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Tammy's Let's Go-Go Crazy 88 Challenge of 2018
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I read 15 books this month, which is a bit less than I've been averaging, but still not too shabby. Sadly, only 2 of the books were from my crazy 88 challenge and a one counted toward my BINGO. Somebody seems to be going off on a wild goose book chase. May 2018 BOOKS
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X 3.75 Stars
Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder by Evelyn Waugh 4 Stars
Silas Marner by George Eliot 4 Stars
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton 4.5 Stars
100 Things Beatles Fans Should Know Do Before They Die by Gillian G. Gaar 2.5 Stars
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 2 Stars
Dune by Frank Herbert 4 Stars
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain 3.75 Stars
The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker 2.5 Stars
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 3.75 Stars
Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen 2.5 Stars
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 4.25 Stars
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami 4.5 Stars
The Last Interview and other Conversations by David Bowie 2.5 Stars
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith 3.5 Stars
STATS:
Books Completed in May: 15
Total Pages: 6099
Average # of Pages Read Per Day: 197 (first time under the 200 mark this year)
THE BEST OF MAY:
1Q84: This book was LONG. It was repetitive. It had very bizarre sexcapades. But it made me think...a lot. Not my favorite Murakami, but I did enjoy it.
Cry, the Beloved Country: I had no expectations for this, but I got totally sucked into it. I listened to this one, so the lack of quotation marks did not bother me. It was always very clear who was saying what in the audio version.
Silas Marner: I think I rated this one too low with my 4 stars. It should have been at the 4.25 - 4.5 star range. It just had a simple loveliness and I have to admit that I do love stories about faith and fate.
MAY MEHS:
Frankenstein: Yes...I'm going there. I really didn't care for this book. I griped about it the entire time I was reading it. I didn't like anything about any of the characters.
Bad Monkey: I had really high hopes for this one. I have liked other Hiasssen books and this one was just too long and tried too hard to be zany. I was tired of the antics by the time I was half way through.
Mod
I think Gravity's Rainbow is making my left eye twitch.
Happy Happy! Joy Joy! I have knocked out the most difficult book I've ever read (Gravity's Rainbow) and completed Crime and Punishment, finally, on my third attempt. Not a bad start for July. I still have some pretty heavy duty books to complete but, with only 28 to go, I think it is pretty likely that I can make it through my Crazy 88 this year. I will probably set aside a month to tackle Ulysses. Oh how I wish I'd read it with the group in January.
Mod
I liked Crime and Punishment, but Ulysses defeated me completely.
I am still reading Ulysses! It will probably take me the whole year. I read ten pages and then I need a two week break to recover.
I read 40 pages of Ulysses and stopped. I'm considering listening to the audio version, but 40 hours of listening might drive me nutso!
I admit that a month for Ulysses would have been very quick for me. I divided it into 50 segments of approximately equal length and read one a day. It worked okay although some breaks were in odd places, but I got through it and that's all that mattered. I applaud you for finishing Gravity's Rainbow.
July Wrap-UpI checked off two of my more difficult books on the challenge in Juuly. Crime and Punishment was a cake walk compared to Gravity's Rainbow (the most difficult book I've read to date). I did a lot of side reads, but I still feel on task to finish my Crazy 88 by the end of the year.
The Violent Bear it Away by O'Connor, Flannery 4.5
Gravity's Rainbow by Pynchon, Thomas 3.5
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale by Spiegelman, Art 4.5
Lionel Asbo: State of England by Amis, Martin 3.25
Nicotine by Zink, Nell 3
Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 4.25
The Shack by Young, William Paul 1.5
Girl Waits with Gun by Stewart, Amy 3
Dubliners by Joyce, James 4
Wuthering Heights by Bronte, Emily 4.5
Sweet Tooth by McEwan, Ian 3
Educated: A Memoir by Westover, Tara 3.75
The Bell Jar by Plath, Sylvia 4.5
The Alchemist by Coelho, Paulo 3.5
The Long Goodbye by Chandler, Raymond 3.5
5359 Pages Read
15 Books
173 Pages per day
July Gems:
The Violent Bear It Away – I have a huge crush on Flannery. This was the last thing I had to read of hers and I loved it. So dark. She does not have a light touch when she is delivering her message.
The Bell Jar– I’ve got two female authors in my best of this month. I read this book many years ago and I think I found the narrator and the narrator’s journey into madness a bit off-putting (and I did know it was semi-autobiographical). I was a hard kid, boy howdy. Reading this as an adult, I found myself a lot more sympathetic to Plath’s plight. I ended up really loving it.
July Junker
The Shack – I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this one. I picked it randomly off the Great American Read list. The writing was just soooo bad. Interesting concept, bad delivery. I think there was a ton of eye rolling involved while I read this.
