So, you may notice I don't do a lot of readathons or challenges or much of anything besides plain old critiques on my blog. I'm kind of boring like that. But I've always kept an eye out for a readathon that would be my kind of readathon- something that I could use to pare down my pile of books to read in an interesting way. I heard about this one through the blogosphere (I'm Lost in Books and Joy's Book Blog) and thought why not? I have many (many) books that need devouring that are from different parts of this planet, and they're collecting dust at the moment, waiting to be read.
Rule (from the Sign-up):
Read book(s) set in another country or by author(s) from another country. Sign up whether you are reading for your own pleasure, with your kids, or both, fiction or non-fiction, it’s all fair game. Read as much as you can or want.
The Basics:
1. The readathon runs from September 1-14th (2014). You set your own goals- however much or little you want to read. It is hosted by Mom's Small Victories, I'm Lost in Books, and Savvy Working Gal.
2. Sign-up here
3. Make a post with your goals, and then link it up here.
4. Here's the Schedule
My Goals:
1. Read 5 (or more) books from either my Selected Physical Pile Qualifiers (see below), or my the-invisible-pile shelf that pertain to the challenge (I live in the USA in case you're wondering).
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Historical Fiction/Magical Realism set in Chile)
Poison by Kathryn Harrison (H.F. set in Spain)
*The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley (H.F. set in Greenland)
*The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (H.F. set in China)
Dark Angels by Karleen Kohen (H.F. set in England)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (H.F. set in Cephallonia, an island of Greece)
*Out by Natsuo Kirino (Contemporary Mystery set in Japan)
*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (H.F. set in China)
Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong (H.F. set in Russia, about Vietnam)
The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto by Pico Iyer (Travel Memoir set in Japan)
*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (H.F./Contemporary set in Afghanistan)
The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama (H.F. set in Japan)
Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel (Nonfiction History set in Italy)
One Man's Bible by Gao Xingjian (Contemporary/Historical set in China and France)
* indicates ones I've heard good things about, or am really excited to read.
2. Do two critiques from the books that I read, before the challenge ends.
3. Tries to think of another goal. Erm... Complete my two goals?
Well, that's it, I guess. I'll be camping this weekend, so hopefully my posts will publish as scheduled.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Great goals! I love having a big pile to choose from, as the spirit moves me. Greenlanders by Jane Smiley is wonderful--inspired by the saga of the same name, but so much more. My favorite of her books.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that! I picked up Greenlanders a long, long time ago, but never got up the gumption to read it, but now it's one of my main picks for this challenge. I've never read a book from Greenland before, or by Jane Smiley, so I think it's about time.
DeleteThanks for commenting!
~Litha Nelle
Glad you're joining us! My husband liked Galileo's Daughter, which he read in an attempt to understand the roots of the Scientific Revolution.
ReplyDeleteHave a good camping weekend!
I'm glad to finally be joining in on a readathon, especially one as fun as this one. I picked up Galileo's Daughter because Galileo was so ahead of his time, and I hope to learn more about that time in history... and perhaps a little about Italy too. :)
DeleteI had a great, but rainy, night of camping (we slept in the covered truck bed, so no midnight showers for me) and I magically acquired a sunburn despite the clouds.
Thanks for commenting, Joy!
~Litha Nelle
Out is in my pile, too!
ReplyDeleteTwo goals is good! Reading 5 books is going to be awesome! I hope you will participate in one of the social media chats, as well!
Yeah, I've been seeing Out in many places recently, and it sounds like a good one (from what I've heard).
DeleteI'll definitely try to be social- I've saved the hashtag (I actually didn't know you could save a hashtag before) so I'll be lurking there.
Thanks for commenting, Becca!
~Litha Nelle
So glad to have you join us! I'd love to read Captain Corelli's Mandolin, my bucket list travel destination is Greece. And I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Thanks for joining our readathon and hope to chat with you soon!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to finally take part in a readathon! :) I picked up Captain Corelli's Mandolin because of the title and the cover, which was from the movie they made from the book, but didn't know it was set in Greece before scouring my shelves for this readathon. Since the start of the readathon, I've gotten halfway through Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and really like it so far.
DeleteThanks for commenting, Tanya!
~Litha Nelle
I hadn't heard of The Greenlanders. I'll have to look for that one.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky and found The Greenlanders at a thrift store for very cheap- my version has an amazing folkart-esque cover and I'm a sucker for anything historical and Norse.
DeleteThanks for commenting, Heather!
~Litha Nelle