The Not-So-Dirty Half Dozen Challenge.
1. Read a work of Classic literature - one you've never read before.
I read two for this because they were both short: A Christmas Carol and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Liked the first, not the second.
2. Read a book by an author from a country you've not read a book from before.
My book was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, who is Iranian.
3. Read one Scifi, one Fantasy and one Spec Fic book (i.e. three separate books, and they can be books you've read before, if you like).
Fantasy: Kraken by China Miéville (was ok)
Sci-fi: Misspent Youth by Peter F Hamilton (hated it)
Spec-fic: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (liked it, can see why it's so well regarded, but it's been spoiled by similar stories written since that I've read)
4. Read a graphic novel, a play or a collection of poetry you've not read before.
My choice was The Crow by J. O'Barr. HATED IT A LOT. Like, whoa. The pictures were pretty but so, so grim. I liked the film - thought it worked better in that medium - but the comic was so relentlessly horrible that I really didn't enjoy it at all. No redeeming moments.
5. Read a book and then watch a film of that book (again, you can have read the book before).
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy just made it out here (and I just read the book in time) for me to choose it for this Challenge. Loved the book, thought the film was pretty good - mostly for the incredible cast - but too dumbed down to be fully successful.
6. Read a non-fiction book you've not read before.
The book I chose for this was an investigation into the various candidates for Who Wrote Shakespeare. It was very interesting, and I'd recommend it to anyone since it was nice to read.
So: I achieved all of those challenges. Go me.
Genre Challenge
- Historical Fiction/Alternative History
Several options for this: Ivanhoe, Naomi Novik's books, and some others.
- Western
Didn't manage one of these.
- Horror
Ended up being Dracula because I couldn't find the Peter Straub book I wanted to read.
- Mystery
The Man Who Knew Too Much by GK Chesterton. Lovely.
- (Auto-) Biography
Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. Learned rather a lot, and corrected some misconceptions I had.
- History
David Hume's A History of England: Part One. Loved it. He's brilliantly snarky when he wants, and it's a very thorough history. Must track down the other 5 parts. (I think it's in 6 parts, although I could be wrong there.)
- Family chronicle
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I cried again. Every time.
- Allegory/parody/satire
Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle. Very funny parody.
- Surrealist novel
Didn't get one of these either.
- Extra option for those who can: a novel in a foreign language
Nope, not me.
Old Favourite:
The 50 Book Challenge. Says it all, really.
If you're an extra-speedy reader then make it 100 books. List 'em all, starting from January.
Yeah. I chose 100 books, and would have managed it apart from ending up in hospital in November and losing all ability to concentrate on reading. I managed 92. List is in my Journal.
And one more thing:
It's a good time for you to pick up a book you've been meaning to read for ages. Just tell us which book it is in the post that will be made on 1 January and then read it sometime in 2011.
I didn't read The Divine Comedy but I did read Barchester Towers so I'm going with that one instead.
*MySmiley*
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. - Groucho Marx
The 2011 RAFO Challenges: how did you get on?
- 01/01/2012 11:05:22 AM
956 Views
I achieved some and failed at others.
- 01/01/2012 11:32:00 AM
1022 Views
Some interesting things in your list... a few that I really need to read.
- 01/01/2012 01:58:34 PM
696 Views
I really couldn't get into The Dervish House when i tried to read it.
- 01/01/2012 02:06:31 PM
641 Views
Re: Some interesting things in your list... a few that I really need to read.
- 01/01/2012 04:02:41 PM
799 Views
As the year progressed I didn't follow it as much, but I got most of them one way or another.
- 01/01/2012 01:43:29 PM
843 Views