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2022 Annual Reading Challenge
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~~NORMA'S 2022 12+4 Challenge ~~
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Haven't read any, but from what I've heard of several it seems you've done a good job with choices.
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Good luck with this interesting list
Interesting mix, good luck
Norma, you've got a great list. I've read four of the books on your list and enjoyed them all. A Gentleman in Moscow was a slow read for me, heavy on characterization, but very much worth it. I read The Hiding Place many years ago, and wonder how it holds up, but I remember being very impressed by the book. I love Sense & Sensibility, maybe not my absolute favorite Austen book, but it held up when I re-read it a few years ago. I only recently read The Master & Margarita, and it is a little bit strange, but so full of symbolism. Hope you enjoy and best of luck!
Mod
I have many of your selections on my TBR list. Wish you luck with your challenge.
Thank You all for the encouragement. I already own each of these titles on my kindle. I've been planning on reading "A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW" for some time, and just suggested it to my neighborhood bookclub as our next selection.I placed THE MASTER AND MARGARITA as an alternate - it's almost 450 pages, a translation, written in the 1930's, but not published til the 1960's. My son's Russian MIL, visited with us this summer, she's a retired Russian Lit teacher in Russia - she delighted in telling me it was banned in Russia, and encouraged me to read it. Sooo, I hope to give it a go.
I've also decided to read the occasional classic - hence the Jane Austen selection.
I'm enjoying perusing the lists others have posted - I'm already adding some of those to my TBR.
Happy Reading in 2022!
Good luck on your list! I’m enjoying reading the other lists as well 🙂
I've only read The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom and The Master and Margarita, both excellent. Good luck with your selections, happy reading!
Ioana wrote: "I've only read The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom and The Master and Margarita, both excellent. Good luck with your selections, happy reading!"Thank You Iona - The Master and Margarita will be the real challenge. translations can sometimes feel out of sync. But I also purchased a commentary that will hopefully also enlighten me about some of the history and culture of the time.
Enjoy your list as well.
Norma wrote: "The Master and Margarita will be the real challenge. translations can sometimes feel out of sync. But I also purchased a commentary that will hopefully also enlighten me about some of the history and culture of the time."I agree. I read it many years ago while living in Romania, I think it was a banned book at the time. I loved all the symbolism and culture references. Good luck!
Ioana wrote: "Norma wrote: "The Master and Margarita will be the real challenge. translations can sometimes feel out of sync. But I also purchased a commentary that will hopefully also enlighten me about some of..."Iona, Thanks for your encouragement. I do need to get it read before my son's MIL from Russia comes for another visit - I know she'll ask me about it and I look forward to her insights since she taught Russian literature in Russia.
And when I say "she'll ask" - we both rely on google translator to communicate - she's learning English, but I don't see myself learning Russian !!
Norma wrote: "And when I say "she'll ask" - we both rely on google translator to communicate - she's learning English, but I don't see myself learning Russian !!."LOL, that's how my husband and my mother communicate, too. None will bother with the other one's language 🤣
Good luck on your challenge! I’ve only read A Gentleman in Moscow and it was a great book. Just be prepared for it to be a bit slower paced.Happy 2022!
Lillie wrote: "Good luck on your challenge! I’ve only read A Gentleman in Moscow and it was a great book. Just be prepared for it to be a bit slower paced.Happy 2022!"
Thanks Lillie, I've had numerous folks tell me it was a good book.
Ioana wrote: "Norma wrote: "And when I say "she'll ask" - we both rely on google translator to communicate - she's learning English, but I don't see myself learning Russian !!."LOL, that's how my husband and m..."
Well, I can say a few words in Russian, not enough to build a sentence, and I'm not often around anyone who speaks the language, my DIL has excellent command of English.
I'm anxious for my son & Grand Girls to learn the language - they live in OK. It would be amazing for them to speak with their Babashka (sp?)
My grandparents all immigrated from Italy, I regret not having learned the language - they used it to talk about us kids when we were small. But of course I love the sound of Italian, and would love to go to Italy and actually converse.
Norma wrote: "I'm anxious for my son & Grand Girls to learn the language - they live in OK. It would be amazing for them to speak with their Babashka (sp?)My grandparents all immigrated from Italy, I regret not having learned the language - they used it to talk about us kids when we were small. But of course I love the sound of Italian, and would love to go to Italy and actually converse.."
I learned that foreign languages come easy to some, and are extremely difficult for others. Same as directions and space perception. My husband's grandparents were from Italy too, and sadly, he does not speak Italian either. I think his parents generation did not realize kids can manage multiple languages and insisted they speak English at home. Nowadays we know more, I hope your grandkids will learn Russian to communicate with their other grandma.
Iona, I agree with your observation about the ease or difficulty of learning a language. I'm afraid I fall into the latter group. Since I learned Latin in HS, I can ferret out meaning from a sentence or so of one of the Romance languages. I can pronounce the written word in Italian, but not speak it. The view of my immigrant grandparents, was it was important to learn and speak English in the home so as to be assimilated more smoothly into the culture of their new home.
Just finished reading A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW" by Amor Towles. Definitely NOT a quick read ( 462 pages),but oh so rewarding, literary, philosophical and yet full of practical advice. I look forward to reading this again in a few years, now that I know the story, I can be more attentive to details that play a part in the story later om.
If you've not read it, I highly recommend it.
The Metropole Hotel
https://www.amortowles.com/moscow-met...
Tour the hotel:
https://www.have-clothes-will-travel....
It’s such a fantastic read, isn’t it? I loved the quiet story. Those links look interesting.
Lillie,Esch of the ladies in my book club loved it. I think you could sit and discuss it for hours.
The first link is a history of the hotel in conjunction with events in Russia.
The second is a tour of the hotel. I found it after reading reading about
halfway. Apparently there is a young man there with detailed knowledge of the book, who will give a tour of the hotel.
I read his first book, and now look forward to his newest, but I'll wait a bit before I do - I have a few quicker reads lined up.
HaPpY Reading.
On The Same Page
Books mentioned in this topic
The Master and Margarita (other topics)The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom (other topics)
The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom (other topics)
The Master and Margarita (other topics)
The Master and Margarita (other topics)
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2) FINISHED
3) FINISHED
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5) THE INNOCENT by Harlan Coben
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7) CURRENTLY READING
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DISAPPEARED by Jonas Jonasson
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Still picking titles - soooo many choices!