2015 - Challenges - Will I? Or Won't I?

I may have over-commited myself when planning my 2014 reading challenges!

I very nearly threw my hands up in despair last week when I started spotting 2015 challenges. I was adamant - NO! Not again.

But then I spotted Behold the Stars British Reading Challenge & Adam's TBR Challenge...and I started wondering....

Did I really do so badly with my 2014 challenges?
And even if I did, does it matter?

Thanks to all those challenges I met some fabulous new bloggers & read lots of great reviews for books I'd like to read one day.

Only one way to find....

To summarise:

My ability to keep my challenge page up to date & link appropriate reviews fell down about August. But with a bit of double-checking and cross-referencing I discovered...

Eclectic Reader Challenge - not as eclectic as I thought I was.
The bulk of my reading in 2014 was either 'award-winning', 'cosy-crime' or 'published this year'. I only read some Gothic books thanks to the Angela Carter Reading Week in June.

Around the World Challenge - success!
I planned to read 4 countries, but managed to read 8 (Australia, England, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, France, India - & half a Russian!) Which makes me a 'casual tourist'.

Adam's TBR Challenge - I only read 4 of my nominated TBR list, although I actually read somewhere between 12-15 books from off my TBR pile anyway!

What's in a Name? Of the 5 categories I only fulfilled one. Although I fulfilled that one, over and over and over again! Who knew that I enjoyed reading books with people's first names in them so much?

Back to the Classics - of the 6 categories - I read more than one book from 5 of them. Even though I read a few war books this year, they were not classics alas.

History Reading Challenge - thanks to Aus-Reading Month & Non-Fiction November I finally finished a book on the Eureka Stockade to fulfill one read in this challenge.

Chunkster Reading Challenge - I read at least 4 chunksters this year - yay me!

Michael's Literary Exploration Challenge - I failed miserably at maintaining a goodreads page, but I did read out of 23 of the 36 categories in the Insane Challenge.

New Year's Resolution Reading Challenge - X

Books on France - big tick - at least 7 books completed.

Foodies Challenge - one book completed - review still to come.

Colour Coded Reading Challenge - 2 books

The Classics Club - 11 more books ticked off my list.

Lessons learnt?

I read classics, I read contemporary. I read historical fiction & non-fiction. I read translations and love books set in other countries. I love joining in readalongs & reading weeks. I read a LOT of Australian books.

So I guess that means I'm in!
In for another year of reading challenges, readalongs and reading weeks - although tailored towards my preferred reading genres and styles.

Behold the Stars: Reading England Challenge

Cambridgeshire - Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf (20th century)

Cheshire - Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

Cornwall - Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (reread) & Basil by Wilkie Collins (person's name)

Cumbra - Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte (woman author)

Derbyshire - Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Devon - The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle (novella)

Gloucestershire - Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee (non-fiction)

Hampshire - Watership Down by Richard Adams (reread) (children's)

Kent - Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens & Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man by Siegfried Sassoon

Lancashire - Mary Barton (19th century) and North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell (chunkster)

London - Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe, The Diary of a Nobody by George & Wheedon Grossmith (humorous),  Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, Night and Day by Virginia Woolf & The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope

All of these books are currently (languishing) on my shelves (or in the piles hidden behind my bedroom mirror!) Most of them are also on my Classics Club list.

The list (currently) consists of 16 books which means that I can also officially join in Adam's TBR Pile Challenge of 12 books from my TBR pile.

Karen's Back to the Classics is also (mostly) covered by the books above (notes in blue).
For the rest - a forgotten classic is Stoner by John Williams, a translation is The Dream by Emile Zola & a play is Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by Ray Lawler (Australian).

On my left sidebar Plethora of Books has not only conceived a project after my own heart, but she has also designed the most exquisite badge ever.
I re-read at least one Austen every year, so it will be a pleasure to join in as time permits with this one.

Lois at You, Me and a Cup of Tea is also hosting a Birthday Reading Challenge. The idea is simply to read a book by an author who has a birthday during each month. Each month she will post a list of possible authors and a review link for that month. Could be fun.

I also plan to join the Australian Women Writers Challenge when they post their 2015 sign up as my reading & reviewing this year proved to be predominately Australian women writers.

Are you joining in any reading challenges in 2015?

Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac

Eugénie Grandet is part of Balzac's much larger collection of works, La Comedie humaine, conceived as a realistic exploration of the Restoration & July Monarchy periods (1814-1848) .
There were 91 completed and 46 uncompleted novels & essays in the collection all told.

Eugénie was first published in 1833. My edition was translated by Katherine Prescott Wormeley.

Balzac uses a lot of very specific detail and description to set the scene in this, his first best selling novel. Many of the descriptions referred to places, items & architectural terms that I could not picture, so I spent an afternoon on google images researching the town and buildings of Samaur. (see my WWW post).

I initially thought this was going to be a Romeo & Juliet story with star-crossed lovers and early, tragic deaths.

However, the tragedy is far more subtle, drawn-out & realistic than Romeo & Juliet as the star-crossed lovers are merely separated by geography & time.

Balzac explores human nature, temperament and the influences of family and circumstance.
The main themes are money & power and the corrupting nature of both.

We follow Eugénie as she suffers for her first and only love. She argues with & defies her father who locks her in her room with nothing but bread and water. Her mother dies, she reconciles with her father but withdraws from society. She gradually takes over her father's business affairs as his health also declines and, in despair we watch Eugenie become more and more like her miserly, niggardly father.

Declining all the joys and happiness that could be had, choosing instead to remember lost love and martyr herself to the miserly life established by her father.

According to wikipedia, Eugénie is content with her lot at the end of the book. I guess, if you consider waiting to die to attain the glories of heaven, 'content with your lot', then so be it, but it seems a rather cold & lonely existence to me.

Eugénie was, sadly, a product of her time. As a young woman, she had no other viable option other than to obey her father and accept her lot. Meanwhile, young Charles could head off into world, explore, make a fortune and make a life for himself.

This could have had an interesting early feminist twist, except that Balzac also gave Charles an unsatisfying ending - corrupted morality, a loveless marriage and the hollow ambition to get into the court of Charles X. With all his choices and options, cousin Charles still ended up leading a cold and lonely existence.

But perhaps, I'm just a hopeless romantic who thinks that love is the only real consolation in this life!

I read Eugénie Grandet for Paris in July, although it also fulfills several other 2014 reading challenges as well.
If you'd like to check out the best translation of Eugénie for you - visit this fabulous Compare Translations website.

And for the record, I will be reading more Balzac - this was a very satisfying dip into provincial French 19th century life.

The Chateau by William Maxwell

I've had The Chateau on my TBR pile for some time now, but Paris in July gave me the excuse I needed to read it sooner rather than later.

The evocative cover attracted me straight away as it drew me into post WW2 France. I was expecting to be overwhelmed by love and tenderness and joie de vivre.

But this was a quieter book than even I anticipated.

"He studied the man's face, and the face declined to say whether the person it belonged to was honest or dishonest."

Harold and Barbara Rhodes are a gentle, sensitive American couple travelling in France after the war. Conscious that they don't belong, they try everything they can to learn the ropes & fit in. Many of the little drama's in this book are created by their inability to understand French ways. They're astute enough to know something is amiss, but the language and cultural barriers are simply too intangible and complex for them to navigate confidently.

"Though there is only one way to say 'Thank you' in French, there are many ways of being rude, and you don't stop and ask yourself if rudeness is sincere. The rudeness is intentional, and harsh, and straight from the closed heart."

The Chateau is full of little awkward moments & little misunderstandings. The insecurities of traveling in a foreign country are beautifully detailed. But also, the unexpected delights - the walk, the detour, the lunch, the party invite that becomes a memorable highlight.

The French countryside and Paris came alive under Maxwell's light touch.

 "Mont-Saint-Michel....Rising above the salt marshes and the sand flats, it hung, dreamlike, mysterious, ethereal."

The melancholy the comes over the traveller as their time is coming to an end was also beautifully described.

"It was alright before, and now it isn't....Home, I'm talking about....I didn't know about any other place. Or any other kind of people. I didn't have to make comparisons. I will never be intact again."

The story was divided into two distinct parts. The majority of the book followed Harold & Barbara on their journey through France. All their experiences and decisions radiated out from their expectations and involvement with the chateau and the people they met there.

Part two was a final, curious chapter, that I ended up reading twice.

"...answers may clarify but they do not change anything."

Maxwell steps out of the story & provides a question and answer chapter that 'clears up' all the little drama's and misunderstandings.

He uses the chapter to highlight just how contrary and nuanced, mundane and bizarre the behaviours of his characters really are. 

The Chateau was not as mesmerising as I thought it might have be, but it's gentle charm has stayed with me for several weeks now. 

I see more Maxwell on my horizon!

This book also counts for Dreaming in France, Back to the Classics & Books on France Reading Challenge.

The Reef by Edith Wharton

I'm not sure how I'm going to review The Reef without revealing spoilers, so read ahead at your own peril.

Firstly, I'm not even sure if I enjoyed The Reef!

I read The Age of Innocence, House of Mirth, Custom of the County and Ethan Frome in my twenties. I remember loving them, especially TAOI. I loved the angst, the tortured social niceties, the scruples, the rumours, the temptations & foibles of an age long gone.

Somehow The Reef seemed to just miss all these marks.

I found it difficult to get into. I struggled to truly empathise or feel for any of the main characters. The main love affair felt contrived; the young lovers were obviously all wrong and the shocking affair that stained all the characters by the end simply felt ridiculous!

I also didn't get that sense of time & place in The Reef, like I did with her other novels that were based in New York & the US. The French countryside around Givré somehow felt Americanised, although maybe that was a deliberate comment on the American influence of Anna on her environment?

So why did I read it all the way through?

Hope - that I would find a connection or a way in.

Memory - of how much I had loved Wharton's previous works.

Faith - in the pulling power of Paris.

Trust - the main theme of the book and also my trust in Wharton.

Writing - it's impossible to describe how wonderfully Wharton writes. It's just that this time, I loved the writing, but felt that it missed heart and soul. Maybe I was too busy admiring the writing to properly engage with the story?

But the ending? What was with that ending?

I knew that Wharton liked to leave her endings open & ambiguous from old. I also knew that happy endings were not her forte.

But Jimmy Brance again at the end? The young man who was tied up with Darrow, Sophy and Lady Ulrica at Mrs Murrett's place before the novel begins.
How did he become attached to Sophy's sister at the end?
What is Wharton trying to say by reminding us of the early chapters where Darrow explains his experiences with different types of ladies?

I'm all confusion and a mess of unresolved story lines.

I'd love to know what you, dear reader, thinks of all this.
What did you make of The Reef?
Can you clear up my muddle?

Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb

I can't believe I've let this gem of a book languish on my TBR pile for two years.

Parisians is a wonderfully rich, engaging, engrossing stroll through the lesser known stories that populate the history of Paris.

I say stroll deliberately.
Robb has chosen stories that highlight the streets and buildings of Paris.

We see a young Napoleon visiting Paris on family business, strolling around the Palais-Royal and losing his virginity.

We see Charles-Axel Guillaumot and his work (obsession) with the Catacombs - the map of under Paris was more complete & accurate than the one above ground at that time!

We see Marie-Antoinette wandering around lost, trying to find the rendezvous point for their infamous near-escape from Paris.

We see the real life story behind Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo.

And we see Madame Zola view Paris from atop the brand new Eiffel Tower & learn of her husband's affair.

Each story is a snapshot. A fleshed out, personal glimpse into one small section of a life, a street, a house, a quartier. Robb's storytelling abilities brings each vignette to life - full of the complexities, uncertainties & messiness of real life.

The only problem I have with the book is the double page map at the beginning - it's too small to read the names of the streets and building properly! (And I have the original HB from 2010, not the smaller PB that came out later).

I like to know which area of Paris each chapter is set in. I want my fingers to stroll down the streets and around the buildings along with all the people who populate this book.

I started this book a few days ago in anticipation.

I have been counting down to Zoladdiction hosted by Fanda @Classiclit!

I was very tempted to start one of my books, but decided to do some 'setting the scene' reading instead.

When I discovered that one of the chapters in Parisians was 'Madame Zola', I knew I had found the book to tide me over and get me in the mood.

My knowledge & understanding of Zola is limited to the few introductory bio's in the the few Zola books I have on hand.

I know that he was born April 2, 1840 & given the moniker Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola! I know that he wrote the Rougon-Macquart series of books as well as the famous J'accuse letter in defence of Alfred Dreyfus.

He married Alexandrine, but had an affair and 2 children with Jeanne. In one bio I read I was informed that Alexandrine forgave him his indiscretions and helped to raise the 2 children.

Which made the final paragraph of Parisians: Madame Zola even more interesting.

Robb finished this chapter with an excerpt of a letter from Alexandrine to Jeanne after Émile's death...

The demonstrations of homage to our dear great hero were truly magnificent. The future bodes well for the father of our dear children. One day, they will want to find out all they can about the labours to which he devoted his life before it was cut short. I hope they will understand that by the manner in which they comport themselves they will help to preserve the glory of the name Zola. You will be there to direct them and to teach them many things - unfortunately far fewer than I might have taught them, for you did not know him as well as I, who lived at his side for thirty-eight years. 

His violent death has struck us both a cruel blow, and in our suffering, the affection of his children has been a great happiness to me. I feel as though their affection comes from him, and this makes me cherish them even more than I would have thought possible.

Ouch! That bitch-slap still reverberates 112 years later!

On that note...which Zola to get stuck into?

I have pb copies of Nana, The Ladies' Delight (Au Bonheur des Dames) and The Dream. I also have Germinal on my epad partially read (I dislike reading the screen which is the only reason I haven't finished it.

Any suggestions?
Parisians also counts as a book from my TBR pile, Around the World & Books on France Reading Challenges.

2014 Challenges

It's that time of year - when the New Year challenge call goes out to those of us in blogger land.

Will we, or won't we join up? How many challenges? Will I keep to my plan? Or is simply something else to fail at?

So far I've avoided yearly challenges in my 5 years of blogging.
I love a read-along or a special event, like Austen in August or Pym reading week.

I adore The Classics Club with it's five year, open-ended plan to read 50 classics (or in my case 75). It's something I would have done anyway, but the CC actually gives me a purpose and reason  for those times I might feel a little unmotivated.

Given how much I've enjoyed the CC, I decided it was time to join in a few of the 2014 challenges on offer that might help me stay focused and give me a structure to fall back on.

Firstly, Adam @Roof Beam Reader is hosting The Official 2014 TBR Pile Challenge. His challenge is simple and goes like this...

This  challenge was started after I realized I had such an issue buying books but never reading them (not because I don’t read – but because I have such a book buying problem!). So, year after year, books would sit on my shelf, untouched, and I would end up reading newer ones first. I realized I was missing out on a lot of great books because I let them sit there gathering dust instead of reading them as I bought them.

The Goal: To finally read 12 books from your “to be read” pile (within 12 months).

Obviously, to anyone who has seen the pile of unread books by my bed, this challenge and I are a match made in heaven.

But because I like to make simple things difficult, I've decided to combine more than one challenge!

Onto Shelley Rae @Book'd Out and her Eclectic Reader Challenge. 

The idea is to read 12 books, one from each category listed below. I figured I had enough books in my TBR pile to cover the first 11 categories easily!

*  You can read your chosen titles in any order, at any pace, just complete the challenge by December 31st 2014 to be eligible for the prize drawing.

Categories

1. Award Winning  - The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (New Zealand)
2. True Crime (Non Fiction) 

3. Romantic Comedy 

4. Alternate History Fiction 

5. Graphic Novel 

6. Cosy Mystery Fiction 

7. Gothic Fiction 

8. War/Military Fiction 

9. Anthology 

10. Medical Thriller Fiction 

11. Travel (Non Fiction) 

12. Published in 2014 - The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

But to make life REALLY interesting, I discovered that Shannon @Giraffe Days is hosting an Around the World Challenge for 2014.

The idea is to read books set in "a specific country or region with a noticeable attention to location of environment."

She has allowed for different participation levels by creating 4 levels - the happy camper (min of 2 books), the wayfarer (min of 4 books), casual tourist (min of 6 books) & the seasoned traveller (12 book challenge).

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
Parisians by Graham Robb (France)
The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (India)

The list below makes me a Wayfarer, but I'm sure I will read more books from around the world as the year progresses.

My list is beginning to look a little something like this...

1. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (Award Winning, TBR & North America)

2. Jerilderee Letter by Ned Kelly (True Crime, TBR & Australia)

3. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (Rom Com & TBR)

4. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (Alt History & TBR)

5. The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman (Graphic Novel & TBR)

6. Maisie Dobbs: Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear (Cosy Mystery, TBR & Britain)

7. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (Gothic, TBR & Classics Club)

8. Parade's End by Ford Maddox Ford (War, TBR & Classics Club)

9. The Philosophy of Food edited by David Kaplan (Anthology, TBR)

10. Next by Michael Crichton (this is the tricky one - Medical Thriller - my least favourite genre! This book is officially on Mr Books TBR pile and not mine, but it's in the house, unread by me, and as close as I'll  probably get !)

11. Thin Paths by Julia Blackburn (Travel, TBR & Italy)

12. TBA in 2014!

Adam wisely suggested having a couple of back up titles in case one or two of the above turn out to be duds or not do-able. 

1. The White Guard by Mikhail Bulgakov (War, TBR, Russia & Classics Club)

2. Sherlock Holmes (Cosy Mystery, TBR, Britain)

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Award Winning, TBR, France)

4. Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk (Award, TBR, Turkey)

All the books in the challenges below are also titles from my TBR piles! I'm hoping to really put a dint in it this year (as long as I resist the urge to keep adding to it!!)

What's in a Name? is being hosted by The Worm Hole.

The idea is to read a book that fits into the categories creatively designed by the host.

This year, the categories are (with some of my possibilities in brackets):

1.  A Reference to Time (11/22/63, Parade's End and Next)

2.  A Position of Royalty (Winter King, The Sun King, Children of the King)

3.  A Number Written in Letters (Ninety-Three, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness)

4.  A Forename or Names (Olive Kitteridge, An Abundance of Katherines, Elizabeth: My Royal Story, Eugenie Grandet, Villette, Nana & Maisie Dobbs: Elegy For Eddie)

5.  A Type or Element of Weather (Cold Spring Harbor, Summer Lies, Winter Journal)

Karen at Books and Chocolate is now hosting Back to the Classics.

Books must be at least 50 years old and fit the categories below:

1. A 20th Century Classic ( To the Lighthouse, Olive Kitteridge )
2. A 19th Century Classic (The Jerilderee Letters, Eugenie Grandet, Sherlock Holmes, No Name)
3. A Classic by a Woman Author (Villette)
4. A Classic in Translation  If English is not your primary language, then books originally published in English are acceptable.  You could also read the book in its original language if you are willing and able to do so. (something by Dostoyevski, Balzac (Eugenie Grandet) Proust, Emilé Zola (Nana) or Mikhail Bulgakov)
5. A Wartime Classic  2014 will be the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I.  Any book relating to a war is fine -- WWI, WWII, the French Revolution, the War of the Worlds -- your choice. (Parade's End, Ninety-Three, Regeneration)
6. A Classic by an Author Who Is New To You This can be any author whose works you have not read before.  It doesn't necessarily have to be an author you've never heard of.  (The Chateau by William Maxwell, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)

There are a number of other 2014 challenges around that my reading list above (& remaining TBR piles around the house) could also apply to. 

Such as:

Fanda @Classiclit who is hosting the History Reading Challenge (London by Peter Ackroyd, Culture & Imperialism by Edward W Said, The Boy: A Holocaust Story by Dan Porat, 1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow by Adam Zamoyski, Marie Curie).

Michael +Literary Exploration who is hosting his annual Literary Exploration Challenge (it should be easy for me to complete the easy challenge, but a little more effort will be required to get through the next two levels - Click here for my Goodreads page for this challenge.

Joy's Book Blog and her New Years Resolution Reading Challenge (maybe I will finally tackle my 2013 What Colour is Your Parachute? book)

There's always the Chunkster Reading Challenge (The Luminaries, The Brothers Karamazov, No Name by Wilkie Collins, A Place of Greater Safety, Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee, The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee) 

Words and Peace's Books on France Reading Challenge (Father Gariot, Eugenie Grandet, The Most Beautiful Walk in the World, Paris at the End of the World, The Chateau, Chronicles of Old Paris, The Flaneur, The Devil's Pool, Indiana, The Reef, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Louise de la Valliere, Swann's Way, Parisians by Graham Robb).

The Foodie's Read (The Omnivore's Dilemma, Cooked & Season to Taste) 

Or the Colour Coded Reading Challenge (The White Earth, Olive Kitteridge, The Colour Purple, The Red Necklace, The Silver Blade, The Blue Castle) to keep me going!

Am I crazy? Have I been too ambitious? Or will it be a fun way to get through some of the books on my TBR pile in 2014?

Wish me luck !