Sci Fi Challenge 2012

The last challenge I am signing up for is the science fiction challenge which Ellie of Curiosity Killed The Bookworm has put together. The idea is to read some science fiction. You can chose your own book but she is also going to put forward a potential book each month as a readalong. If you manage to read a sci fi book each month she will even put you forward for a giveaway.

First of all, how much to I love the image she used? She also has a fantastic blog which is worth checking out. I decided to go with this rather than start my own challenge because I love science fiction. I used to devour the genre but over the last couple of years I have read maybe a handful. I think this is a perfect way to get back into it. I am looking forward to discovering some new others and trying out some classics I haven't gotten round to yet. I also have a couple of sci fi books by favourite authors sitting in my tbr pile. This will be the perfect encouragement to get those off the shelf. I am also looking forward to seeing what books are put forward for the readalong each month. Maybe I will discover a new favourite or get to reread an old favourite.

Fingers crossed this is the last challenge I am signing up for. I don't think I could handle much more. The problem is there are so many good ones out there and I have to admit I am already restraining myself from signing up for more.

Shakespeare Reading Month 2012

Yes, I admit it, I have signed up for yet another challenge. As a result I am not going to start my own next year. It also means that I will be joining one more which I will post about later.

The Shakespeare Reading Month challenge is by Allie of A Literary Odyssey (a fantastic blog, especially if you like your classics). The fantastic thing about this one is that it lasts only a month and as I have a few weeks off in January I thought it would be perfect to take part. My knowledge of Shakespeare is limited to what I read in school. I am a little ashamed of that and I have always meant to do something about it. A lot of his plays sound right up my street and I have always meant to get round to reading them. I think Macbeth, Henry VIII and Anthony and Cleopatra are definitely on the list for now. Very much looking forward to this.

Mixing it up Challenge 2012

This is the second challenge I have signed up to for next year. This one was created by Ellie from Musings of a Bookshop Girl. The idea is to branch out from what you usually read. There are 15 categories to chose from and you can sign up for as many as you like. I have decided on 12, one for each month of the year. Here are the categories I have picked out;

1. CLASSICS

This can be any classic work, from Alcott to Zola.  Always fancied trying Great Expectations, or finally feel like tackling Jane Eyre?  Now's your chance!  From the fun to the frightening, the gentle satire to the all-out swashbuckling epic, there are hundreds of years' worth of books to choose from.

Edit 9/01/12 - Read and Reviewed Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

2. BIOGRAPHY

This can be modern or historical, biography or autobiography.  From the latest celebrity autobiography to an academic biography of Henry VIII - it all counts!  Perhaps you fancy a book on your favourite classic movie star, athlete or musician? 

Edit 31/01/12 - Read and Reviewed Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

3. HISTORY

More scope to indulge a whole range of interests here, including local history, military history or world history.  It might be a biography of Anne Boleyn, a book on World War II aircraft, a study of the American civil war, or something with a much smaller focus, like Bill Bryson's At Home or Mark Kurlansky's Salt: A World History.  Whatever floats your boat!

Edit 3/4/12 - Read and Reviewed Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir.

4. MODERN FICTION

This covers literary and popular fiction, so you can't really go wrong with this one.  From Sophie Kinsella to Haruki Murakami, Wilbur Smith to Isabel Allende, Jenny Colgan to Kate Mosse, you should be able to find something to fit your tastes! 

Edit 20/4/12 - Read and Reviewed Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

5. GRAPHIC NOVELS AND MANGA

This will be an entirely new genre for me, but I'm looking forward to hitting the library to see what all the fuss is about!  First on my 'to check out' list will be Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes and Alan Moore's V for Vendetta.

Edit 05/05/12 - Read and Reviewed The Preacher by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon

6.  CRIME AND MYSTERY

This category will cover everything from the genteel Agatha Christie and the scrummy Hannah Swensen Mysteries by Joanne Fluke, through Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson, to the gruesome forensics of Martina Cole and Val McDermid.  You could even delve into some gritty true crime if that's more your style. 

Edit 25/06/12 - Read and Reviewed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John LeCarre

7. HORROR

One for Hallowe'en, perhaps!  Maybe a modern writer like Stephen King or James Herbert, or you could turn to the classics with Edgar Allen Poe or the ghostly writings of M.R. James?  Some YA novels would also fit into this category - Darren Shan, or Lindsey Barraclough's Long Lankin - but no paranormal romance!

Edit 17/07/12 - Read and Reviewed Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

8. SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY

Again, plenty of scope here.  From the hilarious characters of Terry Pratchett's Discworld to Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings, Charlaine Harris'sSouthern Vampire Mysteries to Frank Herbert's Dune, you can go modern or classic, and pick from any number of sub-genres.

Edit 04/09/12 - Read and Reviewed A Sorcerer's Treason by Sarah Zettel

9. TRAVEL

The world is your oyster, as it were!  Maybe you're going somewhere interesting on holiday and want to read up on it first?  Rough Guides, Lonely Planet guides, that kind of thing.  You could pick a Bill Bryson (always popular) or choose a book on a particular city, country or continent, like Francesco da Mosto's Venice or one of Michael Palin's books.  Then there are all the delectable memoirs by people who've moved abroad and opened a taverna/olive farm/vineyard!

Edit 07/09/2012 - Read and Reviewed A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson.

10. POETRY AND DRAMA

This could be a novelty collection of limericks, a collection by a particular poet, or if that sounds a bit daunting, a single, longer narrative poem.  How about 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', 'Hiawatha' or 'The Waste Land'?  My particular favourite is probably Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market', which is more like a simple fairytale that just happens to rhyme.  Or you could choose a play - how about Ibsen, Miller, Shakespeare or the brilliantly witty Wilde?

