2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion
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I've the same problem with memoir, true story and maybe non fiction.
I'm not 100% but I think that the difference, for me anyway, would be:-- a memoir -- written by the person who's the subject, maybe with the help of another writer. So, for example, "Audition" by Barbara Walters (which is what I might pick for this category).
-- a true story -- this might be someone else writing about the most influential women in the news industry, but even if the book was written mostly about Barbara Walters it wouldn't be a memoir because it was written by someone else.
-- non-fiction -- obviously this includes "a true story", but for me "non-fiction" is more academic. Not exactly academic like a textbook, but less of a story and more information. If that makes sense. lol
Thanks Elisabeth et Zaz for your answers :)I already read one book fo Albertine Sarrazin and it was deeply moving and intense, the story of this young french girl is fascinating, I want to read everything she wrote.
Ok, I was planning on re-read Anno Dracula by Kim Newman because he published a new version with add-ons, but yeah, vampires in this one are just former humans so I'll try to move it to another category ;)
For me "based on a true story" includes books like Robinson Crusoe or Island of the blue dolphins - fiction based on a true story
Hmm...I didn't read closely enough. If the category is "based on a true story" then that's different from what I said just above. Then I would choose something like what Anja just said -- fiction based on a true story. One book I've read several times that falls into this description is "Armageddon" by Leon Uris, about the Berlin Airlift. Excellent book. However, I guess I should find something else since I've read this one already.
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A lot of memoirs say 'a memoir' near the bottom. An exception is Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom! I searched Google for some memoirs and it turns out that this qualifies. Interesting!
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It will be harder for the english persons to find a book :p
So about #24 "a book based entirely on its cover". It's 0 degrees here today with the wind chill. Snow and ice on the ground. Door to my car frozen shut. Grocery store a chaotic zoo. ugh!Then BookBub sent me their daily email and included are several books with LOVELY TROPICAL COVERS! omg, I want to be there, on a tropical island, with palm trees and a beach, and a lovely drink with an umbrella in it. Can I have permission to begin #24 right now?? ;) sigh........
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Lorraine no you can't, sorry ;)
But you can print all the covers and put them all over the walls to help you with the cold weather. Feel free to send me some snow, I love it so much :)
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Lorraine, stay inside! Enjoy the books! Negative cold is the pits!
I would bet every single book has at least one bad review. Even your favorite book of all time might qualify for that one. Although I'm sure that was not the intended purpose, it's a sneaky way to avoid reading a book that you dread with every turn of the page.
Finally! A book with truely bad reviews. You know... the ones that make you snicker to yourself. Maybe that is why it was left in my complex's laundry room, on a table near the trash, looking forlorn, waiting for me.... "The Shack"(Nevermind me, I've been reading on the elliptical for an hour)
Hi there - A friend just pointed me in the direction of this website to help with finding #30 "A book published the year you were born". check out: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/mos...then change the year to the year your were born.
Diane, that's really great. Thanks for sharing it. Looking at the list for 1978 - getting old now me - one of the books is The Last Sherlock Holmes Story. I already have this and not got round to reading it so that's that one sorted!
Luisa wrote: "Michelle >i was thinking the same! yesterday i was looking for a bad reviewed book in listopia and it was the only i thought i could stand.And finally found a book with antonyms in the title that..."
It's good when you work out you can do it with one you have already, although I am looking forward to excuses for buying new books to fit the theme!
I'm thinking For antonyms either Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, or being a little stretchy with the truth as have already read book one, book two of George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.
At the moment I'm behind as have had to read a load of other stuff but hopefully catching up with week two.
For the book set in your hometown - if anyone is from Birmingham/Midlands, UK, I would highly recommend Astonishing Splashes of Colour by Clare Morrall. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking book.
Michelle wrote: "I'm thinking For antonyms either Dan Brown's Angels and Demons, or being a little stretchy with the truth as have already read book one, book two of George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series."How didn't I remember that! I'm halfway through A Clash of Kings (I've "halfway through" for about a year...), so I think I'm gonna pick that.
