This Is the Story of -Eva-'s 13-in-13 - Part 3

This year, the plan is to get some of my chunksters read, so I'm aiming for a total of 70 rather than my "usual" 100 - I've noticed that I shy away from them just to make 100 and that's just silly. :)

1. "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - Books by Nordic authors COMPLETED
2. "Whatever You've Got" - Books for this year's CATs COMPLETED
3. "Blood on Your Hands" - Mysteries & Thrillers COMPLETED
4. "Hit the Highway" - Books to read and then give away COMPLETED
5. "Everybody's a Victim" - Bookbullets from other challengers COMPLETED
6. "Your Childhood" - Children's and YA novels COMPLETED
7. "A Long Long Long Time Ago" - Green Dragon's Fantasy TBR List COMPLETED
8. "Sing All Our Cares Away" - Audiobooks COMPLETED
9. "Restless Soul" - Sandman Graphic Novels COMPLETED
10. "Slowburner" - Chunksters (650+ pages) COMPLETED
11. "Scotland's Story" - Books by Scottish authors COMPLETED
12. "There's a Touch" - Ebooks on my NOOK Simple Touch COMPLETED
13. "Spinning Around in the Air" - Random books I pick up from wherever COMPLETED

Total CATs: 21

"Three More Days (and I'm Home)"
Books by Nordic authors

1. Huset på Arlozorovgatan by Simon Kudrischoff (Sweden) Finished February 24th
2. Kvinnan i rummet by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark) Finished April 12th AwardCAT
3. Älskade Poona by Karin Fossum (Norway) Finished April 12th AwardCAT
4. (Geim) by Anders de la Motte (Sweden) Finished April 18th
5. Journal 64 by Jussi Adler-Olsen (Denmark) Finished October 29th

"Whatever You've Got"
Books for this year's CATs

1. Ride the Wind by Lucia St Clair Robson Finished January 18th AwardCAT & RandomCAT
2. The Road Home by Rose Tremain Finished January 27th AwardCAT & RandomCAT
3. White Sky, Black Ice by Stan Jones Finished February 21st RandomCAT
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy Finished March 17th AwardCAT
5. Laidlaw by William McIlvanney Finished July 27th AwardCAT

"Blood on Your Hands"
Mystery & Thrillers

1. Broken Harbor by Tana French Finished January 5th
2. The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville Finished April 2nd AwardCAT
3. A Dedicated Man by Peter Robinson ♫ Finished June 8th
4. Fasanjägarna by Jussi Adler-Olsen Finished July 7th
5. Flaskpost från P by Jussi Adler-Olsen Finished July 12th

"Hit the Highway"
Books to read and then give away

1. Black Irish by Stephan Talty Finished January 23rd
2. The Guards by Ken Bruen Finished February 25th
3. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear Finished March 27th AwardCAT
4. Den långa färden (Lonesome Dove) by Larry McMurtry Finished May 26th AwardCAT
5. Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty Finished June 2nd

"Everybody's a Victim"
Bookbullets from other challengers

1. Stories for the Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory Finished March 24th (bookbullet courtesy of andreablythe) RandomCAT
2. The Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey Finished May 11th (bookbullet courtesy of clfisha)
3. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard Finished June 24th ♫ (bookbullet courtesy of AHS-Wolfy)
4. Templar by Jordan Mechner Finished August 29th (bookbullet courtesy of ryvre)
5. The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe Finished October 27th (bookbullet courtesy of clfisha and endorsed by sjmccreary)

"Your Childhood"
Children's and YA novels

1. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud ♫ Finished February 5th
2. How to be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell ♫ Finished April 29th
3. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness Finished May 8th AwardCAT
4. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster Finished July 19th
5. Agnes Cecilia by Maria Gripe Finished September 21st AwardCAT

"A Long Long Long Time Ago"
Books from The Green Dragon's "1001 Fantasy Books You Must Read Before You Are Turned Into a Newt"-list

1. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman ♫ Finished January 26th
2. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett Finished April 23rd
3. The Earthsea Cycle Omnibus: A Wizard of Earthsea/The Tombs of Atuan/The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin Finished June 10th
4. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin Finished August 9th RandomCAT
5. American Gods by Neil Gaiman Finished October 13th AwardCAT

"Sing All Our Cares Away"
Audiobooks

1. Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart ♫ Finished January 5th
2. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh ♫ Finished March 18th
3. Gallows View by Peter Robinson ♫ Finished April 19th
4. Doctor Who: The Resurrection Casket by Justin Richards ♫ Finished April 23rd
5. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce ♫ Finished July 17th

"Restless Soul"
Neil Gaiman's Sandman Graphic Novels for the Sandman Group Read

1. Preludes and Nocturnes Finished January 6th
2. The Doll's House Finished January 19th
3. Dream Country Finished February 10th
4. Season of Mists Finished March 4th
5. A Game of You Finished June 29th
6. Fables & Reflections Finished June 29th
7. Brief Lives Finished June 29th
8. Worlds' End Finished July 4th
9. The Kindly Ones Finished July 4th
10. The Wake Finished July 5th

"Slowburner"
Chunksters (650+ pages)

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon Finished February 3rd (851 pages) AwardCAT
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas pere Finished March 17th (1,276 pages) (Group Read March-May)
3. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin Finished August 27th (1,010 pages)
4. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin Finished September 29th (1,178 pages)
5. A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin Finished October 26th (1,061 pages)

"Scotland's Story"
Books by Scottish authors

1. Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin Finished February 16th
2. The Crow Road by Iain Banks Finished April 7th
3. Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington Finished June 20th AwardCAT
4. Stonemouth by Iain Banks ♫ Finished August 31st
5. How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman Finished September 16th AwardCAT

"There's a Touch"
Ebooks on my NOOK Simple Touch - have to read them too, not just accumulate!

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Finished March 24th
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Finished April 10th
3. The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan Finished June 14th RandomCAT
4. Changeless by Gail Carriger Finished June 26th
5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman Finished July 1st

"Spinning Around in the Air"
Random books I pick up from wherever (I can't do without an overflow category!)

1. Fables Vol. 18: Cubs in Toyland by Bill Willingham Finished January 24th
2. Dial H Vol. 1: Into You by China Miéville Finished April 24th
3. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett Finished April 29th
4. The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender Finished July 6th
5. World War Z by Max Brooks Finished July 26th

I was planning on getting going on my ER-book, but World War Z became available at the library, so I'm going with that one first and it's starting off great, so I hope it stays that way.

Enjoy World War Z! I thought it was a very cool read.

Happy new thread! Noticed while scrolling through that your "almost" at your goal. Good progress!

Happy new thread! I'd forgotten you had a book bullets category and chuckled when I saw it. Great idea! ;) Hope you like WWZ. My BF read it earlier this year and liked it. Are you planning to see the movie?

I just finished World War Z a couple of weekends ago while camping. I'm not a zombie lover, but I liked this one. Stayed up two nights by the campfire after everyone else had gone to bed. Very atmospheric!

World War Z is on my TBR pile.

You said on your last thread Oh, LT is a very dangerous place for temptation. I'm thinking of having a "Series" category too next year. So very true! If I had a clone I would send her to work so I could travel and read.

Eva, sorry that The Phantom Tollbooth didn't work out for you to provide a good ending to your last thread. Especially as it resides on my own tbr pile never having read it either.

Happy new thread! You are making terrific progress on your challenge!

Migrating over to your new thread, Eva and congrats on having four categories completed! Looking forward to your thoughts on World War Z. I get the impression the book and the movie are completely different, and that I may enjoy the book more than I think I will, if that makes any sense! ;-)

World War Z was such a popular book in the library where I work it was stolen twice! Still haven't read it.

BTW - Love your new thread.

