Nittnut's 2015 Challenge Without A Clever Theme - Part 1

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Nittnut's 2015 Challenge Without A Clever Theme - Part 1

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1nittnut
Editat: des. 30, 2014, 9:47 pm

Happy New Year!

I am looking forward to this year. I had a great time with my list last year, but I think there were too many books. I like categories, but I don't want to prescribe so much of my reading this year. I am going with 15 categories of 5 each.

Rollover - books from my 2014 challenge (and maybe one from 2013)
Off The Shelf
Fantasy
New Zealand
Animal Sciences
TIOLI - it's been awhile since I participated here
Book Bullets
Reading Aloud With the Family
Award Winners
American Author Challenge
US History
YA - always
Mystery
Memoir
Next in a Series

5nittnut
Editat: gen. 2, 2015, 10:00 pm


I seem to have two selfie faces. The double-chin wrinkled up nose or the tongue is out for concentration... this is the younger two of my kids and I at the top of Mt. Kaukau in Wellington.

And finally, a little about me. I'm Jenn. I live in Paraparaumu Beach, NZ. I am originally from California and moving to NZ feels like coming home. I have a lovely husband of nearly 22 years and three kids (16, 10 and 8). I also have an etsy shop and I make custom nightgowns for girls. I love reading (obviously), sewing, being at the beach, hiking with the kids, and talking to my sister on the phone.

This is my fourth category challenge. I did one in 2010, then 2013 and 2014. I am also in the 75er group and have tended to make that my main thread. I am going to try to do things a little differently this year. I may not post all my reviews here, but I will post more than I have in the past.

Looking forward to talking books with all of you this year!

6saraslibrary
des. 30, 2014, 10:51 pm

Hi Nittnut! :) Welcome to the group.

7lkernagh
des. 31, 2014, 1:21 am

YAY! You are back for what I hope will be another fun-filled reading adventure!

8christina_reads
des. 31, 2014, 9:56 am

Hooray, you're back! That "rollover" category is genius!

9rabbitprincess
des. 31, 2014, 4:32 pm

Agreed, rollover is a great idea! Welcome back and enjoy your challenge!

10nittnut
des. 31, 2014, 4:35 pm

>6 saraslibrary: Hello and Thanks! Happy to be back for another fun year.

>7 lkernagh: It's always a good time around here, isn't it?

>8 christina_reads: Yep. Had to deal with the guilt of not finishing somehow. Not that the guilt was too awful. Looking forward to following your relaxed challenge. :)

11thornton37814
des. 31, 2014, 9:04 pm

Looking forward to seeing how you fill your categories. Happy New Year!

12mamzel
gen. 1, 2015, 12:54 am

Hope your new year brings you lots of good books to fill up your categories. Cheers!

13The_Hibernator
gen. 1, 2015, 3:34 pm

Hi Jen! Welcome to the group! I, too, am fairly new (in the sense that I was only in the group once back in 2012). And Bah! Clever themes are over-rated. ;) I'm keeping mine pretty general this year. Good luck with your categories!

14-Eva-
gen. 1, 2015, 11:27 pm

Nicely spread categories! Looking forward to following along!

15nittnut
gen. 2, 2015, 9:39 pm

#1 Change of Heart

First, a little about the author, who is new to me. Barbara Anderson was born in New Zealand. She didn't begin her writing career until she was in her fifties. She received the Icon Award in 2011, just two years before she passed away. This is beginning to sound like a 10 year old's book report. Lol.

I. loved. this. book. It's quirky and endearing. Some of the humorous moments are also a bit pathetic, but they are so life-like. Most of the story is from the point of view of Oliver Perkins. Oliver is a seventy-five year old man who leads a quiet, orderly life. Then something happens that causes him to evaluate his relationships. He decides that his wife has spent their entire marriage accommodating to his needs, and he should try to accommodate hers a little. He begins, but it turns out to be harder than he expected. Oliver is a funny guy. He is very attached to his routine, he places a much higher than reasonable importance to his dead father's opinions, and he doesn't like confrontation. He has a strong desire to take care of people and he deeply cares for them, but has a hard time communicating this. He blunders around in the most endearing way, learning things he would probably rather not know about his family, but in the end, he finds it was worth the effort.

