelaish
6: Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
7: A History of Britain : At the Edge of the World, 3500 B.C.-1603 A.D by Simon Schama
8: Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice
9: Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman
10: The Secret Life of Your Cat by Vicky Halls
11: Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk

Possibilities from the TBR piles are:

The Calculus Wars by Jason Socrates Bardi
Orgy Planner Wanted by Vicki Leon (aka Working IX to V)
William Pitt the Younger by William Hague
Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation by Umberto Eco
The Confessions by Saint Augustine
Elizabeth by David Starkey
High Tide in Tuscon by Barbara Kingsolver
1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies
Notes From a Big Country by Bill Bryson

11) Graphic novels

And finally a category for graphic novels. It's another area of reading I'm fairly new to so I'm still trying to figure out what I like. All of these will be borrowed from the library because other than my husband's collection of Asterix comics, I don't really own any graphic novels and I don't really want to buy any until I'm sure I like them.

1: The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
2: The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
3: The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey
4: The Unwritten: The Inside Man by Mike Carey
5: Blankets by Craig Thompson
6: The Arrival by Shaun Tan
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:

Possibilities:

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
The Unwritten by Mike Carey
Blankets by Craig Thompson
Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Age of Bronze: A Thousand Ships by Eric Shanower
The Building by Will Eisner
Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
Marvel: 1602 by Neil Gaiman
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman
Caliber: First Canon of Justice by Sam Sarkar
The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
No Future for You by Brian K. Vaughan

Oh this is exciting, welcome to the group. I love your categories and pictures, I get so much pleasure sorting out my categories, planning my reading and even when I don't stick to it I don't mind too much. I need to look at all the series and trilogies I have to finish up too.
You've listed lots of good books, I hope you get to them especially the tbr pile ones.

You have some good categories, too, Heather! (And I love the picture of the book man in category 5!)

Looks like you have some very good reading ahead of you. Looking forward to your comments on some of your choices that I've read and others that I plan on getting to sometime in the future.

Great categories, and many great books to pick from! Starring your thread now!

Hello Heather, I've come over to star your thread - and what a great thread it is, with such great pics!
I can tell you, if you choose some of the ones you are considering, you are in for some great reads. :)

How nice to be doing this too - I'm not good at sticking to reading plans either, but I hope this challenge helps. I still have to add in some considerations; ones I really want to knock over this year. Funnily enough, you have a few of them listed as well; especially in historical fiction:)

Hmm... another is The Penelopiad.... *chuckle* I would like to make a start on the ones I have managed to grab from "The Myths" series.

Love your categories and the map of authors read, which is a great idea.

You are right - a lot of overlap in books and in categories! I have read some that you have planned for 2011 and they were good. I have some of the others on my TBR as well. Looking forward to seeing how the year turns out for both of us!

Thanks for the welcomes! I did enjoy finding all the pictures.

I need to find and star all your threads in this challenge but I'm still trying to catch up on everyone's 2010 challenge threads - eep!

Your thread looks like it's going to be very interesting (and is so nice and colorful too!). Welcome to the challenge! I love lots of overlap with what you read and what I read/want to read, so I'm excited to see what you read and think!

#21 Thank you Pam. I looked at your thread and got really scared by the number of books you'd read so far before I realised you'd started before 1 Jan - phew! I will peruse your thread in more detail in a bit.

I finished my first two books:

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney



11 in 11 category: Historical fiction
Set when and where?: 1867, Canada

It's winter in Canada in 1867 and a trader has been brutally murdered in the small, isolated settlement of Dove River. The seventeen year old son of one family has mysteriously disappeared and as suspicion falls on him, his mother sets off against the frozen landscape to find him and prove his innocence.

This story took me a while to really get into. The narration is shared between several characters, unusually one of the narrators tells the story from a first person perspective whilst the others are all third person. It may be that this was why I felt a bit distanced from the characters at first. What really struck me about the book was the way Penney so vividly managed to get across the cold and the frozen landscape of Northern Canada. I live in a country where we a few inches of snow gets us panicking but I felt like I knew what it would be like to walk through the wilderness for miles when it is so cold that the tearducts in your eyes freeze.