Just found your new thread! Max Brooks is appearing at Toronto's FanExpo convention at the end of August, so I was thinking of picking up World War Z before attending. I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

->18 rabbitprincess:
I might once it comes out on DVD, but from what I've read about it I'll have quite low expectations.

->20 luvamystery65:
You and me both!

->21 AHS-Wolfy:
It's very clever and a lot of fun, but most things just happen to Milo and he doesn't do much, so he's not a character I fell for.

->23 lkernagh:
Well, the idea was to read a bunch of chunksters this year, but I've somehow managed to avoid it and am a bit further ahead than I had planned. Perhaps I should limit myself to books of 1,000+ pages the rest of the year. :)

In other news, looks like the new Sandman: Overture will be published bimonthly, starting in October, so we'll be well into 2014 before it'll be out in collected form. Hence, my Sandman category is technically completed. However, I'll most likely fit a few of the spin-offs into this year as well.

And, World War Z is thus far leaning towards excellent.

I enjoyed WWZ although it has a few skewed stereotypes of the various nations, I have absolutely no desire to see the film though which looks plain awful from the trailers...

I may actually collect the bimonthly Sandman but will probably also buy the collected one, not decided yet!

I am still holding out for a low budget "mocumentary" of WWZ.. one day..

Happy New Thread!

I've been meaning to read Phantom Toll Booth for a while now. Interesting about how a different age might change the enjoyment.

Maybe I'll just have to read it to my niece when she's a bit older and it can be a new experience for the both of us (and maybe her delight will rub of on me ;)).

->27 psutto:
Yeah, I'm not kidding myself - I know I'll pick up the single issues as well as the collected, I won't be able to wait. :)

->28 clfisha:
That would be the perfect format!

->29 andreablythe:
I'm passing my copy on to a friend's 10-year-old daughter - I think she'll adore it.

>28 clfisha: I totally agree. In Tv series format, like 30 minute episodes.

->31 GingerbreadMan:
That would be even perfect-er! :)

ETA: And no big-name actors!

You've tempted me to put World War Z on request at the library, I'm going for the audio version. I saw the movie a few weeks ago, it was average.

>32 -Eva-: except for the English queen in the role as herself.

#58

Category: "Spinning Around in the Air" 5/5



World War Z by Max Brooks

A series of first-person accounts of the Zombie War, from an encounter with twelve-year-old Patient Zero, through the various active war efforts throughout the world, and on to the post-war rebuild. I must hand it to Brooks - he's written quite a spectacular war account, one which deals with all the anger, sadness, bravery, cowardice, and horror of regular war, but this one has a nemesis which is quite a bit scarier than your average one in that once a comrade falls, they reanimate and join up with the enemy.

I really liked that this wasn't told in a straightforward narrative and that I have to put the actual course of events together myself through each narrator's puzzle piece. The style of the story assumes that I already know what happened - that I have already read the history books - and that I'm now reading individual accounts of personal experiences and it does wonders for the veracity. What I liked even more is that it isn't really about zombies at all, but rather about how humans react when faced with disaster - which ones go Machiavellian and which go the way of the Buddha.

One complaint I have, however, is that all the different people, regardless of which part of the world they are from or their age and experience, have extremely similar voices. I would have much preferred that I could tell them apart without having to look back at each heading. Another issue I have is that somehow most of the sympathetic characters are of one minority or other and most of the unsympathetic are male and white, so we're in the area of political correctness that gets dangerously close to boring. Still, since this is mainly an action page-turner, I can't deny that these issues bothered me only slightly during the actual read and I did enjoy rooting for all the characters, good and bad, as they fought against the seemingly invincible foe.

#59

Category: "Whatever You've Got" 4/5



Laidlaw by William McIlvanney

A young woman is found murdered and DI Laidlaw has to navigate office and street politics in order not only to find the murderer, but indeed to keep him alive. Laidlaw is not your regular hard man noir detective, but rather a fairly sensitive man who fights hard to make other in the police force see the perpetrators as people rather than just simple criminals: "What we shouldn't do is compound the felony in our reaction to it. And that's what people keep doing. Faced with the enormity, they lose their nerve, and where they should see a man, they make a monster." The emphasis is on the psychological aspect of the crime and the criminal rather than the police procedure, so if you're looking for a whodunit, look elsewhere.

In addition to the benefit of having a main character who takes everyone seriously, there's also McIlvanney's wonderful language, like describing the victim's father having a face "like an argument you couldn't win," or the people of Glasgow as devotees to the "Method School of Weather - a lot of people trying to achieve a subjective belief in the heat in the hope of convincing one another" (being from Sweden I can very much sympathize with that!). Seriously, though, the fact that McIlvanney is commonly referred to as "the father of Tartan Noir" is not surprising - his characters are hard men, but they're not purely Mr. Hyde, there's quite a lot of Dr. Jekyll's sense of fairness and strong conscience inherent in their personalities as well. This duality is obviously why Tartan Noir is interesting in the first place, and Laidlaw decidedly deserves the accolades it's received as the first in the genre.

->33 avatiakh:
I was looking at the audio because it had some great actors listed, but I could only find an abridged version and we all know how much I detest those. :) Looking forward to seeing what you think. I'll probably watch the movie at some point since the special effects look really great, but I will be sure to remind myself it has nothing to do with this book other than the title.

->34 GingerbreadMan:
That would be fantastic - she did agree to the Olympics after all, but a zombie film might be slightly different. :)

In other news, I have taken the plunge and have started reading Game of Thrones for my Green Dragon-category and am rather happy I watched part of the TV series first - there are just so many characters involved that it's nice to be able to tell them apart. We'll have to see if I finish as well. I also have a non-fiction ER-book I'm working on, but it's progressing very slowly.

I see the World War Z love continues over here. I really need to check this book out! Looking forward to your thoughts on Game of Thrones, Eva .... book one is waiting for me, and no, I haven't watched the TV series.

The plan was to avoid watching the TV series before I had read at least one book, but, alas, that didn't quite work out. It is somewhat irritating that I don't get to make my own characters, but the TV ones aren't bad, so, oh well... :)

Adding Laidlaw to the wishlist -- great review!

Glad you enjoyed WWZ! That's one of my favorites.

I'll have to find a copy of Laidllaw Eva.

I was reading on rabbitprincess' thread that you are looking to start the Beck mysteries soon. I'm thinking I will start the first one in September. I still have some books to wrap up in August. I can't wait to discuss them with you.

Hope you get around to Laidlaw - he is a very interesting character! There is a sequel, The Papers of Tony Veitch, which I've heard isn't up to par with the first one, but I do like him enough to give it a try.

->42 luvamystery65:
LOL! I am starting to feel a little guilty that I've only watched a number of TV versions of Beck...

Please don't tempt me with TV shows Eva! LOL!

LOL! Not to worry, as far as I know, they're only available in Swedish (for now...).

ETA: Nudge me when you're starting Roseanna and I'll try to read it at the same time.

Whew! I dodged that bullet!

Eva perhaps you can help me figure out something. I wrote The Heart is a Lonely Hunter for an August group read. It is listed on the group home page, but not in the group read wiki. I have no idea who is supposed to be reading this book with me. I looked to see if anyone has started a thread but since I don't know who is reading it I have no idea.

Some days I could get lost in my own house. ;-)

I checked and nobody has started a thread yet (it may just be that those who wanted to participate got too busy), but I did find the initial discussion, which starts at message 89 over here.

Thank you Eva!

I'm still one of the few that hasn't gotten to World War Z as yet so it's good to see more positivity for it. Definitely interested to see what you think of Game of Thrones too.

I just saw your comment that To Kill a Mockingbird was not part of the curriculum in Sweden and it made me curious as to what American novels were taught there. I hope it wasn't all Hemingway!