Quotes:

"A cardiac incident, be it mild, certainly concentrates the mind."

How I abominate this passion for
sharing, this fear of being alone with your own indecisions, this need to belong.

Money does not bring happiness, but it can help you enjoy your misery in comfort.


16nittnut
gen. 2, 2015, 9:58 pm

Hi Lisa, mamzel, Rachel and Eva :)

17lkernagh
gen. 3, 2015, 1:09 pm

Change of Heart does sound good!

18nittnut
gen. 4, 2015, 1:40 pm

And... #2 Countdown

Countdown is set in the days just before and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The book is chock full of news articles, song lyrics, political cartoons, catch prases, etc. which contribute hugely to the atmosphere of the story. Franny, a 5th grader whose father is a pilot in the air force, narrates her story. Along with the usual 5th grade issues of liking a neighbor boy, fighting with friends, the first boy-girl party and sibling rivalry, Franny is also a worrier. All the cold war news has her awake at night worrying about the end of the world. Thanks to the notes at the back of the book, I discovered that the story is vaguely auto-biographical. I liked that personal aspect. There was one glaring historical error regarding the length of the Truman presidency, which appears in one of the "school report" style graphics. Overall, this is a great read and one I will probably give to my own "fifth grader" to read.

>17 lkernagh: So, is it a BB Lori? Lol

19christina_reads
gen. 5, 2015, 3:13 pm

>18 nittnut: You may have just hit me with a BB for Countdown -- sounds very interesting!

20DeltaQueen50
gen. 6, 2015, 5:31 pm

Great thread. I have taken a book bullet for Change of Heart and I totally agree with you on Countdown which I read a while ago. Apparently there is a sequel called "Revolution" which was scheduled to be published in 2014, but I haven't seen it around yet.

21nittnut
gen. 7, 2015, 2:53 pm

>19 christina_reads: Got ya!

>20 DeltaQueen50: Hi Judy! I hope you like Change of Heart. I am going to have to read some more of her work. Yep - Revolution by Deborah Wiles (Touchstone weirdness) is out and it looks to be about the civil rights movement. Which was well foreshadowed in Countdown. I will have to look into it soon.

22nittnut
gen. 8, 2015, 3:54 pm

#3 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Other Stories - American Authors

It is for this reason that most of us would rather love than be loved. Almost everyone wants to be the lover. And the curt truth is that, in a deep secret way, the state of being beloved is intolerable to many. The beloved fears and hates the lover, and with the best of reasons. For the lover is forever trying to strip bare the beloved.

If you take a ballad, and then imagine it in the form of a novel, then you have the idea of The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. It explores the transformative power of love, but seems to claim that in the end, the transformation can only bring pain. While the writing is musical and the story it compelling, it's impact is in the lack of redemption for both the lover and the beloved. There is only betrayal and retribution and betrayal.

Following The Ballad, there is a collection of short stories. These were powerful and intense. A couple that reallly stood out to me were Wunderkind and A Domestic Dilemma. In Wunderkind, McCullers explores the emotional pain suffered by a young and gifted pianist as she realizes she will never become great. In A Domestic Dilemma, a husband watches his wife descend into alcoholism. He realizes she is a danger to his children and his career and he must decide what to do. In the end, we have no idea what he will do, only that he will do something, and it is ominous.

While the stories she tells are not happy, Carson McCullers is skillful at exposing the emotional lives of her characters in a way that is somehow both raw and beautiful.

23thornton37814
gen. 8, 2015, 9:15 pm

Looks like you've been doing some interesting reading so far.

