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2024 Reads & Personal Challenges > 2024 LauraT "upside-down" challenge

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message 1: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
Why Upside-down? Because I've realised that these last years I’ve read…too much?
Is it possible to read too much? I’ve decided that it is. Too many books, and I can’t remember almost no one of those. So, this year the challenge with myself is to give quality a priority over quantity. So, no more than 100/150 books in a year. Not a slim quantity, but I want still to “think” on what I read…


message 2: by spoko (new)

spoko (spokospoko) | 158 comments This is interesting. I haven’t settled on a number for next year yet, but I’m also thinking I’d like to read fewer books than I did this year. For me it’s more about making space for other things (I’m finding more and more interesting miniseries-style podcasts, e.g.). But still, I think fewer will be better.


message 3: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
spoko wrote: "This is interesting. I haven’t settled on a number for next year yet, but I’m also thinking I’d like to read fewer books than I did this year. For me it’s more about making space for other things (..."

Also this is important: I've started again attending my libraray: we talk about books, still it takes time to go there! And I also would like to travel a bit this coming year...


message 4: by Leslie (new)

Leslie | 16369 comments LauraT wrote: "Why Upside-down? Because I've realised that these last years I’ve read…too much?
Is it possible to read too much? I’ve decided that it is. Too many books, and I can’t remember almost no one of thos..."


An admirable goal! I also tend to read too much in your sense - I have always excused the flaw by saying it lets me reread with more enjoyment. A few "new" books stick with me but a sadly large number fall into the forgettable (sp?) category.

Despite my recognizing this problem, I doubt that I will cut back my reading - my solution is to reread (though I tend to reread books I actually do recall so it isn't a true solution!). I do find that analysis and/or group discussion helps me both read more carefully and remember the book better. That was one reason I got involved in GoodReads, hoping to recapture something of my literature classes in school...

Anyway, I wish you good reading in the upcoming year :)


message 5: by Damini (new)

Damini | 75 comments Great idea, Laura! I've been struggling with the same, any time someone asks me about my favourite books and why I liked them so much, it seems I can no longer remember it because I haven't re-read in a long time. Reading book after book and then forgetting them after a bit feels so much like doomscrolling on social media, just an endless consumption of content with no permanence. I'll probably give this a shot too in the upcoming year. Good luck to you!


message 6: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
Damini wrote: "Great idea, Laura! I've been struggling with the same, any time someone asks me about my favourite books and why I liked them so much, it seems I can no longer remember it because I haven't re-read..."

Thanks Damini!!!


message 7: by LauraT (last edited Jan 16, 2024 02:02AM) (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
Ok, 2024 started with these:
1 Francesco Abate Il misfatto della tonnara pag 303 ***1/2
2 Rupert Holmes Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide pag 389 ***
3 Riccardo Santagati I Delitti di Castelmorte 1 pag 234 ***1/2
4 Susan Abulhawa Mornings in Jenin pag 352 *****
5 Elena Gianini Belotti Dalla parte delle bambine pag 196 ***1/2
Riccardo Santagati Neri fiori d'arancio 2 pag 196
Winston Graham The Loving Cup pag 324
Ann Patchett These Precious Days: Essays pag 320


Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 8: by LauraT (last edited Jan 22, 2024 12:43AM) (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
6 Ghassan Kanafani Returning to Haifa pag 86 ****
7 Riccardo Santagati Neri fiori d'arancio 2 pag 196 ***
8 Winston Graham The Loving Cup pag 324 ***
9 Ann Patchett These Precious Days: Essays pag 320 ***
Anonimo Storia di un tagliabambù pag 101
James McBride The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store pag 385
Barbara Kingsolver Demon Copperhead pag 711


Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 9: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
10 Anonimo Storia di un tagliabambù pag 101 ***
11 James McBride The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store pag 385 ****
12 Riccardo Santagati Ricordi di un delitto pag 205 ***
13 Elisabetta Cametti Il regista. 29 ore per non morire pag 380 ***
14 Marina Sereni I giorni della nostra vita: Voci femminili ritrovate vol. 1 pag 250 ****
15 Han Kang L’ora di greco pag 163 ***
16 W. Somerset Maugham Up at the Villa pag 209 ***1/2
17 Stephen King Finders Keepers pag 544 ****
18 Elisabetta Cametti Caino pag 482 ***
19 S. Yizhar La rabbia del vento pag 82 *****
20 Stephen King End of Watch 3 pag 482 ***1/2
21 M.C. Beaton Something Borrowed, Someone Dead pag 304 **1/2
22/140 Claire Keegan Foster pag 128 ***1/2
Barbara Kingsolver Demon Copperhead pag 711
M.C. Beaton The Blood of an Englishman pag 294
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 10: by LauraT (last edited Mar 01, 2024 01:27AM) (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
23 Eduardo Scarpetta Miseria e nobiltà pag 92 ***1/2
24 Goldie Goldbloom On Division pag 288 ***1/2
25 Barbara Kingsolver Demon Copperhead pag 711 ***1/2
26 M.C. Beaton The Blood of an Englishman pag 294 **1/2
27 Julio Cortázar Bestiario pag 156 ***
28/140 Dorothy Strachey Olivia pag 135 ***
Stephanie Storey Oil and Marble pag 362
Barbara Perna Annabella Abbondante. Il passato è una curiosa creatura (La giudice ficcanaso Vol. 3) pag 443
Winston Graham The Twisted Sword: A Novel of Cornwall, 1815 pag 656


