Tag: Janet’s 2017 Reading Challenge

Did You Meet Your 2017 Reading Challenge?

As 2017 approached, I took ideas from other reading challenges and developed “Janet’s 2017 Reading Challenge.” If you took my challenge, [Want a reading challenge for 2017?] I commend and thank you. I had some success with this challenge, but I fell short in many areas.

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Here’s a recap of Janet’s 2017 Reading Challenge, and a report of sorts on how I did.

 

  1. A book of poetry – I did well with this for a few months. I read a poem every day, but then I missed a few days and this fell off my radar. The book of poetry I chose was A Little Book of Cherished Poems, compiled by Kay Anne Carson. Reading poetry is supposed to help me be a better writer, even though I’m not a poet.

 

  1. A Sci-Fi book – As I said in my blog on December 26, 2017, I’m not a sci-fi fan and this didn’t happen.

 

  1. A nonfiction book – I read several, but the one I’ll list here is Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann.

 

  1. Books by 12 authors I’ve never read – This one was easy. Of the 63 books I read in 2017, 43 of them were written by authors I’d never read before. The following are 12 examples:

The Body in the Snow (A Bebe Bollinger Murder Mystery), by Christoph Fischer;

The Underground Railroad:  A Novel, by Colson Whitehead;

If the Creek Don’t Rise, by Leah Weiss;

A Mother’s Promise, by Sally Hepworth;

Right Behind You, by Lisa Gardner;

Irena’s Children, by Tilar J. Mazzeo;

All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr;

The Magdalen Girls, by V.S. Alexander;

Grief Cottage, by Gail Godwin;

The Midnight Cool, by Lydia Peelle;

The Nightingale, by Kristen Hannah; and

Hatteras Light, by Philip Gerard.

 

  1. A novel set in each of the seven continents – I read the following:

North America – too numerous to list here;

South America – State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett;

Europe – There were many good ones, including The Saboteur, by Andrew Gross; The      Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, by Jennifer Ryan; and The Magdalen Girls, by V.S. Alexander; and The Orphan’s Tale, by Pam Jenoff.

Asia – I started reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa Lee. I didn’t get it    finished. It’s still on my “want to read” list.

Africa – The Lost History of Stars, by Dave Boling;

Australia – The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman.

Antartica – I wanted to read In Cold Pursuit (Em Hansen Mysteries), by Sarah Andrews. I didn’t get around to it.

 

 

  1. A novel by a North Carolina author – This one was easy. There are an abundance of good writers in North Carolina. To name just two novels I read by North Carolina authors in 2017: The Silent Sister, by Diane Chamberlain and Chasing the North Star, by Robert Morgan.

 

  1. A novel set in North Carolina – The Stolen Marriage, by Diane Chamberlain, and The Last Ballad, by Wiley Cash, to name just two.

 

  1. Re-read a favorite book – I couldn’t decide between The Help, by Kathryn Stockett; Roots, by Alex Haley; Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain; and The Adventures of Huck Finn, by Mark Twain, so I didn’t re-read any of them. There were too many new books I wanted to read.

 

  1. A book written in the 1700s – I never got around to this one.

 

  1. A book written in the 1800s – I never got around to this one.

 

  1. A book written in the 1900s – I can’t believe I never got around to this one. It seems like just yesterday it was 1999. I did read Bird-by-Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott, 1994; but my intention was to read a novel written in the 1900s.

 

  1. A biography, autobiography, or memoir – In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, by Yeonmi Park. (I highly recommend this one.)

 

  1. A book about a religion other than my own – I wanted to read If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran, by Carla Power, but didn’t get to it.

 

  1. A book that might change my mind – I read Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. This book helped me to see homeless people in a new light. Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America, by Michael Eric Dyson, gave me a lot to think about and helped me be more cognizant of the advantages I’ve had in my life in America due to white privilege.

