Reading Challenges update Part 1

Given how close it is to the end of the year (gasp!) it is time for one last look at the outstanding challenges that I have for this year. Over the next couple of days I will do a best of 2008 type post with some stats and then some details of the challenges that I will be taking part in during 2009.

Pub 08 Reading Challenge

Whilst I didn't get around to reading the first three books off of my original list (but I will!) and I read but didn't review the last two books, I have read 47 books this year that were published in 2008, so I definitely finished the reading part of the challenge. Some highlights (with reviews) were The Host by Stephenie Meyer, The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Maryann Shaffer, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, The Time of Singing by Elizabeth Chadwick and East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. I am swapping these titles in, so this is challenge complete!

I've signed up for the Pub 09 Reading Challenge already!

Romance Reading Challenge

This challenge finished earlier this month. I still didn't manage to read either The Huntress or Lover Unbound, so I didn't quite make it to completion on this challenge.

Naida is running this challenge again this year. I am not signing up this year, but not for any other reason than I need to have some kind of limits on the number of challenges that I participate in!



Chunkster Challenge

I finally read Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden, but I haven't done the reviw yet. So I kind of finished this one.

Does anyone know if someone is running this again next year? I have tried to contact this year's host but haven't had a response yet. Are people interested in participating in this challenge? I definitely still am, and I might be willing to host it as long as no one else wants to.

Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

I never did get around to reading Counting the Stars. I do have it out from the library again at the moment so maybe I will get to read it early in the new year. This challenge ended on November 30.

Stephenie Meyer Mini Challenge

I have read both The Host and Breaking Dawn, but haven't reviewed Breaking Dawn. I also went to see Twilight tonight. With the challenge finishing on January 30, I should still be able to complete this one.

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig

"Pride and Prejudice lives on," (USA Today) "a fun and zany time warp," (New York Daily News) "history textbook meets Bridget Jones" (Marie Claire): Readers and reviewers alike praise Lauren Willig's bestselling Pink Carnation series for its passion, adventure, and tantalizing stories of flower-named spies during the Napoleonic wars.

Lauren Willig continues the exciting Pink Carnation series with her fourth novel, The Seduction of the Crimson Rose, featuring Lord Vaughn, the delightfully devilish spy from The Masque of the Black Tulip, and Mary Alsworthy, the raven-haired beauty whose sister accidentally stole her suitor in The Deception of the Emerald Ring. Determined to secure another London season without assistance from her new brother-in-law, Mary accepts a secret assignment from Lord Vaughn on behalf of the Pink Carnation: to infiltrate the ranks of the dreaded French spy, the Black Tulip, before he and his master can stage their planned invasion of England. Every spy has a weakness, and for the Black Tulip that weakness is black-haired women—his "petals" of the Tulip. A natural at the art of seduction, Mary easily catches the attention of the French spy, but Lord Vaughn never anticipates that his own heart will be caught as well. Fighting their growing attraction, impediments from their past, and, of course, the French, Mary and Vaughn find themselves lost in the shadows of a treacherous garden of lies.

As our modern-day heroine, Eloise Kelly, digs deeper into England's Napoleonic-era espionage, she becomes even more entwined with Colin Selwick, the descendant of her spy subjects.

I have been reading this series now for a couple of years, and for the first two books, after I closed the book I was very much interested in knowing when the next book came out. After I read the last book, I was still interested, but I was aware that the third book in the series hadn't quite lived up to the first two. Unfortunately, neither did this book, the fourth in the series.

I still love the idea that Willig started off with. Two time lines, one where a grad student (Eloise) is trying to pick her way through the historical record to find out exactly who the leader of the Pink Carnation spy ring was, and what happened to the group. As Eloise finds more letters and information, then we travel back in time to see the events as they unfold.

In this book, the heroine is Miss Mary Alsworthy, who in one of the previous books was jilted quite by accident in favour of her sister. Mary is seen as something of an ice princess by the ton, and she keeps any unsuitable men away from her using her iciness as a weapon. It is unthinkable that Mary may well have to rely on the kindness of her sister and her husband to look after her, because Mary is very much in danger of being left on the shelf. When Mary is approached by Lord Vaughan, she does not realise that it is because her looks are very much the type preferred by the infamous Black Tulip, and her task will be to infiltrate the gang.

