BW 52: All wrapped up and tied with a ribbon!

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to you and yours.   There are a few presents under the tree that look suspiciously like books.  *grin*   Love it when my family shops off my Amazon wishlist.  Hope you get everything you want and more for Christmas.  The year seems to have passed in a flash and we are ending it with gratitude and optimism for a joyous new year.   Our quest to read 52 books is coming to an end for this year.  How did you do?  

1. Did you reach the goal of 52 books or did you manage to beat your own personal best? 
2. What book are you ending the year with? 
3. Did you discover a new author or genre?  Did you love them or hate them?
4. Did you challenge yourself to read more non fiction if prefer fiction or more fiction if you prefer non fiction?
5. Did you read from a list or wing it?
6. How many classics did you read?  What did you think of the writing style or author? 
7. Name one book that you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised you like it.
8. What are your top ten favorite books?
9. What are your ten least favorite books?
10. Did you start any books that you just simply couldn't finish?
11. What did you think of the mini challenges and did you join in or complete any? 
12. Did your family join in on the fun?   
13. How many books have you added to your wishlist since the beginning of the year? 
14. What was your favorite thing about the challenge?

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who joined in.  I hope you enjoyed your reading year and discovered some new and interesting authors and genres.  Thank you to all who followed our progress. Are you ready to join in yet?  *grin*  I had a lot of fun and look forward to another year of exploring different topics, books and authors.  Best wishes for a happy reading new year!

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Link to your last read and/or wrap up post for 2011. Please link to your specific post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field,type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis or indicate wrap up post.   In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post.

If you don't have a blog, leave a comment in the comment section about your reading year. 

BW 51: Happy Birthday Jane Austen

Jane Austen

We are talking about all things Jane Austen today in honor of her birthday which was December 16th.  Although she only wrote six novels, her books have remained popular and some of the most widely read over the years.  Her novels:  Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion are all available on line for your reading pleasure.   Links are available in the Jane Austen tab up above.  You want to know a little secret.  I haven't read a single one of them...yet.  I don't have any excuses since I do have all her books.   Which brings us to why one of the mini challenges is to read the works of Jane Austen.  So as challenge to myself I am committing to the freshman level and reading at least two books.  How about you?

Austen's books have also spurred a number of Austen inspired books.  Sourcebooks is celebrating all things Darcy and making them available through all online book sellers in ebook format for $1.99 each through December 30th. 

A Darcy for Everyone! Sourcebooks Celebrates Jane Austen’s Birthday!

From Tuesday December 13^th – Friday December 30^th the following eBooks will be priced at $1.99 at all online e-tailers. Whether you like Darcy as a tortured vampire, a modern day rock star, a Texas rancher or anything and everything in between! There truly is a Darcy for everyone!

A Darcy Christmas – Carolyn Eberhart, Sharon Lathan and Amanda Grange

Darcys and the Bingleys – Marsha Altman

Darcy’s Voyage – Kara Louise

Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star – Heather Lynn Rigaud

The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice – Abigail Reynolds

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One – Sharon Lathan

Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard – Belinda Roberts

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife – Linda Berdoll

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre – Amanda Grange

Pemberley Chronicles – Rebecca Ann Collins

Pemberley Ranch – Jack Caldwell

Searching for Pemberley – Mary Lydon Simonsen

Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy – Sara Angelini

Darcy and Fitzwilliam – Karen V. Wasylowski

For more information check out this link at Sourcebooks


Also check out The Republic of Pemberley and Jane Austen.org  for all things Jane Austen. 

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

2012 Read 52 books in 52 Weeks

Are you ready for another round of Reading 52 books in 52 Weeks?  Whether you are just joining in or continuing on for another round, the rules are very simple.  The goal is to read one book (at least) a week for 52 weeks.  Make the year easy and casual or kick it up by exploring new to you authors and genres. Challenge yourself to read at least one classic a month or delve into that chunkster (more than 600 pages) you always wanted to tackle.  The goal is to read 52 books. How you get there is up to you.   

I have several mini challenges to make it fun: 

12 in 2012: Read 12 books in 12 different categories

A to Z challenge: Read books alphabetically by title and/or author.

Jane Austen: Read all things Jane Austen

Mind Voyages: Explore the hugo and nebula winners, take side trips through the different decades reading the nominees.

Well Educated Mind: Explore the classics in five categories: Fiction, Autobiography, History/Politics, Drama and Poetry.

