CHALLENGE: 2nds Challenge 2011

This challenge is hosted by katy f at fewmorebages this year after theroyalreviews hosted last year. I liked keeping track last year of the seconds I've read, and I managed 20 last year. Plus, I do like to read series, and getting that second one done helps me really get into a series. Also, since I read over 50 new authors this year, there are plenty of options for a second read.

Guidelines for the challenge:

1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate.

2. There are four levels to choose from in this challenge:

• Just a spoonful - Read 3 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.
• A few more bites - Read 6 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.
• A full plate - Read 12 books that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.
• All you can eat - Read 20 books (or more) that are 2nd in a series or the second time you've read the author.

3. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you. Any genre counts.
4. You can join anytime between now and December 31, 2011. Don't start reading until January.

Some ideas:
Jeff Lindsay  - Dearly Devoted Dexter
Alan Bradley - The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
Lisa Lutz - The Spellman's Revenge
Qiu Xioalong -
Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played With Fire
Peter Temple - The Broken Shore
Lori Lansens - The Wife's Tale
Emma Donaghue -
Georgette Heyer -
Deon Meyer -Trackers
Jasper Fforde's second book in the Chromatica series

The Books I Read:

1. My Most Excellent Year - Steve Kluger (Last Days of Summer)
2. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (2nd in series)
3. Just in Case - Meg Rosoff (How I Live Now)
4. First Love - Joyce Carol Oates (Zombie)
5. The Night Wanderer - Drew Hayden Taylor (Motorcycles & Sweetgrass)
6. Roseanna - Maj Sjowall, Per Wahloo (The Man on the Balcony)
7. Prep - Curtis Sittenfeld (American Wife)
8. The Wife's Tale - Lori Lansens (The Girls)
9. The Curse of the Spellmans - Lisa Lutz (The Spellman Files)
10.Children of the Street - Kwei Quartey (The Wife of the Gods, 2nd in series)
11. The Likeness - Tana French (In the Woods)
12. What Janie Found - Caroline B Cooney (2nd in the Janie quartet books)
13. Trackers - Deon Meyer (Thirteen Hours)
14. Mothers and Sons - Colm Toibin (Brooklyn)
15. Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks (People of the Book)
16. The Adventuress - Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveller's Wife)
17. Pretty in Ink - Karen E Olson (2nd in Tattoo Shop Mystery series)
18. The Distant Hours - Kate Morton (The House at Riverton)
19. The Broken Shore - Peter Temple (Truth)
20. Wonderstruck - Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret)
21. The Reinvention of Love - Helen Humphreys (Coventry)
22. An Irish Country Village - Patrick Taylor (An Irish Country Doctor)
23. The Canterbury Trail - Angie Abdou (The Bone Cage)

BOOK: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, 522 pages

It's the End of the World Challenge; 2nds Challenge; Young Adult Challenge

Very dark and quite violent; but war always is.
Middle book of Chaos Walking Trilogy, after The Knife of Never Letting Go.

Todd and Viola have been separated and are working on opposite sides of the warring factions, which just goes to show that you cannot judge a person for the role they might play in a war. There are reasons why each person does what they have to do to survive can't be known.

Young adult book that reads very quick, due to the cliff-hanging, page-turning, action-packed plot, and characters that are growing and maturing, the kind of characters you cheer for and hope that all will turn out alright.

Next in series: Monsters of Men, I'm first in line once my library gets it. It's on order right now.

BOOK: All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe

All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabe, 296 pages (translated by Alfred Birnbaum)

Japanese Literature Challenge, 2nds Challenge

Another great Japanese mystery by Miyabe; I read Shadow Family earlier this year. This was named Best Mystery and Best Novel of the Year in Japan when it was published in 1992.

A woman goes missing, and her fiance asks a distant relative, Detective Honma to investigate. Honma is off on leave after being injured on the job and after the death of his young wife. His life is pretty quiet, and the investigation is a welcome distraction. The characters are nicely written and enjoyable to follow around. The plot was tight and suspenseful, quick turn after quick turn.

I really enjoyed the look at life in Japan, learning about family registrations, and the different types of red tape in that country. Same but different. The topic was timely as well, with a strong condemnation of consumer credit and the whole business of credit cards and consumerism. This book is fifteen years old, but in today's inflated finacial world, not much has really changed. There were a few sections that got a little preachy, but it didn't distract too much from the mystery. I liked how we followed the detective and learned clues along with him; there were no big surprise reveals, just step by step closer and closer to the end of the mystery. I must continue looking for Miyabe's mysteries.

BOOK: When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson , 348 pages

2nds Challenge, Random House review book

Jackson Brodie, previous detective from Case Histories and One Good Turn, is back for Kate Atkinson's newest novel. The title hints at the bad news following some characters that permeates this page turner. There are some desperately sad people in this book, and as several stories overlap and intersect they prove Jackson's line near the end of the book, 'A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen.'