What follows is kind of a hotch-potch. The plot takes twists and turns that seem unlikely, despite the fact that Willig acknowledges exactly that in the Author's Note, and then elaborates that it wasn't far from actual events.

By far the biggest problem for me in this book was the build up of tension between our heroine and her hero, Mary and Lord Vaughan. Now, I love reading about the aristocratic lord who is somewhat aloof, cold and haughty who thaws dramatically when he meets the love of his life. He may still be aloof to everyone, except to that inner circle of people. The problem in this case is that Vaughan is cold (and yes we do find out the reasons why) and Mary is an ice princess - there's no thawing going on here. There also wasn't enough build up of attraction between them.

In terms of the contemporary strand of the story, I understand that Eloise only gets 5 or 6 chapters per book, but it just seems to me that it is moving forward to slowly. I want to see Eloise get it on, although it seems as though the momentum is building.

I am hoping that it is just me, and that this series is not losing steam, because I really want to see it through to the end, finding out exactly what happened to the Pink Carnation and whether Eloise finally gets her man.

In the end I rated this book a 3.5/5. That in itself is a respectable grade. I guess I just wanted more, and I do definitely want more from the next book, The Temptation of the Night Jasmine, which is due out on 22 January 2009. The main thing that concerns me about the next book though is that I can't remember meeting the heroine before. If I have time I might try to reread at least the first couple of books to give myself a refresher course in all the minor characters.

This is one of the books that I chose to read for the Pub08 Reading Challenge and also one of the books that I nominated to read for the Bang Bang Book Challenge.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin

In twelfth-century England, one remarkable woman is trained to uncover the final secrets of the dead.

Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonising death by poison - and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect. Henry suspects that Rosamund's murder is the first move in Eleanor's long-simmering plot to overthrow him. If Eleanor is guilty, the result could be civil war. The king must once again summon Adelia Aguilar, mistress of the art of death, to uncover the truth.

Adelia is not happy to be called out of retirement. She has been living contentedly in the countryside, caring for her infant daughter. But Henry's summons can not be ignored, and Adelia must again join forces with the king's trusted fixer, Rowley Picot, the Bishop of Saint Albans, who is also her baby's father.

Adelia and Rowley travel to the murdered courtesan's home, a tower within a walled maze - a strange and sinister place from the outside, where a bizarre and gruesome discovery awaits them. But Adelia's investigation is cut short by the appearance of Rosamund's rival: Queen Eleanor. Adelia, Rowley, and the other members of her small party are taken to the nunnery in Godstow, where Eleanor is holed up for the winter with her band of mercenaries.

Isolated and trapped inside the nunnery by the snow and cold, Adelia watchs as dead bodies begin piling up. The murders are somehow connected with Rosamund's demise. Adelia knows that there may be more than one killer at work, and she must unveil their true identities before England is once again plunged into civil war.

It's fair to say that I really enjoy the work of British author Diana Norman, whether we are talking about the straight historical novels that she publishes under that name, or the historical mysteries that she has started to write under the pen name of Ariana Franklin.

With the character of Adelia Aguilar, we have a character who can take us to the heart of a medieval murder, in the same way that we can see when we watch TV series like CSI. She has been specially trained in the medical schools of Italy to investigate the hows and whys of peoples deaths. In the previous book in the series (Mistress of the Art of Death), Adelia found herself in King Henry II's England, and with this book she is summoned again by the king himself to investigate and see whether his beloved mistress, Rosamund Clifford, may have been murdered, even though she lives in a tower in the middle of a barely accessible maze.

What complicates the investigation this time is that Adelia not only has to look after her own safety, and the safety of her friends, but also that of her daughter. She is being accompanied during her investigation Rowley Picot, a man of many masks - the King's trusted fixer, Bishop, Adelia's ex lover, and father of her child.

For me, one of the strongest parts of this novel was when all the characters were snowed in together for a good length of time. With everyone eager to impress Queen Eleanor who has unexpectedly arrived, and who is looking to start an uprising against her husband for her own reasons, life in a small community is difficult enough, let alone when you are trying to investigate a crime, and keep the Queen happy at the same time.

There is less of the investigation aspect used in this novel, and more interaction with the other characters, most of them have more than one agenda. As the body count grows, Adelia must protect her people, untangle the complicated relationships, and find the murderers of a several people.

