War Through The Generations 2014 Challenge

2014 War Challenge With a Twist

2014 is fast approaching. At War Through the Generations, they decided to mix things up a bit.

They will focus on 1 war for 2 months rather than a full or half year.

Every two months, they’ll post a new linky for a new war so everyone can share their review links.

In other words, read books from any of the listed wars during the entire year, then come back and post your reviews in the linky for the designated month.

Here’s the schedule:

• Jan./Feb.: Gulf Wars (Gulf War/Operation Desert Storm and Iraq War/Operation Iraqi Freedom)
• March/April: French and Indian War
• May/June: Korean War
• July/August: WWI (100th Anniversary)
• Sept./Oct.: WWII
• Nov./Dec.: Vietnam War

Level of Participation:

• Dip Your Toes: Read 1 book for any war
  
• Novice: Read 1 book per war throughout the year for a total of 6 books on 6 different wars
• Intermediate: Read 2+ books for 1 war, and 1 book for each of the others for a total of 7 books
• Expert: Read 2+ books for each war for a total of 12 books

I will be doing at least the Novice level for the year, but may do more for some of the wars. My plan for Jan/Feb will be for the Novice for sure as I will have to go searching for books for this group of wars. 

What's In a Name Challenge Wrap-Up Post

This one took me longer to finish that I expected. I had trouble with the "party or celebration" themed title, and nothing that fit came up in the normal course of my reading, so I finally had to go out looking for something.

What's In a Name Challenge (6th) for 2013

Challenge Home Page
My Signup Page Between January 1 and December 31, 2013, read one book in each of the following categories (The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.):

1. A book with up or down (or equivalent) in the title: Deep down True, The Girl Below, The Diva Digs up the Dirt
   Book Read:  The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
2. A book with something you'd find in your kitchen in the title: Loose Lips Sink Ships, The Knife of Never Letting Go, Breadcrumbs
   Book Read: A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova
3. A book with a party or celebration in the title: A Feast for Crows, A Wedding in Haiti, Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness
   Book Read: An Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor
   
4. A book with fire (or equivalent) in the title: Burning for Revenge, Fireworks over Toccoa, Catching Fire
   Book Read: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wien
5. A book with an emotion in the title: Baltimore Blues, Say You're Sorry, Dreams of Joy
   Book Read: Love Saves the Day by Gwen Cooper
6. A book with lost or found (or equivalent) in the title: The Book of Lost Fragrances, The World We Found, A Discovery of Witches
   Book Read: Letters from the Lost: a memoir of discovery by Helen Waldstein Wilkes

This challenge usually gets spread out over the year as I identify books that fit. Other rules they have are:

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.

An Irish Country Wedding

Finished December 23
An Irish Country Wedding by Patrick Taylor

This book continues the series set around the Northern Ireland village of Ballybucklebo in County Down. As the book begins Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly is looking six weeks ahead to his wedding to Kitty O'Hallorhan. Dr. Barry Laverty gets reaquainted with a politically active schoolteacher. Their housekeeper, Kinky gets hospitalized by a sudden illness, and that makes her even more worried about her future. Young patient Colin survives broken bones and the necessary loss of a loved pet.
We get updates on several other of the village characters due to illnesses, recoveries, and other activities that the doctors get involved in for the sake of the patients they care for.
We also get to see Fingal's brother Lars and updated on his life.
And the book culminates with the wedding and a change to Barry's circumstances.
A feel-good book about village life, and the lives of the people who live there.

