Whats in a name reading challenge

This is challenge to read books with particular categories in the title. Full details can be found through this link. http://whatsinaname-2.blogspot.com/2008/10/welcome.html.

• Profession The Museum Guard by Howard Norman
• Time of Day
• Relative The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Bodypart
• Building
• Medical condition

I haven't decided what I will read for these categories yet, but I'll come back and post here when i do.

Challenge- The Pub 09

This is a challenge to try and read at least 9 books published in 2009. Full details are available through this link. http://1morechapter.com/2008/10/22/the-2009-pub-challenge/

I'm going to read at least 10 books, hopefully more, but i'm only going to commit to 10! And the reason its 10 not 9 is that I prefer even numbers! I'm not going to make a list though, I will just see what catches my eye throughout the year. I will come back and list books here as i decide to read them, or when they are actually read.

Edward Trencom's Nose; A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue and Cheese by Giles Milton

I read this at my parents house over Christmas. Like a fool I forgot to take any of my reading with me so i found this on their bookcase and I was intrigued. The basic premise of the story is that Edward Trencom runs a cheese shop and has a nose that has almost a supernatural ability to detect scent, which he uses to great effect to distinguish not only between cheeses, but also the specific area and producer and even the month of production. This strangely shaped nose is hereditary and has been in Edwards family for generations and when he discovers some family paperwork in the cellar of his shop he realises that all his ancestors have met their ends in mysterious ways and begins a quest to discover why.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this book, it was funny and extremely silly, which is what I expected. And the descriptions of the tastes and aromas of the cheeses are truly mouthwatering. Don't read if you are on a diet! It was an entertaining read but it just became slightly too contrived towards the end. The way Edward finally decides to go to Greece to discover the truth is just way to convoluted and most importantly the ending falls completely flat and is disappointing. It just didn't seem to make sense. It almost reads as if the author got bored and just stopped. But it is still worth a read if you've got a spare afternoon because until the climax, its quite good.

A-Z Reading Challenge

The 2009 A to Z Challenge has several options for participants to choose from:
Option A: Read authors A to Z. Commit to reading 26 books theoretically speaking.
Option B: Read titles A to Z. Commit to reading 26 books theoretically speaking.
Option C: Read both authors A to Z and titles A to Z (52 books; this is the challenge Joy created)
Option D: Read internationally A to Z (books representing 26 different countries) (The books could be from international authors (writers from that country); however, it's fine if a book is only set in that country. If need be, instead of countries one could use cities, states, regions, etc. The idea is to use proper place names. If you'd like you could even use a few fictional countries.)
Option E: Read 26 Alphabet books. Embrace your inner child and go visit the children's section!

I'm going to try for option C, authors and titles. I think X,Y and Z will be the real challenge, but i'll do my best!

Authors

A-

B- The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

C-

D-

E-

F

G-

H The complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

I

J Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling

S

T

U

V

W The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson

X

Y

Z

Titles

A

B Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

C

D

E

F The Fantastic Book of Everybody's Secrets by Sophie Hannah

G

H

I

J

K

L

M The Museum Guard by Howard Norman

N

O

P

Q

R

S Saplings by Noel Streatfeild

T

U

V

W

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen

Y

Z

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

This was a random library pick. I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover but in this case, that and the title swayed my decision to read this book. But I'm glad they did because it was brilliant. It starts with the death of Pakistan's military dictator General Zia ul-Haq in plane crash in 1988. This is a documented fact, but that is where fact ends and satirical, speculative fiction begins.

The novel switches between narratives from Ali Shigri, a Pakistani military officer, and General Zia himself. Zia himself is a superstitious dictator who treats the Quran as a daily horoscope and believes everybody is out to kill him, which turns out to be fairly accurate. The story gradually unfolds to show the hypocrisy and double crossing always present behind the scenes of a military dictatorship. His actual cause of death could be anything from mechanical failure to a blind woman's curse, with tapeworms, his own generals and the CIA in between. Not forgetting the exploding Mangoes!

This book is laugh out loud funny in places, mildly amusing in others, and thought provoking throughout. The characters are fairly 2 dimensional and I do have to say I never really felt any emotional attachment to any of them. This could be because the reader is never really sure whether they are heroes or villains though, or a mixture of both. This did not detract from my enjoyment of the book because I read it to find out what would happen and how all the threads would tie together, characterisation was not really necessary. The appearance of a man named OBL from the laden construction company did make me chuckle slightly though!

This book has also added to my ever growing reading list as its sparked an interest in discovering about Pakistan in the 1980's and more specifically what actually is known about how General Zia ul-Huq died.

Booking Through Thursday (on Monday) oops!

Happy New Year, everyone!
So … any Reading Resolutions? Say, specific books you plan to read? A plan to read more ____? Anything at all?
Name me at least ONE thing you’re looking forward to reading this year!

Well I'm very new to blogging so my resoloutions are simple! I'm going to try and review evrything I read and post on here regularly. Thats it really. But i'm already behind as I already have 3 reviews to go up! Lol. And I'd like to read more non fiction and join some reading challenges. We'll see how I go!

War Through the Generations

January 1 - December 31, 2009
Anna from Diary of an Eccentric and Serena from Savvy Verse and Wit have started a dedicated blog for challenges related to war and its impact. They write:
We have always been interested in war and its impact, so naturally, our first hosted reading challenge would be about this theme. Rather than host a single challenge on the very broad topic of war, we decided to break it down into several challenges over the long term. We hope you’ll join us, whether it’s only for one challenge or more. (We’re pretty obsessive about our reading, so we’ve planned a few years in advance.) We plan on holding six-month to one-year challenges, so check back to find one that tickles your fancy. Their first challenge beginning January 1, 2009 is World War II. Readers must commit to reading at least five books throughout the year. Anna and Serena write:
The books can be fiction or non-fiction, and they can be about any aspect of WWII. WWII should be the primary or secondary theme, and it doesn’t matter whether the book takes place during the war or after the war. There is a link for suggested reading as well.There will be a prize drawing for those participants who meet or exceed their reading goal!Go to the post about the 2009 Challenge to read more and to sign up. Sign ups are ongoing, but if you want to be included in the prize giveaway, you must sign up no later than January 31st.


I'm going to give this one a go. Hopefully I'll manage to complete it. I will try to read 6 books, 3 fiction and 3 non fiction, simply because i like even numbers and symmetry! I know, I'm a bit strange! Lol. The fiction is listed below, but I'm not sure about the non fiction yet.

1. Saplings by Noel Streatfeild
2. The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak
3. Empire of the Sun by J.G.Ballard
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?

This is my first ever challenge so wish me luck!