->50 mamzel:
LOL, no not all Hemingway, but absolutely The Old Man and the Sea. I also remember getting through The Great Gatsby (which is still one of my least favorite books ever - along with Madame Bovary), Call of the Wild, Of Mice and Men, and Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Other than that, we read mainly Nordic and European literature - I'm afraid the Americans aren't heavily represented on our lists. :)

ETA: I also remember reading The Color Purple, but I may have read that on my own and just happened to discuss it in class.

Since I'm in the middle of (well, in the first part of) Game of Thrones, I'll not finish any more books this month, so here's the summary:

July Summary:

Number of books: 11
Pages: 3,105
CATs: 1

Category Progress:
1. "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - total so far: 4
2. "Whatever You've Got" - total so far: 4
3. "Blood on Your Hands" - total so far: 5 COMPLETED
4. "Hit the Highway" - total so far: 5 COMPLETED
5. "Everybody's a Victim" - total so far: 3
6. "Your Childhood" - total so far: 4
7. "A Long Long Long Time Ago" - total so far: 3
8. "Sing All Our Cares Away" - total so far: 5 COMPLETED
9. "Restless Soul" - total so far: 10 COMPLETED
10. "Slowburner" - total so far: 3
11. "Scotland's Story" - total so far: 3
12. "There's a Touch" - total so far: 5 COMPLETED
13. "Spinning Around in the Air" - total so far: 5 COMPLETED

Best read of the month: Laidlaw by William McIlvanney, for its great main character and for its kicking off of one of my favorite genres, Tartan Noir.
Least good read of the month: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, because you have to like the characters to enjoy this and they didn't work for me.

Kudos on 6 categories completed!

Thanks! I'm a bit ahead this year - looks like I haven't been reading as many chunksters as I had planned... :)

>51 -Eva-: I had very few mandatory reads in high school. But I second Of mice and men and The great gatsby. I'm also fairly certain we read some Poe, Whitman, Dickinson and Huckelberry Finn.

When I read literature at university we read a fair bit more of American literature.

And the only Nordic literature I read in High School was Ibsen (I can't remember whether it was A Doll's House or Hedda Gabler). I also read The Moon is Down, which is set in Norway. Does that count?

Interesting, I think our literature studies were pretty UK centric: Shakespeare, Chaucer, Keats, the Brontes etc.. Trying to think of anyone apart from the odd token Irish person we read.. that is kind of sad really.

Yeah UK literature studies are pretty parochial

Hailing from New Zealand - I only remember reading UK novels, not even NZ ones at high school.

The number of American books you read in school exceeds the number of non-American books that I read. The only author I can remember is Shakespeare who is probably the one author most universally read.

->55 GingerbreadMan:
In fairness, I did have a very literature-happy Swedish-teacher in high school and quite a few booknerds as class-mates and we encouraged her greatly. :) We may have read some Poe as well, but I don't remember if I just did that on my own. We did read a huge amount of British literature, though, and perhaps not many French, but I do remember being very enamored with how easy and funny Molière was to read, compared with what I had expected.

Hi Eva, dropping by to catch up. Harold Fry was recommended to me by a friend whose opinion I normally trust, but I'm glad I left this one on the shelf.

From what I remember of my high school reading (the mandatory reads get a bit lost amongst my personal reading from the time), our school was quite heavy on Shakespeare, we did at least one of his plays each year, but we also covered some of the short stories by kiwi Owen Marshall, Reading In The Dark by Seamus Deane, To Kill A Mockingbird and Holes by Louis Sacher. We definitely didn't do any of the obvious like the Brontes or Hemingway.

Good review of WWZ. I'm considering reading this in the near future, as Max Brooks will be at a convention I'm attending at the end of the month. Laidlaw sounds appealing, too.

I'm enjoying the discussion of mandatory reads in high school. When I was growing up (in Quebec, Canada), the list had mostly classics from the UK -- Shakespeare, Austen, the Brontes, etc. However, we also did Hemingway, Joseph Conrad, and some Canadian literature. My kids are still getting some of the English classics but they're also seeing more American and Canadian literature these days.

So, basically, everyone reads the Brits and then adds some of their own and/or international. I wonder if there is anyone that doesn't do the Brits, although I'm guessing avoiding Shakespeare would be difficult.

In other news, I'm still working on Game of Thrones - very good, but very looong. Also working on my ER-book about Doctor Who in Time and Space, which is interesting but a little bit dry.

And, speaking of Doctor Who, I have to say I'm absolutley delighted about the announcement that Peter Capaldi will be the next Doctor. I do realize that he'll be as far from the fantastic Malcolm Tucker as is possible (Doctor Who is a family show after all, and The Thick of It, well, isn't), but Capaldi is talented enough to guarantee that the 12th Doctor will, at a minimum, be great.

SO GLAD he was cast! He will be fab. And I'm hoping a return to an older Doctor will also mean a return to companions who AREN'T madly in love with him. Also I hope they make a reference to "The Fires of Pompeii" in his first appearance ;)

Yes! No silly romantic adoration. I loved Donna going "You're not matin' with me Sunshine ... I mean, you're just a long streak of nothing, y'know, alien nothing!"

Perhaps it'll turn out he was a future Doctor stuck in time being rescued by Tennant-Doctor. :) Then again, we somehow never noticed that Amy Pond was at Pompeii as well...

Well, she did have a bit more makeup and veils than Caecilius did ;)

True. :)

If they mention Pompeii, though, they'd have to mention John Frobisher as well. :) Better leave it alone completely...

Well, I guess I know what I'll fill my chunkster category with now... :)



#60

Category: "A Long Long Long Time Ago" 4/5



A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

What a great ride! Be prepared to deal with ghosts, decapitations, ravens, extortion, royalty, bastards, murder, sisters, accidents (*pause to rush out and buy the other books in the series*), a dwarf, wolf-cubs, marriage, politics, prisoners, cripples, courtiers, slaughter, omens, kidnappings, scuffles, a tournament, favors, a tomboy, heat, desert, story-telling, spies, combat, secrets, prisoners, jousts, melees, butchery, treason, sex, madness, brothels, direwolves, assassins, wildlings, prisons, revenge, trial, brothers, duels, assault, vanity, incest, superstition, agony, oaths, death, swords, confinement, blood, rangers, warriors, dragon-eggs, tactics, planning, courage, dungeons, negotiation, zombies, rape, battles, more battles, magic, urchins, premonitions, humiliation, mercy, scheming, desertion, a siege, and love. I think it's safe to say that somewhere in these 800+ pages is at least one topic for every type of reader. I'll not name my favorite character, though, since I understand that would be a direct death-sentence for that character and I'd like them to live.

Glad to see you enjoyed your first visit to Westeros and that you're looking forward to spending more time there in the future.

@ 69 -- One of my favorite reviews of A Game of Thrones! No book bullet, only because these books have long been on my TBR list!

Getting read to join the Martin ride.... l love your review of Game of Thrones! Is there anything they didn't include in the book?!

Oh, glad you enjoyed this one. I've read three of them and am stalled till he brings out the 6th book so I can enjoy 3 more.

->70 AHS-Wolfy:
Absolutely! I've been both to Wester Ross and to Västerås, so Westeros was just a matter of time. :)

->71 christina_reads:
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the ride when you get going!

->72 lkernagh:
You know, I can't think of anything that wasn't in there. :)

->73 avatiakh:
Oh, yes, so much fun! After about 200 pages I went ahead and ordered the next three books as well. :)

So I guess now I am officially the last person left who has neither read the Game of Throne books or watched the TV show.

It's on my list though..... ;-)

>75 IrishHolger:
You are not alone, Irish. I am in the same lonely boat with you.

>76 andreablythe:
Pheew, good to hear that. Next you're telling me you also never watched BREAKING BAD. ;-)

>77 IrishHolger:
Ummmmmm..... well, I haven't. *sheepish grin*

I only (finally) got started on Song of Ice and Fire because my pubquiz team changed name to something that's apparently funny if you've seen season 3 (which I haven't) or have read the books. :)

I've not seen Breaking Bad either, but I do approve of the actor who plays the main character, since he managed to walk the floor at Comic-Con dressed up as his character and nobody caught on!

