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

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

Geoff, I'm so jealous you get to read those books over and over again. Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird are two of my favourite books. I must admit, I've never read Heart of Darkness, even though I sounds really interesting!

That's a really cool thing to do Jools! I think you tell a lot about a person by what they read!

I'm glad to be reading A Tale of Two Cities then! I haven't had any time to read any of it yet, but I'm planning on getting started this evening.

I really can't wait to finally explore the world of Dickens! It's lovely how everyone is so enthusiastic about him!

I know a few people here really love him, and I'm kind of a Dickens-virgin. I know, it's horrendous. I'm hoping to rid myself of that title in my next book read, so don't worry!

What are your favourite books by him? Do you particularly like him? I always find Victorian reads very long, and sometimes they do ramble on a bit. I guess that's why so many people love them, and Dickens especially.

I'd just like to gain peoples opinions. He's an author that's so acclaimed!

I'm sorry for the extreme length of this post...

My 100-Book Challenge
My aim is to read 100 books, or more, this year. I've reached 53 last year, which is a great achievement for me, and I'd like to continue it on.

The List
Total Read So Far: 84 out of 100

1. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
2. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg
3. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
4. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
5. Richard III by William Shakespeare
6. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
7. Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
8. 1984 by George Orwell
9. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
12. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner
13. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
14. Ulysses by James Joyce
15. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
16. One Day by David Nicholls
17. As You Like It by William Shakespeare
18. Hard Times by Charles Dickens
19. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
20. Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
21. King Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare
22. Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
23. The Tempest by William Shakespeare
24. The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris
25. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
26. King Lear by William Shakespeare
27. A Midsummer Night's Dreamby William Shakespeare
28. Henry IV, Part 2by William Shakespeare
29. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
30. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
31. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
32. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
33. The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
34. Civil War: The Amazing Spider-Man by J. Michael Straczynski
35. Dune by Frank Herbert
36. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
37. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
38. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
39. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
40. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
41. When The Bough Breaks by Andrea Gibson
42. Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
43. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
44. And the Band Played on by Randy Shilts
45. The Giver by Lois Lowry
46. A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow by George R.R. Martin
47. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
48.The Scorch Trials by James Dashner
49. The Death Cure by James Dashner
50. The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer
51. The Charioteer by Mary Renault
52. Medea by Euripides
53. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
54. B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
55. C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
56. O Pioneers! by Willa CatherSue Grafton
57. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
58. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
59. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
60. D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton
61. E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
62. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
63. The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within by Stephen Fry
64. The Power Of Yes: A Dramatist Seeks To Understand The Financial Crisis by David Hare
65.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
66. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
67. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
68. Maurice by E.M. Forster
69. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
70. Dracula by Bram Stoker
71. Henry V by William Shakespeare
72. Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
73. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
74. Heat Wave by Richard Castle (reread)
75. Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
76. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
77. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams (reread)
78. Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos
79. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
80. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
81. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
82. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
83. Call The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth
84. Selected Poems: 1965-1975 by Margaret Atwood

You can post your own thread in this folder to follow your own personal challenges. People sometimes like to focus on themes, or just list what they have read. It's a nice way of tracking what you have read, and there can be some really interesting conversations about books that arise out of it.

If you want to create your own personal challenge for 2014, either tracking your Reading Challenge process or perhaps other themes/challenges, please feel free to make your own thread.

That's a wonderful idea!

That's what I meant by books read, Jools!

Faye, in fairness, out of the books I've read, Tess should have been far higher on my TBR list, I've just never gotten round to it. Perhaps this December...

You should totally join me in reading A Tale of Two Cities!

Good luck with that, Janice! That's a big number! I hope to match that, but that's only my extreme goal. I'd ideally like to get to 75.

One of my friends actually has a changeable slot in her door. It alternates between 'go away, exams', 'working', 'watching star trek' or 'reading'. I really need one of those signs...

Welcome to my world, Faye! Most of my peers prefer Big Brother and Facebook to classics, and even books in general... Most of them don't even understand that Big Brother actually originated in 1984!

It also frustrates me when people in my classes are so ignorant about literature, and there's me with my bag heaving with the book I'm currently reading, and a few others I've gotten out the library!

Tess of the d'Urbervilles has been on my to-read list forever. It will definitely be a 2014 read for me. It doesn't help that my English teacher literally spoiled the whole plot for me... Which was highly frustrating. He just laughed and said I should have read it by now!

Whenever I see anyone mention Dickens, I feel like I'm really missing out. I really need to read some Dickens! Hopefully I'll be able to start A Tale of Two Cities tomorrow...

