gck's list

[Nina]

I can't read 52 books in a year, but I'm planning to challenge myself with 36. On my private list, I've got it broken down into my monthly plan by themes or geographical locations. For example, January will include countries that I don't know much about. June is countries that speak English natively. August is Southeast Asian countries. Hopefully it will work out. :)

List... for now
Afghanistan: The Kite Runner *
Albania: Chronicle in Stone
Austria: The Bells, Mozart's Last Aria *
Bosnia: Shards
Brazil: The Seamstress *
Cambodia: The Road of Lost Innocence
Chile: Of Love and Shadows *
China: Wild Swans *
Colombia: One Hundred Years of Solitude *, Love in the Time of Cholera *
Cuba: Havana Real
Czechoslovakia: The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Denmark: We, the Drowned
Ecuador: The Queen of Water
Egypt: Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen *
England: North and South *
Ethiopia: Cutting for Stone
Finland: The Summer Book
France: The Elegance of the Hedgehog *
Germany: The Book Thief *
India: Shalimar the Clown *
Ireland: Ireland *
Italy: Keeping the Feast
Japan: Norwegian Wood
Malaysia: Evening is the Whole Day
Mexico: The Hummingbird's Daughter
Myanmar: The Glass Palace
North Korea: Nothing to Envy
Norway: The Ice Palace
Nigeria: Little Bee
Poland: Anya
Russia: The Jewel of St. Petersburg
South Africa: Spud
South Korea: The Calligrapher's Daughter *
Sri Lanka: The Disobedient Girl
Taiwan: Taiwan Folktales
Uraguay: The Invisible Mountain
Vietnam: The Lotus Eaters

* - marks books I own

[Chrissie]

Hi, gck! I like your list. So very many of them I recognize! Many are books I have read and loved, and then the others are books on my list for reading next year. We definitely have common interests! Anya, The Glass PalaceThe Invisible Mountain, The Seamstress are some of the books on your list that I have read and enjoyed.

May I give you a word of warning? I personally disliked One Hundred Years of Solitude, while I very much enjoyed Love in the Time of Cholera by the same author. The first one I dragged myself through; the second was a pure joy!

I am currently listening to The Hummingbird's Daughter. The imagery is fantastic.

I cannot wait to read Chronicle in Stone: A Novel, The Bells and.... I wish I had more time to read. My goal is imply to read as many as I can. I have no idea how many that will be.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This is a great list. I loved The Hummingbird's Daughter and am reading his newest for my Mexico pick next year.

I added your books to the master lists, so if you add anything and want me to include it, you can just leave a comment here.

[Nina]

I added alternate choices for several countries:
Austria - Mozart's Last Aria
Colombia - Love in the Time of Cholera
Egypt - The Heretic Queen

Chrissie, thanks for the advice about One Hundred Years of Solitude. I own Love in the Time of Cholera as well, so I'll use that as an option if I have trouble with One Hundred Years of Solitude. Though my goal is to read them both eventually. :)

I found The Hummingbird's Daughter at the thrift shop this weekend! It made me so happy!

[Chrissie]

Gck and Jenny, I just finished the audio version of The Hummingbird's Daughter. The audio version was great. Wow, what imagery.

Jenny, are you putting Queen of America: A Novel in Mexico?!

[Pragya]

Looks great, what a plan!

[Faith]

Nice list! I'll have to borrow The Seamstress from you, I think that might be the only one we're both reading :).

[Nina]

There are a few others we're both reading, but neither one of us owns them. :)

Sure, you are definitely welcome to borrow Seamstress. I found it on the $1 shelf at Powells last month! I'm slated to read it in May, so you're welcome to it anytime else.

[Nina]

Haha, yes. Faith was the one who told me about this group.

[Beth]

Just wanted to echo Chrissie on the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books.

[Chrissie]

Beth wrote: "Just wanted to echo Chrissie on the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books."

Nice, there are two of us with similar sentiments.

[Parsa]

This is interesting. I don think I'll be able to read all 52 books too next yr but I am gonna try. I havent decided if I want to lessen my challenge books yet. Lets see.

It seems one hundred years of solitude doesnt have a good review over here. I have that one in my list too :/

[Louise]

It's the kind of book where you can see it's literary qualities and why the themes are important, it's just hard to get through - half the characters (almost:-)) have the same name for instance, which complicates matters a little...

[Parsa]

Louise wrote: "It's the kind of book where you can see it's literary qualities and why the themes are important, it's just hard to get through - half the characters (almost:-)) have the same name for instance, wh..."

Fermina and Florentina seemed pretty similar to me in that other book. :( Well, thanks for the heads up, I'll sure try making notes of the names in start. :))

[Kirsten]

I also have 100 Years of Solitude on my list - but do like the idea of having Love in the Time of Cholera as a backup.

I was looking at reviews and someone else mentioned the names and said they include (all different characters): José Arcadio Buendía, José Arcadio, Colonel Aureliano Buendía, Arcadio, Aureliano José, 17 Aurelianos, José Arcadio Segundo, Aureliano Segundo, José Arcadio (II), Aureliano Babilonia (Aureliano II), Aureliano (III)

I guess I didn't expect it to be that bad haha I can see why that would make things confusing!

[Parsa]

LOL I couldnt even read all the names without getting baffled. Now I sure get the point. :D