 

  1. A book just for fun – I read Turbo Twenty-Three by Janet Evanovich and Hardcore Twenty-Four, by Janet Evanovich. Both were disappointing because after this many books in the Stephanie Plum Series, the plot is too predictable. The next time I want to read an entertaining book, I might go with Mark Twain.

 

  1. A book that will teach me a new skill – Since I am losing my hearing and don’t know what the future holds, I thought it might be a good idea to learn sign language. I soon discovered this was easier said than done at the age of 64. I have sporadically studied The American Sign Language Phrase Book, by Louie J. Fant.

 

  1. A book that was originally written in a language other than English – A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman.

 

  1. A book written in Spanish (a language I haven’t studied since 1973) – I started re-reading Don Quijote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes, in January. That’s as far as I got.

 

  1. A book published in 1953 (the year I was born) – It’s not easy to find books that old! Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin, was on my list. I didn’t get it read.

 

  1. A book that is the first in a series I haven’t read any of before – I started reading Death of a Gossip, by M.C. Beaton, but it didn’t grab my interest.

 

  1. The second book in a series of which I’ve read the first book — Everything Over Glory, by Kathleen Grissom

 

  1. A book written by an author I’ve met – The 13th Target, by Mark de Castrique.

 

  1. A book of short stories – Nothing Gold Can Stay: Stories, by Ron Rash.

 

  1. A book published in 2017 – I read several, but one I haven’t mentioned yet for this challenge is Here and Gone, by Haylen Beck (a.k.a. Stuart Neville.) I thought this was a terrific thriller.

 

  1. A book about the craft of writing historical fiction – I intended to read The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction: Researching and Writing Historical Fiction, by James Alexander Thom. I started reading it and taking notes. Somewhere along the way, I misplaced it. Still looking for it. Surely, it’s here somewhere.

 

  1. A Nobel Prize winner – Well, this is embarrassing. <crickets chirping>

 

  1. A political thriller – The Quantum Spy, by David Ignatius.

How did you do?

If you participated in a reading challenge in 2017, how did you do? This isn’t a competition. I just hope you enjoyed the books you read.

Until my next blog post

I wish you a Happy New Year!

I wish you many good books to read. I’m reading The Rooster Bar, by John Grisham.

If you’re a writer, I wish you quality writing time and publication.

Janet

I Forgot to Blog!

I try to plan most of my blog posts in advance. My ideas for my blog post yesterday included my thoughts about finding time to write during the holidays and just taking the easy way out and posting a photograph. The caption was going to be optional.

Did you notice I said, “My ideas for my blog post yesterday….?” There was no blog post yesterday. Not only have I squandered time for writing in December, I forgot to post a blog yesterday. No rambling thoughts about writing. No photograph. No caption. No blog post.

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Who, me?

For those of you who hang on my every word and look forward to Monday mornings just because you know you’ll have a Janet Morrison blog post to read, I apologize. To the rest of you (and you know who you are) I join you in asking, “Who knew Janet blogged on Mondays?”

I forgot to blog, and the world continued to turn on its axis and revolve around the sun. Time did not stand still.

Next Monday is another holiday, but I’ll try to get back on track. On January 1, 2018, I plan to blog about how successful I was in meeting my 2017 personal reading challenge. There are holes like in Swiss cheese in my reading accomplishments this year. I could fill some of those holes by reading the rest of this week. I want to read, but I also want to sew. I also want to get my dulcimer out of its case and see if I still know how to play it.

I decided to take a few minutes today to reflect on the pros and cons of participating in a reading challenge.

The pros:

(1)  A reading challenge can prompt you to read something you might not otherwise read. Hence, the word “challenge.” For instance, one item on my personal reading challenge this year was to read a science fiction book. I’m not a fan of sci-fi. Sorry, I’m just not. I thought putting it on my challenge would force me to read a sci-fi book. It did not. I procrastinated for 12 months. It didn’t happen.

(2) A reading challenge nudges you to read a variety of books.

