German Reading Challenge – Completed!

Rules: Read 6 to 12 books by a German author (I define “German” here as someone from a German-speaking country)

Timeframe: 1st January – 31st December 2009

My goal: 6 books

Many thanks to Marnyfor hosting this challenge. I have been amazed by the number of great books there are that were originally written in German. I had no idea.

These were the books I read for the challenge. I really wanted to get to The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami. I first saw this over at The Armenian Odar Reads. It’s set in Syria and I thought it sounded fascinating. It’s long though and I didn’t quite get there. I’m going to carry it over into next year’s plans.

1. The Sinner - Petra Hammesfahr
2. Austerlitz – W.G. Sebald
3. The Post Office Girl – Stefan Zweig
4. Alone in Berlin – Hans Fallada
5. He Was My Chief – Christa Schroeder
6. Chess - Stefan Zweig

 

The Silver Bear – Derek Haas

I am participating in Rebecca’s Colourful reading challenge and had come to the time when I needed a book with silver in the title. My boyfriend came across The Silver Bear, a novel about a hitman. The only other options seemed to be fantasy or a childrens story which are not my favourites so The Silver Bear it was.

I’m smiling as I write this because I’m not quite sure how to describe it. It’s a first person account by “Colombus” of his life as a highly skilled assassin, how he came to be what he is and the sacrifices he has made for his profession. Because it’s told in the first person it all seems a bit dramatic and there are lots of very cheesy, over the top descriptions of things. But.. and this is what makes me smile.. I liked it and read it really quickly.

It was a pure escapist read and I don’t think I would really recommend it unless the subject really appeals, but it was fun. One reviewer on Amazon described it as a guilty pleasure and I think this sums it up perfectly. And there is a sequel. I wonder if I will be tempted to read it!

 

Book Awards 3 Challenge – Completed!

A big thank you to 3M at One More Chapter for hosting this challenge.

Guidelines: Read 5 books from 5 different awards

Timeframe: July 1 – December 1 2009

I hadn’t heard of most of these different book awards. What a treasure trove of choices for future reading. I’m already looking forward to next year’s challenge. This is one I will definitely participate in again.

Books read:

Kerri Hulme, The Bone People (Booker )
Alice Walker – The Colour Purple (Pulitzer)
A Golden Age – Tahmima Anam (Commonwealth Writers Best overall first book)
J.M. Coetzee (Summertime) (Nobel prize winner)
The Eye of the Needle – Ken Follett (Edgar)

 

The Eye of the Needle – Ken Follett

His weapon is the stiletto, his codename: The Needle.

I love a good spy story and have been trying to squeeze The Eye of the Needle into my reading pile for a while. I was delighted to discover it had won The Edgar Award for best novel in 1979 and I could read it guilt free for the Book Awards challenge!

I expected it to be excellent and it was. A classic spy story set in WWII. Henry Faber is Die Nadel (The Needle), Germany’s best agent having been planted and firmly established in England for years. He has survived for so long because he trusts nobody including his superiors in Germany. He is sophisticated, clever and ruthless – trusted implicitly by Hitler himself.

His role is to find out the Allies plans for the D Day invasion and get that information back to Germany. Calais or Normandy? The outcome of the war is in the balance. Germany waiting for the word of one man, the Allies relying on one man and his small team to stop him.

I found it to be perfectly paced with an exciting plot, well developed characters and not too many of them, time for a bit of romance which I don’t generally like in this sort of book but it was part of the plot so that was ok. The main appeal was the character of Faber. It was impossible not to respect him. He was the enemy but an attractive and inspiring enemy.

I loved it and read it in a little over a day – it was impossible to put down. Also read for the War Through the Generations – WWII challenge.

 

November Novella Challenge – Completed!

A big thank you to J.T at Bibliofreak for hosting this challenge and introducing me to the joys of the novella.

I chose Level II: Read four novellas (one each week, perhaps?) by November 30, 2009

I think this was a lovely idea and I found many more books that I would like to read and that have been added to my TBR list.

Books read:

Chess – Stefan Zweig
Cheerful Weather For The Wedding – Julia Strachey
First Love – Ivan Turgenev
The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett

 

Two Novellas

Last year I read two Russian chunksters, Anna Karenina and War and Peace. They were both amazing in their own way but they took me a long time to read. I think that I have sub-consciously been avoiding anything Russian this year. This little book by Ivan Turgenev was a perfect way to ease back in. It was intense but short enough to read in a couple of sittings.

In a storyline which today’s readers will find familiar, a sixteen year old boy falls in love with the girl next door. The object of his all consuming passion is 5 years older, beautiful, sophisticated and charming. Well aware of her charms, she has several suitors who she carelessly plays off against each other. She too is in love but who with..? The boy becomes obsessed, tormented and can think of nothing else, oblivious to the obvious.

His story is recalled many years later amongst friends after a dinner party. This style of story telling and the intensity and drama reminded me of Tolstoy’s The Kreutzer Sonata where a man’s story is recalled to a fellow passenger on a late night train. Both The Kreutzer Sonata and First Love are part of the Penguin Great Loves series.

The circumstances around the story are of their era and may not be considered as shocking today as they would have in 19th century Russia. The emotions and vulnerabilities of a young boy though I think would not have changed so much and that is something about reading the classics that I love – being reminded that the things that really matter to people don’t change that much.

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I had read plenty of positive reviews about Alan Bennett’s novella so was keen to try it. I thought being a comedy that it might not appeal but I needn’t have worried. It’s a unique idea and a delight to read. It’s also the perfect length at 128 pages.