Edit 09/09/2012 - Read and Reviewed The Crucible by Arthur Miller

11. JOURNALISM AND HUMOUR

This one might take a little more thinking about, but it should be a bit of fun!  Journalism collections can range from Nick Hornby's Shakespeare Wrote for Money to Marian Keyes's Under the Duvet, Jeremy Clarkson's The World According to Clarkson to Bill Bryson's Notes from a Big Country.  Anything that's been published in a newspaper or magazine first!  Humour could be a book of cartoons, a novelty joke book or The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde!  

Edit 28/09/12 - Read and Reviewed Moranthology by Caitlin Moran

12. SCIENCE AND NATURAL HISTORY
Again, this one throws the doors wide open for you to follow your interests.  Always fancied learning more about space?  Are you curious about the life of Charles Darwin?  Or got a lifelong love for a particular animal?  There are some wonderful 'popular science' books around too, including things like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, David Attenborough's natural history books, and the entire works of the brilliantly funny Mary Roach.

Edit 14/11/12 - Read and Reviewed The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins

The categories I have decided not to do are romance, children and young adult and social sciences and philosphy. I have absolutely no interest in branching into romance. It just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I have read my fair share of Children's and Young Adult books in the past and I have overkilled on it. My last degree was social sciences and whilst I would find some of the books interesting I had my heart set on doing 12 so it didn't make the cut.

There are a number on here that isn't exactly branching out for me so I have decided that the books I read for this have to be by authors I have never read before. Looking forward to discovering some new authors from this and perhaps a new genre. 

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2012 Challenge

The first of the challenges I am taking part in next year is The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen challenge. Thanks to Gabe Reads and Kayleigh of Nylon Admiral for bringing this to my attention. This challenge is being organised by Hanna of Booking In Heels. I am excited not just because of the idea of the challenge but also because this is a new book blog to me.

Basically the idea of the challenge is to read all the books which feature the main characters from "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". I have read a few of them in the past and there is only one on the list that I didn't enjoy. I am looking forward to reading new books and to rereading some old favourites (Dracula is long overdue a reread).

I have to confess that I saw the film when it was first released in the cinema. I was excited about it because of all the characters involved but in the end I was extremely disappointed by it. It hasn't put me off the idea though. I think Alan Moore himself hated the film too (although he hates all the films which is why he took nothing to do with The Watchmen). When I tried out graphic novels this year the ones I enjoyed the most were by him. So like Gabe and Kayleigh I am adding the graphic novel to the list which is;

King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Allan Quartermaine)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (Mina Harker) 
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (Captain Nemo)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (Tom Sawyer)
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Dorian Gray) 
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) 
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells (Rodney Skinner)
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (The Phantom)
The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (James Moriarty)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore


My rereads are Dracula, Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray, Jekyll and Hyde and Phantom of the Opera. That's actually more than I initially thought. Dorian Gray I disliked and Phantom of the Opera wasn't a favourite either. The others though I loved and I am looking forward to reading the rest. I might even watch the film again as it has been years since I originally watched it.

2012 Challenges

This is really just a quick post to let you know I am still here. I am still wondering around blogs and reading. It's just my reading has slowed down (definitely savoring the new Murakami).

I will put a post up in the next few days to talk about two challenges I have joined for next year. Should involve me reading books I haven't thought about reading before. I am also working on my own challenge for next year. This is a challenge I am setting up because I want to do it but I am happy for anyone to join in. So watch this space for more information on that.

Booking Through Thursday - Challenging/Light

Booking through Thursday is a fun book meme. Every week someone asks a book related question. This weeks question is;

All other thing being equal, would you rather read a book that’s hard/challenging/rewarding or light/enjoyable/easy?


My preference completely depends on the mood that I'm in. I have went through phases of reading only light books and I get bored of them very quickly. I either get bored of the type of book I am reading or the author or the series. It happened when I read nothing but YA for about a year or so. In the end I missed the challenging books and I am very rarely able to face picking up a YA. Same with the supernatural books. I over-killed with both. I've discovered I need to be challenged now and then to keep me interested. I love to be challenged by new authors and for that reason I love discovering new ones. It's why I like visiting other blogs so much. I also started the classics a month as a challenge. Something I am very much enjoying. I still like a light read. It's great during times of stress or when you are too busy to concentrate. Sometimes I am just in the mood to be entertained without putting much effort into it.

So to answer the question I love both and me preference for one over the other depends on what mood I am in.

What's Next?

The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts. Pub 31/05/2012 (according to Waterstones but on amazon it sites it as 2013). Having mentioned Shantaram in my last post I remembered that the sequel was supposed to be out about now. Clearly it has been postponed. There isn't even an image available of the book cover yet. Regardless, I am looking forward to it. Despite some flaws I very much enjoyed the first one and I think by the time the second one comes out I will be ready to read another huge volume by this author. I am extremely curious as to what happens next.

The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde. Pub 10.11.2011 (although it looks like it's out now as it's available to order rather than pre-order). The is the second book in a children's series by one of my favourite authors. The first book was called "The Last Dragonslayer" and it was fantastic. Extremely funny and well written. Actually reminded me a little of John Connolly's writing style in his children's books. For me that was just a sign that Jasper Fforde was made for writing them.





Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James. Pub 3.11.2010. It was actually seeing this book whilst browsing online that made me want to do another What's Next post. I have never read anything by this author before although my mum used to be a big fan. I do have one on my tr list because it's dystopian. However, you can imagine that it was the title that caught my eye. If you haven't guessed it, it's a murder story involving the characters of Pride and Prejudice. It takes place a few years after the original book. Lydia turns up the door of her sisters and claims that her husband has been murdered. How could I not be intrigued by that?

Does anyone else have news of books soon to be released that they are looking forward to?