The mini challenges and weekly challenges are optional, Mix it up anyway you like.

1. The challenge will run from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012. 
2. Our book weeks begin on Sunday.  
3. Participants may join at any time.
4. All books are acceptable except children books.
5. All forms of books are acceptable including e-books, audio books, etc.
6. Re-reads are acceptable as long as they are read after January 1, 2012.
7. Books may overlap other challenges.
   
8. Create an entry post linking to this blog.
9. Sign up with Mr. Linky in the "I'm participating post" below this post.
10. You don't have a blog to participate.  Post your weekly book in the comments section of each weekly post.  
11. Mr. Linky will be added to the bottom of the weekly post for you to link to reviews of your most current reads.

I'm participating in 2012

I'm participating in 2012

BW50: X is for Qui Xiaolong

 Qiu Xiaolong

I just finished reading "Death of the Red Heroine" by novelist and poet Qiu Xiaolong, book one in his inspector Chen series and found it to be extremely interesting.  Set in the mid 1990's in China, it was a police procedural blending fact and fiction delving into the politics and culture of the country.  Publisher's Weekly says:

"Set a decade ago in Shanghai, this political mystery offers a peek into the tightly sealed, often crooked world of post-Tiananmen Square China. Chen Cao, a poet and T.S. Eliot translator bureaucratically assigned to be chief inspector, has to investigate the murder of Guan Hongying, a young woman celebrated as a National Model Worker, but who kept her personal life strictly and mysteriously confidential. Chen and his comrade, Detective Yu, take turns interviewing Guan's neighbors and co-workers, but it seems most of them either know nothing or are afraid to talk openly about a deceased, highly regarded public figure. Maybe they shouldn't be so uneasy, some characters reason; after all, these are "modern times" and socialist China is taking great leaps toward free speech. Chen and Yu make headway when they stumble on Wu Xiaoming, senior editor of Red Star magazine, who apparently was involved with Guan before her death. Tiptoeing around touchy politics and using investigative tactics bordering on blackmail, Chen slowly pieces together the motives behind the crime. The author, himself a poet and critic, peppers the story with allusions to classical Chinese literature, juxtaposing poignant poetry with a gruesome murder so that the novel reads like the translation of an ancient text imposed over a modern tale of intrigue. This is an impressive and welcome respite from the typical crime novel."

I discovered Qui Xiaolong while searching for an author whose name begins with X for my a to z by title challenge.  Glad I discovered him and look forward to reading more of his Detective Chen novels. The books in the series are:

Death of a Red Heroine

A Loyal Character Dancer 

When Red is Black

A Case of Two Cities

Red Mandarin Dress 

The Mao Case

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.

 

 

BW49: 2012 Readalongs and Events

Hello my darlings!  I am in the midst of working on the site for 2012, revamping the mini challenges so if you see some of the pages disappearing or changing, you'll know why.  If you have any suggestions for a mini challenge or challenge within the challenge, let me know.  

I've come across a few 2012 read-a-longs and events that look interesting.   I just finished reading J.R. Ward's first novel in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series - Dark Lover. If you are into vampires, you'd probably enjoy this one.  I love series and enjoyed it enough to want to read the rest of the series.  Unlike Christine Feehan's Dark series which was just a bit too emotional and ridiculous for me and had me quitting the series after the first couple books.  And it just so happens Literary Escapism is hosting a Black Dagger Brotherhood Read-a-long which will run through the end of March.  

For those who like George R.R. Martin, Adventures of 2.0 will be hosting a Read-a-long of A Game of Thrones, and The Lit Bitch will be hosting A Game of Thrones challenge to read the whole series. 

For those wanting something a bit more seriousness to it,  A Literary Odyssey is hosting Shakespeare Reading Month in January or Breadcrumb Reads group read of  Reading Shakespeare: A Play a Month.

Howling Frog Books (don't you just love that title) will be hosting a Greek Classics Challenge which should fit in nicely with our Well Educated Mind Mini challenge (which unfortunately I totally failed at this year.)

I'll be posting the Mr. Linky Sign up for 2012 in a couple weeks.  Happy Reading!

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Link to your most current read. Please link to your specific book review post and not your general blog link. In the Your Name field, type in your name and the name of the book in parenthesis. In the Your URL field leave a link to your specific post. If you have multiple reviews, then type in (multi) after your name and link to your general blog url.

If you don't have a blog, tell us about the books you are reading in the comment section of this post.