2019: Summer Reading Challenge

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This time it's a grid of four books in four categories. So use the four months of summer wisely. You can hear more about this on a

[Lauren]

Looking forward to it! Already planning my books.

[Kim]

I’m in! Already know what I’ll read for three of the categories: for “something translated” tomorrow I should be able to pick up Naondel, the follow up to Maresi (by Maria Turtschaninoff - I read it for the Read Harder written by and/or translated by a woman challenge); for “something blue” I’ve been wanting to reread Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants:-); and Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland for “something true”.

Since I have a YA theme going on I’d like to continue it for “something swampy”...however I’m coming up blank at the moment. I’ve got lots of time, and I’ll find something as others add onto this thread, or one of the other Reading Envy threads.

Great categories Jenny! Fun; different enough to be challenging; and short enough to be doable...thanks for doing this!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Kim wrote: "I’m in! Already know what I’ll read for three of the categories: for “something translated” tomorrow I should be able to pick up Naondel, the follow up to Maresi (by Maria Turtschaninoff - I read i..."

The Girl Who Drank the Moon might work for swampy YA, but I’ll be interested to see what you choose!

[Casey]

Dang it! This sounds like too much fun to pass up.
Now the difficult part, winnowing...
Is it your desire we post upon completion, or along the journey?

[Kim]

Thanks Jenny! That sounds good....anything with dragons gets my attention:-)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Casey wrote: "Dang it! This sounds like too much fun to pass up.
Now the difficult part, winnowing...
Is it your desire we post upon completion, or along the journey?"
Either, both.

[Jeff]

Haven’t thought about what to pick yet. I’m still in the fetal position after finishing Gone With the Wind. Hoping to recover in a few days.

[Nadine in California]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "The Girl Who Drank the Moon might work for swampy YA,.."

Thanks for the tip, Jenny! It looks like a Middle Grades book to me, and I love those. The description doesn't sound swampy, but the cover looks quite blue. It also fits one of my Reading Women Challenges. Score!

[Casey]

Jeff wrote: "Haven’t thought about what to pick yet. I’m still in the fetal position after finishing Gone With the Wind. Hoping to recover in a few days."

Ha! This made me laugh way more than it should have. I'm nearing the end... not there yet, but it's just around the bend.
I'll suggest some bourbon as a restorative.

[Casey]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Either, both."

Cool. I think I'm settling in on what I'll pick, but having troubles with swampy. I was thinking Pat Conroy and then I was thinking something else...

[Shatterlings]

Swampy is the one I am struggling with too but I was thinking either There eyes were watching god or mignight in the garden of good and evil.

[Casey]

Shatterlings wrote: "Swampy is the one I am struggling with too but I was thinking either There eyes were watching god or mignight in the garden of good and evil."

I'm tempted to pull the audiobook for The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy because Frank Muller reads it, and Muller is one of those readers that makes the world vanish, at least for me. But there are so many titles that might fit into this category...

[Cristina]

I'm excited for this! Does anyone know if The Last Unicorn has any "swampy" scenes / settings by any chance? I already have that on my list to read next for The Sword and Laser podcast bookclub, so I'm hoping it can count for my "something swampy" too!

I have two of the other categories picked out:

Something Blue - A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Something True - Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark.

Still have to figure out my "something translated." I know I have some stuff on my shelves that may qualify, but I like the idea of searching for women translators to find something new.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Casey wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Either, both."

Cool. I think I'm settling in on what I'll pick, but having troubles with swampy. I was thinking Pat Conroy and then I was thinking something else..."

Most Pat Conroy would probably work, especially The Water is Wide.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Cristina wrote: "I'm excited for this! Does anyone know if The Last Unicorn has any "swampy" scenes / settings by any chance? I already have that on my list to read next for The Sword and Laser podcast bookclub, so..."

The Last Unicorn is really more in the forest, from what I can remember. (I'm in Sword and Laser too!) You'll have time to zip through it and figure out if it counts.

