Holly’s Comments (group member since Nov 05, 2013)

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

This month is focusing on Southeast Asia! Therefore, books that are either written or set in Southeast Asia, or that are written by a Southeast Asian author!

A rough list of Countries: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

For further information of Southeast Asia, click here!

For a list on Goodreads, check out this list on Southeast Asia!

This month is all focused on books about the things you love to do!

This makes it a really awesome, open month. Hopefully we'll have some interesting discussions and we'll all learn a little about eachother!

The (usually) shorter forms of writing are here! Whether you want to read a play, or a collection of poems, or a single super long epic poem, it's up to you!

There's many poetry collections and plays that are iconic to literature today! Why not check out the Top 100 Stage Plays of All Time list, or the Best Poetry Books list here on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

Monique, I enjoyed The Woman in White immensely! :)

Melissa, don't hesitate to use books you've already read this year! :)

Yeah, luckily most are quite short. And the earlier ones I'd read already, so I was in a good position at the start of the semester!

Hey Camille. Here's my reading list. We're doing one a week, and have just finished Jane Eyre.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen
The History of Mary Prince, by Mary Prince
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
Goblin Market, by Christina Rosetti
A Room of One’s Own, by Virginia Woolf
The Driver’s Seat, by Muriel Spark
Woman on the Edge of Time, by Marge Piercy
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Renee, I marvel at your mind sometimes!

My 'Writing Women' module at University will definitely help with this! ;)

Welcome Megan!

If you're interested in completing challenges, you might enjoy our Mini Challenges folder!

I really enjoyed Dracula too! It surprised me how exciting and enjoyable it was, especially concerning the characters!

I 100% recommend Carmilla (and the current webseries they based off Carmilla). Who doesn't Iove vaguely lesbian vampires written hundreds of years ago?

(Okay, maybe that's just me, but seriously, it's a great novella, and packs a punch, especially for its length.)

Sam, he's definitely a keeper. Hold tight and don't let him go!

I'm thinking of updating the banner. Does anyone have any opinions on a theme or what it should say?

If anyone wants something short for this challenge, I recently read (and studied) The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative. It's her biography (technically an autobiography, although it was written down for her), and would also fit for the pre-1823 section. It's very powerful for such a short text!

Although it's very accessible, it doesn't seem to be very well known (although it has been taught at my university for like 20 years).

+1 for the Doctor Who gif, Faye! Can't beat Doctor Who and it's portrayal of writers. (Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Agatha Christie)

I swear I want to read every group read in March. Typical half of it will be taken up by essay writing! Nevertheless, I will endeavor to read this! I really need more Dickens under my belt!

I've heard so much about this! Definitely going to give it a go!

Although March is rather busy for me, I'll definitely try to fit this in! It's one of those books that everyone seems to have read apart from me!

Yet another month of awesome Non-Fiction

This month's topic is: Autobiography/Memoir.

Check out some books here and here!

Delve into the depths of Africa in this month's World Lit challenge!

The topic for March is Sub-Saharan Africa. This means any book that is either written or set in Sub-Saharan Africa, or that is written by a Sub-Saharan author.

Countries include:
African Union, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (DRC-Kinshasa), Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia

For more information on Sub-Saharan Africa, click here

Check out the 'Popular Sub-Saharan Fiction Books' list here on Goodreads for some ideas.

This genre is great because it's really varied!

Faye wonderfully gave us some definitions to help you out in the group reads nominations thread:

"Contemporary" is a tough one to define, but how about we look at it this way - if it was written and set during your own lifetime (for the members who are 60+, in your adult lifetime), you can read it for this month. Have a look at Goodread's genre page, or perhaps this list if you need more ideas!

"Literary Merit" means that there's more to the book than just its plot and its characters. It's got something to say, and it says it well. Basically, if you feel it's destined to be the classic literature of tomorrow. Check out this list which looks at literary fiction to give you some ideas!

So there's lots to choose from!
Happy Reading!