24nittnut
Editat: gen. 12, 2015, 2:44 pm

^It's a good year so far. I've liked everything I've read! :)

#4 The Way of Kings

Roshar is a world with a wide variety of people and landscapes. It took me a little while to get my head around things, but once I did, I was able to relax into the story more. As the opening book of what looks to be an epic series, The Way of Kings spends a lot of time on character and world building. We have four main characters to get to know and each of their sections are peopled by supporting characters with important roles. The people who live in Roshar have a complex theology and different groups have their own interpretations of the theological lore. This makes for complicated politics both within groups and between nations. The characters are realistic and flawed and able to explore the morals and attitudes of their belief system without coming across as preachy. They also have magic. Like his Mistborn series though, the magical system is science based. There is physics and chemistry and work involved. Not the typical potions and such, but a combination of skill, effort, ethics and science that is unique and just plain cool. Looking forward to the next book in the series. Be warned though - book three is only just being written.

This is the seventh book I have read by Brandon Sanderson and the third unique world of his creation that I have encountered. There are more. If you want an overview of the day to day operations of this crazy prolific writer, check out his blog. I learned about Sanderson from one of my cousins, who was at university with him. IMO, he is fairly young for producing such a quantity of books.

25_Zoe_
gen. 12, 2015, 2:49 pm

>24 nittnut: I've been trying to hold off on starting that series until it's a bit farther along, though I'm constantly tempted. I think I've read most of Sanderson's other stuff at this point.

26nittnut
gen. 12, 2015, 2:52 pm

^Zoë, did you read the Alcatraz books? I think they might be fun for my daughter who is almost 11.
What's your favorite? I absolutely loved The Emperor's Soul. I am also anxiously awaiting the next Rithmatist. I can't believe how many projects he has going at once.

27nittnut
gen. 12, 2015, 2:55 pm

#5 Eight Cousins

This is part of an ongoing effort to share some of my childhood favorites with my daughter. She really enjoyed the story and was excited to know there was a sequel. For anyone who is not familiar with the story, it is about a young girl whose father dies and she is given to the guardianship of her uncle. She is the only girl in the family and has 7 boy cousins. The boys take it upon themselves to make her feel at home and all kinds of fun ensues.

28_Zoe_
gen. 12, 2015, 3:02 pm

>26 nittnut: Yup, I read the Alcatraz books, though that was several years ago (2008-2011), so I'm not sure how much of use I can say. I gave them all four stars except for the fourth one, which got only three because it annoyed me with a recurrent joke that was done to death. I'd imagine that your daughter would like them since they're intended for that age range.

Thinking of a favourite is hard! Possibly Elantris, just because that was the first one I read. Rithmatist and Warbreaker are the other two that I've given 4.5 stars to, while the rest are mostly four. But I've only read each book once, so I'm not sure how much my mood at the time affected my impressions of each book.

Meanwhile, looking back at past reads led me to count them, and even I was a bit surprised to see that I've read twelve. I don't know how he can manage to write so quickly.

29nittnut
gen. 13, 2015, 4:58 am

^Thanks for your thoughts in the Alcatraz books. :) I completely agree with you. He's hugely prolific. He must be very disciplined.

#6 The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry Thanks Christina!

I am starting to feel a little nervous. I haven't read a single dud yet this year. How can it be this good?

A.J. Fikry is a curmudgeon. He is opinionated, abrasive and lonely. He is also the proprietor of a bookshop in a small town on a small island. A series of events cause A.J. to change his life. This book was more than just the story of A.J. Fikry. It is also an ongoing book chat and it was an absolute pleasure to read. I was about 68 pages in and liking it, and then the author poked fun at James Patterson and I was hooked.

Quotes:

The waiter is dressed in a puffy white shirt that is clearly in conflict with his black glasses and spiky hair. The look is pirate hipster. 'Ahoy landlubbers,' the waiter says flatly. 'Try a themed cocktail?'

In reference to The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
Proto-postmodernist story of a habitual gambler and his bested frog. The plot isn't much, but it's worth reading because of the fun Twain has with narrative authority. (In reading Twain, I often suspect he's having more fun than I am.)

