Everyone into the Discussion Thread! (...in 2012)

[Marita]

I'm new to this group, and I couldn't find an introduction thread, so I'll say hi here. At the moment I'm reading "I hope they serve beer in hell," which is nothing of literary importance, lol. Hopefully, I'll have something better to put down in this thread next time. But, I could suggest the Sword and the Scimitar by David Ball It's set in Malta and from memory, correct me if I'm wrong, it's also set in Algeria (But Malta is the main country).

[Chrissie]

Marita, when I searched for the title you named I got the following book: Ironfire: A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades. It must be the same! Thank you for mentioning it.

And welcome!

[Marita]

Chrissie wrote: "Marita, when I searched for the title you named I got the following book: Ironfire: A Novel of the Knights of Malta and the Last Battle of the Crusades. It must be the same! Thank you..."

Yes, I think they changed the name with the newer editions.

[Anne]

Hi Marita. Welcome to our group. Have a good time making up your list. I'm very interested to see what you will be reading next year. Check out our Master List!

[Marita]

Anne wrote: "Hi Marita. Welcome to our group. Have a good time making up your list. I'm very interested to see what you will be reading next year. Check out our Master List!"

Thanks.

[Jennifer]

Hi everyone, just joined because someone on my friends list did and this book looks fantastic! Like others, it will help me clear out some of the books I have at home in my TBR pile! If I can find them, that is... I'm glad I found this group before it started!

As a middle school teacher a LOT of what I read is YA books so I can make recommendations for them. This will encourage me to read more adult books. I just hope I stick with it! I joined other groups and started strong but ended up missing weeks and then whole books... :/

[Jennifer]

Chelsea wrote: "Cjandres, Marita, Jennifer, a warm welcome to our new members. Make yourself comfortable, look around the place, feel free to snag a book from anyone's list. We are here to share. Any questions a..."

I saw that a lot of people have lists on the main page. Does everyone get to make one to keep track of the books? That would be great. :)

[Cjandres]

Hi Everyone! I've decided to just go with the setting of the novel as I travel around to 52 countries. I think I'll also add the rule of choosing an author I've never read before.

This is definitely quite challenging but I have chosen 9 books so far for my list.

[Mikki]

Jennifer wrote: "As a middle school teacher a LOT of what I read is YA books so I can make recommendations for them. This will encourage me to read more adult books. I just hope I stick with it! I joined other groups and started strong but ended up missing weeks and then whole books... :/ ..."

Hi Jennifer! Yes, I too find it easy to quickly get bogged down by deadlines. One thing to do is choose books with a lot of variety -- short stories, poetry, novellas all count and will give you a breather when you need one. Have fun making your list!

[Karen]

Hi All - I just joined this group and love the idea. Each of my 52 books will involve another country via author, subject, or setting. I will include some children's books and cookbooks...My Little Round House for example, from Mongolia, but plan to have literary , bio, non-fiction and poetry , as well.
Off to read your lists.

[Marieke]

Hi and welcome to everyone who joined during the past couple of weeks when i've been scarce. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone and their lists and feeling totally overwhelmed lol :S

[Nags]

Absolutely love this idea and looking forward to opening myself up to a ton of new authors in 2012!

[Debbie (Doc)]

I am new as well. I tend to read the same authors and the same genres so I'm definitely looking forward to this group. I can't wait to review everyone's list!

[Debbie (Doc)]

Judy wrote: "We're glad to have you Debbie. Welcome, make yourself at home. :-)"

Thanks, I will be working on my list soon.

[Debbie (Doc)]

Chelsea wrote: "Hi Debbie, Welcome to the group. If you have any questions just ask. I look forward to your list. :)"

Thanks. I love list!

[Genia]

I actually wondered about the same thing. Either way, I plan to wait until the beginning of next month.

[Chrissie]

Gaeta1 wrote: "We're starting NOW? I'm so confused!"

Oh, you make me feel better. i thought I was the only one who understood nothing.

[Shomeret]

I have a question and I'm not sure what folder would be the proper place for it. It's about country categorization.


I read a great deal of historical fiction. If you're reading historical fiction for this challenge, the country might not be identified the same way as it is now. For example, if I readGenghis: Birth of an Empirewhich takes place in Mongolia, does it count as Mongolia or does it count as China because Mongolia is now a part of China?

Then there's the opposite situation. There are countries that were part of empires historically which are now independent nations. If I read a book taking place in Saudi Arabia when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, have I read a book taking place in Saudi Arabia or one taking place in the Ottoman Empire?

