Monday, November 24, 2014

book challenge update

My reward for working all weekend once in a while is that I get the Monday off instead.  Score!  Lord, I needed a day off today.  When Dulcie left for nursery, I went back to bed with a cup of tea and the book I'm currently reading as part of the Winter Book Challenge.  What a treat!

I had been struggling to get into The Past Is Myself, the autobiography of an English woman who lived in Germany during the Second World War, but I'm loving it now.  It's really a fascinating read (I didn't know much about the opposition to Nazism within Germany before) and this morning I was gasping and weeping all over the shop.  I think I'll read a bit more later.

This is book three of the challenge for me.  East, West had some fantastic stories and some that did nothing for me.  Buddha Da was an easy read and good for taking on holiday, but a bit too kitchen sinky for my liking and maybe at that awkward age of seeming dated more than set in its own time?  But it was all right.  After those two books, I started reading The Cat Who Could Read Backwards.  Two chapters in, I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it, so I was quite relieved when my sister picked it up and noticed it was only 190 pages long and therefore not eligible for the challenge!  Whoops!  I had pretty much decided to abandon it anyway when I lost it somewhere in my sister's house, so that was that.  Now I need to find another first-in-a-series-new-to-me book, or tweak my other categories as The Coroner's Lunch is first in a series too.  My sister was recommending The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie, so I might go for that.  Plenty of time to think about it anyway as I have another ten or so books to get through as well.

My other problem with the book challenge is that I've already got two contenders for the freebie category that I was saving for emergencies.  I am itching to read I Capture The Castle (thanks for the recommendation, Lynsey!) and In Cold Blood.  Which to choose...?  I guess I can wait until February for one of them.  What with Christmas, I'm sure February will be here in no time.  Better get reading!

4 comments:

  1. The book you lost was located under the bed. I have put it aside for the in-laws!

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  2. Ooh, the book you're reading sounds fascinating!

    I loved The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. I need to buy the latest book in the series.

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    1. I finished it this morning. It was amazing! I realise I should have mentioned in my post that it also made me laugh quite a lot. There's obviously a fair amount of horror in there, but it's mostly about people as indivviduals and is surprisingly positive throughout. I'm so glad the challenge prompted me to read such a great book that had been unopened on my shelves for so many years!

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