Well, February seemed to just fly by. I finished only 4 books, and while I didn't really like 2 of them, those two were both quite short. So except for some bizarre stories and a short, uninteresting stay in Switzerland, most of my month was spent in Asia. First in early twentieth century rural China with all the hardships that entailed, then to pre-WWII Japan. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with the 4 sisters of a dying aristocratic family, and it's put me in 'Japanese mood'. I'm looking forward to reading much more Japanese Lit in the coming months.
The Books: (clicking on the title will take you to my review)
The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
The bridegroom was a dog - Yoko Tawada
The Makioka Sisters - Junichiro Tanizaki
Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
As for the Reading Challenges, February saw the end of the Classics Challenge. I didn't quite make it but 4 out of 5 isn't too bad (at least that's my take and I'm sticking with it!).
Progress in the other challenges as follows: (see sidebar for links)
Chunkster Challenge - 1 completed, with 3 more to go. Still do-able by the end of June.
TBR Challenge - only 1 out of 12 completed so far but if I can read 2 this month I'll be caught up.
Japan Challenge - 2 completed so I'm on target for 12 for the year.
O'Canada Challenge - um, 0 completed so far. But I'm going to try and add some Canadian reads in soon, I hope.
And then because I can't seem to get enough, I've been working on a list for Joy's Non-Fiction Five Challenge to start in May. And I can't quite believe it but I'm also considering the Banned Books Challenge! Call me crazy! If I do join these though I'm definitely going to need some books that overlap with the other challenges too, otherwise it will truly be impossible.
For my reading in general, I usually don't do well reading more than one book at a time. It's usually better if I can concentrate only on one. But I'm going to try having a book of short stories to dip into on the go as well. We'll see how that goes. And I really want to start my Harry Potter rereads this month. But next up, I'm thinking it's time to jump into another chunkster, and I think my mood is leaning towards Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Wish me luck!
You're crazy! Ok, not really, but you asked for it. ;) I'm about to post my list for Joy's challenge, too, so I'm not one to talk. Good luck with all your challenges. BTW, I just finished the first Harry Potter re-read. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't find it boring. I guess it's been long enough that I'd forgotten a lot of the minor (yet interesting) details.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reviews of the 4 February books. Anyway, if you like talking about books, I recommend that Reading & Books Discussion Forum.
ReplyDeleteLes, LOL! Yes, I did ask for it! That's good about Harry. I've never reread them so it'll hopefully be the same for me. I know I've forgotten a lot of the details.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Reader Scott and for the link to the Reading Forum. I'll try to check it out when I have some time.
ReplyDeleteI think you have done quite well on your challenges! Lately I seem to bail out early on! I am inerested in reading The Makioka Sisters, too.
ReplyDeleteWow, you're really challenge nuts, aren't you? I'm planning to do the Nonfiction Five, if I can get my act together. It's so far away that I don't want to come up with a list, yet, though.
ReplyDeleteDanielle, it was a good read- a nice slice of life from the time period.
ReplyDeleteNancy, yup! :P That's why I haven't been in a hurry to make up my list for the Non-Fiction Five. But the Banned Book Challenge is already underway so I better get my act together this week on that one.