[Chrissie]

Shomeret, Inner Mongolia is a part of China now. Outer Mongolia is a separate country called Mongolia. Doesn't the book take place in both Inner and Outer Mongolia? I think you could choose to put it under either. The same problem occurs with Poland. Borders shift. The Ottoman Empire was very large. I try and put a book in the modern country where it today would be located. I kind of think you can do as you want. Many people have Scotland as an area and that is not a country. Flexibility is the name of the game. Do as you want so you can read the books you want. I hope that helps you.

[Shomeret]

Barry wrote: "hey Shomeret, i think in terms of putting recommendations in folders, it'd be better to put it in its current country w/ a parenthetical noting the former sovereignty - technically, those books are..."

Re categorizing how you like--For me, that can be problematic. I could have an emotional preference and an intellectual preference that are at odds. My intellectual preference is to have a consistent standard. I'm a library student who thinks of this as an "authority control" issue. Authority control involves making a consistent decision about subjects. Intellectually, I think that current political jurisdiction would be the best consistent standard. Emotionally, I definitely want to categorize any book with a Tibetan setting as taking place in Tibet, not China. I strongly support an independent Tibet. If my consistent standard is the political jurisdiction of the period when it's taking place, this interferes with my emotional preference to categorize any book with the setting of Jerusalem as taking place in Israel even if the book takes place before the existence of Israel.

So I'm still not sure what to do about how I identify countries for my challenge books.

[Anne]

Shomeret,

Re: Israel, I have an Israel shelf and a Palestine shelf. Several other people have the same.

[Chel]

Shomeret wrote: "Barry wrote: "hey Shomeret, i think in terms of putting recommendations in folders, it'd be better to put it in its current country w/ a parenthetical noting the former sovereignty - technically, t..."

I think you may be happiest utilizing your librarian methodology.

[Ally]

Barry wrote some rules "Authors please don't use our board to promote yourselves. Join us to read, not to need... Good luck!"

Almost makes me want to write a book, just so I can break this rule! I hate rules. Okay, Barry, just thought I'd add my 2 cents. Plus not all my books are linked. Kinda working on it. And since I've linked some books, I don't feel so bad. So peace, chill.

[Ally]

Barry wrote: "in that case, go with the emotional, save authority control for your term papers ;)

i have shelves for Israel, Palestine and PalestIsrael"

Trying to figure out if I need shelves for different countries. But it'll be a pain to create a bunch of shelves to scroll through, especially when most of these shelves will have like one book in them (save for France, Poland, Germany, UK, etc.)

[Shomeret]

I don't shelve by country and will not be doing that for this challenge. I will keep a record of the countries I've read in my handwritten book journal.

[Janice]

I have one shelf for this challenge. "World Tour Challenge".

[Ally]

I have two: World Literature and Around the World. Goodreads wanted me to create a separate folder for the books I had completed, so begrudgingly, I did so.

[Betty]

Chelsea wrote: "Fiji: A Novel

Available for free download right now at Amazon."

Thanks, Chelsea, for the info about "Fiji..." on kindle.

[Shomeret]

I have decided to start my journey with the book I'm currently reading. I didn't originally request this historical mystery from the library for this challenge, but I think it's showing me a point in time when things were starting to change radically in early medieval Ireland. The book is The Chalice of Bloodby Peter Tremayne. I have not only traveled to another continent, but I've also traveled back 1400 years to the 7th century. Fortunately, I've been there a number of times with Peter Tremayne (who is actually the historian Peter Beresford Ellis). So I am somewhat accustomed to the perspective.

[Shomeret]

No, it is the 21st book in his Sister Fidelma series which starts withAbsolution by Murder which provides insight into an important event, the Synod at Whitby. It decided whether the Catholic Church or the Celtic Church would be the primary form of Christianity in England. Of course, it takes place in England, so it would count as England or UK. Sister Fidelma, a nun, a dalaigh and a princess of the Kingdom of Muman in Ireland is a representative of the Celtic Church at the synod. A dalaigh is a cross between an investigator, a lawyer, a judge and an ombudsman.

[Shomeret]

So I finished the first book in my challenge taking place in Ireland and now I've gone on to early 19th century Japan. I've traveled across the world and across twelve centuries at a dizzying pace. The book is The Printmaker's Daughterby Katherine Govier. I requested it from the library after seeing Chrissie's review. It's about the daughter of the artist Hokusai.

[Shomeret]

I don't know how to post a link to somewhere else on GR, but I can copy and paste my review from the book's page.

