2014 Historical Fiction Challenge Wrap-up

January 2, 2015January 2, 2015Leave a comment

And finally, I completed the 2014 Historical Fiction Challenge at Historical Tapestry.

Participants were asked to read historical fiction from any subgenre: YA, romance, mystery, and fantasy were all fair game. I chose the Ancient History level, which set a goal of 25 books, and here’s what I read:

1. Mary Miley — The Impersonator
2. Julia Quinn — Just Like Heaven
3. Elizabeth Hay — Late Nights on Air
4. Alan Bradley — The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
5. Georgette Heyer — The Spanish Bride
6. Ellis Peters — The Raven in the Foregate
7. Elizabeth Blackwell — While Beauty Slept
8. Kathryn Miller Haines — The Girl Is Murder
9. Hannah March — The Complaint of the Dove
10. Kate Quinn — Mistress of Rome
11. Lauren Owen — The Quick
12. Ismail Kadare — Broken April
13. Sharon Kay Penman — The Sunne in Splendour
14. Juliet Marillier — Blade of Fortriu
15. Jessica Brockmole — Letters from Skye
16. Elizabeth Wein — Rose Under Fire
17. William Ritter — Jackaby
18. Robin LaFevers — Mortal Heart
19. Lauren Willig — That Summer
20. Caryl Brahms & S.J. Simon — No Bed for Bacon
21. Rhys Bowen — Naughty in Nice
22. Baroness Orczy — I Will Repay
23. Sara Gruen — Water for Elephants
24. Jennifer Robson — Somewhere in France
25. Carlos Ruiz Zafón — The Shadow of the Wind
26. Lauren Willig — The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla
27. Ashley Weaver — Murder at the Brightwell
28. Shusaku Endo — Silence
29. Roberto Ampuero — The Neruda Case
30. Diane Setterfield — Bellman & Black
31. Kate Lord Brown — The Beauty Chorus
32. Anthony Doerr — All the Light We Cannot See
33. Rose Lerner — In for a Penny
34. Charles Finch — The Laws of Murder
35. Rhys Bowen — The Twelve Clues of Christmas
36. Kate Ross — The Devil in Music

As always, check out my Review Index page for more info on any of these books. Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, so it’s always fun to give myself an excuse to read it! 🙂

2014 Monthly Motifs Challenge Wrap-up

January 2, 2015Leave a comment

I also completed the 2014 Monthly Motifs challenge, in which participants were asked to read at least one book per month that corresponded with that month’s assigned theme.

Here’s what I read for each month, along with a short explanation of why it fits:

January (Around the World — a book set in, or by an author from, a country different than your own):
Julia Quinn — Just Like Heaven (U.K. – England)
Elizabeth Hay — Late Nights on Air (Canada)
D.E. Stevenson — The Two Mrs. Abbotts (U.K. – England)
Susanna Kearsley — The Shadowy Horses (U.K. – Scotland)

February (Award Winner):
Lois Lowry — The Giver (Newbery)

March (Fairytales or Fairy Creatures):
Elizabeth Blackwell — While Beauty Slept (Sleeping Beauty)

April (Short & Sweet — short stories or anthologies):
B.J. Novak — One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories

May (Mystery, Murder, and Mayhem):
Elizabeth Peters — Borrower of the Night
Michael Innes — Death at the President’s Lodging
William Ritter — Jackaby

June (A Long Journey):
J.R.R. Tolkien — The Hobbit

July (Assassins, Warriors, Rebels):
Richard Stark — The Hunter (Parker is a criminal and trained killer)
Baroness Orczy — I Will Repay (set during the French Revolution)
Chris Wooding — The Black Lung Captain (the crew of the Ketty Jay are rebels)

August (Alternate Reality):
Jo Walton — Farthing (England makes a separate peace with Hitler)

September (Book to Movie):
Philip K. Dick — Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (became the movie “Bladerunner”)

October (The Witching Hour — book with a witch in it):
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett — Good Omens (there are multiple witches in this one!)

November (Oldie but Goodie — a book published and/or set before the year 2000):
D.E. Stevenson — Mrs. Tim of the Regiment (published in the 1930s)

December (That’s a Wrap — finish a series or read the next book in a series):
Rhys Bowen — The Twelve Clues of Christmas (next book in the Royal Spyness series)
Kate Ross — The Devil in Music (last book in the Julian Kestrel series)

For more information on any of these books, check out my Review Index page. And if the challenge looks interesting to you, be sure to sign up for the 2015 version!

2014 TBR Pile Challenge Wrap-up

January 1, 2015January 1, 2015Leave a comment

At the beginning of last year, I signed up for the 2014 TBR Pile Challenge at Bookish, which asked participants to read books they owned prior to the beginning of 2014. The challenge itself kind of petered out, but I continued to document the books I read from my own shelves. I had originally aimed for 21-30 books, so I’m happy I managed to surpass that goal! Here’s what I read from my TBR pile in 2014, along with the date I acquired each book:

1. Mary Miley — The Impersonator (11/10/13)
2. Julia Quinn — Just Like Heaven (1/1/13)
3. Chris Wooding — Retribution Falls (9/3/11)
4. Emma Newman — Between Two Thorns (4/1/13)
5. Susanna Kearsley — The Shadowy Horses (1/20/13)
6. Charlotte Mosley, ed. — The Letters of Nancy Mitford and Evelyn Waugh (10/22/11)
7. Sarra Manning — Unsticky (12/16/13)
8. Lois McMaster Bujold — Young Miles (12/4/13)
9. Georgette Heyer — The Spanish Bride (4/12/08)
10. P.G. Wodehouse — The World of Jeeves (4/23/10)
11. Caprice Crane — With a Little Luck (8/20/11)
12. Hannah March — The Complaint of the Dove (10/9/13)
13. Frank Baker — Miss Hargreaves (4/8/11)
14. Polly Shulman — The Grimm Legacy (4/20/13)
15. Anne Sexton — Transformations (9/3/11)
16. Sharon Kay Penman — The Sunne in Splendour (8/8/06)
17. Juliet Marillier — Blade of Fortriu (4/28/13)
18. Michael Innes — Death at the President’s Lodging (9/29/13)
19. Elizabeth Wein — Rose Under Fire (9/21/13)
20. E.F. Benson — Mrs. Ames (8/6/13)
21. Ben Macintyre — Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies (6/15/13)
22. M.M. Kaye — Death in the Andamans (6/24/13)
23. Tana French — In the Woods (8/16/10)
24. Georgette Heyer — A Blunt Instrument (4/21/11)
25. Julie James — Love Irresistibly (4/8/13)
26. Richard Stark — The Hunter (9/29/12)
27. Christopher Morley — The Haunted Bookshop (4/28/13)
28. D.E. Stevenson — The Young Clementina (7/4/13)
29. Charlotte Mosley, ed. — In Tearing Haste: Letters Between Deborah Devonshire and Patrick Leigh Fermor (4/28/13)
30. A.A. Milne — The Red House Mystery (4/13/13)
31. Sara Gruen — Water for Elephants (3/16/11)
32. Karin Lowachee — The Gaslight Dogs (5/30/10)
33. Carlos Ruiz Zafón — The Shadow of the Wind (10/2/10)
34. Ada Leverson — Love’s Shadow (9/25/11)
35. Shusaku Endo — Silence (4/28/13)
36. Kate Lord Brown — The Beauty Chorus (4/2/12)
37. Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett — Good Omens (1/14/10)
38. Norton Juster — The Phantom Tollbooth (7/28/11)
39. Rachel Ferguson — The Brontës Went to Woolworths (10/2/10)
40. Ben H. Winters — The Last Policeman (9/28/13)
41. D.E. Stevenson — Mrs. Tim of the Regiment (3/16/11)
42. Kate Ross — The Devil in Music (4/23/10)
43. Connie Willis — Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (3/14/12)

For more information about any of the books, check out the Review Index page! Did anyone else do this or a similar challenge? How many of your own books did you manage to read this year?

