My 2016 reading challenges are in this post
2015 Reading Challenges
Books read:
Pool
The Strange Library – Haruki Murakami (translated)
The Goddess Chronicle – Natsuo Kirino (translated)
A Loyal Character Dancer – Qiu Xiaolong (translated)
Dawn – Octavia Butler
Six suspects – Vikas Swarup
The Good House – Tananarive Due
The Hunter: A Detective Takako Otomichi Mystery – Asa Nonami (translated)
A Stranger in Olondria – Sofia Samatar
Books in Translation Challenge
Conversationalist: 4-6
Books Read:
Who Ate Up All The Shinga? – Park Wan-Suh (translated from Korean)
The Story of a New Name – Elena Ferrante (translated from Italian)
The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai – Han Bangqing (translated from Mandarin)
Pool:
1Q84 – Haruki Murakami (translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel)
Last Winter We Parted – Fuminori Nakamura (translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell)
Malice – Keigo Higashino (translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith)
The Road to Redemption – Su Tong, (translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt)
The Seventh Day – Yu Hua (translated from the Chinese by Allan H. Barr)
The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai – Bangqing Han (first translated from the Chinese by Eileen Chang, revised and edited by Eva Hung)
Post Office Girl – Stefan Zweig (translated from the German by Joel Rotenberg)
On a Day Like This – Peter Stamm (translated from the German by Michael Hofmann)
Who Ate Up All the Shinga?: An Autobiographical Novel – Park Wan-Suh (translated from the Korean by Stephen Epstein and Yu Young-Nan)
Story of a new name – Elena Ferrante (translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein)
Books Read:
Books Read:
A Forgotten Classic: Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood
A Classic in Translation: The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai by Han Bangqing
A Classic Novella: Four Girls and a Compact by Annie Hamilton Donnell
A Classic with a name in its title: Mildred Pierce
A Classic Children’s Book: Mary Poppins
A 20th Century Classic: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (published 1937)
A Nonfiction Classic: To Sir with Love by E.R. Braithwaite
A Classic Play: The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie
A 19th Century Classic: Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell
Pool:
A 19th Century Classic
Ruth – Elizabeth Gaskell (pub. 1853)
The Invisible Man – H.G. Wells (pub. 1897)
A 20th Century Classic
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey (pub. 1962)
Tender is the Night – F Scott Fitzgerald (published 1933)
A Classic by a Woman Author.
Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne DuMaurier (pub. 1941)
A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry (pub. 1959)
A Classic in Translation
The Pillow Book – Sei Shōnagon (translated from Japanese, pub. 1002)
I am a Cat – Sōseki Natsume (translated from Japanese, pub. 1905)
A Very Long Classic Novel – a single work of 500 pages or longer
Shirley – Charlotte Bronte (pub. 1849, 624 pages)
A Classic Novella – any work shorter than 250 pages
The Pearl – John Steinbeck
Candide – Voltaire
A Classic with a Person’s Name in the Title
Heidi – Johanna Spyri (pub. 1880)
Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell (pub. 1848)
A Humorous or Satirical Classic
Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K Jerome (pub. 1889)
The Inimitable Jeeves (Jeeves #2) – P.G. Wodehouse (pub. 1923)
A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift (pub. 1704)
A Forgotten Classic
When the Sleeper Wakes – H.G. Wells (pub. 1899)
Love On The Dole – Walter Greenwood (pub. 1933)
Four girls and a compact – Annie Hamilton Donnell (pub. 1906)
A Nonfiction Classic
Seven Years in Tibet – Heinrich Harrer (pub. 1952)
Kon-Tiki – Thor Heyerdahl (pub. 1948)
A Classic Children’s Book.
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien (published 1937)
Pinocchio – Carlo Collodi (pub. 1880)
A Classic Play
A Streetcar Named Desire – Tennessee Williams (pub. 1947)
Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller (pub. 1949)
Books Read:
Lancashire: Love on the Dole – Walter Greenwood
And because I cannot resist a good map-banner-thing. And it kind of ties in with the classics challenge above! I first saw this on Much Madness is Divinest Sense
I’m going for:
Level two: 4 – 6 counties
The first five counties I picked because of the books suggested, London as an alternate, and Sussex because I once lived there
Cumbria: Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Devon: Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore or And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (which is according to this list, set in Devon, and since it’s published in 1939, it’s kind of a classic, right?)
Gloucestershire: Cider With Rose by Laurie Lee
Lancashire: The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
Yorkshire: The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith; The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
London: Keep the Apidistra Flying by George Orwell
Sussex: The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer
I’m going for Pastry Chef: 4 to 8 books
Books read:
Come in, we’re closed: An invitation to staff meals at the world’s best restaurants – Christine Carroll and Jody Eddy
Soy Sauce for Beginners – Kirstin Chen
Mama’s Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen – Donia Bijan
Pool:
The Reach of a Chef – Michael Ruhlman
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks – Kathleen Flinn
Eat To Live: Healthy Asian Recipes – Sylvia Tan
Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America – Chen Yong
The Language of Food: A Linguist reads the Menu – Dan Jurafsky
The secret financial life of food: from commodities markets to supermarkets – Kara Newman
The third plate: field notes on the future of food – Dan Barber
Burnt toast makes you sing good: a memoir of food and love from an American Midwest family – Kathleen Flinn
Provence, 1970: MFK Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste – Luke Barr
2014 Reading Challenges
Books read:
1. Monkey Beach – Eden Robinson
2. Zone One – Colson Whitehead
3. Supernatural Enhancements – Edgar Cantero
4. Greenglass House – Kate Milford
5. Half a King – Joe Abercrombie
7. Countdown City (The Last Policeman #2) – Ben H. Winters
8. Bloodchild and other stories – Octavia Butler
Books read:
1. Monkey Beach – Eden Robinson
2. Together Tea – Marjan Kamali
3. Zone One – Colson Whitehead
4. The Traitor in the Tunnel (The Agency #3) by YS Lee
5. The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin
6. The Body at the Tower (The Agency #2) by YS Lee
Once Upon a Time VIII
1. A Stitch in Time – Penelope Lively
2. Winter Rose – Patricia A McKillip
3. Ella Enchanted – Gail Carson Levine
4. The Golem and the Jinni – Helene Wecker
2013 Reading Challenges
Once Upon a Time VII (challenge page)
Spindle’s End – Robin McKinley
Cinder – Marissa Meyer
Tithe – Holly Black
The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey
Black Swan, White Raven – edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
The Magic Toyshop – Angela Carter
Global Women of Colour (challenge page)
I’ll be joining at the ‘Free Form’ level, and hope to read more than ten books.
Read:
1. Three Strong Women – Marie NDiaye
2. Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale – Belle Yang
3. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow – Wang Anyi
4. Malinche – Laura Esquivel
5. Red Scarf Girl – Jiang Ji-li
6. Sky Burial: An epic love story of Tibet – Xinran
7. Zeina – Nawal El Saadawi
8. Empress – Shan Sa
9. A spy in the house (The Agency #1) – YS Lee
10. Real World – Natsuo Kirino
11. Revenge – Yoko Ogawa
12. Funny in Farsi – Firoozeh Dumas
13. Late for Tea at the Deer Palace – Tamara Chalabi
My pool:
The Lies That Build A Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore – Suchen Christine Lim (Singapore)
Bombay Time – Thrity N. Umrigar (India – US)
The Pleasure Seekers – Tishani Doshi (India)
Forgotten Country – Catherine Chung (Korea – US)
Inheritance – Lan Samantha Chang (China – US)
Evening is the whole day – Preeta Samarasan (Malaysia)
The song of everlasting sorrow : a novel of Shanghai – Wang Anyi (China)
Grotesque – Natsuo Kirino (Japan)
Zeina – Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt)
Mornings in Jenin – Susan Abulhawa (Palestine – US)
The sand fish : a novel from Dubai – Maha Gargash (Dubai)
Nervous conditions : a novel – Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
So Long a Letter – Mariama Ba (Senegal)
Mr Fox – Helen Oyeyemi (Nigeria – UK)
Three Strong Women – Marie NDiaye (Senegal – France)
Silver Sparrow – Tayari Jones (African-American)
Lima Nights – Marie Arana (Peru – US)
Malinche – Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
Postal Reading Challenge (challenge page)
I’m going to take things easy and go for Postcard Level, where I will read and review 4 books with a postal theme.
Read
1. 84, Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff
My pool:
I’m tempted to reread the Griffin and Sabine books, which I last read over a decade ago.
Dear exile : the true story of two friends separated (for a year) by an ocean – Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery
Heidegger’s glasses : a novel – Thaisa Frank
The house I loved – Tatiana de Rosnay
The Gum Thief – Douglas Coupland
West from home: letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, San Francisco, 1915 – Laura Ingalls Wilder
What’s in a name 6 (challenge page)
Beth Fish Reads is hosting this fun challenge and it’s my first time joining! Here’s the link to the sign-up page.
Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, read one book in each of the following categories (my ideas in blue):
- A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: Hand Me Down World (Lloyd Jones), Under Heaven (Guy Gavriel Kay)
- A book with something you’d find in your kitchen in the title: The Price of Salt (Patricia Highsmith), The Cookbook Collector (Allegra Goodman)
- A book with a party or celebration in the title: The Shooting Party (Isabel Colgate), Larry’s Party (Carol Shields)
- A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: Enna Burning (Shannon Hale), The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe), The Moon and the Bonfire (Cesare Pavese)
- A book with an emotion in the title: The Pleasure Seekers (Tishani Doshi), Comfort and Joy (India Knight). Read: The Year of Pleasures (Elizabeth Berg)
- A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: Lost Souls (Poppy Z Brite), What was Lost (Catherine O’Flynn)
2012 Reading Challenges
The Little Stranger – Sarah Waters (Part one here)
Strangers on a Train – Patricia Highsmith
My Cousin Rachel – Daphne du Maurier
Death of a red heroine – Qiu Xiaolong
February in Translation (personal challenge)
Books read:
The Lake – Banana Yoshimoto
The Confessions of Noa Weber – Gail Hareven
Brothers – Yu Hua
Out – Natsuo Kirino
To the End of the Land – David Grossman
Voice Over – Celine Curiol
Tokyo Fiancee – Amelie Nothomb
The Last Brother – Nathacha Appanah
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
Pool:
Via BTBA (Longlisted titles)
Hygiene and the Assassin – Amelie Nothomb
I curse the River of Time – Per Petterson
The Black Minutes – Martin Solares
Agaat – Marlene Van Niekerk
News from the Empire – Fernando del Paso
The Tanners – Robert Walser
Voice Over – Celine Curiol
The Savage Detectives – Roberto Bolano
Missing Soluch – Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
Via the BBC World Book Club podcast
To the End of the Land – David Grossman
Woman at point zero – Nawal El Saadawi
The winter queen: a novel – Boris Akunin
Other books off my TBR list
The Accordionist’s Son – Bernardo Atxaga
Brothers – Yu Hua
Chronicle of a Blood Merchant – Yu Hua
Someone to Run With – David Grossman
The Confessions of Noa Weber – Gail Hareven
In the Sea there are Crocodiles: Based on The True Story Of Enaiatollah Akbari – Fabio Geda
The Lake – Banana Yoshimoto
Hotel Iris – Yoko Ogawa
The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery
Shifu, you’ll do anything for a laugh – Mo Yan
he song of everlasting sorrow: a novel of Shanghai – Wang Anyi
The gardens of light: a novel – Amin Maalouf
The Changeling – Kenzaburo Oe
The Boat to Redemption – Su Tong
Foodies Read 2 Challenge for 2012
Books read:
A Tiger in the Kitchen – Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Blood, bones, and butter – Gabrielle Hamilton
The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the meaning of food – Adam Gopnik
Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life – Sandra Beasley
The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud’s Celebrated New York Restaurant – Leslie Brenner
Far Flung and Well Fed – R.W.Apple Jr
Life is Meals: A Food Lover’s Book of Days – James and Kay Salter
97 Orchard: An edible history of five immigrant families in one New York tenement – Jane Ziegelman
Pool:
<em>The table comes first : family, France, and the meaning of food – Adam Gopnik
The kitchen counter cooking school : how a few simple lessons transformed nine culinary novices into fearless home cooks – Kathleen Flinn
Don’t kill the birthday girl : tales from an allergic life – Sandra Beasley
How to eat a small country : a family’s pursuit of happiness, one meal at a time – Amy Finley
Beaten, seared, and sauced : on becoming a chef at the Culinary Institute of America – Jonathan Dixon
A tiger in the kitchen : a memoir of food and family – Cheryl Lu-lien Tan
Fannie’s last supper : re-creating one amazing meal from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 cookbook – Christopher Kimball
Blood, bones, and butter – Gabrielle Hamilton The dirty life : on farming, food, and love – Kristin Kimball
Memories of a lost Egypt : a memoir with recipes – Colette Rossant
97 Orchard : an edible history of five immigrant families in one New York tenement – Jane Ziegelman
1. Classics
Read: Night and Day – Virginia Woolf
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
2. Biography
3. Cookery, food and wine
Read: A Tiger in the Kitchen – Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan
Blood, bones, and butter – Gabrielle Hamilton
The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the meaning of food – Adam Gopnik
Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life – Sandra Beasley
The Fourth Star: Dispatches from Inside Daniel Boulud’s Celebrated New York Restaurant – Leslie Brenner
Far Flung and Well Fed – R.W. Apple Jr
Life is Meals – James and Kay Salter
4. History
Read:
Yellow Wind – David Grossman
5. Modern fiction
The Lake – Banana Yoshimoto
The Confessions of Noa Weber – Gail Hareven
Brothers – Yu Hua
The Last Brother – Nathacha Appanah
6. Graphic novels and manga
Aya of Yop City and Aya: the secrets come out – Marguerite Abouet and Clement Oubrerie
V for vendetta – Alan Moore, David Lloyd
Hereville : how Mirka got her sword / Barry Deutsch
The Bone series
The Walking Dead series
Read: Hereville: how Mirka got her sword – Barry Deutsch
Castle Waiting 2 – Linda Medley
Empire State – Jason Shiga
7. Crime and mystery
Read: Out by Natsuo Kirino
The Devotion of Suspect X – Keigo Higashino
The Winter Queen – Boris Akunin
And When She Was Good – Laura Lippman
8. Horror
Read: Locke and Key – Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez
The Last Werewolf – Glen Duncan
9. Romance
Read: Dating Mr December – Phillipa Ashley
10. Science fiction and fantasy
Beggars in Spain – Nancy Kress
The Wayfarer Redemption – Sara Douglass
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – Patricia McKillip
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms – N.K. Jemisin
The Broken Kingdoms – N.K. Jemisin
11. Travel
Read: Among Flowers: a walk in the Himalaya – Jamaica Kincaid
Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed
12. Poetry and drama
Dark Emperor and other poems of the night – Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
13. Journalism and humour
14. Science and natural history
Read: The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating – Elisabeth Tova Bailey
15. Children’s and Young adult
Read: Round Trip by Ann Jonas
A Book of Sleep – Il Sung Na
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Joan Aiken
Eep! – Joke van Leeuwen
16. Social sciences and philosophy
Read: Is that a Fish in your Ear? – David Bellos
Books read:
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
2011 Reading Challenges
Readers Imbibing in Peril VI (Completed!)
Books read:
Chocky – John Wyndham
A Red Herring without Mustard – Alan Bradley
The Terror – Dan Simmons
A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness
Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier
My Pool:
Poe’s Children The New Horror: An Anthology – edited by Peter Straub
The woman in black – Susan Hill
Ysabel – Guy Gavriel Kay
Jamaica Inn – Daphne du Maurier
A discovery of witches – Deborah Harkness
In the Woods – Tana French
The last werewolf – Glen Duncan
The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham
Chocky – John Wyndham
The terror – Dan Simmons
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
2011 Global Reading Challenge
Books read:
Australasia
New Zealand
Dreamhunter: Book one of the Dreamhunter Duet – Elizabeth Knox
Dreamquake: Book two of the Dreamhunter Duet – Elizabeth Knox
Australia
The Slap – Christos Tsolkias
Eucalyptus – Murray Bail
Asia
Malaysia/Singapore
Joss and Gold – Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Japan
Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami
Iran
Cemetery of Dreams – S Mostofi
East Pakistan/Bangladesh
A Golden Age – Tahmima Anam
South Korea
Please Look After Mom – Kyung-Sook Shin
Africa
Ethiopia
Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese
Nigeria
Graceland – Chris Abani
Somalia
Sardines – Nuruddin Farah
Sierra Leone
The Memory of Love – Aminatta Forna
Europe
Azerbaijan
Ali and Nino – Kurban Said
England
After You’d Gone – Maggie O’Farrell
The Beekeeper’s Apprentice – Laurie R. King
Ireland
Molly Fox’s Birthday – Deirdre Madden
South America
Guyana
The Ventriloquist’s Tale – Pauline Melville
Cuba
Monkey Hunting – Cristina Garcia
North America
Canada
Jade Peony – Wayson Choy
United States
A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
You Remind Me of Me – Dan Chaon
Leaving Atlanta – Tayari Jones
The Seventh Continent (I’ve chosen space colonies)
The Dazzle of Day – Molly Gloss
Remnant Population – Elizabeth Moon
My Pool *likely to change and even more likely to grow and grow and grow*
(links are to Amazon)
Africa
Algeria
The Lovers of Algeria: A Novel – Anouar Benmalek
Afghanistan
The Swallows of Kabul – Yasmina Khadra
Morocco
Secret Son – Laila Lalami
The Sheltering Sky – Paul Bowles
Egypt
The Harafish – Naguib Mahfouz
Nigeria
Graceland – Chris Abani
Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)
Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga
Ethiopia
Secrets – Nuruddin Farah
Asia
Bangladesh
A Golden Age: A Novel – Tahmima Anam
Indonesia
All That Is Gone – Pramoedya Ananta Toer
The Philippines
Ilustrado: A Novel– Miguel Syjuco
Vietnam
Paradise of the Blind: A Novel
– Duong Thu Huong
Singapore/Malaysia
Joss and Gold – Shirley Geok-lin Lim
China
China Mountain Zhang – Maureen F. McHugh
Japan
Grotesque – Natsuo Kirino
Korea
The Calligrapher’s Daughter: A Novel – Eugenia Kim
Mongolia
The Blue Sky: A Novel – Galsan Tschinag
Hong Kong
The Piano Teacher: A Novel – Janice Y.K. Lee
Australasia
Australia
The Slap: A Novel – Christos Tsiolkas
Eucalyptus: A Novel – Murray Bail
New Zealand
Once Were Warriors – Alan Duff
Europe
England
The Photograph – Penelope Lively
France
The Elegance of the Hedgehog – Muriel Barbery
Hungary
The Swimmer – Zsuzsa Bank
Russia
Dreams Of My Russian Summers: A Novel – Andrei Makine
Sweden
The Ice Princess: A Novel – Camilla Lackberg
North America
Canada
Annabel: A Novel – Kathleen Winter
February – Lisa Moore
Lullabies for Little Criminals – Heather O’Neill
Hey Nostradamus!: A Novel – Douglas Coupland
United States
Bastard out of Carolina – Dorothy Allison
Tales of the City: A Novel – Armistead Maupin
Heir to the Glimmering World – Cynthia Ozick
South America
Argentina
The Story of the Night: A Novel – Colm Tóibín
Cuba
Monkey Hunting – Cristina Garcia
Guatemala
The Good Cripple – Rodrigo Rey Rosa
Guyana
The Ventriloquist’s Tale – Pauline Melville
Panana
The Tailor of Panama – John le Carre
Uruguay
Let the Wind Speak – Juan Carlos Onetti
The Seventh Continent (I’m going to pick books set in space colonies)
Farmer in the Sky – Robert A. Heinlein
The Knife of Never Letting Go: Chaos Walking: Book One – Patrick Ness
The Empress of Mars – Kage Baker
The Dazzle of Day – Molly Gloss
Revelation Space – Alistair Reynolds
Victorian Literature Challenge 2011
Books read:
The Pool:
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Adam Bede – George Eliot
New Grub Street – George Gissing
The Odd Women – George Gissing
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad
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[…] Olduvai at Olduvai Reads has completed the Challenge – Hooray! You can find links to her reviews for all the books she read here… […]
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