2014 Book Challenge Wrap-Up

Finding a new job and completing 3 major home improvement projects last year sucked away my reading time, so I didn't do so well with my reading challenges. Here's how I fared:

Eclectic Reader Challenge: 6/12

Award Winning: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout finished 10/19 (Pulitzer Prize)

Alternate History Fiction: 11/22/63 by Stephen King finished 7/27

War/Military Fiction: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller finished 12/13

Anthology: The Granta Book of the African Short Story by Helon Habila finished 4/26

Travel (Non Fiction): A Woman Alone: Travel Tales from Around the Globe by Faith Conlon finished 7/1

Published in 2014: The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena finished 3/16

Didn't get to: True Crime (Non Fiction), Romantic Comedy, Graphic Novel, Cozy Mystery Fiction, Gothic Fiction, Medical Thriller Fiction

Take It or Leave It Challenge

Challenges #1-6: 5/6

1. Read a book whose title names an object usually found in the kitchen: The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena finished 3/16

2. Read a book from your 'average' year (2000)

3. Read a book that has a connection with the number "14": Innocence by Dean Koontz (published in '14)

4. Read a work of fiction from the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2013: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer finished 2/15

5. Read a book set in France before the 21st Century: Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris finished 10/8

6. Read a book by a Yorkshire Born writer: Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris finished 11/30

Challenges #7-12 Completed!

7. Read a book you received as a present: Darwin: Portrait of a Genius by Paul Johnson finished 2/21 (from my nephew Kyle)

8. Read a book that has a glossary: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai finished 3/7

9. Read a book by the author of one of your favorite books of 2013: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King finished 3/23

10. Read a book that you discovered on an LT thread in 2013: Everything I Need To Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book by Diane E. Muldrow finished 3/7

11. Read a book that has two of something in the title: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller finished 12/13

12. Read a mystery book where the lead investigator is a professional sleuth, but not one employed by law enforcement: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith finished 8/25

Challenges #13-18: 3/6

13. Read a book by an author who died in 2013: A Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson finished 10/6

14. Read a book that is about an athlete or athletes: Horse People: Scenes from the Riding Life by Michael Korda finished 5/25

15. Read a book that takes place during "The War to End All Wars" (1914-1918)

16. Read a book with an ugly cover

17. Read a book about the city, state, or country in which you live

18. Read a book by an author from Sub-Saharan Africa: The Granta Book of the African Short Story by Helon Habila finished 4/26

Challenge #19 Completed!

19. Read a book with a walking or standing figure on the cover: Something Missing by Matthew Dicks finished 2/6

20. Read a book by an author called Elizabeth or a version of that name: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout finished 10/19

Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge: 0/2

Overall I completed 2 out of 6 challenges, and read 22 out of 34 challenge books. Hopefully I'll more reading time in 2015!

P.S. I found the book store picture on FFFFOUND!

My Favorite Books of 2014

I read 33 books last year. Here are my 10 favorites and 1 honorable mention, which I recommend you read as well. They are listed in the order I read them.

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks - reviewed here on February 18th

Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King - Stephen King can write anything, including incredible short stories.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd - takes place in the early 19th century, told from the perspective of a girl against slavery and from her slave, Hetty's, perspective. The ending is amazing.

Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel by Virginia Morell - reviewed here on May 19th

11/22/63 by Stephen King - a man travels back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - delightful story of a man on the spectrum as he searches for the perfect wife

The City by Dean Koontz - reviewed here on September 30th

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - shocking mystery about a man whose wife goes missing

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris - the coming of age story of a girl living in German-occupied France and the effect it has on her as an adult

Eventide by Kent Haruf - the sequel to Plainsong, we catch up with the McPheron brothers and Victoria, and meet some new characters from Holt, Colorado

Honorable Mention:

The Granta Book of the African Short Story edited by Helon Habila - Almost every story in this anthology is deeply engrossing, and I can't stop loaning it to others and making them read it too.

Dirty Chick: Adventures of an Unlikely Farmer by Antonia Murphy

I received Dirty Chick: Adventures of an Unlikely Farmer as an Early Reviewer. It's the true story of a couple that moves from San Francisco to New Zealand, evolving from part-time sailors into full-time artisanal farmers.

Antonia Murphy shares funny, cute, and foul stories about the animals they collect to farm. As they add chickens, goats, alpacas, lambs, turkeys, and cows to their farm the stories get crazier and grosser. I appreciated the amount of profanity the author used to accentuate her frustration. Meanwhile, they also raise 2 kids and search for a permanent home because they are renters. It's not only the story of farming and family; as the story progresses there is the sense that the family is becoming a part of a community.

Dirty Chick is the book to read if you have a good sense of humor and a strong stomach.

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2015

In the past 3 years the Eclectic Reader Challenge has challenged me to explore genres I may not normally be drawn to and get unread books off my shelf, so I am going to sign up again for 2015.

Here are this coming year's categories and some of the books I have on hand that fit:

Retellings (of fairytale, legends or myth) - Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire, The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy

A book set in a country starting with the letter S - Spain: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, Sweden: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

PI Crime (fiction featuring a private investigator) - When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

A novel published before you were born - I have a ton of these (since I'm so young ;)

Contemporary romance - Must Love Dogs by Claire Cook, Angel Landing by Alice Hoffman, Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes, Lost Highways by Curtiss Ann Matlock

Fiction for foodies (fiction featuring food/food related business) - The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, Julia's Chocolates by Cathy Lamb, By Bread Alone by Sarah-Kate Lynch

Microhistory (Non Fiction) - A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman,

The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls by Joan Jacobs Brumberg,

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson,

The Harvey Girls: Women Who Opened the West by Lesley Poling-Kempes

Science Fiction set in space - Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Sports (Fiction or Non fiction) - Gold by Chris Cleave, Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon, The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing by Thomas Hauser

Featuring diversity - Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel by Tom Franklin

Epistolary Fiction (fiction written in the format of letters/emails/diary entries) - I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Middle Grade/YA Adventure - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Crows and Cards by Joseph Helgerson

Do you recommend any of the books on my list? Do you want to join with me?