Ok so there's this book I've been dying to read but I can only find it in Japanese which I do not know how to read. It's called Kuroi Jukai which translates to Black Sea of Trees in English. If anyone knows how or where to get a copy in English it would be greatly appreciated.
It looks like I've missed a lot in this discussion. Oops!
Adriana wrote: "halfway through A Clash of Kings (I've "halfway through" for about a year...), so I think I'm gonna pick that. ."
Cool, be good to discuss it when we get there. Or it could also work for 52 book I have never finished. Number 52 for me though I think will have to be Wuthering Heights which I have read the first half of three times so far....
Diane wrote: "Hi there - A friend just pointed me in the direction of this website to help with finding #30 "A book published the year you were born". check out: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/mos......"
That was great, thank you for sharing it! It helped a lot in finding something to read for that week.
Camilla wrote: "Diane wrote: "Hi there - A friend just pointed me in the direction of this website to help with finding #30 "A book published the year you were born". check out: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/..."Hi Camilla - You're welcome. It was the best site I found for books published when I was born. :)
So, not trying to sound overly brave or emotionless but I've never found a book that's had the emotional influence to make me cry, causing me to have an issue finding a suitable choice for #40. Does anyone have any suggestions? I've read The Fault in Our Stars and, while that did admittedly pull softly at my heart strings, it didn't have the effect of tears. Thanks in advance everyone! This challenge is an excellent idea to get people reading regularly and varied subjects!
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Diane > Thanks for the link, it's really interesting. I already have two books I want to re-read for this week, so it won't be useful here, but it's funny to discover what was publish during my year :)
Sean,You can join me withSchindler's List. I have not read it, but the movie did make me bawl, lol. Either way I am sure it is a great book :)
Sean wrote: "So, not trying to sound overly brave or emotionless but I've never found a book that's had the emotional influence to make me cry, causing me to have an issue finding a suitable choice for #40. Doe..."I think we people differ in this sense. I cry really easily when I read a book or watch a movie, but I rarely cry in real life. I remember crying half of the time during The Fault in Our Stars. I think the problem here for me will be to determine beforehand what book will make me cry (okay, TFIOS was pretty obvious, LOL!). Maybe you can just choose something that "pulls softly ar your hearts strings", as you so nicely put it.
Hi! Can you give me examples for of 26. a memoir and 19. a book based on a true story? I'm not really sure what to pick for these categories...
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Examples: Lucky Man: A Memoir (by Michael J Fox), Steve Jobs, Joss Whedon: The Biography, The Wild Truth: The Untold Story of Sibling Survival (by the hero's sister of Into the Wild).
A true story = a story based on something which happened for real.
Examples: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Into the Wild.
Some true stories books are memoirs, memoirs and true stories are non-fiction, and you can catch a headache deciding what to read :p
Would historical fiction count as something based on a true story? Because the surroundings are technically factual whereas the portrayal of characters and personal events are fictitious. 9 time out of 10 the characters were real people too so... where would I stand reading something fictional based around true events?
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A book based on a true story - I always thought of those books as the author took inspiration from a true story, included facts about that (true) story but the rest is fiction. I would even dare say that is has to be a fiction book. :P For example In Cold Blood (I didn't like it AT ALL but it was the first one that came to my mind).
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I think with "book based on a true story" historical fiction may not work. I'm thinking because of the fiction aspect. Generally a book based on a true story is going to be non fiction. As you point out though it is arguable either way, but I'm going fiction vs non fiction.
Lora wrote: "I think with "book based on a true story" historical fiction may work. I'm thinking because of the fiction aspect. Generally a book based on a true story is going to be non fiction. As you point o..."I think there are a lot of historical fiction novels that would fit this very well. Some suggestions of good ones I've read:
CITY OF LIARS AND THIEVES by Eve Karlin
Risking Exposure by Jeanne Moran
Woman with a Gun by Philip Margolin
A Penny for the Hangman by Tom Savage
The Virtues of Oxygen by Susan Schoenberger
I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio
For "a book that makes you cry", I know that a dog story would do that to me. But, I refuse to read those, and have refused ever since I was a kid. So I figure I'll read something else that others have said is sad and we will see. Maybe I'll join some of you in "Schindler's List".As for a "scary" book, for whoever mentioned they hate to be scared. I'm interpreting that differently. Not a horror book, but one that I find daunting to think of reading. For example "War and Peace" or "Moby Dick" or one like that. On the other hand I might change my mind when that topic comes up. But it is another possible way to look at that category for those who don't like to be scared.