Jazz Age January Sign-up

December 30, 20146 Comments

I think I’ve already mentioned that I am greatly reducing my challenge commitments for 2015. But when I heard about Jazz Age January, I simply couldn’t resist! As you can probably guess, Jazz Age January is a month-long event hosted by Books Speak Volumes that celebrates all things Roaring Twenties. The only requirement is to read at least one Jazz Age book — a term that encompasses literature and poetry from the era, nonfiction, and historical fiction. And I just happen to have a few qualifying books on my TBR list! I’d like to read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Flappers and Philosophers if I can get my hands on a copy, and I’ve already placed a hold at the library for Genevieve Valentine’s The Girls at the Kingfisher Club. If all else fails, I can always dip into The Portable Dorothy Parker! Anyway, if this event sounds interesting to you, click here for more information and to sign up!

Vintage Mystery Bingo 2015 Challenge Sign-Up

November 11, 20142 Comments

Even though I’ve decided to take a break from almost all reading challenges in 2015, the Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge at My Reader’s Block is one of my exceptions!

Participants in this challenge are asked to read mysteries — which includes everything from cozies to spy novels, thrillers to police procedurals — written before 1960 (the Golden Age) or between 1960 and 1989 inclusive (the Silver Age). Further, every book should correspond with a square on one of the Bingo cards provided:

As you can see, I’m going to use the Golden Age card for my Bingo attempts. I’ll count myself successful if I can complete one straight-line Bingo (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), but I’m hoping to read a lot more than six vintage mysteries! Here are some of the books I might read:

Nicholas Blake, A Question of Proof (1935)
Alice Tilton, The Cut Direct (1938)
Dorothy L. Sayers, Unnatural Death (1927)
E.C. Bentley, Trent’s Last Case (1913)
Elizabeth Daly, Evidence of Things Seen (1943)
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding, The Innocent Mrs. Duff (1946) and/or The Blank Wall (1947)
Mary Roberts Rinehart, The Circular Staircase (1908)
Rex Stout, The League of Frightened Men (1935)
Georgette Heyer, No Wind of Blame (1939)

This is always a really fun challenge for me, and I definitely encourage other mystery lovers to sign up! (Bonus: there’s a chance for prizes!) Click here for more info.

R.I.P. IX Challenge Wrap-Up

November 2, 2014Leave a comment

I’m a couple days late on this, but with the end of October came the end of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings.

The “challenge” was simply to read books that fit within the genres of mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, gothic, horror, and/or supernatural. Peril the First had a goal of four books, but I ended up reading ten:

1.) Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
2.) Lauren Willig, The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla
3.) Ashley Weaver, Murder at the Brightwell
4.) Seanan McGuire, The Winter Long
5.) Sylvia Izzo Hunter, The Midnight Queen
6.) Roberto Ampuero, The Neruda Case
7.) Ethel Lina White, The Lady Vanishes
8.) Diane Setterfield, Bellman & Black
9.) Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens
10.) Maggie Stiefvater, Blue Lily, Lily Blue

To be fair, some of these books are a bit of a stretch…for example, while Good Omens has angels and demons and the Apocalypse, its tone is far from dark. The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla includes vampires and a murder, but it’s really a delightful Regency romp. But I’m counting them anyway, dangit! This non-challenge is supposed to be fun! 🙂

I did enjoy most of the books I read for this challenge, but my standout favorites were Good Omens and Blue Lily, Lily Blue. My least favorites were The Shadow of the Wind and The Neruda Case, both of which dragged for me. What books did you read for R.I.P.? Did any of them scare you?

