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So one challenge finished, two new ones signed up for and three that I’m not really moving ahead with.
I haven’t really started the Arthurian challenge, done nothing more than read the introduction to Tennyson’s poetry, and am coming to the conclusion that the books I’ve picked for it are not really summer reads and that I probably won’t do much with them until September.
The Novella challenge has stalled a bit, and again I think it’s because of my choices, so I’ve gone and made some changes, definitely replacing one book (A Celibate Season out, Provincial Daughter in) and adding a seventh (Rape:A Love Story – it’s Joyce Carol Oates so though the subject matter is likely to be challenging she is one of my favourite authors and has never let me down) which gives me more of a choice.
The Non-Fiction Five is doing better, I’ve finished my second read but not posted on it yet, and started my third, but again I’ve realised that I want to make a change to my list, and have gone back to one of my great loves i.e. sixteenth century history, replacing the Ronald Blythe book with The Awful End of Prince William the Silent.
Now we’ll see if I make progress!
And this week’s theme is Challenges.
If you participate in any challenges, get organized! Update your lists, post about any you haven’t mentioned, add links of reviews to your lists if you do that, go to the challenge blog if there is one and post there, etc.
If you don’t participate in any challenges, then join one!
Towards the end of the week, write a wrap-up post about getting your challenges organized OR if you’re joining your first challenge, post about that any time during the week.
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So, what did I decide to do, having got myself organised and talked about challenges in this post? Well, I’ve completed my first challenge and thought I would sign up for two more:
I’ll post my lists for these separately, once I’ve got them organised. I’ve also set up a completed challenges page where I can remind myself that I can do it if I really, really try!
Oh, and I posted on my first completed read for The Non-Fiction Five challenge.
This is my fifth and final read for the Once Upon a Time II challenge, and what a corker. I am a huge fan of short stories (I may have said this before) and this is a strong collection. I began by trying to read one story a day, but actually ended up reading it almost like a novel. I heard someone in a radio interview (I think it was Anne Enright but I may be wrong) saying that she approaches a book of short stories like a box of chocolates – she can’t stop at just one, and despite my attempts at discipline I’m exactly the same.
The Faery Reel, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling brings together some of the finest fantasy authors and challenges them to write new works about faery in all its guises, and they all rise to the occasion. There wasn’t a single piece in this collection that I didn’t enjoy, but my particular favourites were:
CATNYP by Delia Sherman – a changeling in the faery version of the NY public library, where the catalogue is a talking lion whose first words are always “Title. Author. Subject. Keyword.” This is probably my favourite story in the book, and a new author for me to investigate!
The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link – sassy heroine, very enjoyable.
Never Never by Bruce Glassco – what is it like to be Captain Hook?
And of course there is a contribution from Neil Gaiman, and a wonderful, entertaining and enlightening introduction by Terri Windling herself, with a list of books for me to pursue a continuing interest in the faery world.
As an added bonus, the Charles Vess illustrations at the head of each story are really wonderful, and I can’t recommend this too highly.
And I have now completed my first (but certainly not my last) challenge!
I’m not reading as much non-fiction as I would like, with a pile of historical biographies in particular glaring at me reproachfully. So this seems like a good idea, and I’ve tried to identify a starting list, though these may change:
1. The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford [16 July]
2. Travels with a Medieval Queen by Mary Taylor Simeti [22 June]
3. A Brief History of Secret Societies by David V Barrett [2 July]
4. The Age of Illusion by Ronald Blythe replaced by The Awful End of Prince William the Silent by Lisa Jardine [10 August]
5. Ubiquity by Mark Buchanan [4 August]
The challenge is to read five non-fiction works between May and September 2008, with one that is different from the others (so for me 4 history-type books and one on economics).
So no challenges for over a year and then three come along at once! Becky’s challenge looked really interesting, and I’m glad it’s over a long period of time as, despite how much I love the whole Arthurian thing, Camelot overload needs to be avoided. The goal is to read 6-12 books starring characters found in or inspired by Arthurian legends. Still thinking about my list for this, but have the first few marked out:
1. The Coming of the King by Nikolai Tolstoy
2. The Once and Future King by TH White (this is a re-read but in a spanking new Folio Edition so don’t care!)
3. The Enchantresses by Vera Chapman
4. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
5. The Idylls of the King by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
6. The Merlin Codex by Robert Holdstock (this is a trilogy, haven’t decide if I’m going to treat them as separate reads)
I will probably add to this as I rummage through the bookshelves and find more on the theme.
Now that I have broken my reading challenge duck, I’ve decided to plunge into another one, hosted by Trish here. I am a great admirer of both short stories and short novels, and think I will be able to manage the required six novellas between April and September 2008 without too much trouble.
So far I’ve identified the following:
1. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman [27 May]
2. The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares
3. The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint [9 May]
4. The Touchstone by Edith Wharton [29 September]
5. Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia Strachey [18 May]
6. A Celibate Season by Carol Shields and Blanche Howard replaced by Provincial Daughter by RM Dashwood [5 August]
7. Rape: A Love Story by Joyce Carol Oates [15 September]
But I reserve the right to change my mind!
I don’t normally participate in challenges but I really liked the sound of this one. I’m going to follow Quest the First, which requires me to read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time II criteria, which covers fantasy, folklore, fairy tales and mythology.
The five I’m committing to are:
1. Forests of the Heart by Charles de Lint [6 April]
2. Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson [26 May]
3. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett [2 June]
4. Was by Geoff Ryman [19 April]
5. The Faery Reel edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling [6 June]
The deadline is 20th June 2008, and we’ll see how I do.
Bride of the Book God 