message 11: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
28 Dorothy Strachey Olivia pag 135 ***
29 Stephanie Storey Oil and Marble pag 362 **
30 Barbara Perna Annabella Abbondante. Il passato è una curiosa creatura (La giudice ficcanaso Vol. 3) pag 443 ***
31/140 Anna Nerkagi Aniko pag 154 ***1/2
Elena Molini La piccola farmacia letteraria pag 276
Winston Graham The Twisted Sword: A Novel of Cornwall, 1815 pag 656


message 12: by LauraT (last edited Mar 15, 2024 05:35AM) (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
32 Elena Molini La piccola farmacia letteraria pag 276 ***1/2
33 Juan Gómez-Jurado Tutto brucia pag 499 ***
34 Grazia Deledda Cosima pag 176 ***
35 Jane Gardam Old Filth pag 290 ***1/2
36 Alba de Céspedes L'anima degli altri pag 136 ***1/2
William Shakespeare King Henry VI, Part 1 pag 360
Elena Molini Piccola libreria con delitto pag 324
Winston Graham The Twisted Sword: A Novel of Cornwall, 1815 pag 656


message 13: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
37 William Shakespeare King Henry VI, Part 1 pag 360 ****
38 Winston Graham The Twisted Sword: A Novel of Cornwall, 1815 pag 656 ***
39 Pearl Buck Lettera da Pechino pag 225 ***1/2
40 Elena Molini Piccola libreria con delitto pag 324 ***
41 Elizabeth Strout The Burgess Boys pag 352 ****
42 Josephine Tey The Franchise Affair pag 304 ***1/2
43 John Steinbeck East of Eden pag 736 *****
44 Grace Paley The Little Disturbances of Man pag 192 **1/2
Josephine Tey To Love and Be Wise pag 256
Giorgio Basani L'airone pag 209
Grace Paley Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Stories pag 204


Winston Graham Bella Poldark 12 pag 704


message 14: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
45 Josephine Tey To Love and Be Wise pag 256 ***1/2
46 Grace Paley Enormous Changes at the Last Minute: Stories pag 204 **1/2
47/140 Giorgio Bassani L'airone pag 209 ***
Josephine Tey The Singing Sands pag 256
Kristin Hannah The Great Alone pag 576
Winston Graham Bella Poldark 12 pag 704


message 15: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
48 Sandro Batinti Forse un giorno pag 48 ***1/2
49 Josephine Tey The Singing Sands pag 256 ***1/2
50 Kristin Hannah The Great Alone pag 576 ***
51/140 Agatha Christie The Murder of Roger Ackroyd pag 288 ****
Jane Gardam The Man in the Wooden Hat 2 pag 273
François Morlupi Formule mortali pag 400
Winston Graham Bella Poldark 12 pag 704
Sándor Márai La donna giusta pag 444
Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 16: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
52 Jane Gardam The Man in the Wooden Hat 2 pag 273 ***1/2
53 François Morlupi Formule mortali pag 400 ***
54 Winston Graham Bella Poldark 12 pag 704 ***1/2
55 Michele Capaccioni Cinque Ciulertola. Delle dinamiche dominanti e dell’essenza: cinque racconti in libertà pag 208 **1/2
56 Jane Gardam Last Friends pag 241 ***1/2
57 Elizabeth Gaskell Cranford pag 257 ***1/2
Chiara Valerio Chi dice e chi tace pag 288
Helen Humphreys Wild Dogs pag 194
Evelyn Waugh Decline and Fall Dal 9 aprile pag 300

Sándor Márai La donna giusta pag 444
Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 17: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
58 Chiara Valerio Chi dice e chi tace pag 288 ****
59 Helen Humphreys Wild Dogs pag 194 ****
60 François Morlupi Il colbacco di Sofia: La nuova indagine del commissario Ansaldi RICONTROLLA pag 465 ***
61 Flora Thompson Lark Rise 1 pag 332 ***
62 Biovanni Balcet Un uomo mite. E altri viaggi pag 128 ***1/2
63 Adrián N. Bravi Adelaida pag 144 ****
64 Paolo Alessandro Lombardi Conversazione con Silvana Sonno pag 126 ***1/2
Evelyn Waugh Decline and Fall pag 300
Flora Thompson Over to Candleford pag 192
Sándor Márai La donna giusta pag 444

Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 18: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
65 Evelyn Waugh Decline and Fall pag 300 ***
66 Flora Thompson Over to Candleford pag 192 ***
67 Sándor Márai La donna giusta pag 444 ***1/2
68 Flora Thompson Candleford Green 3 pag 224 ***
69/140 Valeria Parrella Piccoli miracoli e altri tradimenti pag 103 ***1/2
Zadie Smith The Fraud pag 464
Rosa Teruzzi La ballata dei padri infedeli pag 160
Nita Prose The Mystery Guest pag 400

Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 19: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
70 Zadie Smith The Fraud pag 464 ***
71/140 Rosa Teruzzi La ballata dei padri infedeli pag 160 ***1/2
Nita Prose The Mystery Guest pag 400
Maria Corti L'ora di tutti pag 336
Piergiorgio Pulixi Per un'ora d'amore pag 385


Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 20: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
72 Maria Corti L'ora di tutti pag 336 **1/2
73 Nita Prose The Mystery Guest pag 400 ***
74 William Shakespeare King Henry VI, Part 2 pag 500 ****
Premio Sereni Analogico pag 100 *
75 Mario Coletti Notte di neve al confine pag 350 ***1/2
Premio Sereni Canicola pag 170 **1/2
76 Hisashi Kashiwai The Kamogawa Food Detectives 1 pag 208 ***
77 Piergiorgio Pulixi Per un'ora d'amore pag 385 ***
78 Luis Alberto Urrea The House of Broken Angels pag 326 ***
79 Alice Basso Una festa in nero pag 320 ***1/2
80 Anne Enright The Wren, the Wren pag 278 ***
81 Sarah Orne Jewett Deephaven pag 305 ***1/2
82 Sarah Orne Jewett The Country of the Pointed Firs pag 224 ***
83 Alessandro Robecchi Cinque blues per la banda Monterossi pag 272 ***1/2
84 Alessandro Robecchi Pesci piccoli pag 448 ***1/2
85/140 Michael McDowell Gilded Needles pag 342 ***1/2
Selby Wynn Schwartz After Sappho pag 272
Cristina Cassar Scalia Il Castagno dei cento cavalli pag 320
R.F. Kuang Yellowface pag 336

Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 21: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
86 R.F. Kuang Yellowface pag 336 ***1/2
87 Selby Wynn Schwartz After Sappho pag 272 ***1/2
88 Cristina Cassar Scalia Il Castagno dei cento cavalli pag 320 ***
89 Paolo di Paolo Vite che sono la tua: Il bello dei romanzi in 27 storie pag 224 ***1/2
90/140 Olivia Manning The Great Fortune pag 334 ***

Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e la vendetta tardiva pag 269
Larry McMurtry Lonesome Dove pag 964
Holly Jackson Five Survive pag 400
Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


message 22: by LauraT (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
91 Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e la vendetta tardiva pag 269 ***1/2
92 Louise Glück Vita Nova pag 67 ***1/2
93 Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e la morte del capo della polizia pag 323 ***
94 Larry McMurtry Lonesome Dove pag 964 ***1/2
95/140 Holly Jackson Five Survive pag 400 ***
Larry McMurtry Streets Of Laredo pag 589
Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e il quadro misterioso pag 272
Elly Griffiths The Stranger Diaries pag 338


message 23: by LauraT (last edited Sep 20, 2024 01:53AM) (new)

LauraT (laurata) | 14356 comments Mod
96 Larry McMurtry Streets Of Laredo pag 589 ****
97 Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e il quadro misterioso pag 272 ***
98 Olivia Manning The Spoilt City pag 368 ***1/2
99 Olivia Manning "Friends and Heroes " pag 352 ***1/2
100 Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e la morte in convento 5 pag 336 ***
101 Tommassina Soraci Scrivere per non morire. Due donne del Sud: Letteria Montoro (1825-1893)-Mariannina Coffa pag 108 ***
102 Nino Haratischwili La luce che manca pag 784 ****
103 Pierre Martin Madame le Commissaire e l'amante assassinato 6 pag 336 ***
104/140 Elly Griffiths The Stranger Diaries pag 338 ***

Maaza Mengiste The Shadow King pag 448
AA VV E cosy sia pag 495
Lavie Tidhar A Man Lies Dreaming pag 288
Laura Imai Messina Tōkyō tutto l'anno. Viaggio sentimentale nella grande metropoli pag 290
Toni A. Brizi Il gioco dei giorni narrati pag 384


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