Game of Thrones books....no. Game of Thrones series...no. Breaking bad...no.

I'm so happy I don't have to hang my head in shame in this crowd.

They are on my TBR and watch pile.

Not read GoT, have seen the first two series of the TV show and wasn't gripped, watched the first two episodes of Breaking bad and didn't like it.....

So, Eva, what is the new name of your pubquiz team???

I love that you're on a pub quiz team :)

->82 mamzel:
Our team is called "Frey Wedding Planners," and so far I've been kept from why it's funny. Apparently I find out somewhere in the middle of book 3. :)

->83 rabbitprincess:
It's so much fun! We've won a couple of times, but normally end up in the middle of the pack. A big part is having a reason to hang out in a pub in the middle of the week. :)

If it refers to the wedding I'm thinking of, your opponents must be shaking in their boots!

Yes, apparently something happened at said wedding that makes that funny. I'm 300 pages into book 2 so I have some 1,000 pages or so until I find out. :)

I'm glad to see that you made it through Game of Thrones and liked it! I've succumbed myself and started it, but I'm reading it slowly, as I have too many other TBR books that I need to get through. I'm also reading Leigh Butler's commentary on Tor's blog as I go through each chapter.

Being on a pub quiz team sounds like so much fun!

Frey Wedding Planners - I love that name!! I have only watched the televised version of Game of Thrones so far, but someday, I hope to read the books. Requires some advance planning, of course.

->87 mathgirl40:
It'd be good to read along with commentaries, but I'm mowing through it too fast - there is so much to get to! :)

->88 DeltaQueen50:
And time! Lots of time to read some 4,000+ pages.

Loved that review! And also love the fact that it's set in Västerås. I'm sure cucumbers. bicycles and Pugh were only left out of your review by accident :)

I'm also part of the "No GoT" club. Flea devoured the first two seasons last autumn (when I had to write every dang evening), so I have to find some time to catch up on my own. (Flea couldn't wait for season three however, but ran out and bought book three in the series instead. Apparently the transition was smooth...)

Breaking Bad is, however, our current DVD drug here. We've just finished season 2, and love it. Very dark stuff though.

I'm another who has never read or seen Game of Thrones. I don't watch much television besides the morning news and baseball (so I've never seen Breaking Bad either), and the books just don't interest me enough to make me want to want to attempt the 4000+ pages necessary.

But I'm glad you're enjoying them: people should always enjoy what they're reading--otherwise it isn't any fun!

->90 GingerbreadMan:
Well, cucumbers. bicycles and Pugh were a given, so... :) I've seen the first two seasons and, so far, they don't diverge too far from the books, but it'll be interesting to see how they stack up once I've overtaken the TV-series and am into uncharted territory. :)

->91 inge87:
The books are a reasonably fast read, but it is quite a time-investment! :)

Great review of GoT Eva! And loving your quiz team name :-)

Thanks! I take it you too know what went awry at the wedding. I'm still a few hundred pages away before I find out - I know that something goes wrong at a wedding that involves the Freys, but no details.

In case you missed the notice on the discussion thread, the 2014 challenge group has been set up over here.

OMG! Already?! Lol. Awesome, cause I was just thinking about categories for next year.

Thought you might like to know that Cold Granite arrived for me at the library and it will be my next bus book :)

->96 andreablythe:
We actually beat last year's start date by two days. :)

->97 rabbitprincess:
Excellent! I do hope you like DS McRae - he's a a great character. There are some creepy bits in the story, though, be aware. And lots of bad weather, but that's Scotland... :)

#95 Eva you are mad! I mean that in the best possible way! LOL

Thanks for alerting us slowpokes to the new group. Looking forward to your arrival at the Frey wedding as well.
Did you see that Ian Rankin is taking a year off writing.

->99 luvamystery65:
It wasn't even my idea to start already - I was nudged! I take no responsibility at all, including no responsibility for being the first to set up my thread... :)

->100 avatiakh:
Hardly slowpokes. :)

I did see something about that - I didn't have time to read the whole article, but I guess there were some friends of his passing away (and Iain Banks, of course) and wanting to travel and live a bit. Not a bad idea, I think, even if the reason for him thinking of it is sad. And, we do have a Rebus en route. Hope he comes back from his hiatus a happier man.

>94 -Eva-: I do indeed know what happens at the wedding - it's quite the event! I'm all up to date on my GoT's and am waiting for the next :-)

And thanks for the link to next year's thread, I did see some mutterings about getting this started and would eventually have gone looking for it...!

Just catching up Eva, interesting discussion about high school mandatory reading. In France, keep in mind that I was in what we called the scientific section, it is vastly different from the literary one: we didn't read any british author, not even Shakespeare. I remember that is was quintessentially french: Colette, Musset, Rousseau.

Phew, I avoid the WWZ BB, I already had this one on my WL but it'll do nicely in 2014 :)

I have GoT and Breaking Bad on the hard drive but so far it's still unwatched. Didn't read GoT either ...

->102 SouthernKiwi:
You're welcome - feel free to start a thread whenever!

->103 electrice:
One of my friends in Sweden grew up in France and she too read all French authors - she might have been in the scientific section as well. careful, GoT is quite addictive once you start. :)

Hi Eva! Just caught up with your (last 2 - sorry) threads, and wanted to say that I'm very happy with Peter Capaldi as the Doctor! I've got the first 2 discs of The Thick Of It out from the library, so I'll be tucking in with Mr. Tucker this weekend!

I won't mention the copious BBs that you got me with, though... :)

Well, this series is keeping its pace! :)



#61

Category: "Slowburner" 3/5



A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

A veritable barrage of kings step up to claim the title and preparation for battle begins; north of the Wall, Jon Snow and the Night Watch are hunting for Mance Rayner and his Wildings; and over the Sea, Daenaerys Targarian is fighting hard to raise an army so that she can make her own claim for the Iron Throne. It is a ridiculously engaging series, this. If you're looking for political intrigue, literal and figurative back-stabbing, real and supernatural action-sequences, and a few guys in armor bashing the heck out of each other for king and country (or for some other ulterior motive), look no further. Despite its heft (1,000+ pages), this is a really quick read and I am enamored enough with the story and the characters (the "hates" as well as the "loves") to not hesitate about continuing on with the series. Also, my favorite character is still alive, which makes me very happy - I do hope they last (I'm not telling who it is, because then they're sure to be killed)!

This is such a great read!



#62

Category: "Everybody's a Victim" 4/5



Templar by Jordan Mechner

Against the backdrop of the arrests and trials of The Knights Templars in the 1300s, we follow a group of knights on a quest to recover the lost treasure of King Solomon. Although it has many serious and horrific moments, this is mainly an adventure story where Martin and company get to be all kinds of brave, roguish, and idealist, as well as droll enough to be utterly engaging and charming. Although the drawings are at first sight somewhat cartoonish, it is soon clear that husband-and-wife artist team is extremely adept at displaying the small nuances within the broader strokes. I was going to recommend it to people who enjoy comics or historic novels, but I think I'll revise that to recommended to anyone old enough to understand the subject matter (there isn't much gore per se, but there are a few brutal scenes due to the topic) because it is so engaging and covers quite a few universal ideas. It may be some 470 pages, but it's one you won't want to put down once you've started.

->105 LauraBrook:
Oh, I do hope you like The Thick of It!! And, especially Malcolm, of course.

ETA! Hope I warned you about the quite inventive cursing, though... :)

#63

Category: "Scotland's Story" 4/5



Stonemouth by Iain Banks

Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth after five years in exile after having insulted the daughter of the local druglord/mafiaboss and, thus, her entire Family. The brilliance of this story lies in how the past is revealed - it reads almost like a mystery in that all the characters know what has happened, but the reader only finds out as Stewart goes along and meets people and recalls events. There'll be some interesting back-story with pretty much every character Stewart encounters on his few days back home.