The cons:

(1)  I can only think of one. You can get so wrapped up in meeting your reading challenge that you miss the chance to read books you’d rather be reading. If you are a competitive person, you might let the challenge become more important than the reading. If that happens, the purpose of the challenge has been hijacked.

Your thoughts

Where do you stand when it comes to participating in a reading challenge? Do you find them helpful? Do you think they’re fun? Do you find them to be freeing or restraining? I invite you to comment about your reading challenge experiences below.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

On this day after Christmas, I hope all my Christian readers had an Advent season filled with blessings and a Christmas day overflowing with joy as you remembered the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

May the love, compassion, and joy of the season continue in our lives in the coming year.

Janet

More Great September Reads

Last Monday I blogged (Some Great September Reads) about five of the nine books I read in September. Today I’ll tell you about the other four books I read.

The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman

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The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. I chose it to fulfill an item on my 2017 Reading Challenge – a book set in Australia in the 1920s. It was published in 2012, so I’m a little slow getting around to it.

The Light Between Oceans is a story about good people making bad decisions for all the right reasons. Tom and Isabel Sherbourne live alone on a remote Australian island where Tom is the lighthouse keeper. Their world is turned upside down the day a boat washes up on the shore. In the boat are a man’s body and a wee baby.

Isabel has been unable to carry a baby to full-term, and her multiple miscarriages have taken an emotional toll on her and on tom. Do they keep the baby and claim it is their own, or do they report the incident and risk having to return the baby girl to her biological mother?

The Gifts of Imperfection, by Dr. Brené Brown

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The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brene Brown, Ph.D., L.M.S.W.

My niece recently introduced me to the writings of Dr. Brené Brown. In September I read her book, The Gifts of Imperfection. Dr. Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston. She has studied courage, vulnerability, empathy, and shame for 16 years.

I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Brown speak in Charlotte on September 14, thanks to my niece. It was a wonderful evening. Dr. Brown “tells it like it is,” as the saying goes.

Here’s a quote from the book I read:

“The greatest challenge for most of us is believing that we are worthy now, right this minute. Worthiness doesn’t have prerequisites.” – Dr. Brené Brown in The Gifts of Imperfection

I look forward to reading other books by Dr. Brown.

The Saboteur, by Andrew Gross

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The Saboteur, by Andrew Gross

I rarely listen to a book on CD but, as I mentioned in my blog last week, I listened to The Saboteur, by Andrew Gross. It is a thriller based on a true story about a mission by The Allies in 1943 to destroy a “heavy water” laboratory the Germans had built in Norway. “Heavy water” is another name for a hydrogen isotope called deuterium oxide. Germany needed to produce just a small additional amount of heavy water in order to have enough to make an atomic bomb.

The Allies and the Germans were both trying to create an atomic bomb. If this German plant in Norway was not destroyed, the Germans could have developed the atomic bomb first and won World War II. To say that would have changed the course of history would be a vast understatement.

The descriptions of the training and experiences this team of Allies had – which included traversing on skis and surviving in dangerously cold conditions – reminded me of a 91-year-old friend of mine. He served in the United States Army, 10th Mountain Division in Europe in World War II.

The Saboteur is the second of Andrew Gross’s historical thrillers I’ve read. Having read The One Man, I expected to enjoy The Saboteur. I was not disappointed.

Gone Without a Trace, by Mary Torjussen

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Gone Without a Trace, by Mary Torjussen

Gone Without a Trace is Mary Torjusussen’s debut novel. From the blurb on the back of the book, I thought I knew what I was getting into by checking it out from the public library; however, this book was full of surprises.

This is a psychological thriller that turned out to be about domestic abuse, but it takes an unexpected slant on the subject. Is one of the main characters suffering from mental illness or is someone trying to make her think she or he is? I’ll just leave it at that. If you like psychological thrillers, I think you’ll like this one.

