Zaz’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2014)

Zaz’s comments from the 2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] group.

Maybe because you're very interested in the books you chose? I know I put on my list only books I really wanted to read, so it doesn't feel a "work". Several other members seem to choose books because they never read them, but are not very interested in them.

What did you read this week?
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Did you enjoy the book? Would you recommend it? (feel free to link to your review)
Totally, the writing was great, I entered in the story easily and it was a page turner. I don't know if the story is really interesting, but I liked how the author told it.
I highly recommend it but I think it's more a book for women than men, as it's a "keep your daughter at home, men are selfish creatures" kind of story.

Do you usually read female authors?
Yes. I don't look at the author's gender and I'm often surprised to discover that a book is written by a woman (by default, when the name isn't obviously "female", I think it's a man).

For you, is there a difference between books written by men and books written by women?
Most of the time, I find better written personalities when it's a female author. The characters are more deep and feel more real. Except for this, I see no difference in action, description or writing style.

We are halfway done with Week 9 and we hope the author you chose is a good writer. Tell us more about your book.

This discussion thread is solely for your progress. (Book discussions go in individual threads.)


What did you read this week?

Did you enjoy the book? Would you recommend it? (feel free to link to your review)

Do you usually read female authors?

For you, is there a difference between books written by men and books written by women?

Hollow World: this is a great book, with wonderful characters, written by a very gentle human being. Now, I'm listening slowly the audiobook, so I won't leave too soon.
Fairytales for Wilde Girls: it rang bells here, so I'll probably re-read it and will follow the writer for sure.

I liked this idea on January, so a new thread for February sounds nice.
What did you read this past month? Following the order or not ;)

My list
The original Challenge:
5. a book with a number in the title: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. ***
6. a book written by someone under 30: Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near. *****
7. a book with nonhuman characters: Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. ****
8. a funny book The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. ****
9. a book by a female author: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton. *****

Side-reads
Graphic novels & manga:
V for Vendetta **
Princeless Book Two ***
Horimiya 1-6

Books:
Love, Death and Tea ****
The Crown Conspiracy ***(*)
The Jester (short story) ****
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland ***


This was a very nice month for me, with some great books and good writing. I think I'm really comfortable with female authors. I'm in track with the challenge and pretty happy with my choices for the moment.
3 of my side-reads books were lovely and funny, I'll continue to read these 2 authors for sure. The Girl was pleasant but not interesting enough.

Finished! Strange characters, sad and immersive story and a solid 5 stars rating.
After some chapters, the writing was really special for me and felt like an heartbeat. It's really a nice discovery.

Wow, what a book for this week #9! It was an impressive page turner with a writing like an heartbeat. If you're not afraid of sad stories, I highly recommend it.

Side-reads: I finally finished The Girl Who Circumnavigated (it didn't improve since my previous post). I finished too Love, Death and Tea, a very pleasant fantasy-zombie story with some clever ideas (and a zombie POV). I'm now reading the 2nd book in Theft of Swords, Ravage and I'll try to catch-up with my complete Holmes stories as I didn't read the ones before my week #10.

My mom lent me some books (a thriller and a journal) so I've something to read for week #21. I'm not sure if I'll read both of them, I'll decide later.

It's nice to have an opinion of the 2 books as you read them one after the other (I didn't read Gone Girl but I'm interested in it for later).
The Girl on the train is an easy book to read but, yes, the characters are not a success. Some of my friends wanted to read the book, I explained them a little the characters and the atmosphere and they ran away :p

Feb 28: The 2nd month of the challenge is just finishing. We hope you discovered new books and authors you liked a lot.

The folder for week 17 (a book a friend recommended) is now available.

Week 17: a book a friend recommended.
April 23 - April 29, 2015

We are all waiting with fear the book recommended by our mom (or other family member). As we are optimistic, we can expect a good book if a friend recommended it, so this week seems a lot better.
Maybe your friends don't read, so you have no idea for your book. I'm sure someone here will gladly give you an idea, just tell us what you like ;)


How to Create a Topic:
1. Create a topic in the appropriate folder using your book's author and title (Title by Author). Link your book with the "This topic is about" feature.

2. In the body of your post, comment about why you chose this book. Have you read it before? What are your expectations?

3. Feel free to use the thread as a way to update the group on your progress. Also, when you are finished reading, add a small review and your thoughts about the week's challenge.

4. Comment on everyone else's posts as well! Participation and group involvement will make this challenge so much fun!

**If you chose the same book as another group member for the same week, do not create a duplicate thread.**

No suggestions this week, but feel free to tell us about THIS BOOK you can't live without.

One thing which catches me is the personality in the writing. It's different to write a review like saying "the sky is blue" or to write it with enthusiasm (like) / dark humour (dislike)...
So maybe the important thing is not to explain things but how you explain them. The more you write, the more you'll find your own style. Try to have fun while writing and try to write something you'll enjoy reading ;)

Never too late to open a book. Complete as many "weeks" as you want/can and be proud to discover new books, authors and spend time doing something you like ;)

How do you classify them?
For me, the ones I read (P&P and Persuasion) are romances (it's the main point!). I can't count "society critique" as a classification as most of the books I read use it, so the main events/the world help me to define the genre. Reading pages and pages about love and relationships is painful and the main reason why I dislike Austen's books ;)

As none of my boyfriends were readers, I can't tell about that. Some of them thought that I read because I was bored, which was really disturbing, so I suppose I will totally feel more connected with a reader.

I've friends who read (some other don't), it's nice to have some recommendations, to share opinions or to borrow books, but I don't feel closer to them because of that.

Hi Grace, if you're posting from a computer, can you think about adding the week folder for your next topics? If you're posting from the app, just tell us the week in your title, it will be easier to know where to move it ;)

Ethiopia sounds interesting, I hope you'll enjoy the book!

The beginning is interesting but I've the impression it won't be an happy story. I like the writing (nothing special for the moment, but it's a good one, so it's enough for me) and the tiny magical parts.
Yey for the french sentences, it was fun :D

As for every Pratchett's book, I enjoyed this one a lot. The Wee Free Men were fun and I liked the girl's adventures. I've to see if they released the translation for the 4th in the series.

The steampunk part didn't seem too heavy for me as the story focuses on the characters. You just have to imagine an old London (maybe like the Sherlock Holmes one) but with some technological things in the background (cars, robots, electricity, etc). I like old and new stuff in the same world :)

For me, on Amazon.fr ;)

I wish you courage, dementia is a difficult family topic... I hope the book will help you in a way or another.