The other two you've decided on sound like fun!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I've been reading stories from Wounds: Six Stories from the Border of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud between other things and so far one of them would count for swampy... I'll need to finish to decide if it's overall swampy enough or not.

[Cristina]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Cristina wrote: "I'm excited for this! Does anyone know if The Last Unicorn has any "swampy" scenes / settings by any chance? I already have that on my list to read next for The Sword and Laser pod..."

Thank you, Jenny! I'm excited to finally knock this one off my TBR!

[Andrew]

A great set of categories Jenny and ive started with The Blue Hour for blue.
And i struggled with swampy so decided to go nearer home with the English fens and Waterland although i am waiting to read the 6th in the James Lee Burke robicheaux series.
All my choices are in my ever increasing piles of unread books so definitely thumbs up for shifting some of my tbr .

[Jeff]

Casey wrote: "I'll suggest some bourbon as a restorative. "

I actually went with Scarlett's spirit of choice: brandy. Good fit considering I'm originally from Wisconsin where brandy reigns.

[Shatterlings]

I am reading Midnight in the garden of good and evil for my swampy book, I don’t normally read true crime so it’s a bit out of my comfort zone but so far it’s been quite funny which I didn’t expect.

[Isabel (kittiwake)]

I have a gothic horror series that fits the swampy theme Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga. I borrowed 2 or three of them from the library (probably in the wrong order) when I was in my teens or 20s, and was happy to find the whoe series Kindle.
For the Blue theme I will probably have to go for a book with a blue cover, as I don't have any with blue in the title.
I'm looking forward to starting mid-June when I have finished my current reads,

[Casey]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Most Pat Conroy would probably work, especially The Water is Wide."

Thank you! I was also thinking about Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote.

I think I might try and see how many titles I can fit into these four categories. Should be fun.

[Casey]

Jeff wrote: "Casey wrote: "I'll suggest some bourbon as a restorative. "

I actually went with Scarlett's spirit of choice: brandy. Good fit considering I'm originally from Wisconsin where brandy reigns."

Good call!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Andrew wrote: "A great set of categories Jenny and ive started with The Blue Hour for blue.
And i struggled with swampy so decided to go nearer home with the English fens and [book:Waterland|14863..."

I have a book with blue in the title too, really hoping to get to it!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Shatterlings wrote: "I am reading Midnight in the garden of good and evil for my swampy book, I don’t normally read true crime so it’s a bit out of my comfort zone but so far it’s been quite funny which I didn’t expect."

Wow, somehow I had no idea that was true crime! I thought it was a novel.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Isabel (kittiwake) wrote: "For the Blue theme I will probably have to go for a book with a blue cover, as I don't have any with blue in the title."

I bet blue covers will be manageable!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Casey wrote: "I think I might try and see how many titles I can fit into these four categories. Should be fun. "

Lindy in Litsy is doing something similar, a set of the four for four months of summer.

I hope both of you share the titles you discover along the way!

[Shatterlings]

Has anybody read Tinkers? Does it count for swampy, it is set in wilderness with plenty of water and the lyrical descriptions of that are very much part of the story. There’s a very backwoods isolated atmosphere to it.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Shatterlings wrote: "Has anybody read Tinkers? Does it count for swampy, it is set in wilderness with plenty of water and the lyrical descriptions of that are very much part of the story. There’s a very backwoods isola..."

Sounds like it counts! I think this is on my list too.

[Jeff]

Swampy: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (set in wet, humid FL) (completed)

Blue: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (almost done but I’ve misplaced the book somehow - no idea where it is).

Translated: Metro 2034 by Dmitry Glukovsky (translated from Russian) (60% in)

True: Mortality by Christopher Hitchens (his experiences from his cancer diagnosis up to his death) (completed)

[Elizabeth☮]

Something swampy - The Gone Dead
Something blue - This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!
Something translated - The Gurugu Pledge
Something true - Sounds Like Titanic

[Nadine in California]

I'm halfway through - and both books qualify for being blue (covers) and translated: Solovyov and Larionov and Bright.