I know that there are people who have read the first novel for whom the relationship with Rowley didn't really work, but it really doesn't bother me. I like that there is a chance for Adelia to be loved for the strong and intelligent woman that she is, even if it is a love that has to be constrained by time, distance and circumstance. It probably helps that I like Rowley a lot.

Overall, another fun read, from a fine historical author. I look forward to reading Grave Goods, the third book in the series, which is due to be released in March 2009. It is probably worth mentioning that this book has also been released under a different title in some countries - Death Maze.

This is one of the books that I nominated to read as part of the Pub08 Reading Challenge. I am also using it as one of my books for the Medieval Challenge.

As always, if you have reviewed this book, then please leave a comment and I will add your link to my review so that others can read a variety of opinions about this book.

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

Reading Challenges update

So I really need to sort out where I am up to with each of the challenges that I have said that I was going to participate in, so that I can figure out my reading priorities for when I have gaps between library books!

Pub08 Reading challenge

I still need to read Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, Fire Study by Maria V Snyder and Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland.

I have two reviews written, one for The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin and the other for The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig. Those reviews will be posted in the next week or so. I still need to write my review of The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati and People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

This challenge ends on 31 December 2008. I figured out that so far this year I have read 35 books that have been published this year, so if I don't get to read the remaining two books on my list, I have plenty of choices on books to swap in. In effect this challenge is completed.



Romance Reading Challenge

I still need to read The Huntress by Susan Carroll or Lover Unbound by J R Ward. I have read and reviewed the other books nominated.

This challenge also finishes at the end of the year.





Chunkster Challenge


I still need to read Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden.

A chunkster is defined as a normal print book of more than 450 pages. So far this year I have read 29 books that would qualify so for I have kind of finished this challenge as well. This challenge officially finishes on December 20.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I've read Rhett Butler's People, Dreaming the Serpent Spear and The Witches Trinity, but haven't yet written the reviews and still need to read Aztec by Gary Jennings and Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore.

This challenge actually finished on 1 October. I read way more than 6 books in the period from 1 April to 1 October (whoops), so I am going to sub the following books in and declare this challenge complete:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
My Lady of Cleves by Margaret Campbell Barnes


I Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

Need to read Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore to complete this challenge.

This challenge finishes on November 30






Stephenie Meyer Mini Challenge.

I have read and reviewed The Host, and have read Breaking Dawn. Just have to write the review for that one, and then I am done. This challenge finishes on January 30 2009.







Book Awards Reading Challenge II

I have read a couple of books for this challenge already. It finishes on June 30 2009.



Bang Bang Book Challenge

The books that I nominated for this challenge were:

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Winston's War by Michael Dobbs
Flashman and the Dragon by George Macdonald Fraser
Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig
The Birth House by Ami McKay

I have read the last three, just need to read the first two. This challenge finishes on February 29 2009.


RIP III Challenge

The books I nominated were:

Rises the Night by Colleen Gleason
Personal Demon by Kelley Armstrong
Before They are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
The Blackstone Key by Rose Melikan

I haven't read Before They Are Hanged or The Blackstone Key yet, but I have read Faefever by Karen Marie Moning and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer which will both qualify so I am going to swap those books into my list, and then say, I am done, with the reading part of the challenge anyway!



Phew! That took a while!


The Pulitzer Project, The Orange Prize Project and The Booker challenges are all ongoing challenges. I really need to read at least one book for each just to show that I am still intending to participate!

Reading Challenge Round up...and a new one!

Thought it was time to do some kind of review on where I am up to with the various challenges that I have joined so far this year. Given that I haven't joined a new one for a while either, it's a good chance to do that as well. First though...how am I going with the ones I have already committed to:


Pub08 Challenge

Read 8 books published in 2008. The books that I originally chose to read for this challenge were:

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith (out February) (Own but not read yet)
Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (out February) (Coming in my Amazon order as we speak)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (out March) (Not at my library yet)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (out January) (Not at my library yet)
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (out January)(no sign of this being released here yet!)
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati (or Rosina Lippi depending on where it is to be published) (not read yet)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brook (Read but not reviewed yet)

I also added The Crystal Skull to my challenge list because it was the first book that I read this year that was published this year.

In addition, I have read The Romanov Bride by Robert Alexander, Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas and This Charming Man by Marian Keyes that were all published this year, but for now I am keeping the challenge books as those above, just to make it a bit harder for myself!

