11 in 11 Step Challenge - Half Way There

Still going strong on Soffitta1's 11 in 11 Step Challenge, half way there and with a stack of books in my flat left to read.  I reckon I'll soon be having a tinker with the categories as I have some books that don't fit here.
A good selection of books, no duffers, which makes me very happy!


11x 1001 Books
Bonus 1:


3. Three Lives
4. Half of a Yellow Sun
5. Invisible Cities 

10x Films



Books adapted for the big screen, small screen and stage.
3. The House of Sand and Fog

9x Asian Books

I usually read a lot of books set in Asia or by Asian writers, hopefully some from my huge TBR pile.
4. Thirty three Teeth
5.  Disco for the Departed

8x British

Books from the British Isles.
5. The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce

7x Spanish


From Spanish speaking world or in Spanish

2. Muerte de Tinta
3. Journey to the Alcarria **1001 Book

6x Crime


Crime, mystery, thriller

1. The Trial **1001 Book
2. The Ministry of Fear
3. The Winter Ghosts
4. The Ghost
5. The Flood

5x Food 'n' Drink


None this quarter

4x History


Still none :(

3x French

French Books

2. Fantomas ** 1001 Book
3. The Immoralist **1001 Book

2x Short Stories


COMPLETE

1x Tome

A big, fat, scary book.


Still not even opened :S


I would say that The Ministry of Fear was the surprise of the quarter, very gripping, well-written and much more than it appeared from the rather dreadful cover. Another thriller I enjoyed was The Ghost, who doesn't want to know why our former PM went into Iraq! I utterly relished finishing the Dr. Siri books I had, books 2 and 3 continued in the same entertaining vein as number 1. I must get my hand on books 4 and 5 (I already have 6 at home).

As for my top 1001 book, that's tough. I finally read The Trial, which had been on my radar for many years. It was much as I expected, carefully constructed narrative pulling you in and then pulling the rug out from beneath you. Fantomas was fun, while it certainly wasn't the best crime book I've read, I could see how many modern writers have been inspired by the style. Though I have to say I was most impressed by Invisible Cities, such beautiful prose, I will have to get my own copy of the book to dip in and out of.

11 in 11 Step Challenge

 I finished the 11 in 11 Category Challenge and was busy reading some bonus books, until I decided to jump into a second challenge.  So here it is, Soffitta1's 11 in 11 Step Challenge, 11 categories but this time, the first category is 11 books, the second 10, etc.  Here are my initial categories, but I am sure they will change and be moved around.

 

11x 1001 Books


1. Agnes Grey ** Group Read
2. The Diary of a Nobody
3. Suite Francaise **Group Read

 

10x Asian Books



I usually read a lot of books set in Asia or by Asian writers, hopefully some from my huge TBR pile.
1. [Lord Jim]

9x Spanish Speaking World


1. Dreaming in Cuban

8x British


1. Where have all the Boys Gone
2. Dinner for Two

7x In Spanish


TBR
1. Muerte de Tinta

6x History

5x It's a sign!



Books that I pick up because of a connection, authors that crop up in conversation or by word of mouth.

1. Santaland Diaries I heard a bit of an interview with the author on BBC Radio 4 Extra and, a couple of days later, a colleague gave me this book.

4x Mystery

3x Short Stories

2x Children's Books

I am going to be working on a summer camp, so will be reading with my students. And, I am a big kid at heart ;)

 

 

1x Tome

A big, fat, scary book.

11 in 11 Category Challenge COMPLETED

Top and bottom books of the challenge:

I gave out quite a few 4 1/2 stars, none of the books I felt merited the elusive 5, but I thought they were very good. Understandably most were 1001 books, but there were some lighter, more fantastical reads in there.

Here are my top 1001 reads:
Day of the Triffids
The Story of Lucy Gault
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Cold Comfort Farm
The French Lieutenant's Woman
Effi Briest
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

If I had to chose the crème de la crème, I would go for The Story of Lucy Gault, which affected me so much, I couldn't put it down and it went around my head for days afterwards. The same goes for The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which was removed from the latest version of the 1001 list, wrongly as far as I can see. Lastly I would pick The French Lieutenant's Woman, I think the combination of characters and a meddling narrator gives it that extra inch.