**** Rating
bookshelves: around-the-world, historical-fiction, my-reviews, mystery-thriller, read

status: Read from December 16 to 17, 2011
format: Hardcover

This is the most recently U.S. published Sister Fidelma mystery. A scholar was murdered for a Dan Brown type of shocking non-discovery concerning Christianity. Further death, destruction and mayhem ensue due to intolerance. What is significant about these events is that this behavior wouldn't even have been thinkable in Ireland not too long beforehand. Fidelma's Ireland is changing bit by bit. It's expected, but nevertheless a sad development.

[[deleted user]]

Barry wrote: "congrats sho! post us a link to your review of the ireland one :)" Hey! I thought I was sho!

[Chel]

hehehe

[Shomeret]

Sho wrote: "Barry wrote: "congrats sho! post us a link to your review of the ireland one :)" Hey! I thought I was sho!"

Little bit of confusion here. I answer to Sho or Shom. Maybe there needs to be a way to differentiate me from Sho in this group.

[Ally]

Barry wrote: "congrats sho! post us a link to your review of the ireland one :)"

I think I'm doing an Ireland one soon. Fo' sho'!

[Maude]

Hi, I'm new to this Challenge but have been on Goodreads for a couple of years and am looking forward to being a part of this. I am hopeful I will learn how to post books properly!

[Shomeret]

I had been in Germany withThe Sleepwalkersbut the central character stopped being credible for me. So I abandoned the book and deleted it from my shelves. I also deleted Germany from my Travelerspoint map. This is a setback, but I'm sure I can find a much better book for Germany.

[Shomeret]

Re a sleepwalking central character in The Sleepwalkers-- In a way he was. He didn't think he (a Jewish police detective)really needed to get out of Germany even as the situation for Jews became increasingly threatening. That wasn't my believability problem though. I can understand being patriotic and having a strong emotional investment in your country. But I did have a hard time in believing that he could have made a certain choice in his personal life. The characterization in general was not strong. So I'm doing something else for Germany. I'm not sure what yet. I have a number of choices from books that I own and from books that I'm considering for my new Kindle.

I spent yesterday in Laos with Slash and Burnwhich was better than I expected. It had some clever dialogue and one great scene.

Today I started a really unusual thriller taking place in Israel called The Debba. I'm impressed with it so far.

[Chel]

I finalized my list today! At least 35 of them are unique to the master list as of today. Please check them out for more variety!

[Anne]

So does anyone know how to reset the Challenge so that it starts from today?

[Chel]

Happy New Year! Happy reading!

[Janice]

Anne wrote: "So does anyone know how to reset the Challenge so that it starts from today?"

Done!

[Anne]

Thank you, Janice! That's excellent!

[Anne]

Barry wrote: "Anne wrote: "Thank you, Janice! That's excellent!"

Now THAT's a legit 0%..."

Yep.

[Janice]

Barry wrote: "Barry wrote: "What are you reading right now? How is it?
What did you just finish? What'd ya think?
What's next? How'd you come across that?

What do you think of others' readings and thoughts/opin..."

I'm reading The Blood of Flowers. I started it Wednesday and have listened to about 2 hours. I'm loving the narrator's voice. It is so melodic. It took me awhile to get used to her accent, but I'm ocmpletely into it now. As for the story, I am enjoying it.

I just finished The Condition for another challenge. It was a big yawn.

Next will be The Oracle of Stamboul. I won this in First Reads and have held off on reading it until this challenge officially began.

Did you do a review of In Search of Lost Time (Remembrance of Things Past): Proust 6-pack, Barry? I'd be interested in reading it.

[Genia]

I am reading Tuchman's The Guns of August, and Doctor Zhivago. I love Tuchman's book; her writing is brilliant, and she really gets into the nuts and bolts of WWI. I've been a bit obsessive about WWI recently, and I think at this point it actually saddens me more than WWII.

I've just finished The Passage which was only saved from being a one-star book because the writing was decent and it was not mortally offensive to me - just bland. I also just finished Under Heaven which was good, but not a perfect example of what Kay can do.

Next? I am honestly not sure.

[Maude]

Genia, I also am very interested in WWI and can recommend four books which are based on the accounts of eyewitnesses written by Lyn MacDonald. They are "They Called It Passchendaele", "The Roses of No Man's Land", "Somme" and "1914". I believe these were written around 1980 when many of the nurses, doctors, survivors, etc., were still alive. Excellent!

[Maude]

Genia, It also saddens me more than WWII. No antibiotics, no real knowledge about plastic surgery so they wore masks or suffered with horrendous injuries. A whole generation of young men destroyed and without enough men to go around, more women alone.

[Genia]

I have a bunch of reading slated for this, from non-fiction to historical fiction. I've got the Tuchman, Ford's Parade's End, a book about the Italian front called The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919, Ken Follet's new book Fall of Giants, and so on. I'll see if I can find the books you mentioned.