Coming Soon:
Hopscotch
Good Morning, Midnight
The Haunting of Hill House
Yes! I think I share your FO crush, Tammy. The Violent Bear It Away was gorgeously dark. Glad you enjoyed it!What a great bunch of books you read last month--inspiring.
It's funny, I read The Bell Jar relatively recently and had the feeling it would probably have made more of an impression on me at an earlier age. I've never read Flannery O'Connor but I'm beginning to think I should put her in a challenge sooner rather than later.
I read The Shack when I had first joined a reading group and was amazed that no one commented on the horrible writing style. I didn't say too much during the discussion. Good thing it was a library book.
Mod
Leni wrote: "It's funny, I read The Bell Jar relatively recently and had the feeling it would probably have made more of an impression on me at an earlier age. I've never read Flannery O'Connor but I'm beginn..."
Leni, I think the thing that really struck me about the Bell Jar was how hard it was to be a woman with dreams of anything other than being a wife and mother in the 1950s. She was so confused about her sexuality, her ambition, and her place in the world. I could relate to that, even today.
You guys are so supportive. It makes reporting to the group enjoyable. I do love a challenge and it is nice to have company along for the ride!
AUGUST WRAP-UPI checked off 7 books from my Crazy 88 list which made me really happy. With 66 books under my old belt and 22 to go I only have to read 5.5 books each month for the rest of the year. The books that are left on the list are some of the ones I’ve been putting off, so hopefully I will get serious about completing them.
The Broom of the System by Wallace, David Foster 4.25
Enough Rope by Parker, Dorothy 1
Pudd'n Head Wilson by Twain, Mark 4.25
The Haunting of Hill House by Jackson, Shirley 4
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonasson, Jonas 3.5
Time's Arrow by Amis, Martin 4
Noir by Moore, Christopher 3
Heart of Darkness by Conrad, Joseph 4.5
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Highsmith, Patricia 4
The Widows of Eastwick by Updike, John 3.5
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov 4
Steppenwolf by Hesse, Herman 3.75
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Truss, Lynne 3
Killers of the Flower Moon by 3.5
The Eyre Affair by Fforde, Jasper 3
Writer, sailor, soldier, spy: Ernest Hemingway's secret adventures, 1935-1961 by Reynolds, Nicholas E. 3.75
Virgin by Sotelo, Analicia 3.75
The Moon and Sixpence by Maugham, W. Somerset 4
Death in the Andes by Vargas Llosa, Mario 4.5
The life-changing magic of tidying up by Kondo, Marie 3.5
A partisan's daughter by De Bernieres, Louis 3
5405 Pages Read
21 Books
174 Pages per day
AWESOME IN AUGUST
Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad – I know, I know…we all hated this in high school and college, but I’m glad I gave it another try.
Death in the Andes by Mario Vargas Llosa – This was a crazy book and I loved every minute.
AUGUST GAME CHANGER
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo – I have taken the first steps toward putting my house in order because of this book. I’ve run a weight loss support group for several years and there are only 3 simple rules to successfully losing weight according to the Tammy Plan (with maybe 10 hints that will make following those rules easier). The women in the group who really wanted to change followed the rules and lost anywhere between 20 and 100 lbs. I only mention this group because Ms. Kondo’s book really reminded me of my own group and the information in the book smacked of common sense truths that people will either successfully follow or they will resist. I decided not to resist and to embrace the tidying method that Ms. Kondo mapped out in her book. I have taken 2.5 closets and 2 dressers worth of clothes and narrowed it down to one closet and one dresser. I like the concept of surrounding myself with items that bring me joy. I still have to go through the books, papers, and small household items. This will probably take me 2 months!
AUGUST ACKS!
Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker – Ugh. This was a collection of poems and I didn’t dig it at all.
Noir by Christopher Moore – I really enjoy Moore’s books quite a lot. This one had some fun moments, but it just didn’t do it for me.
Coming Soon:
The Secret History
Voss
Steps - Currently Reading
Ulysses - I'm just getting to the half way mark and am enjoying it. Wish me luck!
Mod
Sara, I don't think you can spend as much time reading as I do and maintain a tidy household. I really needed a kick in the pants to do a massive purge. The best part of her book is her folding method. My dresser drawers have never looked better!