Longbourn

Finished December 22
Longbourn by Jo Baker

This novel retells the story of Pride and Prejudice from the servants viewpoint. In this case, the Longbourn servants include Sarah, a housemaid, who came to the family as an orphan from the poorhouse; Mr. and Mrs. Hill, the manservant and housekeeper, both of whom have been employed at the house since their youth; and Polly the younger housemaid. Polly's real name is Mary, but because one of the young Bennett daughters is Mary, she has to go by a different name, something she is much put out about. As the story begins, another man joins the household as a servant, taking on some of the more strenuous tasks from Mr. Hill who is aging. His name is James Smith, and his arrival causes Mrs. Hill some anxiety and Sarah some confused feelings. At nearly the same time, the Bingleys arrive bringing their servants, and the footman entrusted with many messages between the houses, Ptolemy, takes a shine to Sarah.
One certainly gets a different sense of the struggles in life from this viewpoint and it is interesting to see how the servants feel about the different members of the household. The Hills have been at the house since before Mr. Bennett married, and have seen the entire lives of all the Bennett daughters, with Mrs. Hill caring deeply for them. They receive handed-down clothing from the family, and are expected to work doing errands on whatever whim the family takes, despite the time of day or weather conditions.
This story also brings in the outside world more than the original novel, showing us a different take on living during the Napoleonic wars.
It was a very interesting and enjoyable read.

2014 Chunkster Challenge

Will try to do better on this one this year.

Wondering what’s a chunkster? A chunkster is an adult or YA book, non-fiction or fiction, that’s 450 pages or more. 

Rules for this challenge:

• Audio books and e-books are now allowed. You want to listen to a chunkster on audio? Be my guest. 
• Essay, short story, and poetry collections are allowed but they have to be read in their entirety to count.
• Books may crossover with other challenges.
• Anyone can join.
• You don’t have to list your book ahead of time.
• Graphic novels don’t count. Sorry guys but reading a chunkster graphic novel isn’t the same as reading a non-graphic chunkster.

There are no levels this year, but ebooks and audiobooks are allowed so I will try for 15 chunksters with at least 4 over 750 pages. 

What's in a Name Challenge 2014

Glad to see this one back again. Only 5 categories instead of six this year, so that will make it a bit easier. I'm already looking through my shelves for possibilities

The challenge runs from January to December. During this time you choose a book to read from each of the following categories (examples of books you could choose are in brackets):

• A reference to time (Eleven Minutes, Before Ever After)
• A position of royalty (The People’s Queen, The Last Empress, The Curse Of The Pharaoh)
• A number written in letters (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, A Tale Of Two Cities)
• A forename or names (Rebecca, Eleanor & Park, The Unfinished Work Of Elizabeth D.)
• A type or element of weather (Gone With The Wind, Red Earth Pouring Rain)

Remember the titles I’ve given here are only examples, you can by all means use them if you want to – some are classics after all – but it’s not necessary. There are plenty of other books that will fit the categories and you may have some in mind already or even some on your shelves you can read. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about whether there will be a sixth category – not this year. I realised too late after publishing the post that I hadn’t included a sixth, so as not to confuse everyone we’ll be sticking with five this time around.

Extra information

• Books can be any format (print, audio, ebook).
• It’s preferred that the books don’t overlap with other challenges, but not a requirement at all.
• Books cannot overlap categories (for instance my first example, Eleven Minutes, could be used for category 1 or 3 but not both).
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!
• You don’t have to make your list of books beforehand, you can choose them as you go.
• You don’t have to read your chosen books in any particular order.

A Walk Along the Wall

Finished December 20

A Walk Along the Wall: A Journey Along Hadrian's Wall by Hunter Davies

This book recounts Davies experience walking the length of Hadrian's Wall from east to west over the course of several months, and was first published in 1974. Davies talks about his own observations and experiences along his journey, but also gives us history, not only of the wall, its significance and construction, but also other history that relates to the areas he traverses. He talks to a lot of people along the way, some enthusiasts of the wall, some indifferent, and some antagonistic to its existence and popularity. 

He discusses the unknowns of its history as well, and when things aren't clear offers up the differing theories around each issue. 

I learned some things about the history of this area of Britain and the Roman occupation, about the daily life of the people during that time, and about the religious life of the soldiers, who were drawn from all over the Roman Empire. Very interesting.