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. I’m still reading Love and Other Consolation Prizes, by Jamie Ford and listening to A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles on CD.­­­­­­­

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet

Reading South Africa and South Carolina Novels

Since I had a lot to say about both of the novels I’ve finished reading so far in July, I decided not to wait until my August 7 blog post to tell you about them. One was set in South Africa during the Second Boer War. The other was set on an island in South Carolina in beginning in 2004. Quite a contrast in location and time!

The Lost History of Stars, by Dave Boling

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The History of Stars, by Dave Boling

One of the categories I chose for my 2017 Reading Challenge was to be sure to read a book that takes place on each of the seven continents. Without that being part of my personal challenge, chances are I would not have read The Lost History of Stars, by Dave Boling.

I’m amused at people who brag that they only read nonfiction. They think there is nothing to be learned from fiction. I used to fall into that category. I was a nonfiction snob, so my sister couldn’t believe it when I told her in 2001 that I was taking a fiction writing course.

I minored in history in college, but what little I learned about the Second Boer War has long since been forgotten. The Lost History of Stars is a novel about that 1899-1902 war in South Africa. It follows an Afrikaner family throughout the war. It is not a history of that war, and I admit that I still know few details of it; however, from reading this book I learned that the British burned the homes and farms of many Afrikaners and rounded up the women and children and put them in concentration camps. Disease and malnutrition were rampant in those camps.

From the inside flap of the book’s cover, I learned that “some 3,500 Afrikaner farmer-soldiers lost their lives. However, in the concentration camps, hastily assembled by the British forces to limit resistance among the general populace, the human toll was much higher:  it was there, while their husbands and fathers were away fighting, that more than 26,000 women and children died.” Take time to reread this paragraph and let the injustice set in.

It is interesting to me that the author, Dave Boling, was inspired to write this novel after learning that one of his grandfathers was a British soldier in South Africa during the Second Boer War. That must be the reason he wrote about a camp guard who did not wish to be there, finding it distasteful to be guarding women and children in a concentration camp.

The book is written with chapters alternating between the farm and the concentration camp. Some chapters took place in the concentration camp, and then the next chapter took place a year earlier on the farm. I would have preferred the book being written in chronological order, but that’s just my personal preference.

This is a story of family loyalty and the sheer strength of will to survive.

 

Grief Cottage, by Gail Godwin

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Grief Cottage, by Gail Godwin

Author Wiley Cash recommended the writings of Gail Godwin. She has had two novels published – Flora and Grief Cottage. I decided to read Grief Cottage first. It’s her new book.

Grief Cottage is set on an island in South Carolina in 2004 and partially in North Carolina in 2018. Eleven-year-old Marcus is an orphan who has been sent to South Carolina to live with his Aunt Charlotte. Charlotte is an artist and is used to living alone.

Marcus takes on the project of finding out the names of the couple and son who were lost when Hurricane Hazel hit 50 years ago in 1954. They were vacationing on the island and staying in what later became known as Grief Cottage when Hurricane Hazel hit. I thought the climax of the book would be when Marcus learned the names of those three people, but that happened less than halfway through the book.

Maybe it was just me, but I thought the story dragged in places and some information was repeated two or three times. That aside, I did enjoy the book.

Marcus’s mother had given him a picture of his father and promised to tell him his father’s name when he got older. She was killed in an automobile accident before that happened. It wasn’t until the last page of the epilogue (set in 2018) that Marcus learns the name of his father.

There are subplots that include such things as loggerhead turtle eggs and hatchlings, Charlotte’s paintings, alcoholism, and bullying. The plot takes a huge turn in the second half that I didn’t see coming. In case you haven’t read the book, I won’t say more.

I’ll probably read Gail Godwin’s other novel, Flora, after I check off a few more items on my 2017 Reading Challenge.

Until my next blog post

If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.

I hope each of you has a good book to read. I’m reading The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins for Rocky River Readers Book Club this month; The Midnight Cool, by Lydia Peelle; The Orphan’s Tale, by Pam Jenoff; and Bird  by Bird:  On Writing and Life, by Anne Lamont. (This is what happens when all the books you’ve been on the waitlist for at the public library come in at the same time!)

