Collecting Dust June 2014 Challenge

[MK]

This is a monthly challenge for those readers who have had books forever on their TBR list.

This challenge will help you get those books finally read.

If you wish to participate then from your TBR bookshelf list 5 books that you would like to read for the month of June. The next member who comments will pick two choices from your list. You are only obligated to read 1 of those books, but you may choose to read both. Once you read it, let us know and you may add your review or link to your review!

RULES:
1) If you would like to participate, please sign up by May 31st, 2014.

2) Choose 2 books from the person's list that commented before you. First in, is last to pick - First person to sign up, please pick books for the last person to sign up :).

3) Each participant will have the entire month to read their book(s), post their rating and review. And tell us what you think of your book in this thread.

Let's have fun reducing our TBR piles*.

(link to May 2014)

*Books can be any of your TBR books, not restricted to classics.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Plenty for me to still choose from to make my list.

1) Tigana
2) The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
3) 11/22/63
4) Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story
5) Dave At Night

[Daisy]

Hi Kathy,

I choose for you,

1. The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
2. Dave At Night

It's true, I am behind on some of the other recent dust off the shelves, but I have faith that will catch up! Here is my list:

1. Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilization
2. The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans
3. The Awesome Girl's Guide to Dating Extraordinary Men
4. The Exiles Return
5. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

[Rachel]

Hi Daisy!

My picks for your to brush off the dust on your bookshelf are I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and
Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilization

Hope you enjoy!

My picks are:

1. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
2. A Mighty Heart by Sarah Crichton
3. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
4. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
5. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

[Connie]

Rachel,

My picks for you are Into the Wild and The Help

My list for June:

1) A Leaf In The Bitter Wind by Ting-xing Ye

2) Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig

3) Inside by Alix Ohlin

4) Glengarry School Days: A Story of Early Days in Glengarry by Ralph Connor

5) The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho

[Tytti]

Connie, I choose for you:

a) A Leaf in the Bitter Wind (because that sounds interesting)
and
b) Rhett Butler's People (because GWTW <3)


Because I am thinking of reading Crime and Punishment with you guys, I thought I'd let you choose something short for me to read "with" it. These are some of my shortest BookCrossing novels (so I can clear my bookshelf a bit):

1) The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha

2) Hytti nro 6 by Rosa Liksom
Finlandia Prize winner, about a train journey a young woman makes across the Soviet Union.

3) Lapinvuokko by Enni Mustonen
About a young woman during WWII. She loses someone during the Winter War, works for Germans in Lapland during the Continuation War and I suppose gets in trouble during the Lapland War.

4) The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

5) The Hot Rock by Donald E. Westlake

(Is it possible to do this twice? I might need some help for choosing a book for May and I missed it... :-P)

[MK]

Tytti wrote: "...(Is it possible to do this twice? I might need some help for choosing a book for May and I missed it... :-P) "

Sure, just post two lists, and label one May, and the other June, and ask the next person who joins to be so kind as to choose twice for you :). Post your May pick in the May thread, if you come back to post reviews.

[Alissa]

Tytti,

I'll pick two for you for May! just list your May list =)

Here are your two for June:
Lapinvuokko by Enni Mustonen
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Here are my five choices:
1.)The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
2.)The Call of the Wild by Jack London
3.)The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4.)The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5.)Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

[Tytti]

Alissa wrote: "I'll pick two for you for May! just list your May list =) "

Thanks, I have to remember that. Though maybe with Solitude I'll have enough already... I am a slow reader. (Especially because I am reading another book set in Lapland during the Continuation War (1941-44) and I have to finish that one before starting Lapinvuokko. So I'll have to see which one I read first.)

[Alissa]

Tytti wrote: "Alissa wrote: "I'll pick two for you for May! just list your May list =) "

Thanks, I have to remember that. Though maybe with Solitude I'll have enough already... I am a slow reader. (Especially b..."

totally understand! I manage to read one of my Collecting Dust books but not the second one just yet. And I'm also going to read Solitude this month!

[Maddie]

Alissa, I choose for you:

The Handmaid's Tale and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

My five choices are:

1. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
2. The Storyteller (Jodi Picoult)
3. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
4. Fingersmith (Sarah Waters)
5. The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)

[Kris]

For Maggie:

Jane Eyre and Memoirs of a Geisha.

My Five:

1) The Adventures of Augie March
2) Ethan Frome
3) The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
4) Everything Is Illuminated
5) The General in His Labyrinth

[Edīte]

For Kristi:

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (added to to-read list)and The General in His Labyrinth

My choice for June:
1. The Prince
2. How We Decide
3. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
4. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
5. You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself

[Aprilleigh]

For Edīte:

I pick either How We Decide or Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions because they both sound like something I might enjoy as well.

