CHALLENGE: Themed Reading Wrap-up

Themed Reading Challenge sponsored by wendy at caribousmom




The challenge was to read at least 4 books, with a theme chosen individually. I decided to read books about books. Not too imaginative, but there were a few books I was very interested in reading, and who knows better about books than writers. I also decided to use this as a category for the 888 challenge, which means 8 books about books. The list I originally made had well over 8, so I didn't run out of options.

The List of Books

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
The Case of the Missing Books by Iam Sansom
Housekeeping vs the Dirt by Nick Hornby NF
84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff NF
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Ex-Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman NF
Booked to Die by John Dunning
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi NF
a few I'd still to read
The Bookseller of Kabul
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Literary Murder: A Critical Case by Batya Gur
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly


1. What things did you enjoy the most about this challenge?
I liked the choice of picking your own theme, whatever you saw as the theme in your head or on your bookshelf . I liked that I balanced fiction and nonfiction. Plus, it was Wendy hosting.

2. What were your favorite reads? Least favorite?
They were all very good. The driest was Reading Lolita in Tehran, a nonfiction memoir. The Book Thief and 84 Charing Cross Road were both very good, and I always love Nick Hornby, but The Eyre Affair was the funnest and my favorite. It gets bonus marks for being the first in a series, and using Jane Eyre as a major plot device.

3. Would you do this one again if it were offered next year?
I certainly would!

4. Anything you'd change about the challenge?
Nope, it was a good time of year, a good number of books, and lots of choice. Thanks Wendy! I think I was first to finish.