SEPTEMBER WRAP-UPI only read 2 books from my Crazy 88 challenge in September. I don’t know why I’ve been so sluggish about reading the last 20 or so books on my list. I’ve had about 12 of them checked out from my library and I just can’t get inspired to read much of anything. This was my lightest reading month in nearly two years and I blame James Joyce! I don’t think I finished much for an entire week after completing Ulysses.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 3.5
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt 3.25
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 3.5
Ulysses by James Joyce 4
Bloom's Literary Guide to Dublin by John Tomedi 3
James Joyce Revisited by Richard F. Peterson 3
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson 3.5
Steps by Jerzy Kosiński 4
Spilt Milk by Chico Buarque3.75
Lady Susan by Jane Austen 3.75
The Stranger by Albert Camus 4.25
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz 2.5
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward 3.75
3207 Pages Read
13 Books
107 Pages per day
SUPER IN SEPTEMBER:
Ulysses by James Joyce 4
I'm still thinking about this one. Can't be too bad if you keep finding yourself researching and reading about a book for weeks after. It's like searching for literary treasure.
Stepsby Jerzy Kosinski 4
Oh Jerzy, your stories are seedy and disturbing but they come off as deeply human. I buy what you are selling..warts and all.
The Stranger by Albert Camus 4.25
This was a re-read for me and I'm glad I checked it out again. Simply written yet deeply thought provoking.
SEPTEMBER STINKER:
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz 2.5
This was a collection of short stories that followed Diaz' Pulitzer Prize winning The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (which I didn't like either and I really should have learned my lesson). The stories read very much like a rehash of Oscar Wao and I found myself just not caring how many times Yunior screwed up with women or how unhappy he was.
Coming Soon:
The Secret History
Voss
Good Morning, Midnight
The Fall
The Savage Detectives
Mod
BTW, a bad month for you is a great month for most of us.
Sara, the last chapter in Ulysses is told from Molly Bloom's perspective. I don't think the book would have made such an impression on me without that last chapter. I thought it was amazing. I even felt slightly buzzed after reading it. I decided to push The Secret History up on my list due to it being a group discussion. Hopefully there will be a lot of fun conversations going on about it. I've read very mixed reviews on this book so I, too, am curious what people will think.
Mod
Mod
Anyone feeling the burn in the final home stretch. I've got 18 to go and I am determined to finish, but it is going to be a photo finish.
Keep reading, you can do it! P.S. Good luck! ;)
Tammy, if you like to read plays, they are generally fast and worthwhile reads. And there is a wide variety to choose from.
Good luck. Just take it one book at a time. You can do it.
Rosemarie wrote: "Tammy, if you like to read plays, they are generally fast and worthwhile reads. And there is a wide variety to choose from.
Good luck. Just take it one book at a time. You can do it."
I do like plays, Rosemarie! Alas, my last challenge is my personal challenge and I'm trying to stick to the planned books. I might take your advice, though, if it looks like I won't finish the last few books!
Thanks, Terris! I can use all the luck I can get ( as I am reading a non-challenge book)!
I hope the challenge works out for you, Tammy. I realize that planned reading lists are not for me. There are always other books that get in the way.
November Round UpI still have 9 books left on my Crazy 88 Challenge. I'm getting nervous, but I'm going to keep on plugging away. If only I could stop getting sidetracked by side reads.
Number of books: 18
Pages Read: 6584
Daily Reading Average: 220
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan - 3.25
Voss by Patrick White - 3.75
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - 3.75
Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce, Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl by Evelyn McDonnell - 5
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones - 2.75
Saturday by Ian McEwan - 3.5
The Fall by Albert Camus - 4
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - 3
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel - 4
A Season in Hell by Arthur Rimbaud - 4
The Atomic City Girls by Jennifer Beard - 3
Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre - 3.75
Middlemarch by George Eliot - 5
The Call of the Wild by Jack London - 4
She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hillby Joan Morgan - 3.75
The Sea, the Sea By Iris Murdoch - 4.25
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway - 4
White Fang by Jack London - 3.5
Incredible in November
Middlemarch - I've officially joined the Eliot fan club. I went into this book with no expectations (didn't even read the back cover) and honestly it's a heck of a lot longer book than I like to read. Well color me tickled because it was wonderful (and funny, too)!
Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce, Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl - I know it is crazy to give a rock n' roll book 5 stars and Sartre 3.75, but this book was exactly what it promised to be (an homage to awesome female musicians that covered about 80 years). The illustrations were wonderful and overall the list seemed pretty ROCK solid. It has a gorgeous hot pink cover and I wish that I could have kept it.
The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch - I'm not one for a journal/diary format. The epistolary style usually gets on my nerves after a while. But this story is so engaging (and completely bonkers). This was my second Murdoch book and she is definitely going on my 2019 list!
November Nope
An American Marriage - This was a book club assignment and I think there will be a pretty good discussion, but man...I just didn't dig these characters.
Mod
Have you started Hopscotch yet? I’ve picked that one up 3 times and gotten fairly far into it- but so far haven’t been able to finish it. I like it, but only for a few pages at a time.At least you have some flexibility to skip some pages with it.
I haven't started Hopscotch yet, but I have it checked out from the library! I hope I make it though.
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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yeah..Readers Block sounds very interesting. Thanks Tammy!