ReadHarder Challenge Mini-Reviews

I have finished several books recently toward the Read Harder Challenge. Here are mini-reviews:

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer by Sydney Padua
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is my "graphic novel" for the challenge. The images of the machine Babbage envisioned were wonderful and there was a lot of interesting information about both of these historical figures, but I found the "adventures" silly and there were so many footnotes it was hard to read the book. There were also 'endnotes' which worked well as sections of text between the graphic sections.

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This was Fiszgerald's first novel and it wasn't as good as Gatsby, but I could definitely see indications of the brilliance that was to come. I am counting this as my "book written by someone before they were 25"










One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first story in this collection was great -- about the Tortoise and the Hare. After that I liked some and I thought some were lame. A few were really observations rather than fully-formed stories. I listened to this on audio book and liked the way the author read his own stories, in some cases with a few additional narrators helping out. This counts as my "collection of stories." 



I have several books left to go for this and only a few weeks left in the year. I may give myself an extension (to March 31, 2016) to complete this challenge. Still to read:

• A collection of poetry
•  A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade 
• A book by an author from Africa
• A book published before 1850

The Mists of Avalon

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A retelling of the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the women who are traditionally in the background of the tales this is a complex book full of moral dilemmas.
The lives of these women are harsh and full of deaths and forced marriages and they struggle with the choices the men around them make which made this novel tough going in places.
The conflict between the pagan matriarchal society of Avalon and the increasingly Christian Camelot is a focus in much of the novel and is very well presented in all its facets. Morgan Le Fay is a familiar character in popular culture and is typically a one-dimensional evil sorceress. Here she is the main character (called Morgaine) and the villainous actions that she is known for in film and literature are understandable now that we see her side. In this respect the book reminded me of Gregory Maguire's Wicked.
I am counting this book as my 'retelling of a classic story' for the Read Harder Challenge. 

Review: Fear in the Sunlight

Fear in the Sunlight by Nicola Upson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This novel is a wonderful blending of fact and fiction as Upson takes real people, Josephine Tey and Alfred Hitchcock, and works them into a complex web of betrayals and secrets within a fictional family. The mystery in this novel is a tangle of secrets and identities that kept the pages turning rapidly.

Josephine Tey is the central character in Upson's series. In real life Josephine Tey was the pseudonym of a Scottish writer not known to have had any romantic relationships, with men or women. Upson has created a complex woman whose various entanglements add depth, and often contrast, to the mystery story being told.

"The sun emerged from behind a rare cloud, and Marta watched as the stain of light spread across the hills, transforming each shade of green into a sharper, more intense version of itself. There was no point in saying anything more: it was an argument they had had many times before and would no doubt have again, part of the settling of two lives into one, so she finished her cigarette in silence and got back into the car." (p. 46-7)

I am counting this book toward the Read Harder Challenge in the category of "a book about someone that identifies as LGBTQ." In the 1930s (when the story is set) I don't think the term existed, but there are relationships that are central to this story among several women that today would be identified as LGBTQ.

ReadHarder Challenge Update

"Read Harder" a challenge hosted at BookRiot is three-quarters of the way over so I have completed 15 of the tasks/books so am a bit behind.

I have completed these (and linked them to my relevant posts): 

• A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
• A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
• A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture 
• A microhistory 
• An audiobook
• A book that someone else has recommended to you
• A book that was originally published in another language
• A book published this year
• A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure
• A book that takes place in Asia
• A sci-fi novel
• A romance novel
• A self-improvement book
• A YA novel 
• A book published by an indie press

Currently in my TBR pile are:

• A collection of short stories 
• A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
• A collection of poetry
•  A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade 
• A book that is a retelling of a classic story 
• A book by an author from Africa

I could use some recommendations for these:

• A book published before 1850
• A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25
• A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind 

Review: Archimedes Nesselrode

Archimedes Nesselrode by Justine Graykin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a delightful story which reminded me (in tone rather than content) of reading Madeleine L'Engle. It is the tale of an artist who makes magical things and a woman who takes on the job (and it is a big one!) of being his housekeeper. Adventures ensue in a most charming and entertaining way.
It was published by Double Dragon Press and I am counting it as my "independent publisher" book for the ReadHarder Challenge.

Review: Enchanting Pleasures

Enchanting Pleasures by Eloisa James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a fun read. The heroine, Gabby, was a delightful combination of chatterbox and schemer and her betrothed and his brother were a perfect pair of contrasting romantic options. The secondary stories, about politics and fashion and another romance, were also amusing and the way the novel mixed the story lines together worked very well. The butler was named Codswallop which just strikes me funny every time I think of it. James is a Shakespeare scholar besides being a romance writer and the bits of Shakespeare sprinkled into the story were a nice addition.
I am counting this as the "Romance novel" for the Read Harder Challenge.

