Aussie Readers discussion

I'm a natural planner and of course I like to have fun with my reading, so I've composed my own personal reading challenge for 2015:

15 QUIRKY/FUN CATEGORIES

A book about a book or books - People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
A controversial book - The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
A re-telling of a myth or folk tale - The Lost Books of The Odyssey by Zachary Mason
A book about a famous person from history whom I would like to have met - Incantation of Frida K. by Kate Braverman
A book that was banned - Ulysses by James Joyce
A book chosen from my TBR shelf by a random number generator - The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A book set in the native country of one of my ancestors - Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore
A novel I was supposed to read at uni but didn't (if you've been to university, you know what I mean!) - Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville
A book that inspired art in another form (film, theatre, song, painting etc.) - The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
A book with a colour in the title - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
A book with the name of a city in the title - The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
A book set in the 1920s - Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A book with the name of a flower in the title - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
A book with a type of animal in the title - The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness
A book about a mythical creature - The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

5 CHALLENGING BOOKS (the ones I always mean to get around to but never do)

A genre I avoid - Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller
A book on a topic about which I know absolutely nothing - The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
A book of literary criticism or theory - The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
A feminist classic - The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
A primary historical source - Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

5 DOOR STOPS

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

That should keep you busy :)

Wow that's a lot of books good luck

Good luck and have fun Sally :)

Sounds like a fun challenge.

Some great books there Sally! Have fun :)

Great challenge Sally. Enjoy :)

I was going to be more relaxed about my reading this year, but I do so love planning! Will let you know how I get on!

Sally wrote: "I was going to be more relaxed about my reading this year, but I do so love planning! Will let you know how I get on!"

I say that every year - but I really REALLY love plotting and planning my reads so fail miserably :)

Sally906 wrote: "Sally wrote: "I was going to be more relaxed about my reading this year, but I do so love planning! Will let you know how I get on!"

I say that every year - but I really REALLY love plotting and p..."

Haha, the Admin involved in the plotting, planning, organizing and execution of one's challenges is a challenge in itself Sally! ...albeit an enjoyable one! ;D

I finished my first challenge book, Incantation of Frida K., a few days ago, and oh my wordy lordy me, what a phenomenal start to the year! It made its way straight into my top ten all-time favourites, it is so astonishingly beautiful, I'm still struggling to find the words to describe it! Every sentence is a work of art.

The funny thing is that it's quite confronting in that Kahlo had to deal with a lot of pain and medical procedures in her life, and normally I hate reading about that sort of thing, but in this book, it didn't bother me at all. The language and emotion is just so uplifting. Highly recommended for fans of literary fiction.

What a fantastic personal challenge. Best of luck with it, and I'll look forward to seeing your comments and reviews.

Thank you, Mary, I think I'll have some fun with it :-)

Great start Sally, Incantation of Frida K., I hope they are all like that for you :)

Amen to that, Julie :-) I'm reading Half of a Yellow Sun now and enjoying it, too.

Sally wrote: "Amen to that, Julie :-) I'm reading Half of a Yellow Sun now and enjoying it, too."

I was living in Nigeria when the Biafran war broke out - I was old enough to be scared as we were evacuated but not old enough to understand why I was scared!

Wow, that really must have been scary!

Looking back I should have been scared but at the time was an adventure

I can imagine being young would have been an advantage in that way, seeing it as an adventure.