As if I needed another reading challenge...

Thanks to Stephanie (grr...), I've now found myself sucked in to another couple of reading challenges. In theory they should dovetail nicely with the 50 book challenge I've already committed to as I think some of the books on my shelf apply to both sub-challenges. What are these new challenges, you ask?

The first one had me at the picture...Dunluce Castle, anyone? I didn't even need to read what the challenge entails. Most everyone that has spent any amount of time talking to me knows that I LOVE Ireland. Right? I think this will surprise no one.



http://booksandmovies.colvilleblogger.com/reading-challenges-im-hosting/ireland-challenge-2011/

I'm aiming for the "Luck o'the Irish" (4) level, but it's entirely possible that I will surpass it and make it to the "Kiss the Blarney Stone" (6) level (side note...I have actually kissed the Blarney Stone...even after hearing the stories of what the workers may or may not do to it. See below for proof :) ). Here are some of the books already on my shelf (or to-read list) that fit into the challenge:



Shadowfever - Karen Marie Moning (this will be on loan from my kind sister)
The Wild Irish - Robin Maxwell
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married - Marian Keyes
What Are You Like? - Anne Enright
The Celtic Book of Living and Dying - Juliette Wood (which also fits into the next challenge, as author is British...)





Which leads me to the next challenge. Before my mild obsession with Ireland began, I was a died in the wool anglophile. I spent the spring semester of my sophomore year of college living and going to school in London, England. It was quite possibly the best time of my life. Great memories and even better friends were made. So as a tribute to that semester (and because there are also books on my shelf that apply)...




http://www.thebookette.co.uk/2010/12/british-books-challenge-2011.html

I'm aiming for the "Winston Churchill" (6) level, but I have a few books that also take place in Scotland or are written by Scottish authors. If I find out that these count, I could be well on my way to the "Royal Family" (12) level. Here are a couple of my choices:


The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder - Holly Mcqueen
For Better, for Worse - Carole Matthews
England, England - Julian Barnes
Emma - Jane Austen
The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson
Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson



I do think I'll make it...I was already planning on reading most of these books. Happy reading, all!





Kissing the Blarney Stone, March 27, 2000


Books I've actually read for these challenges:

British Book Challenge:
1. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin

Irish Reading Challenge:
1. Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Book #3 - Wanderlust

Up next is Wanderlust by Chris Dyer. This was a $1 book fair find, so there's no personal history or attachment behind the choice. Three things drew me to this book. 1-The main character has what could have once been my dream job, writing a budget travel column. 2-It's endorsed by Marian Keyes, an Irish author that I really like. 3-On the front cover it claims to be "A Novel of Sex and Sensibility" which makes me think that maybe it's loosely based on Jane Austen's novel of similar title. I'm hoping that it will be a nice fluffy read that I can get through quickly in order to gain back the ground I lost during 3 Nights in August.

And about that...

Really, Buzz Bissinger?? I wanted to read about 3 nights in August, about the Cardinals, and about Tony LaRussa. I guess technically I did read about all of those things. But I also read a whole lot of other stuff that I really could have done without. The first half of the book was SO wordy it was nearly impossible to get through. Bissinger spent more time than was necessary on history and other players, other teams. Once I managed to get through all of the rambling and I was just reading about the Cardinals I actually began to enjoy it. For anyone interested in reading this book, I recommend sticking to it...it does get better (though it will never rank among my favorites).

Many people, other than the authors, contribute to the making of a book, from the first person who had the bright idea of alphabetic writing through the inventor of movable type to the lumberjacks who felled the trees that were pulped for its printing. It is not customary to acknowledge the trees themselves, though their commitment is total. ~Forsyth and Rada, Machine Learning

Fitting.