As for the rest, I would single out these 5:

Stardust
Inkheart
The Good Earth
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The North China Lover

I enjoyed being transported to others worlds with Stardust and Inkheart. The Good Earth was so interesting, so well characterised. The Diving Bell is another of those slim volumes which catches you unawares, making you think and evaluate your own life and relationships. As for The North China Lover, an excellent revisiting of The Lover, from a different point in the author's life.

At the other end, there were few books I didn't really like, but here they are:
Bleak House
Sundays at Tiffanys'
Malinche
Lost Innocence
An Unequal Marriage
West of the Wall

Bleak House just bored me to tears and Lost Innocence was not my kind of book. West of the Wall annoyed me for the plot twist, though it had very good ideas in it. Malinche was a disappointment as I have enjoyed other books by the author. An Unequal Marriage was a horrible revisiting of Pride and Prejudice and I think James Patterson should stick to crime, as shown in Sunday at Tiffany's!

11 in 11 Category Challenge: 7 German Speaking World COMPLETED

Category 7: German Speaking World


In the 999 Challenge, I looked at the Portuguese Speaking World, in the 1010 Challenge I concentrated on the Spanish, so this time the German is up.

1. Dragon Rider
2. Candide *1001 Book, main character from Westfalen.
3. Kleiner Werwolf (in Spanish)
4. Golem: An Old Prague Tale in German
5. The Pigeon ** 1001 Book
6. Effi Briest **1001 Book
7. West of the Wall
8. Corazon de Tinta in Spanish
9. The Rings of Saturn ** 1001 Book
10. All Quiet on the Western Front ** 1001 Book
11. Sangre de Tinta in Spanish

A bit of a random selection, rather surprisingly, three of my German books were in Spanish! Four entries from the German writer Cornelia Funke, I had read Inkheart in English a few years ago, but was waiting to get hold of the the third of the trilogy. When I found them in my local library in Spanish, I thought it was a sign! I love her books, I'm only sorry that it has taken me so long to read them, where was she when I was growing up?! I am off to get Inkdeath from the library to complete the trilogy. Five 1001 books, one a reread, but all strong books. Very different, from the funny Candide, to the impending downfall of Effi Briest, from the day in the life story in The Pigeon to a travelogue, The Rings of Saturn. And last, but not least, a reread of a great book, All Quiet on the Western Front, which affected me just as much as it did the first time I read it.

West of the Wall was a clunker, a great idea of a book ruined by a plot twist. This is on the list of books I'd love to rewrite.

Inkheart

I've been reading this for a wee bit, at almost 600 pages and in Spanish I needed time! I had read this before in English, but I enjoyed the reread. My local library as the next 2 books, so will get to them soon.
Books about books, could there be anything better! Mo, Silvertongue, has a gift, he can read characters out of books, but for every character read out of a book, a replacement is taken from our world. This is what happened with his wife 9 years earlier, and now one of the characters, Dustfinger, is back, wanting Mo's help. Brilliant!

At the back of the book, there was a bibliography of the books cited in Inkheart, and I found a list of them online.  I found the list here - http://www.listsofbests.com/list/28877-the-books-in-inkheart-by-cornelia-funke

1. Watership Down
2. Peter Pan
3. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
4. The Children of Green Knowe
5. Fahrenheit 451
6. The Witches
7. BFG
8. Great Expectations
9. Oliver Twist
10. The Neverending Story
11. Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver
12. The Wind in the Willows
13. The Night Daddy
14. Secret of Platform 13
15. The Jungle Books
16. The Borribles Go For Broke
17. Prince Caspian
18. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
19. The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
20. The Silver Chair
21. The Brothers Lionheart
22. Bill Bergson and the white rose rescue
23. Mio, My Son
24. Bill Bergson, Master Detective
25. Sejtes skatt
26. The Satanic Mill
27. Clockwork
28. Where the Wild Things Are
29. Shakespeare Stories
30. Naftali the Storyteller and His Horse, Sus: And Other Stories
31. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
32. Kidnapped
33. Treasure Island
34. The Hobbit or There and Back Again
35. The Fellowship of the Ring
36. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
37. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
38. The Sword in the Stone
39. The Selfish Giant

Of this list, I have read many, but there are a few I'll have to search out. I love Watership Down, it blew me away the first time I read it. Roald Dahl and Robert Louis Stevenson are two of my favourite authors, it is their books that I reread and can't part with.

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