Thursday, December 18, 2008

Fall into Reading Challenge Completed

September 22-December 21, 2008

"Make a list of books you want to read this fall and post that list on your blog."

Books read are highlighted in pumpkin, those also reviewed are highlighted in grape. Click title to read review.

My projected autumn reading list was:

Mister Sandman by Barbara Gowdy****
Twice Born by Pauline Gedge****
At a Loss for Words: A Post-Romantic Novel by Diane Schoemperlen****
In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld*****
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson****
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin****
Shopping for Porcupine by Seth Kantner
Conceit by Mary Novik
The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa***+
Arsonic Soup for Lovers by Georgia Z. Post***+
Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese****
Two Hemispheres by Nadine McInnis
Flight to Saint Anthony by Tony Blackman
The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer****
My Father's Paradise by Ariel Sabar*****
The House at Midnight by Lucie Whitehouse
Guernica by Dave Boling*****
An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke****
Letters Between Us by Linda Rader Overman
Artist's Proof by Lander Marks
Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
Home by Marilyn Robinson*****
Man in the Dark by Paul Auster
The Sorrows of an American by Siri Hustvedt*****
Mudbound by Hilary Jordan*****
Seer of Egypt by Pauline Gedge
The Geography of Love by Glenda Burgess

The 2008 Giller Prize shortlist:
Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden***** (winner)
Red Dog, Red Dog by Patrick Lane**** (shortlist)

The 2008 Booker Prize shortlist:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga***** (winner)
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant**** (shortlist)
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry*****(shortlist)
The Northern Clemenct by Philip Hensher***(shortlist)

Something by the 2008 Nobel laureate
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio:
Nobel Lecture (click to read)

-End of planned list-

Serendipity:

Sorry***** by Gail Jones
The Body is Water***+ by Julie Schumacher
The Duino Elegies***** by Rainer Maria Rilke (reread)
Who By Fire by Diana Spechler****
Dictation: A Quartet of Stories by Cynthia Ozick****
The Angel of History by Bruno Arpaia*****
Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek*****
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton*****
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham*****
The Ginseng Hunter by Jeff Talarigo*****
A Burnt Out Case by Graham Greene****
Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel*****

Giller Prize longlist:
The Retreat by David Bergen****

Booker Prize longlist:
A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif****
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill***+

I do not write full reviews of most of the books I read. And I tend to meander from the list and then come back to it according to mood. So, what did you read this autumn that was really good in literary fiction?

10 comments:

  1. Holy cow! You're going to busy reading! I'm in this challenge, too and Matrimony's on my list.

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  2. Sandra, this is a great list. Good luck with the Challenge!

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  3. Wow! What a long list! In Hovering Flight is on my list. Looking forward to your review of Down to a Sunless Sea. I will be reading that one soon.

    --Anna
    http://diaryofaneccentric.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is one impressive reading list!

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  5. Sandra, you come up with the best suggestions!

    Another really good book I read this fall was The Street of a Thousand Blossoms set in Japan during and after WWII. Exquisitely written by Gail Tsukiyama. If you are looking for a book for international challenge (if there is one) or the WWII challenge this is a wonderful book. One of the few that I absolutely hated to see end. This is not on the last list of WWII but her other book Night of Many Dreams is. street of 1000 Blossoms should be on that list.

    ReplyDelete
  6. *Kaye: As it happens I own a copy of The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama which I have yet to read. It's one on my list of leprosy interst novels. I will add The Street of a Thousand Blossoms and possibly Night of Dreams to my tbr list. Thank you so much. And you're a pretty good suggester yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  7. umm! wow :) u completed this challenge :) I didn't do it :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. An amazing range of books! I need to come back and write down some of these titles!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations on what you accomplished during the challenge! That is an amazing list.

    ReplyDelete

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