As everything is going so well, I figured I should sort out something that is a little more, well, challenging. When linking to Jen Ks blog yesterday (from whom I've pretty much nicked all the other challenges I'm doing this year), I discovered that she's doing a challenge I hadn't heard of before: Anne and Kristilyn's 2013 Book Bingo (the challenge where we read all the books). Readers of this blog know I'm all about reading all the books (except the ones that I don't like or think sound boring - where's the fun in that?). For this challenge, I wouldn't be able to have as much cross over, either, what with only being able to use the books once each. Having looked over the books I've read so far this year, I discovered that I could already almost fill the full bingo card. That wouldn't be very challenging at all. So I will start from the beginning, and obviously I aim to cover the whole board by the end of the year.
The one that's going to be the most difficult is "Read x books everyone but you has read", as I tend to be one of those people who jumps on a band wagon really early. To fill this whole bingo card, I will have to read 73 books in total (although 15 are re-reads), of which 15 are books "everyone else" has read and possibly reviewed before me. It's absolutely going to be a tricky one. Wish me luck!
Since you are participating now, can you help me with my free square and recommend a novel I should read? I usually don't read romance but some of the ones you've reviewed actually sounded like something I'd be willing to give a shot. Thanks! Let me know if you would like/need any recommendations.
ReplyDeleteSee, this is a more daunting challenge than reading 73 different books - recommending ONE romance to someone who doesn't normally read them. What if I pick one that you hate? Then I'll be confirming all your worst thoughts about the genre. Also, I'll be gutted, because there's no way I'll recommend you something I myself don't love.
DeleteIf you're only going to read ONE romance novel, you may as well read one of the very best, from the best writer out there in the business right now. I thought about asking Mrs. Julien for advice with this request, but am pretty sure she'll whole-heartedly support my recommendation.
The book I challenge you to read is Unraveled by Courtney Milan. It's technically the third in a trilogy, but all you need to know is that the hero has two brothers, both of whom have already found the loves of their life. It's also probably my favourite romance novel of all time that isn't Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre. So I hope you don't hate it.
Do you read on an E-reader of any kind? Because I can totally send you a copy of the book if you aren't able to find it at your local library. :)
And, as I should have said in my previous comment - I would love for you to recommend me something to read for my free square. Pretty much my entire reading history can be found on Goodreads, if you're wondering what I've read in the past.
DeleteI know you like choices, so I'm going to give you three books and let you pick one from one of those. I love all of them, and they are all slightly different genres.
DeleteThe Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - it's a love story about a guy that survives a car crash but has burns all over his body and a woman that finds him and claims that they have been reincarnated several times and were lovers in those pasts
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - a Jesuit mission into outer space; I loved the way this one develops because it alternates between documenting the mission, and the one priest who was the only one to return. The whole time you're wondering what happened, what went wrong?
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer - I realized when I decided to do three recommendations, that I could have done three that were just WWII related (it seems to be my fall back category) - I wouldn't say this was my favorite of the three WWII I thought of since I loved them all, but I think this may be the one I've seen mentioned least, and it so deserves to be read - I also like that it took a slightly different country than usual, focusing on a Jewish artist from Hungary who studies in Paris temporarily. There is of course also a love story ...
It may not be that I don't read romance - I just read books that categorize themselves as other things even if there is romance in them :p
I can't wait to check out the Milan one - I don't think I should have a problem finding it, but I will let you know if I end up needing to break out the Kindle - I usually only use it on vacation (speaking of which, I'm going to in Oslo for a few days in July).
Ooh, all these books sound very interesting. Maybe I'll end up reading all three? Having browsed your blog again, I suddenly realized that I've completely failed to see the "name" part of this month's Key Word Challenge could just as easily be a book where the title is a name, as just a book with "name" in the title. I feel very dumb now. It's also the universe's way of telling me that I need to stop stalling and read Anna Karenina already, which would slot nicely into every single reading challenge I'm doing this year.
DeleteWhen in July are you coming to Oslo? It would be totally awesome to meet you, even if you are my reading nemesis. The husband and I are away for the first week, though, we're going to a wedding in England.
I'm still working on the exact dates - I fly into Stockholm on 25 Jun, and leave out of Oslo on 9 Jul. I'd probably end up there around the 5th or 6th. I still need to do a little bit of research and see how much else I want to see outside of the major cities.
ReplyDeleteI can't see a lot of the interpretations for the Keyword Challenge, either (and then I also have the ones where I feel like I might be interpreting too loosely - ie broken and shattered are technically the same, right?). I only realized last week that the word "Hood" is technically a piece of clothing, which added a whole new option for me. I read Anna Karenina a long time ago, and I remember liking it (I preferred it to War and Peace) though Levin got on my nerves on occasion. I really liked the latest movie version - I thought the way it was filmed was very creative.
I have it saved as a picture or something but I open it with Microsoft Paint to cross off squares.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thanks!
ReplyDelete