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

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

Holly wrote: "How the hell did you get through it, Faye?"

LOL I couldn't put it down for like 10 days straight!

I'm currently 18th in line for this book from my library, so it might be a while before I can start it, but I'll join in as soon as I can. :)

I'd just like to reiterate what was said in the Monthly Genre Challenge thread - we included "Romance" in with the "Chick-Lit" genre to broaden it a bit, not to say that you can only read a Chick-Lit book that is also Romance. Any book that falls under the "Romance" category applies here, as well as any book that falls under "Chick-Lit."

So if you really don't want to read Chick-Lit, and you can't handle hardcore Romance either, you can go with anything that has a Romance angle of some sort... Romantic Comedy, SciFi/Romance, a biography of a famous couple, a Classic that has a romantic relationship in the forefront... take as much wiggle room as you need. We'd like everyone to feel included here. :)

I LOVE THIS BOOK.

It can't be almost February already!!! I'm only just getting used to it being January!

I will be watching obscene amounts of Olympics coverage through half the month, so my reading time will take a significant plunge. That said, for February I hope to read...

The Dead Secret by Wilkie Collins
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Teacher Man by Frank McCourt
The Custodian of Paradise by Wayne Johnston
Divergent by Veronica Roth (buddy read here)
Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin

And in keeping with the Russian theme that the Olympics will provide, I'm going to try to pick my way through Russian Stories/Русские Рассказы: A Dual-Language Book.

Welcome, Lorah! Rebecca is awesome. :)

Who is your favourite character from literature? (Or characters, if you can't pick just one.) What makes you love them so much?

Mine is Sydney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities. There's just something about his brokenness, his feigned indifference, his undying loyalty, and his unquestioning willingness to see someone else's happiness as more important than himself that breaks my heart and makes me cry every time I read that wonderful book. The book's famous last line came right from his heart, and it tears me to pieces even while I can't help but smile.

Brenda wrote: "You're so tempting me with the swapping idea! I've been just kicking myself because I read The Rosie Project in January. I felt pretty good about reading one and actually ending up liking it, until..."

We'd like to keep the genres to certain months as much as we can, since then it's easier for everyone to discuss books and plan buddy reads and swap recommendations and whatnot, but we're not going to be overly strict about it if our plan doesn't work for everyone. We just want everyone to be reading and having fun, so all the challenges on this group are loose and relaxed. Do whatever feels right for you. :)

Rose wrote: "I am an imbecile. Just realised I've been doing February's chic lit challenge this month and not the historical one. Might have to swap for these months. There I was feeling all proud for reading f..."

Swapping is fine, don't worry about it. :)

Linda wrote: "My dad lived with us for the last ten years of his life. When he passed away last year (at age 98), his room became "my" room, my girl-cave, and now my favorite reading spot is in his recliner. I..."

Aww, that's so nice, Linda!

Rose wrote: "I have gone with the wind on my shelf to read. It just looks huge! It
A been on my to read shelf for ages. So I have to tackle it this year!"

Gone With the Wind is AMAZING. And a surprisingly quick read, considering its length, so don't let that scare you off. :)

Laura wrote: "I caved. I am going to read Count of Monte Cristo with the Feb read. Putting off Wuthering Heights for another month."

Good decision! I love love love The Count, not so crazy about Wuthering Heights. ;)

Amber wrote: "so what's up everyone?"

My dog was sick in the middle of the night, and when I finally got back to sleep after dealing with that, I ended up sleeping in waaaay late, which has made me groggy and cranky and completely unproductive. I also have a sore throat, so my avoidance streak of colds this winter is probably over, and I just ate a really weird-tasting apple. So yeah, my day's a little bit crappy so far, heh. How about yours?

Irene wrote: "The first book, The Gravedigger's Handbook ..."

That's really interesting, Irene, I didn't even catch that!

Rob wrote: "Faye,

So would you count Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew?"

If you can make a case for it being a romantic comedy, sure. ;)

Jane wrote: "can I swap months?"

Sure, go ahead. :)

Just to clarify - any book that can be considered a "romance" in any way can qualify for February's challenge. It doesn't need to be strictly "chick lit" or the Harlequin-esque type of romance. Goodness knows, I'm not a fan of chick-lit or smoochy romances myself, haha! But most books have a romance angle somewhere. Just so long as the romance is a main part of the plot, we'll allow some wiggle room here.

Jelliebeans wrote: "I know what you mean. As I was reading though, I treated Death like an 'unreliable narrator' - he isn't necessarily telling you everything he knows all of the time, and may even lie to you (the reader).

My opinion is that this doesn't make Death untrustworthy, though. I think the disjointed narrative actually makes the character of Death quite sympathetic, almost an 'innocent'."...

Very well said. :)

Finished The Hunger Games. I seriously loved it!

Welcome, Maribel!