2014 Postal Challenge

I as so glad to see this challenge again. Didn't make my goal last year, but got more than halfway there. I am sitting at seven right now.

What is the Challenge?

The key is to read and review books with a postal theme. These can be non-fiction on the subject of letter writing, collections of real letters, or epistolary fiction of any era. Be creative! Review each one and link back to the challenge -- there will be quarterly roundup posts for you to link reviews and posts to as you create them.

The challenge runs from January 1st, 2014 to December 31st, 2014.  You can sign up ANY TIME throughout the year.

Any books chosen can overlap with any other challenge, and rereads are allowed. Just remember to review them somewhere online in order for them to count toward the challenge. Lists don't have to be made in advance, though feel free to share your choices and inspire other readers if you wish! I always think that making lists is half the fun :)

How do I join in?
There are a few ways to participate in this challenge. 

Postcard Level:   Read and review 4 books with a postal theme.

Snail Mail Level:   Read and review 8 books with a postal theme.

Parcel Post Level: Read and review 12 books with a postal theme.

Air Mail Express Level:   Read and review 12 books with a postal theme AND commit to sending more old fashioned letters this year. At least 12 pieces of mail (or more!), and you can share numbers or even images of your mail art in the quarterly roundups.

Anyone who completes the challenge at any level will have their names thrown into a draw to win some letter-related goodies at the end of the year. In addition, if you complete the Air Mail Express Level, you'll get a chance to win a lifetime membership to (and some goodies from) the Letter Writers Alliance!

--

ME

I'm going for the Air Mail Express level. I will be trying to do more letters this year, but didn't find that it worked for me in 2013 in terms of reporting on this. So, to help me do this, I bought Postcards from Penguin, a lovely boxed collection of 100 Penguin book cover as postcards. If you'd like one, let me know and I'll get your address from you. Also let me know if you have a favorite book, your interests or hobbies and I'll try to find a card that fits you. Let's see if I can get all 100 sent!

Stella Bain

Finished December 19
Stella Bain by Anita Shreve, read by Hope Davis

This novel follows a woman from the time she awakes in a field hospital in northern France in early 1916. She was found wearing a British nurse's aide uniform, but has an American accent. She has no personal memory and has difficulty coming up with a name for herself, but feels that Stella Bain is right. She does know that she can drive an ambulance, and as she recovers, she is put to use as both nurse's aide and ambulance driver. When someone mentions the admiralty it strikes a chord with her and she is driven by the certainty that somehow the admiralty holds the key to recovering her memory. As she makes her way to London, she loses her way and is found by a woman in a residential square in London. The woman, Lily, takes her in and Lily and her husband Dr. August Bridge, nurse her through illness and the doctor, once learning of her plight, is fascinated and does everything he can to help her recover her memory.
In the second part of this novel, Stella has recovered her memory and her identity and knows the reason she came to France and the reason she must return home to America. As she fights to regain her family, and find a new life for herself, she is also drawn back to England and those she cares for there.
With themes of love, memory, loss, and forgiveness, this novel has a strong protagonist with a unique story that resonates.

Love Overdue

Finished December 17
Love Overdue by Pamela Morsi

Picked up this light romance for the library theme and thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in a small town in Kansas, DJ (Dorothy Jarrow) arrives to be the new librarian in charge at the local library. She has 4 employees, one of whom has been in charge up until now and won't give up her leadership position without a fight.
Eight years ago, on her twenty-first birthday, DJ did something reckless and had an incredible experience with a man that she has never forgotten. What are the odds that he turns out to be her landlady's divorced son? Thank goodness he doesn't seem to recognize her.
Nice characters, nice plot, and some good lines. One of my favorites is "...and a teen book collection so woefully out of date that the only vampire novel available was by Bram Stoker." Several co-workers liked the line too. The chapters are not consecutively numbered as is normal, but instead have gradually increasing Dewey Decimal Classification numbers each related to the chapter's content, which was a neat touch.
And everyone needs a good romance now and then.