Connie's "Read a Book You Would Normally Never Try" Challenge

[Jessica]

Did you take Connie up on her challenge? If you did post your books here :)

[Patricia]

Good job, Jessica, I was just coming here to post a thread on this! Can't wait for Rich to post his thoughts on Ashes in the Wind.

[Jessica]

It looks like I'll be reading by Dorothy Clark combining three genres I'd never pick up on my own (Inspirational, Western and "grocery store" romance). Thanks for helping me decide, Vi, Connie and Angela :)

[Desiree]

Patricia, is it the one written by Kathleen Woodiwiss??

[Jessica]

Patricia wrote: "Good job, Jessica, I was just coming here to post a thread on this! Can't wait for Rich to post his thoughts on Ashes in the Wind."

That should be good!

[Dottie]

As soon as Divergent is available from my library, thats what I'll be reading.

[Maggie]

I am reading 11/22/63. Although I have read some of Stephen King in the past, he is not really my genre of choice. So, this book might count as "going out of my comfort zone". But, to be fair, I might have to choose another book later, because I am already pretty hooked and I am only on page 68!

[Heather]

I'll be reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman, and I'd like to know how Amber and Jessica managed to insert a picture link to their books :-)

[Heather]

Found it...

[Noeleen]

my choice for this challenge was also

[Desiree]

I love Kathleen Woodiwiss Noeleen! Can't wait to hear what you think.

[Maralee]

I don't know what to choose for this! I read just about everything!

[Noeleen]

Desiree wrote: "I love Kathleen Woodiwiss Noeleen! Can't wait to hear what you think." lol Desiree I'm avoiding it, I'll read it after Rich!!!

[Desiree]

LOL Awww come on. Its not THAT bad. :)

[Desiree]

I did manage to pick a book for the challenge. Its Them Bones by Carolyn Haines. I'm looking forward to reading it as its not something I would pick. :)

[Laura]

I'll be reading Game of Thrones with Amber!

And I want to try a Steampunk book, but not sure which one to try. Any suggestions?

[Patricia]

I'm lost on what Steampunk actually is, and I've looked it up before. Just sounds awful :)

[Laura]

Someone mentioned it on the FB page and I've never read it before so I thought I'd give it a try.

[Marianne]

I thought this was a great challenge...I'm going to read Twilight Definitely a bit outside my comfort zone

[Patricia]

I admire you people who are taking on these projects to read, that are totally out of your comfort zone. I didn't take this one on because I hate reading a book I'm not enjoying. I'm not into the wizards, witches, and vampires stuff and I tried to read A Discovery of Witches but gave up on it after about 30%. Life is so short and I hate to spend time reading a book I don't love!

[Laura]

I agree Patricia. But I'll give some genres a try. I won't waste my time with the witches, vampires and zombies or romance. I have too many other books to read!

[Terri]

I'm on the library's waiting list for Divergent!

[Monkeymom]

Mine is An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreisen.

[Teri Pre]

I'm not all that into witches or wizards (except for Terry Prattchett and David Eddings) or vampires or paranormal or dystopian...but for the challenge I thought I'd try:

HeartsBlood: A Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Thriller.

It was free so if I don't like it, it's no big loss. Good luck to everyone trying something different!

[Leona]

Divergent was AMAZING!!!!!! I'm taking this.challenge and reading a mystery by Agatha Christie...I have never read one of her books and I'm excited to try something new. :)

[Patricia]

Leona, about a year ago I read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and I wondered what all the hype was about. It was OK but nothing I would rave about.

[Karen]

I'll be reading by Tim Dorsey, recommended by Stacey B.

[Kiki]

I'm going to be reading Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind and Dean Koontz's Lightning this year...not sure when, since I have to finish a few I started and I have to read my book group books first and foremost!

[Melinda]

i took the challenge and just got my book name of the wind (i think thats it) today. i will read the whole thing since it was recommended by connie but normally i give up and dont read on if its not interesting enough for me.

[Teri Pre]

I just started . Wish me luck! :D

[Patricia]

Good luck with that, Ajuma. Definitely.

[Teri Pre]

Actually, it's not too bad...and a fast read. WAY outside my comfort zone though!


ETA: I gave up! I managed to get through the part where the guy who was all cut up was brought to the ER but when the woman found her friend dead in 2" of blood and then tracked the blood around on her shoes, I gave up. I don't want nightmares!!

Interesting challenge though. I might try something else later in the year that's not QUITE so far outside my zone!

[Patricia]

Is A Discovery of Witches outside your comfort zone? It was way outside mine, but it's not nasty :)

[Teri Pre]

Yeah, vampires, witches and demons are pretty far outside my comfort zone. I might try it at some point as long as it's not gory.