Review: Do Over

Do Over: Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck by Jon Acuff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jon Acuff clearly thinks he's funny. Luckily I agreed with him or this book would have been rough going. Basically the idea is that you have 4 things that you can use to build a career: people you know, stuff you can do (skills), your character, and grit/hustle to make the other 3 useful.
Not really any great revelations, but the way he leads you through thinking about what you have working for and against you was good.
I am counting this as the "self improvement book" for the Read Harder Challenge.

Review: A Loyal Character Dancer

A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the second novel featuring Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau. It is a wonderful blend of history, poetry, politics, and food with a police procedural. This adventure includes a U.S. Marshall which provided an opportunity for explaining cultural information to the reader.
I love that Xiaolong always describes the food.

So Chen ordered a portion of fried mini-buns with minced pork stuffing, shrimp dumplings with transparent skin, sticks of fermented tofu, rice porridge with a thousand-year-egg, pickled white squash, salted duck, and Guilin bean curd with chopped green scallions. All in small dishes.
"It's like a banquet," she said.
"It costs less than a continental breakfast at the hotel," he said.
The tofu came first, tiny pieces on bamboo sticks like shish kebabs. In spite of a wild, sharp flavor, she started to like it after the first few bites. (p. 62)

I am counting this my "book set in Asia" for the ReadHarder challenge.

Review: Coraline

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to the audiobook version of this which was wonderfully read by the author. This story of a little girl who wanders into a mirror-version of her own house was creepy and clever. Each element of her world has an alternate that is just a bit different and darker and seeing how each element will appear on the other side makes the build-up to the adventure interesting. Gaiman tucked funny bits into the story (Coraline doesn't like recipes, she only wants regular food, no recipes) while gradually ratcheting up the suspense and the horror-elements of the story. I would recommend this young adult novel to young and old alike.

Review: Ready Player One

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the main character, Wade, and was happy to follow along on his adventure into virtual reality and his quest to find the egg. Wade grew as a person through the story, which made the novel more interesting than it would have been with just the adventure story. The characters that are his friends and enemies were interesting as well. The bad guys are really bad and I loved Ache, his best friend. It was quite an adventure: movies, music, video games from my youth all mixed together into an amazing puzzle. I knew it was worthwhile to know all the lines in great movies.

I was a bit hesitant starting this book as some of the Goodreads reviewers I follow complained that it had too much exposition. I guess my 19th century novel reading has made me more tolerant than some because I wasn't bothered by the amount of exposition.

A fun book full of clever ideas about how the future could be that will take genXers on a ride down memory lane.

I am counting this as my sci-fi title for the Read Harder Challenge.

ReadHarder2015 Half-way Point

The folks over at BookRiot challenged readers to "Read Harder" in 2015 with a reading task list. As the year is half over at this point I thought it would be a good time to check on how I am doing on completing the 24 tasks/books.

I have completed these (and linked them to my relevant posts): 

• A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
• A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
• A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture 
• A microhistory 
• An audiobook
• A book that someone else has recommended to you
• A book that was originally published in another language
• A book published this year
• A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure

I have books on my shelves that meet these, I may or may not be inspired to read the ones I have on hand, but I definitely have something that would qualify:

• A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)
• A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
• A book that takes place in Asia
• A sci-fi novel
• A romance novel
• A collection of poetry
• A self-improvement book
• A book published before 1850

These are going to need a bit of research:

• A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25
• A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Maybe something by Neil Gaiman.)
• A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade (I probably have some of these, but need to identify them.)
• A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.) (Wide Sargasso Sea which retells Jane Eyre is a possibility) 
• A book by an author from Africa
• A YA novel 
• A book published by an indie press

Review: Colour Scheme

Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a very different novel than the other Alleyn novels I have read. It is set in New Zealand and includes Maori tribes, suspected fifth-columnists (spies), and a British family. There is no sign of a major crime until well into the book, but the suspicions and conflicts among the characters make for a compelling story anyway.

The cove of this edition, which is from the editions of Marsh's novels that I have been reading, pictures a tropical drink with skulls on the paper umbrella. I like this graphic for a mystery novel, but it has nothing at all to do with this particular novel.

I am counting this book toward the Read Harder Challenge for the category of  "a book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture" as much of it is set in a Maori community and many of the characters are Maori.

Review: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
by Chris Grabenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A group of 12-year-olds are challenged to find their way out of the new library using the resources of the library to do it. This was a delightful tale of puzzle-solving, board games, books, and teamwork. There were lots of book references (with a list at the end so you could read all the books if you want to) and a totally amazing library where everything took place.
I am counting this title as the "book that someone else has recommended for you" for the Read Harder Challenge. My niece Samantha recommended it.

