Finally something completely different! And written within the last 100 years.
Compared to the Hugos and Austens and Dickens and Hardys I’ve been reading lately, this epic road trip novel was a refreshing and modern change.
Category Archives: 100 book challenge
52. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks (100 book challenge)
‘It’s a great story set in France during World War I.’
If I had heard those words ten years ago there is no way I would have picked up the book and given it a go. But that’s been the best thing about this #100bookchallenge – it makes me read (and enjoy) books that would have never ever made it to my bedside table.
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51. Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy (100 book challenge)
After finally conquering Les Misérables, I needed something a bit easier to read. I had loved Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, so I thought I’d choose another book from the list by the same author.
And I was not disappointed!
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50. Les Misérables – Victor Hugo (100 book challenge)
Fifty books! I am now officially halfway through my 100 book challenge, where in July 2014 I set myself the goal of reading the top 100 classic books that BBC determined I must read before I die. No one said it would be easy (it hasn’t been), but now that I’ve made it this far I actually believe that I will achieve my goal.
For my 50th book I wanted a challenge, and Les Mis was absolutely the right book for that…
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49. The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery (100 book challenge)
I’ll apologise in advance. I’m sorry.
This book was terrible.
Maybe I missed something big. Was there a metaphor that was too subtle for my simplicity? Did the translation from French to English mean the genius was lost? Were my expectations just way too high?
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48. Winnie The Pooh – A. A. Milne (100 book challenge)
Winnie the Pooh is one of those stories from my childhood that I remember so dearly. I think it was my Granny and Grandad bought me ‘The Pooh Gift Box’ for my birthday one year and I’ve treasured it ever since.
When I saw the book on the 100 book challenge, I saved it up for a time when my kids would enjoy the story as much as I did. This year, at 7 and 4, I decided it was time to tick this one off the list by (literally) dusting off the gift box.
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47. The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro (100 book challenge)
Many people had recommended this book to me that I decided to take a pause from the 100 book challenge and read this book instead. Months later, as I was looking through the list to see what book I should read next, that I found this book WAS actually on the list. So it was an accidental achievement and another one ticked off the list!
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46. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell (100 book challenge)
One of the best things about this 100 book challenge is rediscovering books that I read years ago. Books like 1984 were on the mandatory reading list at high school, and for me they were always a struggle to get through. I never liked reading, and this dislike continued well into my adult life. At high school, I remember reading the first few pages, getting distracted, then going to the library to read the Spark Reading Notes summaries instead. This was generally enough to get me through class discussions and tests.
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45. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë (100 book challenge)
I’d always thought that Brontë’s Jane Eyre would be something along the lines of an Austen story… long, tedious and based solely around trying to win the man (my previous reviews of Austen haven’t been the most glowing).
And yes, Jane Eyre seemed to start along those lines, until page 130 when the mysteriousness of Mr Rochester’s attic was introduced, followed by eerie wailings and laughter at all hours. Suddenly, we had a story worth reading!
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44. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (100 book challenge)
I expected bleak, and bleak was what I got. I think I’d been warned by someone a few year’s ago who read it, or I’d seen the previews for the TV series… so I knew full-well this wasn’t going to be a fun, light-hearted read.
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Jessie Ansons 