This story is more straight forward than One Good Turn. Atkinson takes some time to weave several characters and stories together, and then the twists started that had me rapidly turning the pages to see how it would end. Great characters and plot twists and humor and suspense.

Reggie Chase, sixteen but looks younger, is a nanny for Dr Joanne Hunter's baby. Reggie spends her time avoiding her no good brother, trying to get her high school degree, and being followed by bad luck. I wanted to hug her and cheer her on the whole time.
Dr Hunter's husband is having some business cash flow issues and then Dr Hunter herself goes missing.
Joanne Mason was six years old when her family was butchered by a serial killer, only she and her novelist father survived. The killer, Andrew Decker, is about to be released from prison after thirty years in jail.
Louise Monroe, Detective Chief Inspector in Scotland, has moved on from her attraction to Jackson in the last book, but hasn't stopped thinking about him (who could?) She is still a strong protector of women and the baddest ass cop around.
Jackson Brodie, he used to be a policeman. He always has to look for a missing woman; he can't turn that mystery down.

Once a train wreck is added to this assortment of characters, lives get intertwined and some blood is shed. I liked how so many nursery rhymes were woven into the writing, and pop references are flying everywhere. I'm sure I missed a lot, not being a British native, but I was able to identify many. The ending was a little vague but as hopeful as could be expected for these sad, sad people. Louise and Jackson are terrific characters, full of angst and both are the typical lone-wolf cop with commitment issues. Hopefully, they will be back to another book.

BOOK: A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews

A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, 246 pages

2nd Canadian Book Challenge; 2nds Challenge (I read A Boy of Good Breeding); Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction

Nomi Nickel, Mennonite girl, trying to deal with her family falling apart. Her mother and sister have left the town, and Nomi is left with her father in their small, ultra religious community. Not a lot happens here, just a very sad little girl with her thoughts.

I found reading this book was like listening to a song in a minor key - it was very depressing, and the tone just kept getting more and more ominous. It's a testament to the writing that I was made to feel that way, progressively sadder and sadder. Poor Nomi with usual teenage problems about self and place in the world, compounded by abandonment by her mother and only sibling, and trying to hold her father together and deal with her change of faith. Toews writes well, but I have heard mixed reviews of this book. It may have won the Canada Reads in 2006, but I preferred her other novel, A Boy of Good Breeding, a quirkier read.

BOOK: The View from Saturday by EL Konisburg

The View from Saturday by EL Konisburg

Book Awards II Challenge: Newbery 1996; 2nds challenge (previously read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler)

Four misfits come together to form a friendship and learn about kindness, to each other and in protecting other people.

I took this out of the library for my children but nobody seemed interested, so I read it instead. Four sixth graders are chosen to compete in a middle school question competition, but the book is about much more than that. Told from alternating points of view, each of the characters and their teacher learn a lesson about kindness and compassion as their lives overlap in some interesting ways. The main story is at the Academic Bowl competition, and then as a new question comes up, one of the kids goes back and tells their story. The style was unique and introduces young readers to a more unique, nonlinear plot line. Each character was well defined and individual, and as a group, they were so much stronger than they were alone.

Now I just need to get my sixth grader to read it and see what the target audience would think. It reminded me a bit of Maniac Magee, another great Newbery winner.



Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.-- Dr. Seuss

CHALLENGE: 2nds Challenge

Joy is hosting, in one of her last big blowouts as challenge hostess, the 2nds challenge again. Oh, I like the synchronicity of that. Anyway. Read four books by an author you have read once before. I like this one because so often I read a book by a new author and then want to read another one by them, but get distracted by other shiny new authors.

Books Read:

1. The View from Saturday by EK Konisburg (read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler)

2. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (read A Boy of Good Breeding)

3. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson ( read One Good Turn)

4. All She Was Worth by Miyuke Miyabe (I read Shadow Family)

I believe a book pool list is in order now:

Sarah Waters something (I read The Night Watch)

Alistair MacLean - No Great Mischief (I read The Lost Salt Gift of Blood)

Arnuldur Indridason - Voices (I read Silence of the Grave)

Mary Lawson -The Other Side of the Bridge (I read Crow Lake)

Graham Swift - Last Orders (I read Tomorrow)

Mordecai Richler - Barney's Version (I read The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz)

Joan Clark - An Audience of Chairs (I read Latitudes of Melt)

Paul Quarrington - King Leary (I read The Ravine)

maybe I'll read a book in September and then want to read another book by that author.