Keeks wrote: "Adriana wrote: "A book based on a true story - I always thought of those books as the author took inspiration from a true story, included facts about that (true) story but the rest is fiction. I wo..."Keeks - Have you read Burial Rites? I just read the blurb; it sounds fascinating.
Does anyone know of an author with the initials BL?
Berit wrote: "Does anyone know of an author with the initials BL?"Go to this link: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/
Scan down to find authors whose first initial is B. First one I saw was Ben Kane :)
Berit wrote: "Does anyone know of an author with the initials BL?"I found Barbara Levick, Barry B. Longyear, Benjamin Lytal, Bem Le Hunte, and Brian Leung. Hope that helps some :)
Hey guys! Just wanna jump in real quick. Historical fiction should count! I'll leave this up to your interpretation (pretty much like all of the other weeks). Just explain it when creating your topic later on.
I just want to comment that I also interpreted "based on a true story" as a fiction book, but one that includes real life characters. So most of Philippa Gregory's books would work, or something like Burial Rites (which I also read and loved), or Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, or something based on true events, like New York.I consider something like Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption to fit under "non-fiction", rather than "based on true events". I suppose it's up to interpretation, of course, but I agree that when I first read it, I saw "based on true events" as a fiction book based on something real.
I joined this challenge today.Are we doing this in order ie do have to start at week one with more than 500 pages?
Where do I write my list?
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To create your list:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group... (new topic link on the right top & you have a list you can copy/paste in "Introduction")
We mostly read in order, but we're already on the week #2 (until wednesday at midnight) so you can read a romance book now and catch-up your 500pages later. It will be easier to discuss books. Anyway, feel free to do as you prefer ;)
Zaz wrote: "Memoir = biography.Examples: Lucky Man: A Memoir (by Michael J Fox), Steve Jobs, Joss Whedon: The Biography, [book:The Wild Truth: The Untold Story of..."
Thank You for clarifying this and also all others, got some really good ideas...
My initials are JK and for the find a book by someone with your initials all I'm finding is JK Rowling, no surprise, but I'd like to find an author with my initials with books I haven't read since I have read practically all of JK Rowlings books. Any suggestions?
Jenni wrote: "My initials are JK and for the find a book by someone with your initials all I'm finding is JK Rowling, no surprise, but I'd like to find an author with my initials with books I haven't read since ..."Doing a quick search I found a few;Jack Kerouac, Judith Krantz, Joseph Kanon, Jonathon Kellerman. I only know the first person though lol
Jenni wrote: "My initials are JK and for the find a book by someone with your initials all I'm finding is JK Rowling, no surprise, but I'd like to find an author with my initials with books I haven't read since ..."Here's a list of books I found on my TBR that fit your initials.
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa
The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis
Of Sea and Cloud by Jon Keller
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time John Kelly
Kieron Smith, Boy by James Kelman
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler
Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (and others) by Jon Krakauer
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
There's a pretty wide selection of book types so hopefully you can find something that sounds good to you :)
2015 Reading Challenge [Closed]
Books mentioned in this topic
Counting by 7s (other topics)After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story (other topics)
The Red Fairy Book (other topics)
Practical Magic (other topics)
Splintered (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Alice Hoffman (other topics)Aldous Huxley (other topics)
Adam Hochschild (other topics)
Anthony Horowitz (other topics)
Alex Haley (other topics)
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But some categories are still complex to me:
- I don't understand the subtilities between book based on a true story and a memoir :/
For the "based on a true story" one, can I choose a book from Albertine Sarrazin (La Cavale), who wrote the story of her own life but in many separated books?
- For the "book written by someone under 30" does it needs to be right now or can I choose a book EA Poe wrote when HE was under 30? (Gordon Pym's adventures)
- Does vampire applies for non human character?
Thanks in advance for your answers :)