Not particularly apropos of writing but... Someday you may think of marrying. Pick someone who thinks you're the only person in the room.

Years ago, Lambiase had to institute a 'leave your weapons' policy after a young cop had pulled a gun on another cop during a particularly heated discussion of The House of Sand and Fog. (Lambiase would later reflect to A.J. that the selection had been a mistake. 'Had an interesting cop character but too much moral ambiguity in that one.')


And the best of all:
Why is any one book different from any other book? They are different A.J. decides, because they are. We have to look inside many. We have to believe. We agree to be disappointed sometimes so that we can be exhilarated every now and then.

30bruce_krafft
gen. 13, 2015, 6:53 am

Your review of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is making me consider getting Kindle Unlimited on Amazon. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

31nittnut
gen. 13, 2015, 2:26 pm

>30 bruce_krafft: Uh oh. I only warble books, not ways to end up with a black hole of books. Lol

32nittnut
gen. 14, 2015, 11:50 pm

I've just finished The Captive Wife and reviewed it here.

33lkernagh
gen. 17, 2015, 1:01 am

Getting caught up here. McCullers was quite the writer and I see another great review/nudge towards the Zevin book. ;-)

34nittnut
gen. 17, 2015, 3:57 am

Hi Lori, I really enjoyed A.J Fikry I hope you add it to the pile. :)

35nittnut
feb. 5, 2015, 3:09 am

Hi everyone. I haven't been posting much here. I just finished a real chunkster - Words of Radiance - and it was pretty good. I'm thinking a smaller book will be nice next. Lol.

36nittnut
feb. 8, 2015, 10:26 pm

Kind of an interesting thing - at least to me. The last two books I read referred to other books I had just read or am currently reading. In The Long Way Home, Clara repeatedly quotes the last line from Gilead: I'll pray that you grow to be a brave man in a brave country. I will pray you find a way to be useful.
In The Alloy of Law, one of the characters acquires a book from an innocent bystander. He says "It's a pretty good book.. you should try it. It's about bunnies. They talk. Damnedest thing ever." I am going to assume it's a reference to Watership Down. Funny.

37-Eva-
feb. 9, 2015, 12:08 am

"It's about bunnies. They talk. Damnedest thing ever."
That is funny indeed!

38LittleTaiko
feb. 9, 2015, 9:34 pm

Don't you just love it when your reading world converges like that?

39nittnut
feb. 10, 2015, 6:10 pm

>37 -Eva-: :)

>38 LittleTaiko: I do. It totally makes my day.

I just finished The World Beneath. It drove me nuts. Or rather, the parents drove me nuts. They were useless. Has anyone else read this one?

40nittnut
feb. 11, 2015, 9:54 pm

Just dropping in to give a warble for Warbreaker. If you enjoy fantasy and magical systems, etc. this should be a fun read. :) Probably OK for the YA crowd too.

41nittnut
març 3, 2015, 2:59 pm

Just finished a great book - on my BB's list. Above All Things.

*Spoilers - if you don't know anything about the history of climbing Mt. Everest

Tanis Rideout has written a novel that highlights the cost of climbing Everest. She details what George Mallory and others were giving up in order to be the first to summit Mount Everest. As the story switches from the efforts of the men on the mountain back to the family they have waiting at home, particularly Mallory's wife and children in England, that contrast heightens the drama and intensifies the sense of loss. Rideout writes beautifully and tells the story of Mallory's determination so well that even though I knew the end of the story, there were times when I still thought he'd make it.
I find stories about climbing Everest both compelling and horrifying. Compelling because of the courage and skill and effort and drama that naturally attend such adventures. Horrifying because of the cost, and because I really do not understand that level of acceptable sacrifice. I don't think my levels of acceptable sacrifice were that high even before I had children, but after? Absolutely not. This was an excellent story. Highly recommended.