Oh, this is going to sound really odd but I don't mind reading about a murder, just don't tell me all of the details!

[Heather]

Ajuma wrote: " Oh, this is going to sound really odd but I don't mind reading about a murder, just don't tell me all of the details!
"

I love the gory details, but I think that probably makes me the odd one, not you :-)

[Patricia]

Vampire, witches, demons and zombies are all way outside my comfort zone too. I read about 30% of A Discovery of Witches and quit, but there were no murders or gore in it. I think it's somewhat of a love story, I just couldn't get past thinking that normal people we meet every day are concealed vampires and demons.

[Teri Pre]

Heather wrote:

I love the gory details, but I think that probably makes me the odd one, not you :-)

I think "yes"! LOL!

[Teri Pre]

Patrica, I agree with you. I'll stick to "my kind" of books for now...there are more than enough of them! :D

[Desiree]

I finished my book today! Oh my goodness, it was so good. Needless to say I was surprised. Will try and write a review for it later tonight. I've already added the next 2 books in the series to my to be read list.......which seems to keep growing and growing and growing....... :)

[Patricia]

What was your book, Desiree? Skimmed back through the posts but don't see where you mentioned what it was.

[Desiree]

Sorry Patricia, it was Them Bones by Carolyn Haines. If I knew how to post a picture of the book on here I would.

[Noeleen]

well done for completing the challenge Desiree, I keep putting mine off, but I will get to it eventually!

[Desiree]

Thanks Noeleen! I was very surprised by this book. I enjoyed it so much I got the second book in the series, Buried Bones. :) I guess I don't mind mysteries or even horror books as long as theres some humor in it.

[Stephanie]

I'm reading One For the Money for the Challenge. I'm about 70% done with it. Hoping to get it done today. I'm still getting to know the characters.

[Jules Ray]

I read my book already and am very happy to have taken the challenge. I read Cake Icing, Butt Budder and Tea Lids. It was written in the genre of the Ya Ya Sisterhood... something I would NEVER read. And I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this story. It was a little simple at times but still a good, happy read.

[Stacey]

So, I have to say that thanks to my Kindle I have broadened my reading comfort zone enormously! But I have to say the two genre's I don't read are Horror and Vampire/Werewolf stories. Last year I read In the Belly of Jonah, and Lot's Return to Sodom, that was as much as I could handle-by far, so I won't push myself that far. So as soon as I saw Connie's challenge I thought "I can't take that challenge", because the obvious choice to me is, yeah,... Twilight, a book I swore I would never read, but then, I'm curious about it because of how great of a series it supposedly is. Don't know if I can get past all the Vampire stuff... don't know if I can bring myself to buy the book...

[Connie Rea]

what about the vampire part do you dislike, Stacey? If you're worried about the killing and blood, well it's not so bad. It is a sappy romance book. I really enjoyed it. I didn't think it was a masterpiece of ground breaking literature, but it was entertaining and I devoured the series. I don't care so much for the movies. The only problem I really had with Twilight was the obsessive relationships, but they do exist in real life. Not to mention the history of literature is filled with them as well (Gone with the Wind, Romeo & Juliet....) so it was just something I made sure to discuss with the teenager daughter...I also think (even though she is not my favorite writer) Meyer's has a true gift of ending a story that not only ties up any loose ends, it also stays true to the story AND makes the reader satisfied. In the Twilight Saga and The Host, I spent a great deal of time worrying about how she could possibly end the story with me not feeling cheated or that just ruined the entire story in the first place. She surprised me both times and as a reader, I *really* appreciate that gift....you don't see it often....

[Stacey]

Well that makes me feel better Connie. The whole premise of what Vampires do bothers me, for some reason I'm more OK with Werewolves than Vampires, but maybe that's exactly why I should do this challenge and go ahead and read the book (which will then mean I have to read all of them-I just know it!). I am however, more intrigued by her writing, and the stories in general I guess. So I'm glad to hear the killing and the blood isn't bad, because that's what I don't like. Sappy romance, ah, we'll see, I could take or leave that. Obsessive relationships... arghhh... And, like you said... although I have a 5 year old, and a boy, you never know, I might need to actually be able to discuss them with him someday. (While I hope the Harry Potter "craze" still exists to some extent when he's ready for them, I do hope the Twilight craze has moved on!) Thanks for the discussion Connie!

[Monkeymom]

Heather wrote: "Ajuma wrote: " Oh, this is going to sound really odd but I don't mind reading about a murder, just don't tell me all of the details!
"

I love the gory details, but I think that probably makes..."

Well this makes me feel better, cause I like the gory details as well.

[Renee]

I might have to try a chick lit because I'm not really into that genre at all. Could someone suggest a good one in this genre. Thanks.