Hilde's 2020 TBR challenge

[Hilde]

Here's to one more year of clearing my shelves! :)

✓ 1. Slaughterhouse-Five, 285p
✓ 2. The Dispossessed, 405p, 4 stars
3. Madame Bovary, 321p
4. The House of the Spirits, 400p
5. Lolita, 211p
6. Jane Somers' dagbøker. 1, 281p (book 1)
7. Written on the Body (Previously American Psycho)
❌ 8. The Wreath (Book 1 of the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy) - 323p
9. The Sun Also Rises, 211p
10. Possessing the Secret of Joy (Previously The Name of the Rose)
✓ 11. Jazz, 325p
❌ 12. Lillelord, 293p
13. A Town Like Alice, 176p
14. The Human Stain, 384p
✓ 15. Contact, 434p
❌ 16. The Bridge on the Drina, 314p
17. Fear of Flying, 352p
✓ 18. Troubling Love, 170p- 3.4 stars
✓ 19. The Blind Owl, 108p
✓ 20. The Handmaid's Tale, 276p
21. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 332p
✓ 22. Lady Chatterley's Lover- 373p
23. Her Privates We, 288p
✓ 24. Lord of the Flies, 264p

[Hilde]

Monthly List of Books Chosen

✓ January: #2 The Dispossessed
✓ February: #18 Troubling Love
✓ March: #15 Contact
✓ April: #22 Lady Chatterley's Lover
✓ May: #20 The Handmaid's Tale
✓ June: #24 Lord of the Flies
✓ July #11: Jazz
☐ August: #16: The Bridge on the Drina
✓ September: #1: Slaughterhouse-Five
✓ October: #19: The Blind Owl
☐ November: #8: The Wreath
☐ December: #12: Lillelord

All the pretty covers

[Hilde]

Finished my January book, The Dispossessed. I found the premise very intriguing, but I wish I had read it instead of listening to it through Audible. The reader was a bit monotonic, and since there was a lot of information to keep track on, it was a a rather difficult listening. I suspect I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it myself. Nevertheless, a good book, no doubt!

Next up is the debut book of Elena Ferrante, Troubling Love, and I am rather looking forward to it as I absolutely loved the Neopolitan series. I see this get mixed reviews though.

[Hilde]

Finished my February book, Troubling Love, and added my thoughts here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Hilde]

March book (Contact) finished.

Had I not picked up this book just at the same time as the COVID-19 outbreak, I am positive I would have enjoyed it more and rated it higher. Because it was good, but my mind was elsewhere, and I was not able to pay fully attention to all the details, which there were a lot of. It also didn't help that the narrator (I heard it as an audio from Audible) clearly had a cold during large parts of the book.

However, to be clear, I did enjoy it. Not so much for the prose or the character development, but the ideas and the story were great. Sagan did a good job in explaining the physics behind, so that it was understandable for us that don't have extensive knowledge in science.

Basically what I took from the book was the following; be curious, ask questions and learn - but also remember to tend to your heart.

Next up is the dreaded Lady Chatterley's Lover, let's see how that goes ;)

[Hilde]

The dreaded Lady Chatterley is now over with!! Actually, I finished it rather early in April thanks to my free monthly subscripton at Scribd.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence - 3 stars

GR Synopsis:
Lawrence's frank portrayal of an extramarital affair and the explicit sexual explorations of it's central characters caused this controversial book, now considered a masterpiece, to be banned as pornography until 1960.

From the synopsis and all the attention this booked has received over the years, I was expected something different, and that it would be a rather boring read. The sexual content is actually rather tame compared to today's standard, but of course in the time it was written it was considered pornography.

It was actually more about the differences in social class, where Lady Chatterley ends up taking a lover from the working class, and that social status does not necessarily equals higher intellect. Lawrence also did a good job in portraying and acknowledging women as sexual beings. It was better than I thought it would be when I started it, but it most certainly had its dry spots. However, I can't say that I enjoyed per se.

[Hilde]

For May, I finally got The Handmaid's Tale!! It's been on my TBR list the last three years, and finally its number got picked:)

I started it May 1, and am already 60% through. I thought I already knew all about it having watched the show, but it's amazing!

[Hilde]

I loved my May book, it was truly great: The Handmaid's Tale
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

For June, I have Lord of the Flies coming up.

[Hilde]

Ok, so I decided to switch out two books from my list, just wasn't feeling them.

Here are my changes:
- #7 American Psycho changed with Written on the Body
- #10 The Name of the Rose changed with Possessing the Secret of Joy

[Hilde]

June book finished, it was ok: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Next up is Jazz.

[Hilde]

Finished my July book, Jazz, some days ago. Even though it’s a rather short book, it took me almost the whole month to read. Like in every book I’ve read by Morrison, the character portraits are really great, and the topic dark. It was a rather difficult read, I had to concentrate to keep the timeline and characters straight. Good book indeed, but Song of Solomon is still my favourite of here (of the ones I’ve read so far).

3.5 stars

[Hilde]

Well, I broke my chain in August and didn't finish The Bridge on the Drina. This was the first summer in a long time when days off from work didn't result in increased reading time. I was more focused on being outside doing fun activities. In addition, I managed to forget my copy of the book at the cabin during, and haven't been able to get back to pick it up. And my library of course doesn't have this one. So it will just have to wait.

[Hilde]

I did however finish my September book; Slaughterhouse-Five.

I didn’t know what to expect of this book, was it going to be a war book? And what about the label of it as sci-fi, how does one connect those two?

I am not sure I can describe what exactly I enjoyed about it, but it was great! A satirical, subtle, non-linear war book with an untraditional narrator. All to address the meaningless destructions of war, and human rawness as a result. And so it goes.

Next up is The Blind Owl, which I have readily available on my kindle.

[Hilde]

Finished my October book two months late, The Blind Owl. I found myself not keen to pick it up, it was just not to my liking. Found it to be mostly ramblings from a mad man.

I have also given up on my Nov and Dec pick. I think I will like them both, just didn't have time for them. My reading stamina hasn't been great this year. But I did manage 9 out of 12, not to bad given we're talking 2020. Better luck next year ;)