Excuse me while I get back to my reading.

Janet

You Need to Read These Books!

I had another good month of reading in May. I’m on a roll for 2017! If I were a faster reader, I could devour more books. In the meantime, though, I’ll enjoy as many as I can.

A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman

I’m running out of superlatives for the books I’ve read this year. I kept hearing about A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman, so I got on the waitlist for it at the public library. It’s a popular book, so it took a while for my name to gravitate to the top of the list.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. At times outrageously funny and at times heartwarming and touching, it held my interest from start to finish. Ove is a 59-year-old man. I could see my father, my brother, and even myself in him. I could see myself in his late wife when he recalled how it drove him up the wall because she delighted in planning the details of a trip to the extreme. That’s me! Thank goodness I have a sense of humor! Poor Ove is at odds with the world and having trouble keeping up with the modern world. For the most part, he’s not even trying to keep up.

The author, Fredrik Backman, is from Sweden, where his books have gained much acclaim. I am amazed at how well the humor in this book translated so well from Swedish into English. Although I don’t speak or read Swedish, I don’t believe the book lost anything in the translation. I look forward to reading Mr. Backman’s other books.

Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult

Maybe it’s because Mother’s Day was approaching when I was reading this book, or maybe the sentence would have struck me like a ton of bricks any time of the year. Ms. Picoult has an uncommon gift when it comes to writing. Her books tackle some of the most heart-wrenching issues of our day, and she has a wonderful way with words.

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I featured the following sentence in my Being the Balloon blog post on May 5, 2017:

“What it’s like to be the balloon, when someone lets go of the string.”   – from Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult

The context of that sentence is that Ruth, the protagonist who is a seasoned labor and delivery nurse, a mother, and the widow of an American soldier killed in Afghanistan, reacts to the death of her mother with, “What it’s like to be the balloon, when someone lets go of the string.”

I highly recommend Small Great Things. In it, Ms. Picoult takes on the issue of race in America, and she has an uncanny talent for getting inside the skin of individuals from one end of that spectrum to the other in Small Great Things. The line that I focused on from the book in my blog on May 5 speaks to the humanity of us all.

In a nutshell, Small Great Things is about an African-American nurse in Connecticut who is barred from caring for the newborn infant of a white supremacist couple. Author Jodi Picoult masterfully writes from the point-of-view of the nurse, the white-supremacist father, and the white lawyer who defends the nurse. There is an explosive trial during which all kinds of raw emotions erupt. I think we all can learn some life lessons by reading and pondering Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult!

The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben

I kept hearing good things about this book, which had been translated into English from its original German. I finally got it from the public library, but with too many other books to read and a lot I was trying to learn about the craft or writing. Therefore, I only got 40% of the book read before I had to return it to the library for the next person on the wait list. I will definitely check it out again so I can finish it.

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The Hidden Life of Trees:  How They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World might not appeal to everyone, but I thought it was very interesting. That might be because I grew up and again live out in the country. My parents instilled an appreciation and respect for trees in us. We have a variety of trees in our yard – dogwood, pine, ash, poplar, cedar, several varieties of oak, mulberry, sycamore, black walnut, sweet gum, holly, persimmon, and maple.

I thought I knew a lot about trees until I started reading Peter Wohlleben’s book. I now know that there’s a whole world out there I can’t see or hear. The book explains how certain tree species work together and how other tree species work against one another. It talks about how trees pump water out of the ground. It talks a lot about fungi and how fungal networks underground help trees in numerous ways. It really is quite fascinating!

The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah

I highly recommend The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah. It is a historical novel about two sisters in France during the German occupation in World War II. The sisters cope with the occupation and resulting cruelties of war very differently.

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One sister joins the French Resistance and risks her life helping shot down Allied airmen across the Pyrennes and into Spain. The other sister’s nerves and wits are pushed to the limits as two German officers are billeted in her home. The book was inspired by a 19-year-old Belgian woman, Andrée De Jongh, who created an escape route out of Nazi-occupied France.

