I did it, I read 9 books by 9 authors from 9 countries between April 1st and today!
1. Fashionably Late by Nadine Dajani (Lebanon)
2. Indie Girl by Kavita Daswani (Hong Kong)
3. Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (Canada)
4. Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy (Ireland)
5. On Beauty by Zadie Smith (England)
6. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Iran)
7. Theft: a love story by Peter Carey (Australia)
8. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka (Germany)
9. Silk by Alessandro Baricco (Italy)
Favourite: On Beauty by Zadie Smith because it gave me a lot to think about and had some really well-written and witty sections.
Least favourite: Persepolis because I'm not really a graphic novel gal
Overall thoughts: This was a good challenge for me, as it helped me read outside my usual comfort zones. I never would have read Theft or Silk without it. And while they weren't my favourite reads of the year, it was good to stretch myself a bit. (I'm particularly glad to now know about Peter Carey, as he seems like quite the extraordinary author, I may read his Oscar and Lucinda.) I don't know if it'll change my reading habits a lot, as it did confirm my belief that reading for pleasure shouldn't feel like work, and a few of these did. But a few mind-stretchers out of 100-odd books in a year isn't a bad thing at all!
Thanks to B&b at Ex Libris for hosting it!
2 comments:
I know what you mean about reading out of your usual comfort zones, TLB. I'm in a book discussion group, so I don't always select the book we read. I've found some good books and always get something out of the ones I disliked, too.
Joan - I'm in a book club, too, and have definitely read things for it I wouldn't have otherwise. And you're right, even the ones that aren't favourites usually still have something to them.
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