Ola's 2014 Reading Challenge - 30 books in a year

[Ola]

Hello all. I thought I'd start a personal challenge thread to make it easier to track my progress next year... I'm getting excited for this challenge!

I really hope I can make it to 30 books in 2014. The irony is, I work in publishing, but the job is so time-consuming that the number of books I manage to read has actually depleted over the last couple of years, as I had less free time! I'm determined to get back on course ;) Roll on January!

Right, here's a quick list which will be updated as I go along. As always, there is no guarantee that the list won't change! In no particular order:

1. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - COMPLETED 2 January 2014
2. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood - COMPLETED
3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - COMPLETED
4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent - COMPLETED 6 January
5. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - COMPLETED 9 January
6. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
7. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
8. The Hours by Michael Cunningham
9. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - COMPLETED
10. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - COMPLETED 17 January
11. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry
12. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
13. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - COMPLETED 4 January
14. All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld
15. Elka by Iza Komendolowicz - COMPLETED
16. Sebastian Walker, 1942-1991: A Kind of Prospero by Mirabel Cecil
17. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - COMPLETED 1 February
18. Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi
19. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Becky Smith
20. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
21. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff - COMPLETED
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer - REMOVED
22. A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams - COMPLETED
23. The Distance Between Us by Maggie O'Farrell
24. Harvest by Jim Crace
25. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
26. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier - COMPLETED
27. Wake by Anna Hope
28. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen - COMPLETED
39. Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty - COMPLETED

[Ola]

Narin wrote: "Good luck! :D"

Thanks Narin! Will update with progress...

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Good luck, Ola! I'm massively jealous of your job!

[Ola]

Another couple of planned reads added to the first post... I just started the Wizard of Earthsea and I'm not yet sure whether I like it - if I decide that I don't, I might skip the rest of the series so the list would dramatically decrease! Anyone here read it and can comment? :)

[عماد]

The ocean at the end do the lane, and To kill a mocking bird, are two of my favorites.
Enjoy Ola ^_^

[Ola]

Ah thanks Emad! I'm looking forward to both, they've been on my mental to-read list for a while now.

[Ola]

Decided to delete the rest of the Earthsea series from my to-read list after all... The Wizard of Earthsea is just not cutting it! I will finish it, but reluctantly, as I already moved on to more interesting books.

Have any of you ever been really disappointed by an acclaimed book or a series?

[Amber]

I was disappointed in city of bones because of all the hype, it made me give up on it after 10 chapters and if I can't get past a book after 1 chapter I give up on it like carrie was boring.

[Faye, The Dickens Junkie]

I've been so burned over the years by "acclaimed" books that I started avoiding books that get a lot of hype. Unfortunately, I've missed out on a lot of genuinely great books that way, so I'm trying to give things a chance again if they sound like something I might enjoy.

[Ola]

Ah Amber that's so dissapointing! As for Carrie, I've just never been a fan of King, don't understand all the hype either.

Faye, I used to make a point of not reading hyped up books too, but, like you, think that I must have missed out on some brilliant writing by doing this. Sadly not the case when it comes to Earthsea! Hopefully no more disappointments in 2014 though!

[Amber]

I know and I'm a stephen king fan. Just couldn't get into carrie or it.

[Ola]

Just finished the first book of the year on my way back from work. Phew! One down, twenty nine to go...

[Ola]

Finished The Song of Achilles. Such a beautiful book, I almost wish I still hadn't read it so I could read it afresh now!

Moving on to Burial Rites next.

[Ola]

Burial Rites done... and it was really good, though possibly not as good as I hoped it would be. Nonetheless I'd recommend it to anyone interested - the setting was really unusual.

Reading The Sense of an Ending now.

[Luffy Sempai]

Amber wrote: "I was disappointed in city of bones because of all the hype, it made me give up on it after 10 chapters and if I can't get past a book after 1 chapter I give up on it like carrie was boring. "

City of Bones sucks, Amber rules. Doing the maths here couldn't be more of a child's play.

[Luffy Sempai]

Faye wrote: "I've been so burned over the years by "acclaimed" books that I started avoiding books that get a lot of hype. Unfortunately, I've missed out on a lot of genuinely great books that way, so I'm trying to give things a chance again if they sound like something I might enjoy. "

Oh no, Faye. I know that square one looks tempting, but please don't go back. Read the obscure but great books. That's my advice.

[Ola]

Another book read - no less than the January Classics group read, Rebecca. Sadly I enjoyed it nowhere near as much as I had thought I would, so I'm quite happily moving on to something else! Dithering over Gone Girl...

Also started listening to an audiobook - Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty, which is making my mornings before work much more enjoyable! I'm new to listening to audiobooks, but I've surprised myself by how much I like it.

[Ola]

For anyone thinking about trying out audiobooks... I could not recommend Apple Tree Yard more highly. The story was great (though there are some parts which were VERY upsetting and I actually winced whilst listening to them) but just the performance of Juliet Stevenson who read the book would be worth buying it for. It was 14 hours long and I listened for half an hour in the mornings whilst getting ready for work for a couple of days, then the weekend came I just couldn't stop myself from listening THROUGH ALL OF IT.

Do you ever get that feeling, when you finish a particularly great book, that no other book can possibly come close? That!

[Brenda (aka Grandma)]

Hi Ola. I'm new to audiobooks too, and still figuring out which ones I can enjoy in that format. It does create a whole new chunk of time for reading. And major congrats on finding a book you love that much. I know there've been times I've started one right over again.

[Ola]

I can't believe I haven't updated here in over a month. Work's been absolutely manic and, as I write this on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I'm actually getting ready to do a few MORE hours of work... I thought I should sneak a quick post in, otherwise it will never happen.

Read only three books in Feb due to the above. Didn't really love any of them - they were ok, but nothing to write home about.

Oh, and I took one book out from my list - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Suffered through 200 pages, then just couldn't take the poor quality of writing and ridiculous plot anymore.

Anyway, onwards and upwards! Here's to better reads in March.

[Aitziber]

What are your planned reads for March, Ola?

[Ola]

Hi Aitziber. I'd like to finish Elka by Iza Komendolowicz and The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier - alternating between both at the moment. Elka is a really big paperback which I just can't cram into the bag I take to work, so reading it on the train / tube in is not an option... that's where The Last Runaway comes in.

If I can, I'll squeeze in How I Live Now as well, I've heard it's great.

Again, work is and will be challenging till about the end of April so I'm not holding out hopes for doing much reading until then!

Links to all the books I mention are in the first post of this thread, if you're interested.