What's in a Name Challenge Wrap Up

What's in a Name 7 was hosted at The Worm Hole. I completed all 5 original categories plus the optional sixth one. Here is what I read for each:

• A reference to time: The Hundred Year House
• A position of royalty: The Once and Future King
• A number written in letters: Seventy-Seven Clocks
• A forename or names: Lord Peter 
  + Barney's Version + Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage + Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair + Alena + Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay + 
• A type or element of weather: Thunderstruck
•  A book with a school subject in the title: Reading Like a Writer

Loved it!

The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am going to need to read this book again. It is a complex series of interconnections and transformations and now that I finished it and know how it began I want to read the ending again. Yes, that seems backwards, but it is how this excellent novel is constructed we start with a story set in 1999 and then we go back in 2 distinct jumps to previous periods in the house's history. The story is intriguing, the characters well-drawn, and the structure brilliant.

This is my contribution to the October Books You Loved Link Up. 
It also counts toward the What's in a Name 7 challenge as a book with a reference to time in the title.

2014 Challenges - The Half-way Point

The end of June was half way through the year so it seems like a good time to check in and see how I am doing with my various reading challenges and projects.

• I successfully completed the 7th Annual Canadian Book Challenge (which ended on June 30) by reading 13 books set in Canada or by Canadian authors. I will be joining in on the 8th Canadian Book Challenge, but haven't written my sign-up post yet. 
• I have read 56 of the 101 books (55%) I pledged to read this year on GoodReads.
• For the Postal Reading Challenge I have read 3 of the 4 books I committed to. I have several more "letter" books on my reading pile so I may upgrade my level on that one.
• I have read 5 out of 6 books in the What's In a Name Challenge. I still need to find (and read) a book with a reference to time in the title. 
• I have read 6 of the 12 books I committed to for the TBR Pile Challenge. I realized that a lot of the books I pulled from my shelves for this challenge have been sitting there for so long because they are long, or seem depressing, or both. This challenge is becoming more difficult as work my way through the less daunting titles in the list.
• For the Foodies Read 2014 Challenge I signed up to read 9-13 books (what was I thinking!?) I have read 6 so far. I need to find more foodie books and actually read them. I have had several checked out of the library this year that went back unread because I wasn't in the mood for them. 
• I have read 5 titles from my Classics Club list since the beginning of the year. I have read 19/50 since I began the project. I will be half-way through my time on that project in March 2015, so I'm in good shape with that one.

Overall I feel like I am on track with my reading challenges and am enjoying most of what I am reading for these projects.
How are you doing on your 2014 reading projects?

Review: Seventy-seven Clocks

Seventy-Seven Clocks: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Exploding suspects, poisonous snakes, irate members of the gentry, and Gilbert and Sullivan all come together in this trip into the early days of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. This wasn't my favorite of the PU mysteries so far--the crime was a bit convoluted and I felt like there were too many character's back stories mixed into the action--but it was still a very good novel. The characters of May and Bryant are such opposites that they play off each other really well. 

Look at this fog. The damp gets right into your bones. It's doing my chest no good at all. I'll need a vapour bath." Bryant pulled down his scarf and peered over the sodden hedge. Dew had formed on his bald head and ears. He resembled a minor Tolkien character."You're getting old before your time," warned May. "I can't imagine what you'll look like in your eighties.""I'm ageing gracefully, which means not trying to look like a member of Concrete Blimp.""I assume you mean Led Zeppelin...” 

This book counts toward the What's in a Name Challenge as it has a number (spelled out) in the title.

Review: Reading Like a Writer

Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by Francine Prose
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

You should read every word and pay attention to the details of what you read and if you want to be a writer you should do this with the work of "masters." That is basically what Prose's book boils down to. She gives examples of looking at specific aspects of fiction (which is the only kind of writing she is really addressing) and passages that she breaks apart to examine. Exactly what she is seeing as the craft of each passage is instructive as far as developing this skill. If you don't have this skill (I learned to do this as an undergraduate literature student) Prose's book would teach you to look at writing this way and that will add to your appreciation of good writing.

I found the book a bit dull in spots and occasionally too high-brow (she makes blanket judgments about mass-market writers which I thought were uncalled for). The chapter on how Chekhov disproved all the advice she gave students in a writing workshop was my favorite part of the book. I haven't read any of Prose's fiction and I am curious about it now. I am adding Blue Angel and The Lives of the Muses (which is nonfiction) to my TBR list.

This book was part of my 2014 TBR Pile Challenge and I am counting it toward the What's in a Name 2014 Challenge (in the bonus category of a school subject: reading).

Review: Lord Peter

Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My major issue with this book, which is a collection of short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, has more to do with me than with the book. I don't really find short stories very satisfactory, especially when they are about a character I already know. Sayers is a wonderful writer and these tales are tidy little puzzles (for the most part) that Lord Peter ties up neatly by the end, but the usual extra stuff about Freddy and Bunter and the Dowager Duchess of Denver's goings-on are omitted from this shorter form and I missed them. I had read some of these stories before (this is the complete collection of Lord Peter Wimsey stories which is why I wanted it for my Sayers shelf), but some were new to me. The final story, "Talboys" was first published here and isn't really a mystery at all but it a fun story about domestic life later in Lord Peter's relationship with Harriett Vane.