What’s in a Name 2014 Challenge Wrap-Up

October 27, 2014Leave a comment

I’ve officially completed the 2014 What’s in a Name challenge, hosted this year by The Worm Hole!

Participants were asked to read books whose titles fit within six different categories. Here’s what I read:

1.) A title with a reference to time: LATE NIGHTS on Air by Elizabeth Hay
2.) A title with a position of royalty: The Midnight QUEEN by Sylvia Izzo Hunter
3.) A title with a number written in letters: The TWO Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson
4.) A title with a forename or names: The Letters of NANCY Mitford and EVELYN Waugh
5.) A title with a type or element of weather: The SUNNE in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
6.) A title with a school subject: The Beauty CHORUS by Kate Lord Brown

I enjoyed almost every book I read for this challenge…I don’t even think I can pick a clear favorite. But The Beauty Chorus was definitely my least favorite! So this was a fun challenge for me, and while I probably won’t be doing it next year (I’m really cutting back on challenges in 2015!), I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get a little creative about choosing books!

Vintage Mystery Bingo Wrap-up

October 17, 2014October 17, 2014Leave a comment

I officially call BINGO for the 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge!

Participants were invited to play Bingo on either the Golden Age card (mysteries written pre-1960), the Silver Age card (mysteries written between 1960 and 1989), or both. Because of my other challenge commitments, I only attempted one straight-line Bingo, and I chose to use the Golden Age card:

G1: A book with a color in the title — A.A. Milne, The Red House Mystery
O1: A book published under more than one title — Michael Innes, Death at the President’s Lodging — also published as Seven Suspects
L1: A book with a “spooky” title — Christopher Morley, The Haunted Bookshop
D1: A book by an author you’ve read before — Georgette Heyer, A Blunt Instrument
E1: A book with a detective “team” >> FREE SPACE >> An author you’ve never read before — Ethel Lina White, The Lady Vanishes
N1: A book with an animal in the title — Rex Stout, Fer-de-Lance — a type of snake

As always, I really enjoyed this challenge! My favorite books were probably A Blunt Instrument and The Lady Vanishes, while my least favorite was Death at the President’s Lodging (great solution, but what a slog to get there!). I’m already looking forward to the 2015 challenge…I’ve got lots of new (old) books that will work!

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX Sign-up

August 31, 20142 Comments

Tomorrow marks the beginning of September, and thus the beginning of one of my favorite book blogging events — the ninth annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings!

(Art courtesy of Abigail Larson.)

The “challenge” runs from September 1 to October 31, and the rules are very simple, requiring participants to read at least one (that’s right, ONE!) book that fits within one or more of the following genres:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

I’m planning to attempt Peril the First, which asks participants to read four books, but you can read as many or as few as you like! There’s also a Peril of the Short Story and a Peril on Screen, if those fictional formats are more your speed. Some of my possibilities for this year are: (1) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón; (2) The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire; (3) The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla by Lauren Willig; (4) Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett; (5) Bellman & Black by Diana Setterfield; and (6) Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. If you’re interested in reading some spooky/gothic books this autumn, be sure to sign up for R.I.P. IX!

Once Upon a Time VIII Challenge Wrap-up

June 22, 2014June 26, 2014Leave a comment

Yesterday marked both the first day of summer and the last day of Carl’s Once Upon a Time VIII challenge.

Participants were encouraged to read books that fit within the genres of fantasy, fairy tales, mythology, and/or folklore. Here’s what I read:

My favorite book in the bunch was either Jackaby (think BBC “Sherlock” plus paranormal beasties for a YA audience) or Mortal Heart (final book in a trilogy about lady assassins in medieval Brittany). My least favorite book was The Grimm Legacy, which had a cool premise but just felt too juvenile for me. If you participated in this event, what were your favorite books? Did you read as much fantasy as you wanted to?

Edited to add: I have now reviewed all the books I read for this challenge; see the links above!

You Book Me All Night Long

Category: Challenges