The Reading Challenge Group discussion

Record your progress in the readathon here! Runs until midnight on December 31st! Happy reading!

At pg 400 of the pillars of the earth

I am goanna try and finish up 4 books/ short stories. The Goose Girl, Mansfield Park, Drum Taps and The Color War. We'll see how I do, as I have 3 days of work yet and lots of packing!

my goal for now is just to try finish Around the World in Eighty Days, and hopefully another book, but im not sure which one yet.
I wish everyone a good readathon! :)

Just started Deadhouse Gates.

I am halfway through From Heaven Lake and about 70% through The Compleet Molesworth. I have added couple more books to my pile- a German book I got used about the life of a country doctor(female) in the 30's, The Lost World by A. Conan Doyle, and I might have the chance to a least start Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis.

I'm having trouble settling on one thing right now, so I'm flipping back and forth between the Dead Travel Fast and Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4). I didn't intend to pick up two books on vampires at the same time, but they're quite different so it's working out.

Ali, are the Sookie books good? I've heard mixed things about them. Sounds like some interesting reading Rose!

Stella, I've wanted to read that for a whike, but never got to it. Sonya, got a real chunkster there! Hooe you enjoy your book Joanna!

How are you enjoying From Heaven Lake, Rosemarie? I've got that in a book pile around here somewhere.

I am enjoying From Heaven Lake, since it is not a typical travel book. Vikram Seth decided he wanted to visit Tibet after studying in China for a year, and he did it on a very low budget- and was woefully unprepared for the cold at high altitudes.

Jenny wrote: "Ali, are the Sookie books good? I've heard mixed things about them. Sounds like some interesting reading Rose!"

They're ok. Kind of chick-lit with paranormal romance, really fluffy. I think I'm calling it quits after this one. The first couple books were fun enough, but it's getting boring now.

I'm hoping to finish America's First Daughter before the end of the year!

Thanks, Rosemarie. That sounds interesting. I love travel stories.

I've got America's First Daughter on my GR TBR. It looks interesting, too.

Gah! I love readathons but they make me want to read more books!

Conclave by Robert Harris finished - brilliant but one of those books you don't want to finish but are desperate to know what happens!

Renee wrote: "Thanks, Rosemarie. That sounds interesting. I love travel stories.

I've got America's First Daughter on my GR TBR. It looks interesting, too.

Gah! I love readathons but they make me want to rea..."

It's pretty good!

I finished The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature around 2 a.m. and I'm on page 48 of The Bookshop on the Corner. That's books 77 and 78 of my goal to 80 books.

I was hoping to finish Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. I am only about 10 percent finished. Got a late start on the readathon. Too much of the Christmas rush.

I finished The Compleet Molesworth and enjoyed it. The combination of writing and illustration give us a funny look at the life of a schoolboy in 50's England, from the viewpoint of Nigel Molesworth, a vigorous writer and terrible speller. It is on the Guardian humor list.

Finished both of my vampire novels!

I have finished Maria Chapdelaine by Louis Hémon. It is a classic novel from Quebec and tells of life in the northern settlements. It is a bittersweet novel with a moving story.

At page 500 of IQ84 now which is a little bit behind where I wanted to be, but such is life when visiting inlaws.

I only managed about 30 pages as Christmas turned my baby crazy!

Crazy Christmas Baby?
Sorry to hear that, Camille. Although my mind has created all sorts of Crazy Christmas Baby scenarios. Too bad I can't draw. ... And I hope it wasn't as bad for you as my imagination. :p


Chase-
It took me forever to get through 1Q84 in spite of the fact that I'm a huge Murakami fan. It's just so long!

At page 97 of Invisible Man now. Really hoping to finish it by 31 Dec...

Renee wrote: "Crazy Christmas Baby?
Sorry to hear that, Camille. Although my mind has created all sorts of Crazy Christmas Baby scenarios. Too bad I can't draw. ... And I hope it wasn't as bad for you as my ima..."