I did sometimes feel like I wanted Banks to just get on with it and that there were a few too many flashbacks, but once I realized how much each little sidestory was filling in the background, I started really enjoying myself. There are some severe characters in Stonemouth, borderline caricatures, but that's also part of Stewart's story - the more dangerous he feels they are, the more frightening do they become in his narrative, to the point of sometimes ludicrous exaggeration. On the other hand, the relationships between Stewart and his friends and especially his relationship with Elle is described in such real terms that it's completely convincing and I was very happy that the ending had the same trepidations I would have had as it made it all feel very real.

The audioversion is slightly let down by the narrator's sometimes iffy take on a Scottish accent - most of the time it's the standard one taught to English actors, but there were moments when I was completely taken out of the narrative due to some odd pronunciations. If I go for a reread, it'll be the printed version.

August Summary:

Number of books: 4
Pages: 2,773
CATs: 1

Category Progress:
1. "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - total so far: 4
2. "Whatever You've Got" - total so far: 5
3. "Blood on Your Hands" - total so far: 5
4. "Hit the Highway" - total so far: 5
5. "Everybody's a Victim" - total so far: 4
6. "Your Childhood" - total so far: 4
7. "A Long Long Long Time Ago" - total so far: 5
8. "Sing All Our Cares Away" - total so far: 5
9. "Restless Soul" - total so far: 10
10. "Slowburner" - total so far: 3
11. "Scotland's Story" - total so far: 4
12. "There's a Touch" - total so far: 5
13. "Spinning Around in the Air" - total so far: 5

Best/Least good read of the month: I read four books and they all got , so it's near impossible to pick, but Templar gets a nudge up for the unexpectedly good art and Stonemouth gets a nudge down for the not great narrator (although that's not something the book itself can be faulted for, I know).

Nice to hear you're still enjoying the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm about three-quarters of the way through the first book now and I'm definitely hooked so will be seeking out the second book soon.

So, sooooo happy to see you enjoyed Templar! I ended up returning it to the library unread during my completely unplanned non-reading August *sighs and rolls eyes*. I do plan on checking it out again when I get back to reading library books.

ooh, I didn't notice it before, but great review of Templar. Great book bullit!

->111 mathgirl40:
Second book is full speed ahead like the first and, if it keeps up, I'll have no problem going through the next three as well pretty fast.

->112 lkernagh:
Yes! Such a great story with great characters - definitely check it out again.

->113 andreablythe:
Highly recommended! I got handed the BB from ryvre, and am only too happy to pass it on. :)

I was going to say I didn't like Stonemouth when I read it.. then I realised I had become confused with Song of Stone.

This is of course a long winded way to say oh no a book bullet! (& great review). is it wrong I am curious for the audio version? ;)

I'm going to join in with the September read of Iain Banks but will probably only read the crow road or maybe raw spirit but I'm definitely going to have to re-read more in 2014

->115 clfisha:
Song of Stone seems to have a low average on LT - I'll hold off on that one for now. The audio is fine most of the time, but the reader sometimes veers off into parody territory and it's a bit painful. At no point does he get anywhere near the accent the characters would actually have (Stonemouth is supposed to be on the ocean somewhere slightly north of Aberdeen) and a few times, he somehow wanders into Yorkshire (I'm thinking he may originally be from that area, but that's just a guess). I'd go with print. :)

->116 psutto:
The one I have left on Mt. TBR is The Wasp Factory, but there is a fairly high risk more Banks will be added in the future.

The GoT books, despite being on the large size, are very easy to read. I've started on part 1 of book 5 (A Dance with Dragons) so have just ben reminded of that fact. Despite limited reading time I'm about 2/3rds of the way through. Glad you enjoyed the 2nd outing.

->118 AHS-Wolfy:
They are quite relaxing to read in that sense - even if my wrists are taking a bit of a beating. :) I meant to start the third yesterday, but the weather was too hot and my brain just wouldn't function, but I'll get there soon.

For some reason I find reading books on the iPad to be harder on my wrists than holding a thick book. Wonder if I'm doing something wrong!

Glad you were able to enjoy the nice weather with a good book :)

->120 rabbitprincess:
iPads are pretty heavy, aren't they, and there isn't really a good way to hold them either. I have a NOOK for books and that fits in one hand so that's not a problem. I also have a Kindle Fire, but I use it mainly for watching movies and haven't read anything longer on it yet.

Actually it's an iPad Mini, so it's a fair bit lighter than the standard iPad, but you're right, there's no good way to hold it. Sometimes I stretch out on the couch with knees up and prop the iPad on my legs, which is OK for holding it up, but it's not really a good position to maintain for long periods.

I have one of those covers for the Kindle that you can fold into a stand of sorts, which helps a lot.

Catching up over here and dropping by to say "hi."

With regard to the iPad holding, I often prop mine on a cushion on my lap. I have thought about getting one of those mini beanbag looking things for it though.

>117 -Eva-: A song of stone is probably my least favorite by Banks, a sort of micro post-apocalypse that doesn't seem to know what it wants with itself. Banks is a bit hit and miss, but when he's good he's really really good...

I just got an e-reader (a Nook) I am prodding it nervously whilst hugging a real book... (why yes I do work in IT). It does seem quite light and comfortable though..

you can get gadgets to hold your ipad to a table.. probably do something (expensively) cool for the mini

126 and that basically sums up Iain Banks! Hidden gems amongst the merely good and sometimes iffy.

> 127 - An e-reader! That is great, Claire! Play with it.... over time it will become your friend.... trust me. ;-)

@ 127 -- Yay, a fellow recent Nook purchaser! Which model did you get? I went pretty basic with the Simple Touch, and I really like it so far. (Of course, I have yet to actually read anything on it...but I've been busily downloading free e-books and browsing the Nook Book website!)

->127 clfisha:
I picked the Nook because of it being so easy to get books from the library on it, including my "home library" in Sweden.

->126 GingerbreadMan:&127
Good to know about Banks - the reviews for his books seem to be all over the place, but if they vary so much, that would make sense.

I'm a bit behind on reading this month, but I managed to finish this masterpiece for the AwardCAT.



#64

Category: "Scotland's Story" 5/5



How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman

After a two-day drinking binge, Sammy wakes up to realize he has lost his good shoes, part of his memory, his girlfriend, and, after getting into a scrap with the police, his eyesight. It's not a riveting plotline, admittedly, but Kelman creates magic with his main character, a shifty ex-con who is terrified of authority and fatalistic to a fault. Sammy's ponderings and ramblings are nothing short of mesmerizing - it's like Kelman somehow poured the character's mind straight onto paper. Sammy completely draws you in with his stream-of-consciousness descriptions of getting used to his new-found disability and how he manages himself (or fails to) in a Kafkaesque red-tape society - you can't help but to be sympathetic to his fate, although he is in no way an agreeable character (albeit sometimes unintentionally funny).

Obviously, besides the descriptions of Sammy's very checkered past and present, a huge part of the novel deals with the claustrophobia sudden blindness would cause. There's a scene where Sammy, lost in thought, misses a turn on his way home and realizes he had no idea where he is. He senses that someone is following him, but can't be sure if there is really someone there, and who that someone might be, or if it's a "a false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain," to borrow a line from Mr. Shakespeare. Even if Sammy is holding it together on the outside, he relays perfectly the utter panic you'd feel were you in the same situation. For the record, James Kelman isn't blind, although he could have fooled me, so well does he describe it.