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Romance Reading Challenge

The challenge was to read 5 romances. Because I do read a lot of romance, I decided that to make the challenge harder for myself I would only list books that I already owned to read. The books I originally chose were:

The Huntress by Susan Carroll
The Wild Hunt by Elizabeth Chadwick (sits on my bedside table all the time!)
Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan (read)
Lessons of Desire by Madeline Hunter
Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas (read)

As a backup I also had Lover Unbound (and no I haven't read it yet!)

Two down, three to go!


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Chunkster Challenge

Read 4 books that had more than 450 pages in. The books I originally chose for this challenge were:

Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks
A Place Beyond Courage by Elizabeth Chadwick (reading at the moment)
Shadowbrook by Beverly Swerling

So I am at 2 done, 2 to go. Having said that I have read a whole heap of other Chunksters but again I am keeping my list as above just to keep the challenge aspect high:

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes (676 pages)
Island in the Sea of Time by SM Stirling (609 pages)
Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn (509 pages)
The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (508 pages) (read but not reviewed yet)
PS I Love You by Cecilia Ahern (503 pages)
Haunted by Kelley Armstrong (495 pages)
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky (484 pages)
Dead Man's Walk by Larry McMurtry (477 pages)

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100+ Reading Challenge

I am currently reading books numbered 66, 67 and 68 so going alright on this one!




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Once Upon a Time II Challenge
I do need to watch the end date for this challenge because it doesn't run as long as some of the other challenges! The books I chose for this challenge were:

Belladonna by Anne Bishop (read but not reviewed yet)
Onion Girl by Charles de Lint (read but not reviewed yet)
Drowned Wednesday by Garth Nix
Lions Honey by David Grossman (review here)
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente
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Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

The books I chose for this challenge were:

Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon (review here)
Rhett Butler's People by Donald McCaig
Aztec by Gary Jennings
Dreaming the Serpent Spear by Manda Scott
Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore
The Witches Trinity by Erika Mailman

and as spare/alternate choices

Everyman's Rules for Scientific Thinking by Carrie Tiffany
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian

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New Challenge - I Heard it Through the Grapevine Challenge

And now, for the new challenge that I am joining in on. The challenge is to read three books that have been recommended by someone else between May 1 and November 30.

My three choices are:

Counting the Stars by Helen Dunmore, which I first heard about at Reading the Past.
The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer, also from Reading the Past (Review here)
In the Night Garden by Catherynne Valente, which was recommended to me by Kailana for the Once Upon a Time Challenge. (Review here)

The Crystal Skull by Manda Scott

"It's a lump of rock, Stella; nothing more. No stone is worth dying for."

Except it's not just a lump of rock. It's a life sized crystal skull made by the Maya to save the world from ruin; a sapphire so perfect, so powerful, that men down the ages have killed to own or destroy it.

Cedric Owen, the skull's last Keeper, died that it might keep its secret for the next four centuries. Now Stella has found it, and someone has already tried to kill her. Like the skull-keepers of old, she and her partner, Kit, are being hunted - but by whom?

The Mayan prophecies say that if the thirteen skulls already in existence are not reunited, the world will end on 21 December 2012. Four times already, life on earth has been destroyed: by flood and fire, quake and storm. The fifth age ends in a destruction of man's making, and there is only one chance to avert it.

Facing an increasingly implacable enemy, Stellla and Kit struggle to decode the Owen diaries. Their search takes them from the intellectual rigour of Cambridge University to the untamed wildness of England's prehistoric stone circles.

Both know that time is against them and they only have days - hours - left to uncover the secret that may yet save the world.

I have previously read three book by Manda Scott - all of them from the Boudica series of books set in Roman Britain and featuring a fierce warrior princess who is leading the tribes against the Roman invaders. Having enjoyed them all, I was kind of skeptical when I read the description for this book mainly because it was completely unconnected to the Boudica books with a different setting, a different genre. Just different!

As a wedding present, Kit O'Connor takes his new wife Stella Cody to a stunning underground cave where he believes he will find the famous blue crystal skull that has long been part of the legend of St Bede's College, Cambridge. Kit has managed to do what so many have failed to do before him, and that is decode the fabled ledgers that were left behind by Cedric Owen hundreds of years before. With Stella's background as a caver, Kit is sure that this time they will be able to find the skull, but what he doesn't know is what changes this will bring to their relationship and their lives.