It wasn't so bad, just very exhausting :-) he refused to sleep all day on Christmas Day, only managed to get him to sleep during a car drive. Poor thing is 6 months old. And as a typical baby, what he liked the most was wrapping paper and the cheapest toy he could find. He also doesn't care for roast potatoes but would rather gnaw broccoli. He can have all the broccoli he wants, mine included!!
Now I am curious to know what you imagined!

My daughter has an 8 and a half month old girl. We all got together on Christmas Eve, 6 adults, her five year old cousin and baby. She was on Mummy's lap the old time she wasn't in the high chair. She ate turnip and liked it. Usually she is not so clingy, but she is getting a tooth.
So far I have finished 2 books. I plan to finish the third book today and it from there.

Camille, at least he was not like me and prefered the boxes to all toys!
Have some interesting books here! I hope everyone is enjoying them! So far, I have finished two of my four books, The Color War and The Goose Girl. Working on Mansfield Park, and will probably read Drum Taps tomorrow.

Wow, both of you are amazing. I, on the other hand, will probably only finish 1 of my 3. After a crazy Xmas, my plan was to relax until January 1st. That plan was foiled by my crazy, impulsive son who decided to propose to his girlfriend on New Years Day.

The plan, according to my son, is for me to host a New Years Day brunch at my house in order to get her over so she won't suspect anything.

When asked WHY am I hosting the brunch (emphasis on I) - my son said, "Nobody cooks better than you".

How can I even be upset at that

Marianne, that is certainly exciting news, and a great compliment for your cooking. Have fun.

I finished From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet by Vikram Seth which describes a journey he took from China to Tibet, Nepal and his home in Delhi when he was a student, on the cheap, in 1983. I really enjoyed it, since it isn't a typical travel book. (Book 3)

I am not near finishing any of the other books, but The Bell Jar is the shortest, so I hope to finish it before the end of the readathon.

I am starting The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle, since I usually read more than one book at a time. That way I don't rush through a book and promptly forget what I have just read.

@Jenny, the cat claims the boxes, they aren't forgotten :D

@Marianne, that's great news!

I now have 100 pages to read to finish my book, I think I can do it!

I'm halfway finished with The Bookshop on the Corner. I'm making progress with Cheaper by the Dozen and I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. Both are short and I'm hoping to reach 80 books by tomorrow evening.

I finished America's First Daughter!

*clapping* Great job! Was it good all the way through?

It lagged a bit in the middle, but I enjoyed it a lot!

107/100 for 2016. Got slogged with 2 Dickens novels. They are going to be finished in 2017. 2016 was a great reading year. New authors, new genres, new reading Friends. Merry Reading 2017 to you all!

Camille, hahaha no they are definitely not forgotten then! Yay for finishing your book!
Marianne, yay! Congrats to your son, and what a nice complement to you!
Rosemarie, How is The Lost World so far?
Martha, yay! Good luck with your goals!
Lynnette, good job in exceeding your goal!

I have read one chapter of Lost World and the book is going to be fun-a shorter version of Jules Verne novels, I think.

I finished Middlemarch! What a terrific read.

I agree. Middlemarch is one of her best books, imo

Just finished All Things Cease To Appear. Wow!!!! A very intense book. I'm hoping to read at least 1 more!!!!

I finished The Bell Jar and started N or M? by Agatha Christie, a familiar favourite. I am making progress in The Lost World by Doyle.

Finished Curious Minds. Hope to get 2 more done by end of year.

Finished four books so far.

Everyone is doing so well, great work!

I finished The Bookshop on the Corner. That was book #78 and it was a lot of fun. Just two more books to go and I hope to finish them in the morning.

Two of my three read but don't think I am going to make it through Musicophilia by Sunday - a book to bridge the years perhaps.

I finished I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. Not the typical kind of book that I read, but I did end up enjoying it.

I'm hoping to finish Cheaper By the Dozen tonight and finish up this marathon.

I finished the behemoth! Done with 1Q84. Despite how confusing and repetitive the language is, I really enjoyed it.