It isn't always a very pleasant read and if you have a problem with foul language, you may have a slight issue with Sammy's Glaswegian working-class vernacular. If you need another reason to read it, one of the Booker Prize judges stormed off the judges' panel in protest when it won and, as much as I'm for not judging people for their taste in literature, I suspect that particular judge is an eedjit who shouldn't be allowed to have any public opinion about literature ever again. Not recommended for everyone, but for those who are character-readers and would like a view into someone else's mind, this is quite spectacular.

Looks like I have "only" six books left to complete the challenge! The quotation marks are because a few of them are quite hefty with two coming in at 1,000+ pages.

The run-down by category:
"Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - Books by Nordic authors - 1 to go.
"Everybody's a Victim" - Bookbullets from other challengers - 1 to go.
"Your Childhood" - Children's and YA novels - 1 to go.
"A Long Long Long Time Ago" - Books from The Green Dragon's "1001 Fantasy Books - 1 to go.
"Slowburner" - Chunksters - 2 to go.

Sounds doable!

Great review of How late it was, How late. I think it's one of those books that I've picked up, read a few pages of, and then put down again, probably because I wasn't in the mood to cope with the Glaswegian accent which I do find hard work at times. Now going to google which judge it was stormed off!

Yep great review and a solid BB for me

Wonderful review of How late it was, How late and Wahoo for only six books left to complete your challenge!

How late it was, how late sounds right up my alley Eva.

->133 SandDune:
They were frightfully upset at the foul language and didn't think it was appropriate for a Booker winner. Kelman's response was basically, "bugger off, that's how we talk." Well, no, he was a tad more eloquent than that:

"To me, those words are just another way of inferiorizing the language by indicating that there's a standard," he said. "The dictionary would use the term 'debased.' But it's the language! The living language, and it comes out of many different sources, including Scotland before the English arrived."

To date, he's the only Scottish Booker winner, Wales has one, and Northern Ireland none. Trainspotting was pulled from the long list when two judges threatened to walk out. What a group of, pardon my language, morons.

->134 psutto:-136
When you're in the mood for one of the best postmodern novels ever, this is the one to pick up!

#65

Category: "Your Childhood" 5/5



Agnes Cecilia by Maria Gripe

When she moves to a new house with her adopted family, Nora starts to hear noises that are caused by nothing visible and when a stranger presents her with a mysterious doll, she sets out on a quest and finds out that her family, biological and adopted, hides more than their fair share of secrets. It's absolutely a supernatural story, but the ghost element is very subtle (and thus strangely realistic) and the main theme has more to do with abandonment and the emotional challenges orphaned children must face than anything else. Although it is written for young adults, it's psychologically a fairly complex story - there are mysterious events to spawn reactions in the characters, but at the core, those characters' emotions and relationships - and the tensions created and explored - are what the book is actually about.

I really really liked "The Thick of It" and absolutely LOVE Malcolm Tucker! So delightfully, wonderfully rude and hilarious. Just thinking about his reaction to his birthday cake makes me laugh out loud! I love all of the inventive swearing and language - I missed some discs and parts of the series (my library seemed to only have middle discs after series 1) but it didn't matter to me too much.

Yey! Isn't he just magnificent?! "This could be from anybody."

"only have middle discs after series 1"
I wonder if someone watched the other disks so much they wore them out. :)

138. I LOVE Maria Gripe!

#137 he's the only Scottish Booker winner, Wales has one, and Northern Ireland none - I had to look up who the Welsh winner was (a bit embarassing as I am Welsh) and discovered Bernice Rubens who I'm not sure I'd even heard of.

Our resident Bernice Rubens-er is avatiakh, who had a whole category dedicated to her a couple of challenges ago - otherwise I wouldn't have known about her either. Granted, I'm not Welsh... :)

"Resident Bernice Rubens-er", now THERE'S a title!

Chiming into the praise for the review on How late it was, how late. Will surely look that one up!

LOL - it's good, isn't it?!

Thanks!

That picture of Malcolm makes me laugh and try to hide in terror at the same time :P

When I was looking up pictures of Malcolm to post, there were so many screen grabs that were hilarious and incredibly rude that I wanted to use, but I didn't want to defile Eva's lovely thread with the F word about 17 times. :)

And nope, the discs are brand new to our library system and I was the first one to get all of them - I'm guessing that maybe they're scattered throughout the county and that eventually the rest of the locations will catch up with their new item processing. Or, you know, I can just look for a good DVD deal on Amazon UK instead.

I'm impressed you found one without the F-word. :)

Since BBC knew that Capaldi would be named the Doctor, they had a full set all ready to go for the US market (but buying a UK set is probably a lot cheaper!), or if you're comfortable buying off of Amazon instant, they have all four seasons as well as In The Loop available (but not the specials, unfortunately).

Agnes Cecilia sounds like a great story. I agree that when the supernatural element is subtle, the story can seem more realistic and frequently much more scary as well.

->149 mathgirl40:
Using supernatural overtones to create tension was always her forte and she does it so well. I seem to remember reading somewhere that she was very much against overt violence in fiction and she turned to creepy instead.

Re: Agnes Cecilia, I just feel the need to point out that Gloria Tapia, who played Nora in the filmed version, is all grown up now, and currently rehearsing a play of mine :)

150. She was a master of it. I don't think any book has scared me as much as The Glassblower's Children has. I was petrified after reading that!

->151 GingerbreadMan:
Oh, how fun! I've not seen the film, but after reading the books, it's definitely on the to-watch list.

->152 PawsforThought:
I never read that one, but it is on the list.

Ah, I now know why my friends have named our pubquiz team "Frey Wedding Planners." Crikey.



#66

Category: "Slowburner" 4/5



A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

To be honest, this is more of the same (swords and sex and betrayal and monsters and magic and the like), but it is ridiculously engaging. There may be one character that doesn't interest me hugely, but for the others, I am virtually gagging to find out what happens to them (it is a very good sign when you actually get out of your chair and do a happy-dance for something that happens to a literary character). Mr. Martin is very, very good at keeping the tension up, especially since he tends to kill off major characters when you're not expecting it. My favorite character is still alive (yey!), but I'm still not naming that character or they will undoubtedly be the next to fall. This is fantastic stuff when you want an epic tale absolutely bulging with plot-twists.

If LT allowed images in their reviews, this is probably the one that would be most posted for this series: :)

September Summary:

Number of books: 3
Pages: 1,722
CATs: 2

Category Progress:
1. "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - total so far: 4
2. "Whatever You've Got" - total so far: 5
3. "Blood on Your Hands" - total so far: 5
4. "Hit the Highway" - total so far: 5
5. "Everybody's a Victim" - total so far: 4
6. "Your Childhood" - total so far: 5
7. "A Long Long Long Time Ago" - total so far: 4
8. "Sing All Our Cares Away" - total so far: 5
9. "Restless Soul" - total so far: 10
10. "Slowburner" - total so far: 4
11. "Scotland's Story" - total so far: 5
12. "There's a Touch" - total so far: 5
13. "Spinning Around in the Air" - total so far: 5

Best read of the month: How Late It Was, How Late, because it's brilliant!
Least good read of the month: Agnes Cecilia, but mainly because it's a youth competing with grownups. :)

Love, love, love the photo! It should be included with every review of a Martin book.

LOL! That photo is perfect!

lol bookstore humour, love the photo!

Love that photo too! What happened, I seemed to have started following your 2014 thread and lost track of this one.
Yes, I did a Bernice Rubens category a couple of years back and really enjoyed her writing.
Highlights:
for black humour - Mr Wakefield's Crusade (adapted for tv in 1992, starring Peter Capaldi) or Five Year Sentence
for Jewish themed - The Elected Member (Booker Winner 1970), I, Dreyfus, Brothers (epic),
British Empire - The Ponsonby Post (Java), The Sergeants' Tale (British Mandate in Palestine)
Welsh setting - I Sent a Letter to My Love
also worth noting: Nine Lives (noir) and Madame Sousatzka (film starred Shirley MacLaine)
-as you can see most of what I read was a highlight. She had a close friendship with Beryl Bainbridge, another writer worth investigation.