I particularly liked the ending of this book; there's enough resolution to give a good ending but not so much that there was nothing left for me to think about after the book had ended.

3.75 stars

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik



11 in 11 category: I've started so I'll finish - ongoing series
Which series?: Book #5 in the Temeraire series

This is the fifth book in Naomi Novik's Temeraire alternate history/fantasy series and they really do need to be read in order.

I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as I enjoyed the previous book in the series. I think this may partly be because this book really shows the results of the characters' actions in the previous book, and they're not all good results. When reading the previous book I'd been convinced that Laurence and Temeraire had done the right thing, but reading this book made me question that conclusion. I think it was very well done but led to a slightly more uncomfortable and less enjoyable read.

Otherwise, I think I might be feeling a little bit tired of this series so I am going to take a break before reading the next book.

3.75 stars

I've had The Tenderness of Wolves on my wish list for some time, your review is making me want to nudge it closer to the top of the list!

I've had The Tenderness of Wolves and the Temeraire series on my TBR for ages too. *sigh*
Made me consider them...

Two too! I'd better get cracking - hard to read with flu. :(

I would like to recommend Possession for this list. It is one of my favorite books evereverevereverever, and it's absolutely beautiful.

I have had The Tenderness of Wolves on my radar for a while too. I am not a big fan of typical mysteries. I find it interesting that you have it listed under your Historical Fiction category. It gives me hope that I might actually enjoy it. :)

I have a friend who told me about the Temeraire series years ago and even bought me the first 3 books in the series. I guess I should probably get to those at some point too.

Possession is on my list this year, for sure.

souloftherose, what did you think of the fourth book in the Temeraire series? I actually own it (picked it up for cheap at Friends of the Library sale), but I came away from #3 disappointed and have been considering putting #4 back into circulation without actually reading it. It seems from your review of #5, though, that you found #4 quite worthwhile. Is that right?

Wow, you blew me away with your category pics, Heather. Very eye catching. Good luck with your challenge.

Great categories! We overlap a bit on our categories, but oddly enough, not on our books. How did you get your pictures in your thread? I've been trying to figure out how to do that, but nothing I've tried works so far.

See you later! I'm starring your thread.

I read the first four of Novik's series. Your review of the fifth book intrigues me. I'm curious about the consequences of their actions. I'll have to put this on my list of reads for the year. I must have been getting a little tired of the series myself, though, because I see I already have the fifth book and normally I just read a series straight through.

#23 Thanks!

#24 Flu! Oh no :-( Hope you feel better soon.

#25 Thanks jazzibear. I think I feel rather intimidated by Possession because it's long and I'm worried it will be too literary for me (and I'm not even sure what I mean by that!)

#26 I don't think it was a typical mystery Jenn. The mystery element to me seemed to give the excuse to spend time with the people and the landscape rather than the other way round.

#27 The first and fourth books were my favourites in the Temeraire series Pam. But then I did quite like the third book too although I found it dragged a bit. Maybe give book 4 a try before deciding?

#28 Thanks Lynda!

#29 There are some instructions in this post. The image needs to be on the internet already, either on another webpage or uploaded to your profile page in LT. And thanks for the star!

#30 I've been trying to figure out why I feel tired of this series and I still can't figure it out. I need to remind myself that it's ok to not read the next book if I don't feel like it - I am supposed to be doing this for pleasure after all!

Thanks for the link!

&BTW Possession is good, but as historical novels go, it didn't feel very historical to me. Byatt's short stories are wonderful, and in my opinion, better than Possession and less pretentious. You could read one of those first to see if you like her style, which is very literary, before committing your time to Possession.

#32 Thanks Katie, are there any of her short stories you'd particularly recommend?

It has been far too long since I updated this thread - time for some catching up!