CHALLENGE: 2nds Challenge Completed

2nds Challenge Completed

This one didn't go quite the way I expected, but I read at least three authors for the second time during the time frame October to December 2007. Not the books I planned, but they were authors who called out to me, again:

• Monkfish Moon by Romesh Gunesekera ( I read The Reef)
• Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris (I read Shakespeare's Landlord)
• Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason (I read The Rest Falls Away)
• Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (I read The Big Sleep)
• Mercy by Jodi Picoult (I read My Sister's Keeper)

I read one I planned, two that were alternates, and two I hadn't read the author for the first time when I made up my original list back in June. I feel like I am back dating this list, but, Joy is understanding about changing lists when the books call to you.

So, thanks for the second helpings Joy. I have a big list of authors that I still want to read for the second time. Thanks Joy, it was a great idea. I'm still challenging with Joy next year for the Young Adult Book challenge, and she has another couple on the go as well.

BOOK: Mercy by Jodi Picoult

Mercy by Jodi Picoult

2nds Challenge

This book is suffering from second book syndrome. I read My Sister's Keeper first, which is the book by Picoult most often mentioned as her best book. Mercy was good, and a great read, but not as good as My Sister's Keeper, and then there were a few issues that niggled at me while I was reading it.

The Story: (from library journal - I find it hard to summarize plots succinctly)

Cameron MacDonald is both the chief of police in the Massachusetts village of Wheelock and the reluctant figurehead chieftain of the MacDonald clan, which immigrated there in the late 1700s. Thus it is to Cam that his cousin Jamie turns after he accedes to his suffering wife's wish and helps her to die. Cam, who longs to travel and free himself from his family obligation, arrests Jamie for first-degree murder but then hires a lawyer for him. On that same day, exotic young Mia wanders into the village and is hired by Cam's wife, Allie, to help out in her florist shop. Cam and Allie have reached a comfortable plateau in their marriage, but both sense that something is missing. Mia and Cam are irresistibly drawn to each other, she to his established place in local society and he to her itinerant lifestyle. The story explores love and the intricate balance of give and take that marriage demands.

The Good: Picoult writes her characters well, and keeps an objective viewpoint at the same time, so that every character has good and bad qualities, and it makes it hard to sympathize with any one character. I find myself undecided on the issues she raises - this book covers infidelity, grief, love, and euthanasia. I wasn't sure how things would turn out, and I wanted to find out where the story went. Lots of interesting characters and a compelling story and I liked the ending.

The Problems: I didn't think it would be realistic in the 1990s that immigrants from 200 years before would still have a clan chief who was continually referred to as such and that he would be responsible for the his clan. I thought it strained credulity that when Jamie came to town, Cam's family took him in and defended him when they didn't even know him, just that he was related. Picoult included a strand of magical events that I didn't mind, but I often find it hard to have these elements appear within a mostly realistic story. But the Gaelic culture includes ghosts and signs, so that wasn't a big deal.

Overall: good book, well written, not as good as My Sister's Keeper but I'll keep reading Picoult.

also reviewed by guatami tripathy

BOOK: Monkfish Moon by Romesh Gunesekera

Monkfish Moon by Romesh Gunesekera

short story collection

2nds Challenge

This was a nice collection of short stories, all set in Sri Lanka. Gunesekera writes beautifully, really giving the reader a sense of life in Sri Lanka. And while all different, the history and nature of Sri Lanka, the wars and upheavals provide a background to all the stories. His characters face dilemmas, between past and present, old ways and new, but the beauty of Sri Lanka is always there.

The titles are a little obscure for me; had to look up one last week, but I was pleased to recognize Carapace, which was probably my favorite story. A girl is deciding between two men, the local cook who has no promises for her, and not much of a future but true love, and the rich bloke going to Australia with a big house and a secure future, but actually unknown. Around here, carapace is the shell of the lobster, and carapace size determines whether a lobster is to be kept or thrown back.

CHALLENGE: 2nds Challenge

Joy can't get enough of hosting these challenges. As soon as the Nonfiction Five ends, she is planning a 2nds challenge . For everyone discovering new authors and wanting to read another one, this is the challenge for you. The challenge is to pick three books, to be read from October through December, of an author you have read one book previously. This is so easy for me. I went to examine my stack of books beside my bed and immediately found three books that fit this challenge. There are many more I can think of, so I'm copying Jill, and making an alternate list as well. From my shelf:

• The Plague by Albert Camus ( I read The Stranger and really enjoyed it)
• Monkfish Moon by Romesh Gunesekera ( I read The Reef)
• In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant ( I loved The Birth of Venus)

My alternate list includes, but not limited by:

• Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I read Half of a Yellow Sun)
• The Boleyn Inheritance by Philipa Gregory ( Loved The Other Boleyn Girl)
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry * a Something About Me choice (I read The Giver)
• something by Jodi Picoult (My Sister's Keeper)
• The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep)
• Miss Julia Takes Over by Ann B Ross (Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind)
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera ( I read Ignorance)
• another book by Orhan Pamuk ( I read Istanbul )

I could keep going. Other than the Sarah Dunant novel, all these are from this year. I've discovered so many great authors this year!