3 South African Catches!

I got a message in my inbox that a book which I released over Christmas in South Africa was caught. That makes three books! A pretty good catch rate.

The first to be caught was M.C.C.: The autobiogrpahy of a cricketer , a themed release given to my by my mum and released at the England - South Africa test at Newlands Cricket Ground .

Number 2 was one of three books I left at Kauai , a cafe in Camps Bay, The Alienist, a NSS present. It was caught and registered by a newbie, MurasakiAme, here's hoping they stick with bookcrossing.

Finally this morning I got an alert that The Snow Cow: Ghost Stories for Skiers
had been caught and journalled. I left it at the V&A Waterfront on a flower pot in the shopping centre. The catcher is now in Australia and plans to leave the book there.

I wonder if any more catches will come in?

Oceania and Islands Bookbox

Another box on my doorstep, Soffitta1's 6th Bookbox (Oceania and Island theme)! I am just busy having a look at the books, a pretty good mix has returned. This was a bit of an experiment, I had read a couple of Australian books, but they didn't fit into any of my bookboxes, so decided to make a new one! The idea was that the books should be written by a writer from Oceania (e.g. Australia) or an island (e.g. Cuba), set in or with a main character from either of these two. I intend to send this out again in the summer.

Stormchild
Mediterranean Island: Knowledge of Angels
Jamaica: Small Island
Japan: Goodbye Tsugumi
Sri Lanka: The English Patient
Mirage
Australia: The Loveday Revenge
Stark
Requiem for a Wren
Cuba: Cuban Heels
Haiti: Kingdom of This World
Caymen Islands: So, You Want to Live on an Island...

African Box Returns Home

Great news! Soffitta1's 3rd Bookbox (Africa Theme) arrived on my doorstep a few days ago. A good mix of books, with various countries represented. I am hoping that this will help with my Olympic Challenge. The plan right now is to send this out in the summer, giving me plenty of time to read books to go in the next round.

SOUTH AFRICA Age of Iron
The Conservationist
SENEGAL SO LONG A LETTER
NIGERIA The Famished Road
The Other Hand
UGANDA The Last King of Scotland
KENYA Bill Bryson African Diary
EAST AFRICA Green Hills of Africa (Arrow Classic)
EGYPT The English Patient- audio cassettes
SAHARA The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream
Sahara
VARIOUS COUNTRIES The View from Africa (Granta: The Magazine of New Writing)

2010 1001 Books Challenge

Once again, 52 books to be read from the 1001 book lists. Once again, the 1001-Library will be the source of most of my reads, so a big thanks! Lets see how I do, here are the first few candidates:

In Portugal
The Old Man and the Sea-1001-Library Book
The Grass Is Singing
Black Dogs
Embers
Blue of Noon
The Nine Tailors (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries)
The Plot Against America
Les Miserables (Penguin Classics)
Hangover Square: A Story of Darkest Earl's Court (Penguin Modern Classics)
A Kestrel for a Knave (Penguin Modern Classics)
Love in a Cold Climate (Penguin Modern Classics)
Voss
The Red and The Black
The Midwich Cuckoos

Bookrays
Watchmen (1001 Library Book)
Brideshead Revisited

In the U.K.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Penguin Popular Classics)
The Story of Lucy Gault
The Time Machine (Everyman Paperback Classics)
The Age of Innocence
Under the Net (Vintage Classics)
Schooling

1000th Book

I registered my 1000th book yesterday, I can't believe I finally did it! I bought The Oxford Book of Travel Stories in the second hand book shop in Obs, Cape Town. I picked it up with an eye on the 1010 Challenge on Librarything and the Olympic Challenge. I haven't read the book yet, but I hope to add it to a bookbox in the summer.
Here's to the next 1000!

2010 Bookcrossing Reading Challenges

3 challenges up for the year, here's going for it!

1. Olympic Challenge - 50 books

2. 1001 Books - 52 books

3. Get Mt. TBR down to one page (at least one time during the year)

1010 Challenge - 1/3 down

Having the Christmas holiday has helped me get ahead with this challenge (as well as some very good reads!). Disappointingly, I still have one category untouched, but hopefully not for long. This year, I have more books in my sweaty hands already, unlike last year when I had to wait for books to arrive here in Portugal.

Group 1: 1001 Books 4/10

1. The Piano Teacher
2. The Tin Drum
3. The Successor
4. The Shining



Group 2: Spain and the Spanish speaking world 9/10
Great progress with this category, have got the 10th book ready to read.