My list for June:
1. Middlemarch
2. Wuthering Heights
3. Rebecca
4. Invisible Man
5. Gone with the Wind

[[deleted user]]

For Matt I choose Invisible Man (because you picked it for Aprilleigh and you could compare notes :)) and Cities of the Plain because it sounds interesting.

My list for June:

Tender Is the Night
A Study in Scarlet
Frankenstein
The Catcher in the Rye
The Moonstone

[Kalyn]

For Joana I choose The Moonstone(sounds very interesting) and Slaughterhouse-Five(great classic). Good luck and happy reading!

My list for June:
Wonder
Still Life with Bread Crumbs
Night
True Colors
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

[Julie]

For Kalyn I chose: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Night - happy reading

I would like to read from the following list:
Lolita
Crime and Punishment
This Body of Death
About a Boy
The Fault in Our Stars

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Hey all. I just realized that I should be the one to choose the last person's books for this month. I'll be out of town then, MK, can you cover for me? Thanks

[MK]

Kathy wrote: "Hey all. I just realized that I should be the one to choose the last person's books for this month. I'll be out of town then, MK, can you cover for me? Thanks"

Just got your PM, Kathy. No worries! The last two months the same thing happened, the first person wasn't here on the last day. Happy travels :)

[Connie]

Just finished the first of my 2 collecting dust books for June. I have had it for 5 years so I'm glad I finally found an excuse to open it. It is Rhett Butler's People . It tells the story of Rhett's childhood and growing up etc. I am a big Gone with the Wind fan so it was very interesting to me to read about all the events from it from a different perspective. It was one of those books that I couldn't put down. I would highly recommend it for any GWTW fans.

[MK]

Nice! wtg, Connie!

This is the challenge I *really* need to make time for, because I'd like to read all those books I collected over the years, that I never got around to :p.

Thinking I might have to take a pass on June, too, though. But if so, last pass for me! I'm going in to the dusty stacks after that :D

[Tytti]

Connie wrote: "I am a big Gone with the Wind fan so it was very interesting to me to read about all the events from it from a different perspective. It was one of those books that I couldn't put down. I would highly recommend it for any GWTW fans."

After Scarlett I am very suspicious of these books... So I am interested but not sure if I want to read it.

[Connie]

Tytti wrote: "Connie wrote: "I am a big Gone with the Wind fan so it was very interesting to me to read about all the events from it from a different perspective. It was one of those books that I couldn't put do..."

This one is set during the same time period - not a sequel. I found that much of it mirrors the events of GWTW just from Rhett's perspective rather than Scarlett's. Having said that, I didn't mind Scarlett. Not great but not horrible.

[MK]

One more day to sign up for June Collecting Dust Challenge :).

Tomorrow signups for June close, and July open. To join the June challenge, pick two books for Julie, from her list of five, and post your own list of books for someone to choose from for your TBR challenge books.

[Tytti]

MK wrote: "If you wish to participate then from your TBR bookshelf list 5 books that you would like to read for the month of April."

You might want to correct that...

[MK]

Tytti wrote: "You might want to correct that..."

Thanks! Fixed :)

[Lindy-Lane]

for julie i choose:
This Body of Death & About a Boy


my list for june:
Until Proven Guilty by J.A. Jance
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan finished reading 7.2
The Other Woman by Jane Green
Abigail by Jill Eileen Smith
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare finished reading 6.9)

[MK]

Lindy-Lane wrote: "my list for june:
..."

Welcome to the challenge, Lindy-Lane :)

Whoever joins next will choose two for you. And you should choose two for Julie.

[MK]

Lindy, would you like to choose for Julie? I'll be back in a bit to choose for you. :)

June Dusty Challenge is closed to new challengers. Looking forward to the reviews!

The July Dusty Challenge is now open. Signups at this link - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[MK]

Lindy and Julie both need books chosen.

Would anyone like to choose for one of them? I feel like I shouldn't choose for two :p

[Tytti]

Lindy chose for Julie already. She just edited her old message. Of course I could choose, too, but they are so not my genre... :-P

[MK]

Tytti wrote: "Lindy chose for Julie already. She just edited her old message. Of course I could choose, too, but they are so not my genre... :-P"

ahhh! ty, I didn't see she edited. ty, Tytti and ty, Lyndi!

Okay, I'll go browse your books, Lyndi :D bbiab

[MK]

Lindy-Lane wrote: "my list for june:
Until Proven Guilty by J.A. Jance
The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
The Other Woman by Jane Green
Abigail by Jill Eileen Smith
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare "


Lindy, I choose for you:


The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
&/or City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare

Happy Reading!

Looking forward to the Percy Jackson review especially. I have had book #1 on my kindle forever! I need to read it someday ...

[Alissa]

I finished my first book of the CD Challenge- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

"Oz" is quite interesting... and a little disturbing! Haha. I just love that its indeed a classic book- I didn't realize it was written in 1900. And i love that one of the most popular movies of all time was based on a series of children's books.