I've have Agnes Cecilia on my list for reading this year but still haven't got to it. I've read the first three Game of Thrones books and taken a break for a couple of years while Martin gets going on book 6. I'm not a fan of the tv series.

Looks like you'll romp home with this year's challenge. I've already admitted defeat with some categories overloaded and others barely breaking the ice.

I had never heard of her when you started that category, so you have been designated our Rubens-er. :)

I did set the total-bar pretty low this year, just to make sure I got around to some of the chunksters that have been eagerly waiting. But, of course, I ended up adding GoT, so my Mt. TBR haven't actually shrunk much. Typical. :) I am enjoying them immensely, though, they're just so easy to get carried away with.

Loved your review of Storm of Swords and the accompanying photo! I'm almost finished with Clash of Kings so that one is coming up soon.

Another category down! And three books left in the whole challenge - next up is A Feast for Crows, but it's coming in at 1,100+ pages, so it may take me a while.



#67

Category: "A Long Long Long Time Ago" 5/5



American Gods by Neil Gaiman

When he gets out of prison, Shadow is hired by the mysterious Wednesday to be his bodyguard as he travels across America to rally support for his side in the impending war between new and old gods. This is just such a fantastic road movie in book format. The pace is meandering and, although we're building up to a war, there is no real sense of urgency, other in that we wonder where the various adversaries will bring Shadow and what troubles they will inflict upon him. I am also ridiculously fond of fiction which takes mythology and gives it a new spin, so this is extremely appealing to me and, especially as a fan of Sandman, I enjoyed the plethora of characters and ideas presented (as well as the small cameo by Delirium and Barnabas). When I read this the first time, I had only lived in the US a few years and I was impressed with how Gaiman caught the mood of this country, especially its distinct boundlessness, and this reread does nothing to change that - in fact, most of all it makes me want to get into my car and go off on an epic road trip. This time around I read the 10th anniversary edition which is a little longer than the original, but only slightly different. If you already own the original version, there isn't really a need to get this one, but if you're buying it for the first time, this is the edition to get.

three books left in the whole challenge - even with your planned doorstop read, I can see you finishing your challenge way before the year is out!

It's looking good, schedule-wise! Although I'm also trying to fit a few seasons of Breaking Bad now that I've been suckered in on that. :)

Nice review of American gods I keep meaning to re-read that one. Not long to wait for the next Sandman too!

I must get around to American Gods. I've enjoyed all the Neil Gaiman books I've read so far.

Nice review, I think its my favourite of Gaiman's novels. I keep meaning to read the authors edited version but it has been so long would i notice the difference.

Glad you enjoyed American Gods so much. Like Pete, I think I should schedule a re-read at some point.

I'm still in the middle of American Gods so will come back later to see your thoughts, but did notice the 5 stars; good to know it was good.

My husband has been trying to get me to read the Game of Thrones season. I've been hesitating, but you are strengthening his position. They do sound like fun! I'm assuming that even though they are long, they read quickly. True?

My best reading time is in the early morning and this past Saturday Monsieur went to work and I was able to enjoy a very quiet morning and Mr. Gaiman. On Sunday, I took my book and coffee out to the living room so as to not disturb anyone. He came out and decided to talk with me. I had conflicted feelings about sharing time with my husband while being distracted from Shadow and Mr. Wednesday.

Eva, great review of American Gods. I read it last year and loved it, but now I can see a re-read in the future after finishing the Sandman series. I sort of wish I had read the Sandman series before American Gods as I think it would have helped me mesh with the story even more. As an author that man is amazing!

ETA: I just checked my review of the book and actually I stated very plainly that I did not love the book, but that I was both awed and lost in admiration for the author.

Thanks all!

->165 psutto:
I saw that! I'm trying to convince myself to wait until the collection is done rather than get single issues, but I can tell you right now I'll be failing miserably! :)

->167 clfisha:
I couldn't have told you what was different to save my life - apparently it's 12,000 words longer, but the original version was 180,000 words, so it doesn't make that much of a difference. There is no change in plot, only some added descriptions. The preface and afterword where he talks about the new edition are pretty interesting and why you should buy the new one if you're buying for the first time, but if you already own a copy of the original, I'm sure you could find those online.

->170 japaul22:
Yes, very quick reads indeed - they're not works of a deep philosophical nature, but rather action stories with a bunch of fun characters to follow around. And, be shocked at how the author has no problem killing off any major character. :)

->171 mamzel:
Poor Monsieur!! :) Hope you didn't tell him - I'd hate (although understand) being semi-ignored for a fictional character. :)

->172 DeltaQueen50:
I have read quite a few reviews that weren't very happy about it, but it's so very much tied in with my feelings about America and a certain time and place in my life that I cannot but love it. Does that mean it's the greatest thing ever written? No, obviously not. Does it mean that it's a 5-star read that brings light into my heart? Absolutely! :)

Eva I loved your review of American Gods. I'm new to Gaiman having read Coraline last year and Sandman and The Graveyard Book this year. I know there will be more Gaiman in my future.

So glad to see your great review of American Gods. It's on my shelf and I'll try to get to it as soon as I'm done with the Sandman series.

->174 luvamystery65: & 175
I can't guarantee that you will love it quite as much as I do, but you are guaranteed a great ride with a lot of interesting characters! :)

I too need to reread that at some point. I seem to recall left wanting a bit more of a climax when it came to the war between old and new gods. Does that make any sense?

154> I'm way behind - just catching up on your thread. LOVE the picture for the Game of Thrones series.

170> How can I be shocked now that you've told me that he kills off major characters? LOL. Is it still fun to read, even knowing that everyone dies?

173> it's a 5-star read that brings light into my heart Yay!!! That's what matters, IMHO. At this point in my life, I read for pleasure, and there's no shame in that.

Good to see another fan of American Gods. So you'll be lining up Anansi boys or have you already read that one?

I didn't catch the cameos by Delirium or Barnabus the first time I read it! Definitely time for a reread. :D

->177 GingerbreadMan:
Yes, it absolutely does - I've read quite a few reviews where people use the word "anti-climax." And, they're not entirely wrong either - it is a little bit like Gaiman thought up a few different endings and instead of picking one included them all. :)

->178 BookLizard:
You'll still find yourself thinking, "surely that character is too important to kill." And you'll be wrong. :)

->179 avatiakh:
I do have it on Mt. TBR, but Zozette pointed out that Lenny Henry is the reader for the audioversion, so I'm in line at the library for that.

->180 andreablythe:
They are just in it in passing, but it is unmistakably them:

A young girl, no older than fourteen, her hair dyed green and orange and pink, stared at them as they went by. She sat beside a dog, a mongrel, with a piece of string for a collar and a leash. She looked hungrier than the dog did. The dog yapped at them, then wagged its tail.

Shadow gave the girl a dollar bill. She stared at it as if she was not sure what it was. “Buy dog food with it,” Shadow suggested. She nodded, and smiled.

OMG! I remember that scene! :D

Did you have a guess as to who the unnamed god is? As I remember there used to be a whole site dedicated to theories.

I've read quite a few ideas, but I can't say I could tell which one is correct. I guess we'll have to hope that Gaiman decides to tell at some point or other. :)

And, I have now finished my Chunkster category with this:



#68

Category: "Slowburner" 5/5



A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

Another great installment in a great series. Lots of travel and fighting and conniving and good stuff like that, as well as a very sad loss - Martin is very good at killing off some great ones. This book follows about half of the characters that we know and love - those that move in King's Landing, the Vale, and Braavos - and the next installment will follow the others. At first, I thought it was a shame that Martin had decided to make the division this way, since I missed hearing about the other characters, but now that I've finished, I think it may have been the right choice. If we were to follow everyone and then just have the story stop before an arc was finished, that'd been very disappointing. Although, I'm saying that knowing that the next installment has already been published - once I'm one of the people who are anxiously waiting for a new one, I might feel differently about it. I am really looking forward to hearing what the other characters have been up to while I was reading about these ones, though. And, my favorite character is still alive - let's see how long that happiness lasts.