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson



11 in 11 category: Authors new to me
How did you hear about them?: Longlisted for the Orange Prize

A compelling book but difficult to describe. Brenzi described it as 'so much more than a detective novel' in her review and I think that's a good description.

Case Histories opens with the events leading up to three different cold cases and then switches to the present day with an introduction to Jackson Brodie, a police detective turned private investigator with a messed up private life. He's asked to investigate a couple of the cold cases. So far, it sounds very much like a typical detective novel but it's really not.

Whilst in a traditional detective novel the focus is very much on 'who dunnit' in Case Histories the focus seemed to be more on the effect these crimes had on those affected by them. The characterisation was fantastic and quirky. Although parts of the book were fairly gritty and dark there was also a lot of humour.

Anyway, if you're interested, look at the reviews on the book page sorted by votes. There are some wonderful reviews of this book which put things much better than I could.

4.25 stars

The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud



11 in 11 category: Young at heart
How did you hear about it?: I read the first book in the series last year

I don't like describing books as being like other books but the best description of this series that my brain can come up with at the moment is Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell meets Harry Potter meets Artemis Fowl. Which makes Stroud's series seem like it must be a very calculated marketing ploy or extremely derivative but it actually reads as a fairly fresh and original series.

I've really enjoyed the two books I've read in Stroud's Bartimaeus series so far but something stops them from being a truly memorable read for me and I'm still not sure what that something is. But I'm still looking forward to reading the third book in the trilogy and the recently released prequel, but they are definitely library books for me rather than books to buy.

4 stars

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham



11 in 11 category: I've started so I'll finish
Which series?: The first book in the Albert Campion series - might be sort of cheating but I have read two others in this series

A British 1920s murder mystery complete with a house party, an international crime ring, men who are bold and 'gels' who are plucky. It was Allingham's first book and I'm not convinced it all made sense but I enjoyed seeing where her Albert Campion series started. Another reviewer has described it as 'pure, unadulterated hokum' which I think is a fairly good summary.

Probably not recommended as a starting point if you haven't read any of her books before. I've read another two in this series, the second (Mystery Mile) and the eleventh (Traitor's Purse). I thought there was a marked difference between the earlier two books and the later book, particularly with regards to Mr Campion's character, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the series develops.

3.25 stars

Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin



11 in 11 category: All things book related

I haven't read any other biographies of Jane Austen so I don't have much to compare this one to, but for what it's worth, I thought this one was very good.

I thought this biography was very readable and well referenced and I was fascinated by the history of Jane Austen and her relations.

4.5 stars

The Help by Kathryn Stockett



11 in 11 category: Authors new to me
How did you hear about them? This has to be one of the most talked about books of last year and then my Mum got a copy and raved about it so I borrowed it!

I had seen so many rave reviews of this book before I read it that I was rather worried that it wouldn't live up to all the hype, but in the end I read the whole thing in a day and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it because I couldn't put it down.

Having said that I gave it 4.5 stars rather than 5 stars. It was a gripping and very enjoyable read and I can understand why it's been so popular but I felt that it wasn't quite as well written as some of the other Orange nominees for 2010 (particularly Wolf Hall and The Lacuna which were 5 star reads for me).

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi



11 in 11 category: Graphic novels

The Complete Persepolis includes Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Persepolis: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi. These are graphic novels except that they're actually an autobiography so not a novel at all!

The Story of a Childhood is Satrapi's tale of growing up in Iran during the Iranian/Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq which followed. Satrapi is a spirited young girl, brought up to question what she is taught rather than accepting things blindly and eventually this outspokenness means that her parents think she will be safer if they send her abroad to Austria.

The Story of a Return tells of Satrapi's time as an older teenager in Austria before she eventually returns home to Iran. In some ways this was the hardest part of the book to read. An immigrant in a country where Iranians are perceived as terrorists, Satrapi has known of friends and family tortured and imprisoned by the regime in Iran but suddenly has to learn to try and fit in with other teenagers who are only interested in boys and lipstick. She experiences complete culture shock as well as all the normal angst experienced as a teenager and she has no one to turn to for help. Her return to Iran is also very hard for her to deal with as she experiences the same culture shock in reverse.

