The 2011 Challenge Concludes - Let 2012 begin

So, you're looking at my blog and you're thinking she challenged herself to read 100 books in a year, and look, there's Genus it's book number 100 - she did it. Good for her. Not so,  I'm a fraud. Scroll back, back and back again, back to number 8 on this list The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. I didn't finish The Corrections, never returned to finish it as I said I would and with 6 hours left of New Years Eve and somewhere else to be, I'm not going to. So I have failed my challenge, and I have failed my challenge by ONE book alone. It's such a kick in the teeth. I'm probably going to hate Jonathan Franzen for the rest of my life for this, him and his appalling sex writing about warm rabbits etc.

But, I suppose I also failed the challenge on technicalities, I said that I would finish every book I started and I didn't, books I began and have yet to complete are

Dune by Frank Herbert
The Book Of Human Skin by Michelle Lovric
Last Night In Twisted River by John Irving

Though I will probably at some stage read these books I can guarantee you I will not complete:

Critical Mass by Philip Ball a science book so breathtakingly awful that it has winged its way to a charity shop already.

I acknowledged to the blog none of these failures! So I guess I have failed on technicalities!
It's my own fault I failed, had I read one more book in either August, October or November which were quiet months in reading output terms I wouldnt be in this position.

For me my books of the year this year were :

1. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2. A Song Of Ice And Fire (First 5 novels) by George RR Martin
3. The End Of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas
4. The Vintners Luck by Elizabeth Knox
5. Genus by Jonathan Trigell
6. A Sense Of An Ending by Julian Barnes
7. Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
8. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
9. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
10. Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence

These are the books that I will recommend beyond this year  an interesting mash up of both halves of the year, with Fingersmith the outright winner and with the wooden spoon landing squarely upon There But For The by Ali Smith.

With the 100 books of the year challenged failed on New Years Eve with 99 books, alls I can say is challenge remains unmet, on with the challenge. If at first you don't succeed try again, bring on the class of 2012 : HAPPY NEW YEAR and THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!!

Roz's Reading Challenge

So, I'm a reader, I'm known for being a reader,  I've always been a reader, but it's a solitary pastime and when I read books like others, I often want to share what i thought about them, but maybe the people you know aren't into reading, or if they are, just aren't into the same books as you are, and never will be. Then, two things happened, I realised I'd read 10 books since the start of the year, and then one of my followers on Twitter asked me to recommend some books for his holiday. I had tried to start a blog before and failed, I didn't know what to write about, but then I realised what I do know about is reading so I decided to read books and then review them, recommend them or tell others to steer well clear.

Having read 10 since January, I decided I'd challenge myself to 100 books between now and December 31st, counting the 10 I'd already read.

I'm known for a diverse taste in books but I've never really been a reader of non-fiction, but this year have surprised myself by having already read 3 non fiction books, so my aim is to :

a) Feature a diverse selection of books, fiction, non fiction, novels, short stories and poetry
b) To not deliberately read short or easy to read books in order to make up my numbers, it's got to be a real challenge.
c) Finish EVERY book no matter what, even if I've taken a dislike to it, if it isn't finished, it doesn't count!

So with 10 books already read, I need to get on with the business of reviewing. It's harder to review a book when it's a while after you've read it, because after you've JUST read it or are in  the middle of  it thoughts about it are fresh. So please bear with me on the early reviews.....