Trisha's 2017 challenge

[Trisha]

I'm new to Goodreads this year & want to try some of the challenges in this group.

50 book challenge
Bookopoly
Alphabet soup
Feather weight
New to you in 2017 (Jan - Apr)

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

Welcome Trish. Enjoy!

[Trisha]

Thanks, Rosemarie.

[Trisha]

1 February: finished The Time Machine - H.G. Wells for Bookopoly, Feather weight & New to you in 2017 (level 2 completed)
Definitely not a book I could enjoy - but at least it was short!

[Trisha]

3 February: finished My Sweet Revenge by Jane Fallon for February Valentines Day challenge. After seeing so many classics being chosen by other members, I'm going to try Northanger Abbey next.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

Northanger Abbey is great choice- a lot of fun with an adorable heroine.

[Trisha]

Thanks, Rosemarie. I chose it because I've read some of her other books or seen the films, but this one is completely new to me.

[Trisha]

4 February: finished Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen for February Valentines Day challenge, Alphabet soup & for Feather weight.

[Trisha]

I've added Let's have Pie to my challenges today, & found I have already read 2 books to complete level 1.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

I like it when a book I can use a book I read for fun fits on a list.

[Trisha]

5 February: finished X - Sue Grafton for Alphabet soup.

[Trisha]

8 February: finished The Silk Merchant's Daughter - Dinah Jefferies. Really enjoyed it, have enjoyed historical fiction recently.

[Trisha]

9 February: finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Carroll Lewis Tenniel John for Alphabet soup & for Feather weight (this completes Ruffled feathers). I'd read it many years ago, but this time I appreciated the humour a lot more. I also loved the original illustrations.

[Trisha]

11 February: finished Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery for Bookopoly. I think I read this a very long time ago, but had forgotten the wonderful language used & all the descriptions.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

You are making great progress on your minis, Trisha. You could count Sweet Revenge toward the Sweet Talk mini-challenge if you're interested in those.

[Trisha]

Thank you Renee - I missed this! I've just added it to the discussion thread.

[Trisha]

12 February: finished Stranger Child - Rachel Abbott

[Trisha]

14 February: finished Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy for Alphabet soup, Bookopoly & Let's have pie, also my first book over 400 pages.
A huge disappointment as I've enjoyed other Hardy books but found this one tedious. Sue really irritated me - she had 2 men who would have done anything for her & she treated them both so badly. I thought she was incredibly selfish.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

I read Jude the Obscure and liked Jude and the writing of the novel, but you are so right about Sue.

[Trisha]

Rosemarie, I'm so glad you said this! I almost didn't comment as I wondered if I'd missed the point somehow. Thank you.

[Trisha]

16 February: finished The Warning Bell - T.D. Griggs

[Trisha]

19 February: finished A Room with a View - E.M. Forster, for New to you in 2017, the February Valentines Day theme, Alphabet soup (R), Feather weight & Let's have pie. My first book by this author, & I was surprised how funny it was in places - not nearly as serious as I'd expected. I chose it originally for Let's have pie & for the letter R, then realised it fitted the other challenges too.

[Trisha]

20 February: finished The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware. I really enjoyed it, though it wasn't quite as good as her previous book (In a dark, dark wood).

[Trisha]

21 February: finished The Blue Castle - L.M. Montgomery. Alphabet soup (B). Until I joined Goodreads I thought this author had only written the Anne of Green Gables series. This book was wonderful, thank you to those who are introducing me to some great authors.

[Trisha]

23 February: finished The Kashmir Shawl - Rosie Thomas for Alphabet soup (K), Bookopoly & for New to you in 2017. Beautiful descriptions of Kashmir, the people, & of the processes involved in creating pashminas all combined into an interesting novel.

[Trisha]

Finished Emma - Jane Austen for Alphabet soup (E) & for Let's have pie.
Finished Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T.S. Eliot for Feather weight.

[Trisha]

Finished Cold Kill - P.J. Tracy
Finished Daughters of the Silk Road - Debbie Rix for Alphabet soup, & for New to you in 2017 (level 3 completed)

[Trisha]

Finished Little Women - Louisa May Alcott for Alphabet soup (L), Bookopoly & for Let's have pie.

[Trisha]

Finished Still Life - Joy Fielding Disappointing, much of it was repetitive.
Finished The Janus Stone - Elly Griffiths The second book of this series. I enjoyed this & will read more. (The stories are separate, but as the characters' backgrounds develop it's best to read them in order.)

[Trisha]

Finished Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race - Margot Lee Shetterly for March - women's history/strong women & for Bookopoly.

[Trisha]

Finished Silas Marner - George Eliot for Let's have pie (have now "eaten" my first pie)

[Lynnette]

Trisha wrote: "Finished Silas Marner - George Eliot for Let's have pie (have now "eaten" my first pie)"

How did you like it? Read it years ago. Thinking I might re-read. Congratulations on your first PIE!

[Trisha]

Lynette, I loved it! I knew nothing about it & wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. It was a lovely tale, beautifully written. The rural setting reminded me of Thomas Hardy's books which I also enjoy, but I found it a little easier to read than Hardy.

[Trisha]

Finished The Silk Weaver - Liz Trenow. A wonderful book!

[Lynnette]

I will put it on my to-read shelf.

[Trisha]

I hope you enjoy it, Lynette.

[Trisha]

Finished The Solitary Summer - Elizabeth von Arnim for Bookopoly.

[Trisha]

Finished The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett. Beautifully written. I hadn't read this before & understand now why it is so popular.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

I am glad you enjoyed it.

[Lynnette]

Trisha, The Secret Garden is on the top of my list. I like to read books before I encourage grandchildren to read them. Thx for your thoughts.

[Trisha]

Spring readathon.
Finished The Collected Poems of Rupert Brooke - Rupert Brooke. I was disappointed, the selection really wasn't for me although it included a few poems that I liked.
Finished Daffodils - Alex Martin

[Trisha]

Finished Bleak House - Charles Dickens. It started well but became an endurance test.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

That is too bad, but you did it!

[Trisha]

Finished Love You Dead - Peter James. Bookopoly.

[Lynnette]

Trisha wrote: "Finished Bleak House - Charles Dickens. It started well but became an endurance test."

I hear you loud an clear. I slog along a few chapters at a time.

Congratulation! Not all Dickens is like that.

[Trisha]

Finished Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë. Better than I expected & a lot of story either omitted from the film I'd seen or that I'd forgotten.

[Trisha]

Finished The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams Bianco, for Alphabet soup (V), Featherweight & for Bookopoly.
This was so cute, I can't believe I hadn't heard of it until it was mentioned on Goodreads recently.

[Trisha]

March: read 16 books during the month, of which 6 were during the Readathon. Bleak House slowed me down - but the wonderful Velveteen Rabbit helped to catch up again.
Total for year so far is 40 books.

[Rosemarie, Obsessive Reader]

Way to go, Trish, especially for finishing Bleak House. You didn't get stuck in Chancery for years.

[Trisha]

Rosemarie wrote: "Way to go, Trish, especially for finishing Bleak House. You didn't get stuck in Chancery for years."

Great comment, Rosemarie!