[[deleted user]]

Finished my first pick for June - The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. I really enjoyed this one, although it does go on a bit before we get to a conclusion. (Poirot would have solved the mystery in half the time!)
Also, the tiny printing in my copy made it a bit hard going.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Matt wrote: "Here is my review for the second book of my June Challenge, Cities of the Plain. I wish that I hadn't read this book, because then I would always have the possibility of experiencing i..."

Love those kinds of books. Added to my list to read.

[[deleted user]]

Second pick done - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

I hate to say it but I really didn't enjoy this. I actually found it fairly boring. Beautifully written, but ultimately dull.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Caroline, I’m sorry you did not like Shelley’s Frankenstein. I found the story to be compelling and I agree it’s beautifully written. What I found most interesting was that the monster seemed to have more humanity than his creator. I liked it.

[[deleted user]]

I didn't hate it, there were parts that really grabbed me and I thought it was really well written but maybe because I was overly familiar with the story before I started I was expecting it to be something that it wasn't.

[Tytti]

I know I have that one book to read... I just keep finding other interesting books to read...

Has any of you Frankenstein readers read The Golem? "A superbly atmospheric story set in the old Prague ghetto featuring The Golem, a kind of rabbinical Frankenstein's monster..."

[MK]

Tytti wrote: "I know I have that one book to read... I just keep finding other interesting books to read...

Has any of you Frankenstein readers read The Golem? "A superbly atmospheric story set in ..."


I haven't, but I voted for that one in the poll this month. It looks interesting :)

[Tytti]

MK wrote: "I haven't, but I voted for that one in the poll this month."

Yeah, I noticed. :-P (It's funny actually, that not even the secret polls are that secret... Poor programming)

I think I have heard the name somewhere but never knew it was an actually story/legend. Maybe on my trip to Prague...

[Edīte]

How We Decide was withdrawn from publication by its publisher because of falsified content. So I skipped this for good, I can read another kind of fiction.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions some of the content overlaps with Malcolm Gladwell, it is good because I like writing of Malcolm Gladwell.
What I took away from book?
(view spoiler)[ cold/hot state – decisions made in each of them will differ significantly, rate to have unprotected sex incresed three fold if compared with normal and aroused state (I was giggling so loud about thought of MIT students answering questionnaire while masturbating)
Asian women – when they think themselves as Asians they do way better in math compared when they think themselves as women
10 cent aspirin vs 50 cent aspirin – book states that pain fades when expensive medicine is in use. Personally, I have brand primed – I`ll need to take twice as much unknown painkiller than known one.
To advocate today’s action with previous ones, I really liked Starbuck line – 1st day I could try one, 2nd day I could try another one, 3rd day I liked it in past I could buy larger size and so on, forgetting that can get coffee for free at office.
(hide spoiler)]

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Finished Dave At Night. I mostly enjoyed this story. Not my favorite of Levine's though. And I am unsure about certain pieces of the story. What purpose does labeling Dave as "Jewish" serve? I can see only token pieces that relate to his being Jewish -- I don't think it added anything to the story. Also the cruelty in the orphanage seems a bit over the top when Dave prefers to stay. Good beginning of a story, but not quite what I usually expect from Levine.

[Rachel]

I just finished reading my first DOS book Into the Wild.

I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars:

"Now I walk into the wild!" Into the Wild is a more in depth look of Christopher McCandless, the young man who decided to abandon society and live off the land after graduating college in the 1990s. Originally, an article in Outdoor magazine, John Krakauer was able to write more in depth and analyze what happened to Christopher McCandless. A boy who named himself as Alexander Supertramp with a bright future ahead of him would die so tragically by human error, and by the one thing he despised in the world...starvation. I would say Into the Wild is a cautionary tale as Krakauer describes a few more wild and brave men who decided to live off the land as well. Slow, yet interesting at times, I can see how this book inspired a movie.

[MK]

I love reading these reviews. I just wanted to say, I don't comment on every review cuz I'm afraid I over comment sometimes :p

But I love the reading them!!

Come on Dusty Challengers, let's have the rest of the June reviews :D

[Tytti]

I am still reading, just started it last week...

[MK]

Tytti wrote: "I am still reading, just started it last week..."

:)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Rachel wrote: "I just finished reading my first DOS book Into the Wild.

I gave the book 3 out of 5 stars:

"Now I walk into the wild!" Into the Wild is a more in depth look of Christopher McCandless,..."

I read this awhile back. I found Mr. Supertramp to be arrogant and ignorant. Arrogant to think he was to smart to need any advice from his family, friends, or especially the locals who knew the dangers. His ignorance comes because he acted on his arrogance. I’m not saying he deserved to die, but he’s defiantly no folk hero, just a stupid kid who did not survive a mistake.

[Rachel]

Bob, you couldn't have said it better. People are praising him, and saying he is an inspiration. I just saw him as a coward, and a man who was born in the wrong century.