[Nadine in California]

I wonder if there's one book out there that hits all four challenges? That's a million dollar question :)

[Shatterlings]

I have a blue translated nonfiction book God is round, its about football so sadly lacks the swamp aspect.

[Casey]

Shatterlings wrote: "Has anybody read Tinkers? Does it count for swampy, it is set in wilderness with plenty of water and the lyrical descriptions of that are very much part of the story. There’s a very backwoods isola..."

Hmm. A very fine book. As for swampy..... I might not think so, but others might.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Jeff wrote: "Swampy: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (set in wet, humid FL) (completed)

Blue: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (almost done but I’ve misplaced the book someho..."

Huzzah!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Elizabeth☮ wrote: "Something swampy
Something blue
Something translated
Something true - Sounds Like Titanic"

I'll be interested in your thoughts on this one Elizabeth.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Nadine wrote: "I wonder if there's one book out there that hits all four challenges? That's a million dollar question :)"

Nadine wrote: "I'm halfway through - and both books qualify for being blue (covers) and translated: Solovyov and Larionov and Bright."

I commit that I will give a prize if someone can find that one!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Deb wrote: "Something Swampy -

Something Blue - The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst read - June 17, 2019

Something Translated

Somethin..."

You're making progress!

[Deb]

Update -
Something Swampy - The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne read - July 16, 2019

Something Blue - The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst read - June 17, 2019

Something Translated A Nearly Normal Family by M.T. Edvardsson read July 12, 2019

Something True The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel
read- June 3, 2019

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Deb wrote: "Update -
Something Swampy - The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne read - July 16, 2019

Something Blue - [book:T..."

Woohoo! I always meant to read The Marsh King's Daughter; what did you think?

[Nadine in California]

Me too on the Marsh King's Daughter. I have River of Teeth queued up as my swampy book, but there's always room for two.....

[Deb]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Deb wrote: "Update -
Something Swampy - The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne read - July 16, 2019

Something Bl..."

I really liked it! Kept you on the edge of your seat and wove the fairytale the Marsh King throughout the story. Great summer read!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This might seem strange, but even though I create a reading podcast, I also listen to a bunch of other reading podcasts. I just recently started listening to Reading Glasses, and have been enjoying it. A recent episode had a few guests to discuss one of their annual reading challenges - to read non-fiction in an area they know nothing about. It was interesting to hear them talk about what they chose and why. The two guests have a skeptics podcast where they investigate faith/paranormal claims, and I might need to try that podcast too. But if you are struggling for non-fiction ideas, that's another good solution.

And don't forget memoir counts for non-fiction! I'm trying to challenge myself to read something, anything, other than memoir, because I read a lot of that already. I have a few items in my pile but I haven't started any yet.

Oh wait I did start a book called Outspoken: Why Women's Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Free so maybe that will count.

[Elizabeth☮]

Reading Glasses is a good one. And I liked that episode Jenny. It is a good way to approach non-fiction.

[Andrew]

I have successfully reduced my toppling pile of books by four and wonder why it tool me so long to get to 4 brilliant reads. I was an emotional wreck today after putting down my something true
My other books something translated
something swampy
and something blue.
I think im going to try and squeeze another round before September.

[Nadine in California]

Just in time for labor day, I have completed the challenge :)

Something swampy -

Something blue - and and

Something translated - , plus my first two blue's and my true!

Something true -

I'm glad not much rhymes with purple ;) I haven't been able to bring myself to read nonfiction since Nov. 8, 2016, so with my 'true' choice, this groundhog has come up for air! Although I did briefly consider cheating with The True History of the Kelly Gang.....

[Kim]

I kept to my YA theme, with help from Jenny suggesting a good title for “swampy” . “Blue” was . For “translated” I chose ; and for “true” I couldn’t find anything with a blue cover but am going to claim a partial victory as there is blue on the cover of

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Nadine wrote: "Just in time for labor day, I have completed the challenge :)

Something swampy -

Something blue - and [bookcover..."

Oh awesome!! I love how many intersect.