42rabbitprincess
març 3, 2015, 7:30 pm

The most horrifying aspect of the Everest stories is the physical toll it takes on climbers: the snow blindness, the oxygen deprivation, the frostbite. I am definitely not enough of an adventurer to entertain the faintest thought of climbing Everest and facing such dangers. (I wouldn't even be able to handle the flight to Nepal, never mind climbing the actual mountain.) Also, the story of George Somervell and his frostbitten trachea is the stuff of nightmares.

43nittnut
març 4, 2015, 12:42 am

>42 rabbitprincess: Agreed. All of it is awful.

44mamzel
Editat: març 4, 2015, 11:28 am

>41 nittnut: There just was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle (found here) that talks about the problem of human waste left behind from all of the climbers - 700 per season!

45nittnut
març 11, 2015, 6:46 am

>44 mamzel: Right. And then there's that cost as well. Sigh.

46nittnut
Editat: març 20, 2015, 6:09 pm

If anyone is interested in the plight of honey bees, I can highly recommend The Beekeeper's Lament. It's light on science, but there is still enough to be interesting. It highlights the conflict between sustainable practices and consumer demand. Very thoughtfully written.

47thornton37814
març 30, 2015, 10:05 pm

>46 nittnut: I've seemed to notice quite a few books lately with beekeeping in the plot.

48nittnut
març 30, 2015, 10:29 pm

I know, right? I have another one here - The Bees that I am planning to read soon. Kind of interesting.

49nittnut
abr. 11, 2015, 4:26 am

The Bees was a cool book. I really, really liked it. If you like science fiction and want a new twist on dystopian society, give it a try.

50nittnut
abr. 29, 2015, 6:47 pm

OK. who has read Once Were Warriors? What a painful and awful and enlightening read. Sigh.

51MissWatson
abr. 30, 2015, 4:29 am

I know a movie with that title, is there a connection?

52lkernagh
abr. 30, 2015, 9:45 am

>50 nittnut: - I haven't read it but the words you have chosen to describe it make me want to know more about it. ;-)

53nittnut
abr. 30, 2015, 2:25 pm

>51 MissWatson: Yes. There is a movie - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110729/. From what I've heard, it will be too much for me, but I've heard it was well done.

>52 lkernagh: Proceed with caution. :)

54MissWatson
maig 4, 2015, 6:20 am

>53 nittnut: Thanks, yes that's it. It was hard to watch.

55nittnut
maig 4, 2015, 8:02 pm

>54 MissWatson: I can only imagine. It was a really hard book to read. I teach an early morning religion class, and three of the girls in my class are Maori. Their lives are several steps up from the family in the story, but they still have some interesting challenges. One of them is year 12. She has this year and one more left. She is struggling because a lot of her friends are leaving school after this year and not trying to go to university. She says she already has more education than anyone in her family. If only I could bring her 30 year old self back in time to tell her it's worth the effort.

56nittnut
Editat: juny 2, 2015, 8:58 pm

Giving a warble for West With the Night.

I really like stories about intrepid pioneering women. This was an especially good one. Beryl Markham grew up in British East Africa. She learned to hunt with the local tribe and survived being "moderately" eaten by an lion. The first World War cost her father his business and farm. He left for Peru to explore other ventures, and at 15, Beryl rode her horse three days to the nearest town to become a horse trainer. There, she met a man who flew planes and the rest, as they say, is history. She spent many years as the only female bush pilot (that she knew of) in Africa. She was also a successful horse trainer - but that's not what this story is about. The only negative is her occasional tendency to wax philosophical in rather florid style. Highly recommended.

I am incapable of a profound remark on the workings of Destiny. It seems to get up early and go to bed very late, and it acts most generously toward the people who nudge it off the road whenever they meet it. That is an easy conclusion and it will not put to rest all further speculation on the subject...

Africa is never the same to anyone who leaves it and returns again. It is not a land of change, but it is a land of moods and its moods are numberless. It is not fickle, but because it has mothered not only men, but races, and cradled not only cities, but civilizations - and seen them die, and seen new ones born again - Africa can be dispassionate, indifferent, warm, or cynical, replete with the weariness of too much wisdom.