Review: The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

On a recent episode of Books on the Nightstand Ann said that this book was "all about the plot and the character and the bad choices she was making and how much I wanted to smack her." I totally agree.
I love the concept of this novel: a woman is riding a commuter train into London each day and becomes connected to some people she sees from the train each day. I have commuted on trains where you have a front row seat in the lives of total strangers and this concept appealed to me. The structure of the novel uses three different narrators to tell the story from different perspectives (and times) and it was an effective way to keep the reader guessing but unable to put the book down.
Initially I wasn't really liking any of the women who tell the story, but after a while Rachel (the character Ann wanted to smack) began to grow on me. She is a hot mess to be sure, but ultimately I found her sympathetic.
I don't usually read thrillers, mostly because I usually find them ridiculous in the convolutions the author goes through to keep up the pace (he has a 3 word message for X that will save the world, and he will dash through the sewers of Paris battling alligators all the way to get the info to him, because a space ship has suddenly landed and jammed all cell phone signals...). But this one was very well structured and the characters created their own obstacles in a way that felt very human.
This is the first 2015 book I have read, so I am counting it toward the goal of "read a book published this year" in the ReadHarder challenge.

Read Harder Winter Update

At the beginning of the year my plan was to complete the tasks in the Read Harder Challenge in quarterly groups. By the end of March I should have completed 6 of them, which I did. They didn't end up being the ones I thought I would start with though. I am really bad about reading from a pre-planned list. 

Here is what I have completed so far:

• Marilynne Robinson was over age 65 when she wrote Lila. (#2)
• Kitchen Confidential was by an author of the opposite gender. (#6)
• Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America is a microhistory. (#10)
• I have read several audiobooks so far this year. I am counting The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely as my official one for this challenge. (#16)
• I read Ripper by Isabel Allende which was written in Spanish and translated to English. It was also an audiobook, but I am counting it as my translation. (#19)
• A Study in Ashes is going on the record as my guilty pleasure for this challenge -- though I refuse to feel guilty about reading whatever I want. (#21)

Review: Lila

Lila by Marilynne Robinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the third book Robinson has written about the families of a pair of Iowa clergymen living next door to each other in Gilead, Iowa. The novels tell the stories of these people from different points of view which gives a richness to the overall story. Each book stands on its own, but the combination adds insight.

Lila was a well written novel, and it was interesting to learn Lila's side of the story, but the brilliance of Gilead was not here. I found it hard to identify with Lila which kept me at a distance to the story.

Robinson was born in Idaho in 1943. Assuming she wrote this book after writing Home (2008)  she was over 65 when she wrote it. I am counting this title toward the task of reading a book written by someone over age 65 in the Read Harder Challenge.

Review: Kitchen Confidential

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you are bothered by coarse language this is not the book for you. However, the pirate ship mentality and outrageous behavior of Bourdain and his crews was incredibly entertaining. I am never eating at the Rainbow Room again, but otherwise came through this book about what goes on in restaurant kitchens unscathed. The same cannot be said for the author.
I listened to this as an audio, read by Bourdain, and it was like listening to him telling the various stories which worked really well.

I am counting this toward the Foodies Read 2015 challenge (as a memoir/biography).

Review: Vodka

Vodka: How a Colorless, Odorless, Flavorless Spirit Conquered America by Victorino Matus
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"The nice thing about vodka is you make it today, you sell it tomorrow." --Sidney Frank, creator of Grey Goose to Inc. Magazine in 2005

This book was more like a series of articles about vodka companies than a cohesive history of vodka. It was a very informative and well written set of articles however and if you are interested in American business history and spirits in particular it is well worth reading. There is a lot here about advertising, which is largely what differentiates one vodka from the next, and how the iconic Absolut campaign (I was in college at the time that those ads plastered dorm rooms) evolved was fascinating. I do want to try Tito's Handmade Vodka (from Austin, TX) after reading about it.

This book counts (as my non-fiction title) toward the Foodies Read 2015 Challenge.

The Baskerville Affair

I just finished the third book in this series which I have enjoyed. The basic premise is that the main character is the niece of Sherlock Holmes and was raised in the circus before her very proper Grandmother Holmes took her in. She has magical powers, which are illegal in the steam-powered society in which she lives. There are also several handsome young men wandering about and and evil sorcerer. Overall it is a fun series.

A Study in Silks by Emma Jane Holloway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A Study in Darkness by Emma Jane Holloway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is fluff at it's very finest: handsome pirates, and battles and chases and stolen kisses and murders to solve and excellent hats. The end left a TON of unresolved issues though. I hate that about middle-of-a-trilogy books.

A Study in Ashes by Emma Jane Holloway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were 3 pretty distinct stories in this book each focusing on a separate person from the earlier 2 books. Overall I enjoyed the book, but I did feel that it was a bit padded with extra battles and obstacles that weren't moving the story forward in a substantive way. Many loose ends were tied up, but the door was left open to continue the series.

Review: The Upside of Irrationality

The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home by Dan Ariely
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I listened to this audiobook and I had an issue with the audiobook which brought down the rating a bit. There are apparently several diagrams and examples of test questions included in the book and the audio referred you to these in your "enhanced audio" (which I didn't have from the library copy I was listening too). I found this super annoying.
The book itself was good. The experiments Ariely conducted on human decision-making were very interesting and there were several stories of his own experiences (he suffered severe burns as a young man and this colored much of his life) which added depth to the experimental information.