- - -

In other news, I've spent the morning with sjmccreary and her husband, which was very nice. I can let you all know, if you don't already know, that they're extremely lovely people and are at this moment getting on a honking big cruise ship.

I've started my second to last book for the challenge(!), The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab, which is so far pretty darn hilarious - much funnier than the film.

Yay LT meetup and almost being finished with the whole challenge! :)

Nice progress towards completing your challenge! I am one of the holdouts that hasn't picked up the Game of Thrones series...don't know how much longer I can last though.

And, my favorite character is still alive

Good job in not naming them. I'm sure you know what'll happen to whoever it is if you do.

->185 rabbitprincess:
LT meetup was a lot of fun! Their time was limited, but we managed a great breakfast and at least a little bit of sightseeing. And book-talk, of course. :)

->186 aliciamay:
You might as well give up now. :) Or, watch the TV-series if you can't fit thousands and thousands of pages into your reading schedule - it's a pretty good adaptation.

->187 AHS-Wolfy:
Oh, I know exactly: they'll be decapitated in a ditch before I can finish typing the name. :)

they'll be decapitated in a ditch before I can finish typing the name

Sounds like you should just carve the name on their tombstone! LOL.

Noooo - I want them to live! :)

#69

Category: "Everybody's a Victim" 5/5



The Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists & An Adventure with Ahab by Gideon Defoe

A most unusual band of pirates help Charles Darwin introduce his manpanzee, Mister Bobo, to London high society and catch (or not) Moby Dick for Captain Ahab in this “double feature” book. These are very, very silly tales of pirates who are mainly concerned with ham (and the various ways in which it can be prepared), but if you’re in the mood for something that Monty Python or Black Adder could act out, its surreal humor should bring a few giggles to even the hardest of hearts. I do have to give it a minus, because it gets a little "samey" after a while - reading a 2-in-1 wasn't the best of ideas. I did realize that I enjoyed the parts I read out loud the most, so I would absolutely recommend an audio version.

#70

Category: "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" 5/5



Journal 64 by Jussi Adler-Olsen Department Q Book 4
AKA Contempt / The Purity Of Vengeance

Life is hectic for Detective Carl Mørck: new evidence has emerged in the old case that sent Carl to Department Q; his cousin has made accusations which make Carl look like an accomplice in his uncle's murder; his girlfriend's daughter has taken an immediate dislike to him; everyone in the police headquarter has come down with an atrocious stomach-flu; and when a cold case about a missing woman appears at the department, it takes Assad and Rose, to Carl's consternation, only a short while to find a connection with four more missing people, a Magdalene home for wayward girls, and a white supremacy movement to purify Denmark.

This is another gruesome installment in the series, but less explicitly gory than the others - this time the tension comes from the extremely uncomfortable subject matter. But, more importantly, the humor that went somewhat awry in the third book is back to its normal self in this one, and Assad and Rose are really shining, especially when they team up against Carl. We get a little bit more insight into Rose's life and some of her actions actually make sense, but Assad manages to get even more mysterious - I wonder if we'll ever find out who or what he really is. This may be my favorite installment yet, since even Carl gets to win a few of his battles and isn't as grouchy as he normally is, and the plot line is absolutely riveting with a bizarre, but not implausible twist at the end. I couldn't possibly recommend this series more than I already do to people who don't mind a little disturbing creepiness to go with their mystery.

October Summary:

Number of books: 4
Pages: 2,148
CATs: 0

Category Progress:
1. "Three More Days (and I'm Home)" - total so far: 5
2. "Whatever You've Got" - total so far: 5
3. "Blood on Your Hands" - total so far: 5
4. "Hit the Highway" - total so far: 5
5. "Everybody's a Victim" - total so far: 5
6. "Your Childhood" - total so far: 5
7. "A Long Long Long Time Ago" - total so far: 5
8. "Sing All Our Cares Away" - total so far: 5
9. "Restless Soul" - total so far: 10
10. "Slowburner" - total so far: 5
11. "Scotland's Story" - total so far: 5
12. "There's a Touch" - total so far: 5
13. "Spinning Around in the Air" - total so far: 5

Best read of the month: American Gods by Neil Gaiman, beacuse it's a classic that holds a special place in my heart.
Least good read of the month: The Pirates! by Gideon Defoe, because the others I read were just better.

And, that is officially it - challenge completed!!

Bringing on the now classic dancing girls:



So, what now? Well, at first I thought to just extend this challenge, but since I have a bunch of stuff I want to read that won't fit neatly into the categories, I'll make a Bonus Read thread to use for the rest of the year. Haven't quite figured out how it will be shaped (new categories or just free read), but it should be up shortly.

Challenge Statistics for 2013:

Number of books: 70
Total number of pages: 26,722 (average 381 pages/book)

Most prolific reading month: April - 12 books
Least prolific reading month: May - 3 books

Top Five:
1. Sandman by Neil Gaiman (yes, I know I'm cheating, but the whole series is great!)
2. Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
3. Broken Harbor by Tana French
4. Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington
5. Standing in Another Man's Grave by Ian Rankin

Bottom Five:
1. Black Irish by Stephan Talty
2. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
3. Is It Just Me? by Miranda Hart
4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
5. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

Only two of the ones on the Bottom-list had below 3 stars and there was only one real dud, so I clearly had a pretty great challenge! :)

Congratulations - well done!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge! Keeping both eyes peeled for your bonus thread...

Love The Pirates! movie so that BB for the books was a obvious hit. OMG, you have read book four in the Department Q series and I still need to get around to reading the first book. AUG!

Congratulations on completing your challenge, Eva and I love the fact that the dancing ladies are back, especially considering they are an expected tradition now for your end of challenge postings. ;-)

Congrats!

I just don't understand how ham jokes could ever get samey ;-)

Congratulations!

Congrats on completing your challenge!

Congratulations!

Well done!

Yay! Congrats! :D

Hurrah! Congratulations!

Congratulations on finishing. Don't you love seeing those COMPLETED (s) stacking up?

On another note, even though I have about 50 pages left in American Gods, I zipped up to see what you had to say about it. It is a great road trip book. I haven't read anything by Gaiman before but really am enjoying it.

Congratulations on finishing your challenge! I think I'll end up putting the Sandman series among my top five for the year too. I've had The Outlander on my bookshelf forever (it had been given to me by someone who is crazy about the series) but seeing it in your bottom-5 list confirms that it should stay there at least a little while longer.

Congratulations, Eva. Cheers to another great reading challenge coming to a close. I'll be watching for your bonus thread. :)

Congratulations!!!

Yay, congratulations on completing your challenge Eva!

Congratulations!

Interesting to see GONE GIRL that far down. I recently read it and was also by far not as impressed as most other seem to be but don't think I would go as far as putting it that far down my own list.

Congratulations and yay for bonus challenges!

Thank you all!!

->198 lkernagh:
Thank goodness there is at least one series where I'm ahead of others (mainly because I can read it in Swedish before it gets translated into English), since I'm woefully behind on all others! :)

->199 clfisha:
Perhaps if it was SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, it wouldn't be as bad. :) Seriously, I probably shouldn't have read them back to back - that was the main problem.

->207 mathgirl40:
Outlander still got three stars from me, but it had some aspects that irked me too much to continue with the series, unfortunately.

->211 IrishHolger:
Like Outlander it got three stars from me and is mainly on the "Bottom" list because everything else I read so far this year was better.

OK, the bonus thread is up. Happy Halloween everybody!