Friday, June 19, 2009

I Had Almost Forgotten About This


In my old bookshelf, no less! 8/12 isn't bad, but I intend to get through all 24 by the end of the year and 8/24 at six months isn't quite as fantastic. Here's what I've gotten through:

1. At the Point of a Gun, David Rieff
2. How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster
3. Ordinary People, Judith Guest

4. The Yacoubian Building, Alaa Al Aswany
5. The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
6. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Carcia Marquez
7. Race Against Time, Stephen Lewis
8. The Gate, Francois Bizot
9. The Truth About Stories, Thomas King
10. The Ethical Imagination, Margaret Somerville
11. Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi In progress
12. Swann's Way, In Search of Lost Time Vol. I, Marcel Proust
Alt.1. In Search of Lost Time Vol. II, Marcel Proust
Alt.2. In Search of Lost Time Vol. III, Marcel Proust
Alt.3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Alt.4. My Name is Red, Orham Pamuk
Alt.5. What Canadians Think, Darrell Bricker & John Wright
Alt.6. Crimes Against Logic, Jamie Whyte

Alt.7. Riotous Assembly, Tom Sharpe
Alt.8. Epileptic, David B.
Alt.9. Navigating the Golden Compass, Glenn Yeffeth
Alt.10. Pyongyang, Guy Delisle
Alt.11. The Essential 55, Ron Clark
Alt.12. Bodily Harm, Margaret Atwood



I'm a wee bit more behind in the Themed Reading Challenge. I only have a month and a half left, during which I will be doing a lot of extra hours at work and hence be reading a lot for that and I'll be tired as shit. To make it worse, I've ordered the middle book in the trilogy that Friends and Heroes is after and I'm going to want to read that first. Plus, I have no idea how long it will take to arrive. And Jonathon Strange is a gigantically long book. I'm going to have to get cracking to finish this one up in time.

Books by female authors in which the time period is key to the storyline. And here they are:

1. Cafe Europa, Slavenka Drakulic (Eastern Europe, post Communist)
2. The Devil's Arithmetic, Jane Yolen (Poland, WWII)
3. Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (France, WWII)
4. The Great Fortune, Olivia Manning (Bucharest, WWII)

5. Friends and Heroes, Olivia Manning (Athens, WWII)
6. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke (England, 1806 - Napoleonic Wars)

February 1, 2009 - July 31, 2009: The Themed Reading Challenge is a six month challenge designed to help readers clear books from their to-be-read stacks which center around a common theme or themes. Here are the “rules”:

* Books should be chosen from the reader’s TBR pile (this may be an actual physical pile or a virtual pile).
* The goal is to read 4 to 6 books linked by theme.
* Overlaps with other challenges are allowed.
* Readers may change their list of books at any time.

Readers may choose three different levels of participation:
Read at least 4 books with the same theme.
Read at least 5 books that share at least TWO themes.
Read at least 6 books that share MORE than two themes.

1 comment:

Hannah Furst said...

I recently saw your post about reading Irène Némirovsky's Suite Française. I wanted to pass along some information about an exciting exhibition closing August 30 about Némirovsky's life, work, and legacy. I urge you to see Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage —A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. The exhibition includes powerful rare artifacts —including the valise in which the original manuscript for Suite Française was found, as well as many personal papers and family photos. The majority of these documents and artifacts have never been outside of France. For fans of her work, this exhibition is an opportunity to really “get to know” Irene. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about this beloved writer! And for those who can’t visit, there is a special website devoted to her story www.mjhnyc.org/irene.

Although we are in the lazy days of summer, book clubs and groups are invited to the Museum for tours and discussions in the exhibition’s adjacent Salon (by appointment). It is the Museum’s hope that the exhibit will engage visitors and promote dialogue about this extraordinary writer and the complex time in which she lived and died. To book a group tour, please contact Chris Lopez at 646.437.4304 or clopez@mjhnyc.org. Please visit our website at www.mjhnyc.org for up-to-date information about upcoming public programs or to join our e-bulletin list.

Thanks for sharing this info with your readers. If you need any more, please do not hesitate to contact me at hfurst@mjhnyc.org