Queen Elizabeth II while attempting to reign in her wayward corgis, stumbles upon a mobile library. Out of politeness she feels obliged to borrow a book but how is one to choose? She converses with the only other customer, Norman, who she discovers works in her kitchen, and makes a choice.

And thus begins the Queen’s journey into the wonderful world of books. Under the guidance of Norman, who is soon promoted from the kitchen to the library, her book choices widen and soon she is spending more time reading and less time on her queenly duties, much to the dismay of her staff.

It’s a very funny story, a homage to the power of books to change lives and also a reminder that it’s never too late to change or start something new (the queen celebrates her 80th birthday during the story).

A story that I think all book lovers would enjoy.

 

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding – Julia Strachey

A Persephone classic, this little book has drawn mixed responses from other book bloggers. I fall into the “really enjoyed it” category. It’s a short (128 pg), funny and dark. I think it was the contrast between the superficial absurdity of it all and the dark undercurrents that appealed to me. I agree that the characters weren’t especially endearing or well developed. Mrs Thatcham was hilarious but wholly irritating and unlikeable. Interesting that she was modelled after Julia Strachey’s one time mother in law.

The action takes place on the wedding day of Dolly and Owen, engaged only for a month and to set sail for South Africa immediatey following the nuptials. The quirky assortment of guests, mainly unruly family members converge on the house of the bride – Dolly herself spends most of the story in her room, drinking too much rum and preparing both in dress and mind for the ceremony. Her mother Mrs Thatcham is a nervous wreck, attempting unsuccessfully to direct proceedings in a way she finds socially acceptable – with amusing consequences.

There is an interesting development toward the end which came out of the blue and really cemented the the overall feel of the book. Very enjoyable.

Read for the November Novella challenge.

 

A Golden Age – Tahmima Anam

I wouldn’t exactly use the work regret but lately I have been thinking it would be nice to be participating in a few less reading challenges. I can understand now the seasoned bloggers sentiment of cutting back, as tempting as it is right now when the delights on offer for next year are starting to be posted.

And then I pick up a book like A Golden Age which I would not have thought to read normally but chose for the Book Awards III and A Colourful reading challenge.

Dear Husband,
I lost our children today

Set during the Bangladeshi war of independance of 1971, this is a touching and educational story which gathers momentum throughout. By the end I couldn’t put it down.

Rehana has been widowed at a young age and has experienced plenty of personal heartbreak and struggle since. We join her with her two teenage children and friends at a party in their home in East Pakistan in 1971. It is the eve of the beginning of the struggle for independance from West Pakistan for the country that is to become Bangladesh.

Most of the story is about this struggle and the effects on Rehana, her children and their community. It is sensitively told from the point of view of Rehana and we understand the emotional toll as well as the constant physical threat for those choosing to resist the Pakistan army.

No, there had never been any other time; their lives were populated by Lenin and Castro and Mujib and Anwar Sadaat; there was only this time, this life, this fraught and crowded era, to which they were bound without choice, without knowledge, only their passions, their loves to lead and sustain them.

This is a story of war with it’s hope and inevitable sacrifice. Above all, it is a story of a mother’s love and what she will do to keep her children safe.

A Golden Age won the Commonwealth Writer’s prize for Overall best first book in 2008.  It would make a wonderful choice for the Women Unbound challenge, which I haven’t signed up for yet but probably won’t be able to resist.

 

The Beginning of Spring – Penelope Fitzgerald

I have read two books now by Penelope Fitzgerald. This and The Blue Flower. I’m in two minds as to how I feel about her writing but am leaning towards liking it. Both these stories are beautifully written with a direct and humourous style. They are slice of life stories, not a lot happens plot wise, although the events are important to the characters.

The beginning of Spring takes place in Moscow in 1913. Frank Reid owns a printing press, handed down by his father who had emigrated from England in the 1870’s. At the beginning of the story Frank’s wife Nellie has unexpectedly left and returned to England. Frank is left to look after their three children. He hires a governess Lisa Ivanova and carries on the full time job of running his press and managing his employees.

Set just before WWI, and the political rumbings of the eventual revolution, Penelope Fitzgerald sets the scene of an ex-pat/Russian family well. Because although Frank has spent the majority of his life in Russia, he is still considered British, an outsider. The interactions between the characters seem ordinary but the simplicity and humour of Frank and his eldest daughter Dolly and of Lisa make it enjoyable reading. I enjoyed how mention of the historical figures of the day; Tolstoy, Rasputin and Stravinsky were casually weaved into the story.

The challenge for me is that I don’t feel much when I’m reading this story. There is an objective interest but I don’t feel engaged by the characters. For this reason I’m suprised that I liked it but I did.

I’m fascinated by Penelope Fitzgerald’s history. She started writing in her sixties and from what I have read, the settings for her stories are all different. Some based on her own experiences, others like the two I have read (The Blue Flower is set in 18th century Germany), are not.

The cover here is different from the one I read but I like it much better!

Read for the Reading Through the Seasons challenge

 

Whitcoulls challenge – complete!

Many thanks to Maria for hosting this challenge

Read Your Way Through The Whitcoulls Top 100 List.

Rules: Pick one of the 4 “Top 100″ lists and decide how many books (at least 4) you want to read from that list.

Timeframe: 15 November 2008 – 15 November 2009

My goal: 4 books

I have spent many hours browsing through Whitcoulls so was definitely up for joining in this challenge. After making hard work of it, I read 4 books from the 2008 list

1. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
2. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
3. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4. The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

My least favourite from a pure reading enjoyment point of view was To Kill A Mockingbird. I loved the other three.