1. Paradise Travel
2. Captain Alatriste
3. Purity of Blood
4. The Old Man and the Sea ** 1001 Book
5. The Scarlet Cloak
6. The Return
7. The Queen's Sorrow
8. The Book of Murder
9. Our house in the Last World



Group 3: British Writers 4/10

1. Sexing the Cherry ** 1001 Book
2. Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner ** 1001 Book
3. The Book lovers' Appreciation Society
4. The Riddle of the Sands ** 1001 Book



Group 4: Books not written in English 1/10

1. D. Maria II read



Group 5: Travel 2/10

1. Attention. Deficit. Disorder
2. In the Heart of the Sea



Group 6: History 3/10

1. Castle Rackrent ** 1001 Book
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society
3. The Alienist



Group 7: Myths and Legends 4/10

1. The Lusiads
2. Politically Correct Holiday Stories
3. The Snow Cow
4. Stardust (this is the audiobook read by the author)



Group 9: Olympic Challenge 3/10

1. Homo novus - valik hüperboole Estonia
2. The Eye of the Leopard Sweden / Zambia
3. This Body Guyana



Group 10: Asia 4/10

1. Sacred Games
2. Inheritance
3. River Town
4. Tale of a certain Orient

Asian Virtual Bookbox

After taking part in ApoloniaX's Intercultural Bookbox, I jumped at the chance to sign up to the Contemporary Asian Literature VBB. There are a few rules, the writer must be Asian (or of Asian descent) and published after 1980. As I love reading books set in and by Asian authors, this is a perfect VBB for me.

Round 1: Put in
Inheritance chosen by chucklesthescot
Sacred Games (now int'l BOOKRING) chosen by Dancesports
Taken out:
I chose two books from Annimanni
The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Mongolia)
Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos

Round 2: Put in:
The Concubine of Shanghai chosen by ApoloniaX
Lost Daughter of Happiness chosen by Tsjara
Taken out:
Dreams of Water
The Railway

Round 3:
Taken out:
Funny Boy
The Tapestries
Put in:
As both books I got from Round 1 are pretty small, I decided to put them back in for Round 3.
The Cave of the Yellow Dog (Mongolia) chosen by jumpingin
Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos chosen by chucklesthescot

A book that were originally bookcrossed by me has also been added to the VBB, good to see it go to another keen bookcrosser : Magic Seeds put in by the box's organiser,ApoloniaX

All I need to do now is read the books and pass them on! Can't wait for the others to arrive!

Books in South Africa

I went to Cape Town to spend the holidays with my family, a warm getaway from a cold winter in Europe. As usual I packed lots of books with a view to read and release here in S.A., though ended up with more for Christmas presents!

I was shocked to see the V&A Waterfront so busy, but this makes me hopeful for a couple of catches. I released a couple of books there: The Snow Cow: Ghost Stories for Skiers , which I received from the Librarything Early Reviewers programme, and The Sleeping Sword.

After a wander down into a packed Camps Bay, we managed to find a table at Kauai, a little healthy cafe chain. I quaffed a coffee milkshake and left a few books in the newspaper stand. Chickenfeed: Quick Reads,Martin Misunderstood,The Alienist

We drove into the winelands for a couple of tastings and I left Mourning Raga (A Dominic Felse Whodunnit) , which Mum had picked up in the second bookshop in Obs. I love that shop, crammed full of great titles at reasonable prices. I accidently picked up a few more with a mind to complete my 1010 challenge.

As we were going to the first day of the New Year's test at Newlands, Mum gave me M.C.C.: The autobiogrpahy of a cricketer to release there. It has been picked up and journalled already!

1001 Books - overtime

I completed my target of 52 1001 Books this year, and even managed to squeeze in a few extra.

53. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
54.Brave New World
55.Nervous Conditions
56.The Successor
57. The Lusiads. Translated by William E. Atkinson
58.Castle Rackrent (The World's Classics)
59.Sexing the Cherry
60.Private Memoirs & Confessions of a Justified Sinner (Wordsworth Classics) (Wordsworth Classics)
61.The Riddle of the Sands
62.The Tin Drum
63.The Shining (diff. cover)
64. The Piano Teacher

Of these, I would recommend most The Tin Drum, it was disturbing, but very gripping. I am going to join the challenge again in 2010, with the same target of 52 books. Once again, I have to add a big thank you to the 1001-Library as this has been my main source of books.