I got this book as a completion prize for the Vintage Mystery Challenge last year and am counting it toward the What's in a Name 7 Challenge to cover the category "a forename or names." This completes one goal for the Spring into a Good Book Challenge.

Review: Thunderstruck

Thunderstruck
by Erik Larson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There were a lot of things about this book that worked for me. The connections between the people Larson is focusing on and other historical figures was interesting, the weaving together of the two separate narratives at the end of the book was good, and I learned lots of stuff about wireless telephony. However, the sections of the book about Marconi and the development of wireless communication did not have enough "meat" to them to keep up their end of the book. The story of the Crippens, which included a transatlantic police chase and a sensational trial, was much more interesting and after about half the book the Marconi chapters felt repetitive.

I listened to this as an audiobook narrated by Bob Balaban who did an excellent job narrating the story.

This book counts toward the What's in a Name 2014 Challenge in the category of "a type or element of weather."

2014 Reading Challenges Progress Report: March

I am working on 5 reading challenges this year, in addition to my goal of reading 101 books overall. So far I am a bit behind on some challenges and on track for others. Since I have most of the year left I think I am doing OK.

For the Postal Reading Challenge 2014 I committed to reading 4 books during 2014. I am part way through the first one, a volume of Letters from Edna St. Vincent Millay. I am enjoying it, but as it is my 'read at lunchtime' book at my office it is going to be a while yet before it is finished.

The What's in a Name 2014 challenge was originally 5 books, of which I had finished one with The Once and Future King. A sixth (optional) category has been added which is A book with a school subject in the title (algebra, physics, spells and potions, cooking, etc.) 

For Foodies Read 2014 I committed to reading 9-13 books, which I am now feeling may have been overly ambitious. I have read 2 so far, both cookbooks. I have several more foodie titles requested from the library so I may get on track with this challenge.

I have finished one book, The Cat's Table, from my list of 12 for the 2014 TBR Pile Challenge and am about half-way through a second book (a collection of short stories).

I am ahead of schedule for finishing 13 Canadian books by Canada Day (July 1, 2014) for the Canadian Book Challenge 7. I have read 11 so far.

The Once and Future King

The Once and Future King by T.H. White is made up of four books and tells the story of King Arthur beginning with his childhood (when he was known as Wart) and taking us through his life to the point where he stands ready to battle Mordred. The story continues in the Book of Merlyn which is now on my to-be-read list.

I really enjoyed this book, which seems like the sort of book that will be worth re-reading. Ursula K. Le Guin is quoted on the cover as saying "I have laughed at [this] great Arthurian novel and cried over it and loved it all my life."
I liked the first book, which was about Wart growing up with Merlyn as his teacher and how he becomes King Arthur, the best. The second book, The Queen of Air and Darkness, is mostly about the forming of the round table and a lot about the Orkney clan. It includes a lot of ancient history of what becomes Great Britain. Book three is Lancelot's story, The Ill-made Knight, and was my least favorite. The final book, The Candle in the Wind, tells us about what happened as Arthur and his friends and enemies get older and a younger generation comes into its own.
The tone of the book is very irreverent in places and makes the story entertaining. White frequently refers to other tellings of the Arthurian legends, especially Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and is often funny about it. At several points he says basically that there is a long boring bit here about a battle (or a procession, or whatever) and if you want to know all the gory details go read Mallory. Here is a passage that I loved and that I think is a good representation of the style of the first book (The Sword in the Stone):

"There was a real corkindrill hanging from the rafters, very life-like and horrible with glass eyes and scaly tail stretched out behind it. When its master came into the room it winked one eye in salutation, although it was stuffed. There were thousands of brown books in leather bindings, some chained to the book-shelves and others propped against each other as if they had had too much to drink and did not really trust themselves. These gave out a smell of must and solid brownness which was most secure." (p. 30)

This book counts toward the What's in a Name 2014 Challenge in the category "a position of royalty."

What's in a Name 7 Challenge

What's in a Name 7 is being hosted at The Worm Hole. The challenge runs from January to December 2014. During this time you choose a book to read from each of the following 5 categories (examples provided by the host site of books you could choose are in brackets):

• A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After)
• A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh)
• A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities)
• A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.)
• A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

Any format (print, audio, ebook) is acceptable, but it is preferred that the books don’t overlap with other challenges. This will be tough for me, but I will do my best. You don’t have to make your list of books beforehand, which is good because I like to  choose them as I go.  There are a few books on my to-be-read list that could fit into this challenge: Eve in Hollywood; The Judas Widow; A Study in Sherlock; We Need to Talk About Kevin; Fear in the Sunlight; Split Thirty; Help, Thanks, Wow, Three Essential Prayers. A Philippa Gregory novel should fit the bill nicely for the royalty category. Time looks like it may be a tough one for me.

What's in a Name 6 Challenge Wrap Up

What's in a Name 6 was hosted at Beth Fish Reads. Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, I read one book in each of the following categories:

• A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: Stirring it Up
• A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title: United States of Pie
• A book with a party or celebration in the title: The Cocktail Party
• A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: Wings of Fire
• A book with an emotion in the title: Bitter Brew
• A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: A Discovery of Witches

 In 2014 What's in a Name will be hosted at The Worm Hole. There are 5 excellent categories for WIN7 and I am looking forward to participating in this challenge again in the new year.