A very moving account of a young woman's coming of age. 4.5 stars

Fool Moon by Jim Butcher



11 in 11 category: I've started so I'll finish
Which series?: Book 2 of the Dresden Files series

This is the second book in the Dresden Files series featuring Harry Dresden as a private investigator in Chicago who also happens to be the city's only wizard. I've been assured by other people that this series gets a lot better after the first 3/4 books which is why I'm continuing because at the moment I'm finding them enjoyable enough but fairly formulaic and forgettable.

3.5 stars because I do actually quite enjoy the formula.

justchris has done a wonderful review of the whole series here and that has given me the reassurance I need to keep going with the series.

Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney



11 in 11 category: Fairy tales, myths and legends

There was a group read of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf in the 75 book group so I bought myself a shiny new copy and dived in.

I'm not really sure what to say about this one or how to rate it. I don't read poetry as a rule and I've never read any epic poetry before but I found this more readable than I thought I would. I spent a few extra pounds to get the bilingual edition which shows the original Anglo-Saxon on one page and Heaney's translation on the other. It seems incredibly presumptuous of me to give Beowulf a star rating but I went for 4 stars as a nice average rating.

Thank you for these great reviews! I have added Persepolis to my rather long wish list (Both the English and the French versions!). I acquired a copy of The Tenderness of Wolves in December and am glad to see such a good review here. Although it will sadly remain buried in mount TBR a bit longer, I look forward to reading it.

I am curious, aside from the one lake, were there other locations given in the book? I am trying to place which territory the majority of the book took place in.

Some good stuff there!

I have the Kate Atkinson and Margery Allingham books already wishlisted so I'm glad to see reviews of those. (I finally caved after about the twelfth positive review of the Atkinson, and I have Allingham's entire oeuvre wishlisted, excepting only those I already own!)

I really must get to The Help - I was going to read it for Orange January, but given that I haven't started it yet I shall probably keep going with the other Orange nominee I have in progress. Maybe next month. I certainly want to get to it before July.

I know what you mean about it seeming presumptuous to rate Beowulf - when I finished it, I thought 'how on earth do I rate this?' - but I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.

That Austen biography looks very interesting. I might give that one a go, too.

#36 Thank you for the kind words! I actually thought my 'reviews' were very poor and nearly wrote a comment to that effect but then thought everyone would feel obliged to say 'No, no they were fine!' just to be polite! So despite lack of brain I thought I would feel better if I at least caught up with book comments and then hopefully I can comment better on new books?

Persepolis was very good, I think it was originally published in 4 volumes in French, just to be even more confusing.

Regarding the setting of The Tenderness of Wolves, the book starts in the settlement of Dove River, on the north shore of Georgian Bay. I'm not good at remembering the names of places in books but I think Hudson Bay is also mentioned.

#37 Thanks Caty! I think you were one of the people along with Genny who got me started on Allingham?

Since reading Beowulf I've been eyeing my anthology of The Anglo-Saxon World edited by Kevin Crossley-Holland but realistically it's probably not going to be soon.

Ooh, The Anglo-Saxon World looks interesting. I've done Anglo-Saxon history, but Beowulf was my first foray into Anglo-Saxon lit, and I think it would be interesting to read more.

Persepolis is on my list for this year! Thanks for your review -- I'm looking forward even more to reading it!

A friend of mine raved about The Help last year, so it was interesting to see your review. & I think I'll have to add Persepolis to my "possibles" list for biographies. It's been so popular, but I thought it was something completely different.

As for AS Byatt's short stories, The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye is a nice set of adult urban fantasy, for lack of a better description. Very literary and very enjoyable. That said, her collection Elementals was more difficult to read, but the stories were also more powerful.