57christina_reads
Editat: maig 6, 2015, 3:35 pm

>56 nittnut: Sounds very interesting! I'll be getting an ER book called Circling the Sun, which is a novelized account of Beryl Markham's life. I love reading about female pilots!

ETA: I think I'll try West with the Night after I read the novel, to see how they compare!

58nittnut
maig 7, 2015, 5:52 am

>57 christina_reads: Ooh. I will be adding Circling the Sun to my TBR pile. Sounds good.

59nittnut
maig 20, 2015, 3:33 am

IF anyone is fond of creepy atmospheric historical type mystery books, then Wolf Winter might be the book you're looking for...

Has anyone else read it?

60MissWatson
maig 20, 2015, 4:39 am

>59 nittnut: No, I haven't read it but I looked at the reviews. Very promising, I'll have to check my library to see if they have it.

61-Eva-
juny 2, 2015, 4:58 pm

>56 nittnut:
Sounds like a fascinating story. But... how on earth how is one "'moderately' eaten by an elephant?" :)

62nittnut
juny 2, 2015, 8:58 pm

>61 -Eva-: Bahaha! Good question. Lol. It's meant to say "moderately eaten by a Lion" which is slightly easier to imagine.

63-Eva-
juny 2, 2015, 10:10 pm

Good! I was wondering if there was some unknown type of carnivore elephant I'd never heard of... :)

64nittnut
juny 18, 2015, 6:10 pm

Singing out a great big warble for Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. It's beautifully written and just an amazing story start to finish. I reviewed it over at my 75er thread. I am fond of this type of story. I would never embark on a journey of exploration such as this myself, so maybe it's a way to adventure vicariously from my sofa. I listened to the audio, narrated by Simon Prebble, and it was fabulous.

65nittnut
juny 30, 2015, 9:12 pm

Just looking over my list of books - half way through the year and all. I am happy to note that I read a Lot of books to my kids. :)

66nittnut
jul. 26, 2015, 6:52 pm

Dropping by my so very neglected thread to give a warble for Claire of the Sea Light and also for Uprooted. Both 5 star reads from this last week.

67mamzel
Editat: jul. 28, 2015, 2:46 pm

There are still 8 people ahead of me at the library for Uprooted. I'm really looking forward to it.

68nittnut
jul. 28, 2015, 11:57 pm

Hi mamzel! I hope you enjoy it! I managed to request it before the library had processed it, so I got the brand, spanking new, unread copy. It was delightful. :)

69christina_reads
ag. 10, 2015, 2:38 pm

LOVED Uprooted! I've never heard of Claire of the Sea Light but will have to look it up now!

70mamzel
ag. 17, 2015, 6:11 pm

Up to 3rd in queue!

71nittnut
Editat: ag. 20, 2015, 12:50 am

>69 christina_reads: Oh, I hope you give it a try. I think Edwidge Danticat writes beautifully. I also really liked her Breath, Eyes, Memory.

>70 mamzel: Woot! It's coming. The sad part is that, like me, you'll wait all this time for the book and then finish it in a day. Sort of like cooking and then eating Thanksgiving dinner...

72nittnut
nov. 23, 2015, 3:32 am

Oh thread, how I neglect you. :P

RL is super busy, but I keep reading. :)

73nittnut
des. 30, 2015, 8:01 pm

I'm here for a minute to wrap things up. Not a bad year, all told. I read 18 non-fiction, and am a third of the way through a real chunkster on US History. I managed to conquer the AAC, and really enjoyed it. I also participated in an ANZAC challenge, and while I passed on a few authors, I found several new ones to love. I have a new category that is filling up quickly - Book Bullets. The new category of last year - Rollovers - will also be a keeper.

Looking forward to next year!

74-Eva-
des. 31, 2015, 6:35 pm

Good progress this year - happy wrap-up and see you next year!