This book will pull on all your emotions. When the characters are cold and hungry – which was most of the time – you will feel cold and hungry, although I’m certain that I truly can’t imagine the level of hunger or fear the people who lived through the ordeal actually endured.

When we study World War II or hear stories about it, the emphasis is almost always on the battles. The Nightingale gives a paints a picture of life on the home front in France. It was this month’s book for discussion by Rocky River Readers Book Club. Everyone at our meeting had only praise for the book – how much it taught us and how well-written it was.

Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi

This historical novel is Yaa Gyasi’s debut as a fiction writer. It is different from any novel I’ve ever read. It is set in Africa. As part of my 2017 Reading Challenge I wanted to read a book set on each of the continents this year, so I was drawn to this novel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish reading it before it was due at the public library.

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Each chapter is about a different member of this family. It is about family ties and the horrible conditions in the slave trade. It puts a human face on slavery – a subject we tend to think of in terms of numbers and not the families that were torn apart in Africa. If I get a chance, I’d like to check this book out again.

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See

Like Homegoing and The Hidden Life of Trees, I didn’t get to finish reading The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane before it had to be returned to the library. I couldn’t renew any of the three books because there were people on the wait list. The part of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane that I got read was fascinating in how it shed light on some of the superstitions held by the Chinese. I had no idea!

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The novel follows a young Chinese girl who is painfully aware from birth that she is not valued because she is female. Her family has to walk for hours to pick tea leaves for a meager amount of income. It is a difficult life. Her mother is the local midwife and she tells her daughter that she must follow in her footsteps in that occupation.

There is a ray of hope, though, because the girl’s teacher tells her that she can leave the harsh mountain environment and make something of herself. I look forward to checking the book out again in order to see how her life turns out!

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. I have come to the conclusion this week that I am trying to read too many books and not spending enough time on my writing. My goal in June is to strike a happy medium.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time. I’m writing bios of my characters in the “new and improved” The Spanish Coin.

Janet

R is for Reading Challenge

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My 2017 Reading Challenge

This is the 18th day of the A to Z Blog Challenge, so I decided to give a status report on my 2017 Reading Challenge. I have completed the following 12 of the 28 categories in my challenge, which I announced on my blog on December 27, 2016 [https://janetswritingblog.com/2016/12/27/reading-challenge-for-2017/.]

  1. A nonfiction book
  2. A novel by a North Carolina author
  3. A biography, autobiography, or memoir
  4. A book that might change my mind
  5. A book just for fun
  6. The second book in a series of which I’ve read the first book
  7. A book of short stories
  8. A book published in 2017
  9. A book about the craft of writing historical fiction
  10. A Nobel Prize winner
  11. A political thriller, and
  12. A sequel to a book I’ve read

In addition, I’ve made good progress toward completing #4 on my challenge – “Books by 12 authors I’ve never read.” I’ve read nine already.

Number 5 on my challenge is “A novel set in each of the seven continents.” I’ve read eight books set in North America and four set in Europe. I’m currently reading a novel set in Australia.

With the year almost one-third behind us, I feel like I’m on track to meet my 2017 Reading Challenge. It’s been fun, and I look forward to more good books in the coming months.

Read the USA Reading Challenge

I’m also hoping to meet the “Read the USA” reading challenge sponsored by the Mint Hill Branch of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. I’ve read novels set in New Jersey, Minnesota, Oregon, and Vermont.

Friends of the Harrisburg Library Reading Challenge

I’ve completed only two of the 12 categories in Friends of the Harrisburg Library Reading Challenge.  There’s a lot of duplication between it and my own reading challenge, so I think I might meet that challenge by the end of the year, too.

Are you participating in a reading challenge this year? How are you doing? Are you enjoying your challenge or do you find it too confining?

Until my next blog post

I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have productive writing time.

Janet