Renee’s Comments (group member since Feb 03, 2014)

Renee’s comments from the The Reading Challenge Group group.

Good to know about the movie. I'll look for it.

I think I'm going with The Jungle. A classic and one of the 1000 or so to read before you die. Plus, my dad still talks about how it knocked him on his butt when he read it in his younger days.

Finished The Bell Jar. It wasn't as depressing as expected. Was actually a fascinating study of depression and its progress in a young woman struggling fur self-hood.

I finished Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. It was a lovely, interesting novel which seemed simple but left me with things to chew over.

That would make sense. It's still that way in most places around the world.

It's kind of amazing and one of he things I love about this series. Laura does such a great job of telling details about how things were done back then.

I'm just a bit further. They just finished the roof and the rest of the interior. The illustrations make it look so cozy!

So many great new faces and voices! Welcome!

Nice work, Lynette!

I read Gone With The Wind last year. It was so much more than I expected. Really very interesting for many reasons.

Oh oh! I just finished that! It's a lot of fun!

Yes, definitely. Side by side, both if those things.

I visited Cambodia in 2008. It is the most beautiful and heartbreaking place I've ever seen. The people are so kind that it makes their history almost unbearable. I've read both First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers and When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge; both written by young women who were surviving children in those terrible times. In the Shadow of the Banyan sounds amazing. I'll definitely add it to my TBR.

I have to wonder if Hugo is laying down an example of goodness before introducing other characters or action.

PopSugar List for 2017 Goal = 21 of 42

[] Recommended by a librarian
[] on your TBR too long
[] book of letters
[] audiobook
[] by a person of color
[] a season in the title
[x] story within a story: The Neverending Story
[] multiple authors
[] espionage thriller
[] cat on cover
[] author with pseudonym
[] bestseller in genre you don’t normally read
[] by or about a person with disability
[] involves travel
[] has subtitle
[] published 1n 2017
[] about food
[] career advice
[] re-read that makes you smile
[] mythical creature
[] non-human perspective
[] steampunk novel
[] has red spine
[x] set in wilderness: Little House in the Big Woods**
[] re-read you loved as a child
[] author from a country you’ve never visited
[] title has character name
[x] set in wartime: A Town Like Alice**
[] unreliable narrator
[] has pictures
[] main character is different ethnicity then you
[] about interesting woman
[] set in 2 time periods
[] set in a hotel
[] title has month or day of week
[] written by someone your admire
[] becoming a movie in 2017
[] set around a holiday other than Christmas
[x] first book of a series new to you: The Crown Conspiracy**
[] bought on a trip
[] recommended by an author you love
[] bestseller from 2016
[] family member in title
[] takes place over life-span
[] about immigrant or refugee
[] genre or subgenre you’ve never heard of
[] involves an eccentric character
[] more than 800 pages
[] bought from used bookstore
[] based on mythology
[] difficult topic
[] book mentioned in another book

Reserved

New To You Maxi Challenge (January-April)

Level Two: 3 New Authors
1) The Bell Jar by The Bell Jar**
2) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute**
3) Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie**

Level Three: 6 New Authors
4) Life After Life by Kate Atkinson**
5) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair**
6) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett**

Finished!

Fantine: Volume 1: Book 1

Any thoughts on the bishop?

Absolutely! As long as you bought it before January 1 and read (or reread) it after. :)

Glad to have you!