Without knowing it, Stella has a deadline looming, and she and Kit must do everything in their power to continue to decipher the hidden messages, along with the help of their friends, and to find the instructions hidden within. One of the major issues though, is exactly who is a friend and who is a foe? Other questions to be answered include why does the skull seem to speak to her? What is it that she needs to do? And what will happen if she doesn't? Who is it that is trying to stop them?

Alternating with the story of what is happening with Kit and Stella, we also follow what is happening in the life of the aforementioned Cedric Owen. He is from a long line of family members whose job it is to be the Keeper of the Skull. It is Cedric's destiny to learn all the secrets of the skull, and to preserve them for one who comes after him. He must leave the messages in such a way that not just anyone will be able to understand, but that the right person will. Along the way Cedric meets with such luminaries from the past as Nostradamus and Dr John Dee. Gradually he learns that the skull that he has in possession (or perhaps he is in its possession given how the skull communicates and directs his life) is likely to be Mayan in origin and is one of a set that must be guarded and protected, and then placed in the exact right position at the exact time in order to stop mankind from destroying the world. The stone leads Cedric (and his companion and swordsman) from England, to France and to South America, and then back to England again many years later.

I have now read a few of these parallel storyline novels where there are the two different stories interwoven to give the whole picture usually with one set in the past and the other in the present. Quite often, I find that I enjoy one of the threads more than the other, but in this case I really didn't feel that one aspect was weaker than the other.

There is suspense and tension in both strands of the narrative - danger, thirst for knowledge and incredible personal risk. As with the Boudica books, there is an underlying mystical themes within the pages of this book. It is obvious that this kind of subject is one that fascinates Manda Scott, and yet she is able to include it in her novels without seeming to be overly evangelical about whatever it is that she believes in.

One of the major questions that this book does ask revolves around the date of 21 December 2012 - a date that apparently several cultures believe will herald the end of mankind - pretty gloomy thought really!

If you are after a very enjoyable thriller filled with suspense, mystery, history and a lot of adventure, this book is definitely worth considering.






Given that this book is the first book that I have read so far this year that has been published this year, there is no way I could not include it as one of my books for the Pub 08 Challenge even though it wasn't on my original list of reads! One down....seven to go!




Crossed posted at Historical Tapestry

Anticipation

This week's Booking Through Thursday question:

Last week we talked about the books you liked best from 2007. So this week, what with it being a new year, and all, we’re looking forward….

What new books are you looking forward to most in 2008? Something new being published this year? Something you got as a gift for the holidays? Anything in particular that you’re planning to read in 2008 that you’re looking forward to? A classic, or maybe a best-seller from 2007 that you’re waiting to appear in paperback?

I have quite a few books that are coming out in 2008 that I am very much looking forward to reading, most of which I have listed as my books for the Pub 08 Challenge. They are:

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith (out February)
Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (out February)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (out March)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (out January)
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (out January)
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati (or Rosina Lippi depending on where it is to be published)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks


In addition I am also looking forward to:

Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop (out in March)
The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (hopefully later this year)
The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (although this may not come out until next year)
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon (another one that might not be out until next year)
Twilight of a Queen by Susan Carroll

I'm sure there are more, but that will do for now!

The Pub 08 Reading Challenge

I did warn you that I was planning on joining in on some challenges in 2008, and here's another one.





Michelle from 1 More Chapter was quite surprised to find that she read less than 5 books this year that were published in 2007, and so decided that she wanted to challenge herself (and anyone else who wanted to join in) to read more new books in 2008. I have decided to join in on this challenge because I don't want to lose the new book momentum that I had this year - over a quarter of the books that I read this year were published this year! The rules are:

1. Read 8 books published in 2008
2. No YA/children's books are allowed (we are at the pub after all)
3. At least 4 titles must be fiction
4. Crossovers with other challenges are allowed
5. Titles can be changed


In order to join up, you can go and sign up at "The Pub"

As to which books I am going to read, I will start off with the following, and add more later!

Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith (out February)
Fire Study by Maria V Snyder (out February)
Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland (out March)
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin (out January)
The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (out January)
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Sara Donati (or Rosina Lippi depending on where it is to be published)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks