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Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 Wrapup
One of the two challenges I took part in this year was the Back to the Classics Challenge, in which the participant had to read books that matched twelve pre-set categories. There’s a $30 Amazon.com prize on the line: Complete six categories, and you get one entry in the drawing Complete nine categories, and you get two entries in the drawing Complete all twelve categories, and you get three entries in the drawing I only finished eight of the twelve books. Technically, nine of the books, but I just finished the The Metamorphosis and haven’t had a chance to do a write-up on it. Despite failing somewhat, it was still…
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Without Feathers
Without Feathers by Woody Allen Published: 1975 Length: 224 pages This has been on my shelf for years now, and I’m so glad I finally picked it up. I love Woody Allen’s humour, but sometimes I need a little push to pick up short story and essay collections. Thankfully this was on my TBR Pile Challenge list this year. This is a very random book. There are essays, two single-act plays, excerpts from fictional journals, and alternative histories. You never know what you’re going to get as you start each piece, which makes for an exciting read. Even the title, a take on Emily Dickinson’s poem “‘Hope’ is the thing…
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A House of Pomegranates
A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde Published: 1891 Length: 162 pages This is Oscar Wilde’s second collection of fairy tales. The particular edition that I have is a 2011 recreation of the 1914 edition, which includes the original colourful illustrations by Scottish illustrator Jessie Marion King throughout the book. I bought this new and mine smells weirdly strong of glue, which is a odd note to start a review with, but seriously. It was distracting. This contains four stories: The Young King The Birthday of the Infanta The Fisherman and his Soul The Star-Child I really didn’t like the first story, The Young King, and I was worried the…
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The Magician’s Nephew
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis Published: 1955 Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh Series: The Chronicles of Narnia #6 (#1 in Chronological order) Length: 03:57 I’m actually not sure how many of the Narnia books I read when I was a kid. I had a collection that I stole from my sister, and I think I read through most of them, but I remember so little from any of them. If only I had been writing down my thoughts on books back then. Oh, the insights I would have now. I imagine I’d mainly be comparing them with The Hardy Boys and punctuating my thoughts with ‘psych!’ and ‘not!’. So really,…
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November in Review
Books Acquired: None. Books Read: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde Without Feathers by Woody Allen A couple of the books I picked up to read this month were to finish up the 2015 TBR Pile Challenge, which I was lagging behind on a bit. I’m currently in the middle of Stephen Fry in America, which will finish that off. I’ve decided to only go for nine of my classic picks for the Back to the Classics Challenge this year, so I’ll be finishing that up…
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In a Sunburned Country
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson Published: 2000 Length: 319 pages This is Bill Bryson’s Australian travelogue, called Down Under outside of Canada and the US, and it details two back-to-back trips to the country. He begins by travelling across Australia by train, from Sydney to Perth, and then recounts his time in the southeastern cities of the country. He then returns with a friend of his to visit the Great Barrier Reef, Alice Springs in the north and then down to Uluru, which I guess is a very impressive rock. The people are immensely likable— cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted, and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and…
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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin Published: 1998 – 2010 (2015 for this collection) Narrated by: Harry Lloyd Series: The Tales of Dunk and Egg #1-3 Length: 10:00 (355 pages) This is a collection of three novellas set a century before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. House Targaryen are still in power, eventually to be overthrown by Robert Baratheon’s rebellion, and people can still remember the last of the dragons. While these are prequels, and some names will be familiar to those who have read the main novels, the stories are fairly self-contained. The three included novellas are: The Hedge Knight (1998)…
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Consider Phlebas
Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks Published: 1987 Narrated by: Peter Kenny Series: Culture #1 Length: 16:26 (471 pages) This is the first novel in The Culture series, and the first novel published under Iain M. Banks (as opposed to his regular fiction, which is published without the middle initial). I’ve heard from multiple sources that the place to start in the series is with the second novel, The Player of Games, because this one is considered a weaker entry in the series. I guess each novel is set in the same universe but has a different cast of characters, so they can be read out of order. I decided…
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Atonement
Atonement by Ian McEwan Published: 2001 Length: 371 pages This is the story of a young teen Briony Tallis, her older sister Cecilia, the housekeeper’s son Robbie Turner, and how the actions of one day changed the rest of their lives. This is a bit of a hard one to summarize without giving away important plot points. He does some very interesting things with plot structure in this, and a lot of the suspense in the novel is waiting to see what happens and how it plays out. The main crime is telegraphed quite far in advance, but exactly what happens and what the repercussions will be is what’s really…
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Saga, Volume 5
Saga, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated by: Fiona Staples Published: 2015 Publisher: Image Comics Series: Saga #5 Collects: issues #25–30 Length: 152 pages I described the last volume as having a teen-drama vibe, in an annoying way, but this got right back into the adventure. The team is still split up, which I’m actually finding a little annoying. I was really enjoying their story together, and while that’s still the underlying theme, it was more interesting overall for me when that was the focus – watching the relationships grow between a group of people on the run. This volume felt a little scattered compared to the first few,…