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Personal Challenges - 2016
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Chase's 2016 Challenge
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message 101:
by
Tracey
(new)
Aug 07, 2016 07:15PM
Thanks! You flatter me. A long metro commute is tiring, but it lets me get a lot of reading in each day, and the challenges here are wonderful to add some diversity.
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90. Passenger - This one was such a slog from beginning to end. I was forcing myself to stick with it. The one thing I did like about it though is that there is an inter-racial relationship.
91. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two - I felt like the play format made it lose some of its charm that you get with the Harry Potter series.
92 - The Outlaw Demon Wails - About once a year I pick up another of the Hollows series books. They're only okay to me.
93. Blindness - My friend recommended this book to me and I finally got around to reading it. I am glad I did. Blindness is filled with metaphors about human behavior. The only downside is that the way it is written feeds into the story, but also can leave a reader extremely confused about who is speaking because there are no quotation marks to mark dialogue and sentences run on into each other.
94. The Woman in Cabin 10 - This book is more of a 3.5 stars than the 4 I gave it. It kept me interested throughout most of the book. It's got a The Girl on the Train or Murder on the Orient Express feel to it.
95. The Dinner - This book addresses a lot of interesting dilemmas, but I don't think it addresses them all believably. I've seen this compared to Gone Girl, but I think I would compare some of the themes/dilemmas more to We Need to Talk About Kevin. Regardless, this book leaves you with a sinking feeling in your gut.
96. American Psycho - This is one where I liked the movie a lot more. I was not prepared for how gruesome this novel is. This book is full of horrifyingly graphic scenes that while mildly understandable (after all, it's told from the viewpoint of a psychopath), but it's not a book for the weak stomached.
97. After Alice - I don't usually give 1 star ratings to books that are halfway well written, but this book bored me so much that I'm willing to make the exception. Nothing really happens in this book.
98. Twelfth Night - I actually am surprised this one isnt a more popular Shakespeare comedy because I thought it was better than some of the other ones I have read.
100 Unnatural Creatures - I rather enjoyed this bundle of short stories. I found most of them to be more engaging than other short stories that I have read. Also, woohoo! Reached my goal of 100 books for the year. To raise the goal; or just keep on reading for fun?
102. Cress - I actually liked this one a bit more than the previous book in the series. Cress was a more interesting character than the others.
Congrats on reaching your goal! And I think you just made me want to try Cinder.
103. Beauty Queens - I'm glad that I didn't know much about this book when I grabbed it, because I could see myself having skipped it if someone told me about the basic plot. I'm glad I didn't though, because there's a lot of fun and a lot of good messages in this book.
Whew, had a little bit of some off and on reading because we were too busy getting married and then on our honeymoon! Now that I'm situated, here is the vacation reading update:104. Mansfield Park - I didn't like Fanny as a character but still found this one enjoyable overall.
105. Northanger Abbey - Not as enjoyable as Mansfield Park but still good.
106. Gulliver's Travels - I guess I shouldnt have been surprised at how easy this one was to read, but it was really easy.
Chase wrote: "Whew, had a little bit of some off and on reading because we were too busy getting married and then on our honeymoon! Now that I'm situated, here is the vacation reading update:104. Mansfield Par..."
Congratulations!
107. The Book of Strange New Things - Even though this book takes a highly christian-religious overtone and I don't identify myself in that manner, I actually highly enjoyed this novel for its uniqueness. You're presented with two major plot lines: the main character travels into space to preach religion to the alien species, and the main character's struggles with keeping in contact with his wife and the happenings on earth. Both plot lines are intriguing and leave you wanting to know more.
108. Eligible - As far as modern retellings go, this one is better than others. I don't like how some of the characters were depicted.
Gosh I missed that! Congratulations on getting married!!!!!! :0)Great books too. I'm about to read some Jane too, amd I like your views on The Book of Strange Things simce I've been keeping an eye on that one.
Thanks! It was wonderful. And I was keeping an eye on The Book of Strange Things too because I was unsure.109. The Couple Next Door - I hope this isn't a spoiler but I really dislike the name for this book. If anything, I find that "the couple next door" plays a smaller role than implied. I did like this book and gave it a solid 3.5 stars, but the concept of plot twist after plot twist is so predictable now that you can start to figure out what is happening before it is revealed.
110. The Girl In The Ice - I don't read crime novels regularly, and that is because I feel like they are all the same to me. This one was no different; it shares all of those cliches that steer me away from them. It hits almost all of the cliches in this list here. And honestly, I couldn't stand the protagonist and her "I only care about catching the killer and nothing else in life matters" attitude.
It's late, but congratulations on getting married! I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon.
111. The Boleyn Inheritance - These are just so close to a harlequin romance but I do enjoy them as a guilty pleasure.
112. The Fall Guy - In the good parts of this book, which is only maybe 1/5th of the book, the psychological thriller is really interesting. The book is just so slow though, and there is a lot of character description that doesn't really go anywhere.
113. The Woman in Black - There's actually a suspenseful 30 or so pages in this little 160 page book that really puts the reader on edge, but it's surrounded by the remaining 130 pages of writing that falls flat.
114. The Devil Wears Prada - I've watched the movie a few years ago, so I don't remember everything. Andy's personality transformation from book to movie takes a different style, which makes for a lot of differences.
I think I've read this book but I can't remember for the life of me if I've actually read it or if I just know the story because I watched the film. Meryl Strip is great!!
I enjoyed The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home. they were both pretty good children's books.
116. Lucky Jim - I really didn't connect with this book, so I didn't find it as hilarious as many of its reviewers seem to think it is.
117. The Ringmaster's Wife - As far as circus books go, this one is average. The beautiful descriptions are there, but the plot is a little scattered.
122. The Enchanted - This book covers very sensitive, sad topics, but it tackles them in a poetic, almost whimsical fashion.
123. Cat's Eye - This one starts out rather slow, but it really is captivating after the first 50 pages.
125. A Gambler's Anatomy: A Novel - A dull plot overall. The characters were individually interesting but didn't make for an interesting story when together.
126. White Teeth - I thoroughly enjoyed this book and may consider this one of my favorite reads for 2016. There was no character plot line that I felt was boring.
127. All the Missing Girls - I liked the plot of this one overall, although it doesn't have the "shock" value that other books have. Then again, I think the shock value is overplayed to the point where it's expected too, so maybe that's for the best. I didn't appreciate the sexist undertones in the novel: abuse towards women, lines like "it happens like this - men losing themselves in moments of passion. We drive them to it. It's not their fault".
129. The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead - Very repetitive and a lot more information about different types of guns, swords, vehicles, terrains than I ever really was that interested in reading about.
130. Where'd You Go, Bernadette - This one is quirky. Not for the person looking for a serious plot.
132. Swimming Lessons - This is an ARC I received. I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars. It's well written. All of the characters are terrible, but you can't help but be sympathetic to them.
133. 1Q84 - Ending my year on a high note by finishing this behemoth! I really liked it, despite its repetition and very confusing plot.
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