P.S. Strange Days is by Maggie Taylor.

Happy Holidays!

A photo posted by Elsie + Emma A Beautiful Mess (@abeautifulmessofficial) on Dec 12, 2014 at 12:10pm PST

* Instagram Fun *

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge is a book of short stories all tied together by some connection to Olive. She is mostly an unloved, unliked, feared, or hated woman, yet she has made an impact on people all over her town and in her family.

The stories were interesting but mostly I could some them up with one word: sad. Sad, sad, sad. I'm looking forward to the mini-series on HBO because of Bill Murray and Francis McDormand, but would never reread this depressing assemblage of Pulitzer sorrow.

P.S. This book counts as my Award Winning book for the Eclectic Reader Challenge.

The City by Dean Koontz

Dean Koontz might have to go back on my favorites list after The City. It's the coming-of-age story of a musical prodigy named Jonah, taking place in the 1960s.

It's hard to share much of the plot without diminishing the pleasure of discovering the power of music, art, love, and friendship through Jonah's eyes. All you need to know is that poetic writing, twisting plot, magical realism, and unmitigated terror made this book hard to put down.

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I read I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai with my book club earlier this year. It's the memoir of a girl from Pakistan whose refusal to be bullied by the Taliban into not attending school led to being shot in the face.

One part of her story is an education about the history of Pakistan. I was surprised to learn that Pakistan used to be a Buddhist country where many monks lived. Sunni or Shia? Explained. How did the Taliban get its hooks into Pakistan? Recounted. I joked with my book club that this book is Pakistan for Dummies, to which they laughed and agreed.

The other part of the book champions the value of education for everyone. Malala's father is a teacher who opened a school for boys and girls. She says:

Education had been a great gift for him. He believed that lack of education was the root of all of Pakistan's problems. Ignorance allowed politicians to fool people and bad administrators to be re-elected. He believed schooling should be available for all, rich and poor, boys and girls. The school that my father dreamed of would have desks and a library, computers, bright posters on the walls and, most important, washrooms.

My book club consists of a speech pathologist, school psychologist, occupational therapist, reading interventionist, and primary grade teachers. As educators, this touched us to be reminded again how fortunate our students in America are to have public education available to every individual. If the Taliban wants to blow up schools just for educating girls, it is easy to see how important education is and how much it threatens them. "Though we loved school, we hadn't realized how important education was until the Taliban tried to stop us."

The last quote is the one I had to read aloud to my friends and so I have to share it here too. "The Taliban could take our pens and books, but they couldn't stop our minds from thinking."

Many best wishes to Pakistan and their struggle to educate their children.

Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel by Virginia Morell

The author of Animal Wise, Virginia Morell, compiles in this book many recent studies done on animals demonstrating that they are not purely driven by the need to eat and procreate. There is a level of cognition in these animals proving that they indeed think and feel.

Although not all of the studies are complete and some have not yet been peer reviewed, they show what anyone who has spent time with animals already knows. From ants to elephants, there is a level of intelligence. What we sometimes thought was anthropomorphization was actually a hint at what lies in the animal mind.

Written in a way that makes the studies easy to understand while also entertaining, I recommend Animal Wise if you have ever wondered what animals are thinking.

P.S. I made a Pinterest board of my favorite facts from each chapter here.

Happy 88th Birthday Sir Attenborough!

Happy Earth Day!

Reduce, reuse, recycle!

long weekends

We got a lot of yard work done on our long weekend. It's looking good back there. Final project is a mini grass patch for the spoiled mini pack!

P.S. Cha Cha Chia Chihuahua is by Mike Holzer.

The Taste of Apple Seeds by Katharina Hagena

The Taste of Apple Seeds takes place in Germany and has been translated from German.

A 20-something girl named Iris is shocked to learn she has inherited her grandmother's house. After her grandmother's funeral, she decides to stay in the house for a week to see if she should stay there or go back to being a librarian in another town.

As she explores the house she relives memories and unearths some family secrets. Iris didn't know she was going to inherit the house and winds up wearing her aunts' and grandmother's old gowns because she didn't bring a change of clothes. She then rides her grandfather's bike around town and continues to run into her friend's little brother, now grown up into a hottie, whenever she leaves the property.

This was a cute story, but forgettable. Marketed as magical realism, I would classify it as romance.

P.S. This book counts as my Published in 2014 book for the Eclectic Reader Challenge, and my Book That Has a Connection with the Number "14" for the Take It or Leave It Challenge.

Hooray it's Opening Day!

Too bad the Dbacks lost though. :(

But yay! I get to watch baseball again!

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book by Diane E. Muldrow

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From a Little Golden Book by Diane E. Muldrow is a little montage of Little Golden Book illustrations through the years paired with words of wisdom.

Although I had a lot of hand me down books from my sisters, most of the illustrations were from stories older than the ones I had. It still put a smile on my face. You will really like it too if you enjoy cute vintage illustrations like these:

This would make a good gift and would also be a good coffee table book.

P.S. This counts as my Book That I Discovered on an LT Thread in 2013 for the Take It or Leave It Challenge.