My favourite books of 2013:

Crime and Punishment - Hands down, it is the second best book I've ever read. It blew my breath away to be honest. I just got so absorbed in Raskolnikov's internal struggle that it just shows how genius some writing can be. It was also my introduction to Russian Literature, and now I really want to read more!
The Book Thief - I had heard many good things about this book, and I absolutely loved it. The narration by Death was fantastic, and I honestly can't wait for the film in Jan 2014!
To Kill a Mockingbird - I know, it's awful I haven't read this until now. It is a wonderful novel, and I loved all the characters. Definitely one of my best reads this year!

I thought I'd limit myself to three. I know otherwise I'd go on and on. Other notable reads: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Arcadia, The Scarlet Letter (it's so beautifully written!), and Rebecca.

I managed to get a large collection of free books on my Kindle ( around 3,500), so quite often the book I want to read is on there. If I can't get it from my school library, and I don't own it, I'll read it on my kindle. I'll always try get a physical version first. Ultimately, I think Kindles have their advantages (I use mine a lot on holiday, it saves our family a whole extra suitcase). If I didn't have all those books, I never would have got one though!

I really don't know how people juggle books. It's always been a mystery to me!

I've found a lot of relatively unknown classics that I never would have heard of if I hadn't joined good reads. The groups are a really lovely way of finding good books, and I really love it. It's especially good for working out if you want to read a book, and that's what I love reviews so much, especially if they have charismatic writers!

I am rather set in my ways though. My mind strives to read the classics, and most of them I either own or get out of the library, so the prospect of me finding something new and wanting to read it is relatively new!

I finished Middlemarch about an hour ago. It seemed to take forever, but it was a very rewarding read, I must admit! I'm now a third of the way through Mockingjay. I've been reading for 3 hours straight, with no interruptions. I love it when my parents are out!

I keep on hearing repeated good things about David Mitchell's books, Geoff! Would you recommend any in particular?

Isn't The Luminaries the Man Booker Prize winner this year? Or at least it won some sort of literary prize. I really should keep track more when it comes to awards!

Being a book addict should in itself be a job in my opinion. Hence why proof-reading or being in the publishing industry must be some of the best jobs in the world...

I really need to read some David Mitchell. All of his books that I've heard mentioned all get glowing responses.

James Joyce has always fascinated me, Faye, and I'd love to read some of his works. I think I'm just too daunted by Ulysses to even think about exploring some of his work, which is rather sad. One day, I will get round to him. For now, my upcoming hard author is Dickens! And John Milton's Paradise Lost.

I actually have a personal challenge to read the classics currently sitting on my bookcase gathering dust. My aim is to get them all read by the end of 2014, and there's about 20 on there. It's going to be a challenge, but they're ones that I really want to get done before Uni! You can see my list here. I'm actually really looking forward to getting them all read, I'm just slightly scared at the same time!

I think the idea of a 'serialised' book is very interesting now. The only 'modern' book I know to be done like that was Bridget Jones Diary. I don't know if it would work very well today, and the only thing I can think that is similar nowadays is the realm of fanfiction and sites that host it. Chapters are uploaded regularly, and I found it hard to keep interest with them long enough to read them intermittently. I'd love to see a modern book be serialised!

I must admit, my reading has been very 20th century recently, and I really lost track of the 'beauty' of English Literature. I read The Scarlet Letter as a recommendation from my English teacher, and it was the first book that really made me marvel at the English language. It was, in my mind, a work of art, not just a story. I think that's why, regardless of the very limiting plot of Middlemarch, I'm carrying on. It's the beauty of the writing that I love, the subtle metaphors that Eliot uses are wonderful, and I wish I had the power to write like that! It's totally where literature nowadays falls down. Don't get me wrong, modern literature can be amazing (I'm looking at you, Margaret Atwood), there is just a lack of beauty in the words now.

As this is a relatively new group, I am in the process of building it up. If anyone has any suggestions, or improvements that they want to see implemented, please let me know either by posting here or messaging me. I want this group to be the best it can be, and the people who will get the most out of it, I hope, will be you guys.

I'm thinking of doing group reads when we hit 2014. Perhaps a classic, contemporary and young adult? That way it covers all the areas of general fiction. Readalongs/buddy-reads seperate are of course welcome!

I'm also interested in having another moderator. Obviously the group is still in the works, and I'd love it if someone was interested enough to want to be a mod. Please message me if you want to be!

So yeah, if you have any suggestions for edits or introductions of different things, please feel free to post here.

As always, feel free to make your own discussions about books or anything. Discussion is good!