Tag Archives: 100 book challenge

January 26, 2017 · 1:19 PM

25. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck (100 book challenge)

I had a gift voucher to spend at the local book shop and was excited to buy a few from the 100 book challenge list. The Penguin and Vintage classics were selling for $14 each so I began searching the shelves for familiar titles.

At one stage I had War and Peace in one hand and Of Mice and Men in the other. The former is a whopping 580,000 words and the latter a mere 30,000. Being part of the classics range, they were both $14. It seemed a no-brainer: War and Peace was much more value for money. Just 2.4 cents per 1000 words.

I had my 6 month old daughter in the pram, and she had started to fidget. She wanted out. I put the books down to lift her out of the pram. Baby on hip, I then decided which of the two books I would add to my collection.

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January 24, 2017 · 2:23 PM

24. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (100 book challenge)

I’d seen the movie a hundred times as a kid, but I don’t know if I’d ever read the book. I think I’d tried a few times (the first few pages seemed very familiar) but never made it all the way through.

Ahhh, but as I’m quickly learning with this 100 book challenge, sometimes one needs to have a bit of maturity behind them to truly appreciate what an author is trying to get across (I discovered this recently when I read To Kill a Mockingbird).

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September 18, 2016 · 3:36 PM

23. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee (100 book challenge)

I remember having to read this book in high school as part of English class. I checked the book out from the library and struggled through the first few pages. In preparation for the exam I read the Sparknotes Study Guide and watched the movie  from start to finish (the image of the rabid dog is clear in my mind).

I passed the exam without reading more than 10 pages max.

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September 14, 2016 · 10:55 AM

22. Little Women – Louisa M Alcott (100 book challenge)

Did a bit of a premonition draw me to this book?

I began reading my 22nd book late in my pregnancy when it was starting to get real. Being my second baby, I had all the usual concerns: was spare time for me now a thing of the past? would I ever get to write or read again? how was I going to share my love between two kids? would my three-year-old son like the baby at all?

And then there was the thought that this baby could be a girl and (terror!) how would I go being a mum to a girl, when up until then, I’d always seen myself as a boy’s mum?

Granted, being a mum to girls in the 1860s would probably be just a little different to my own experience but I thought I’d give it a go. Thought I’d finally read this classic tale that so many people (everyone, apparently… please read on) seemed to know about but one that I’d never tackled before.

 

Little Women cover

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September 13, 2016 · 3:53 PM

21. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini (100 book challenge)

This book hooked me from the very first page and I couldn’t put it down. When I wasn’t reading, I’d think about it all day. And when I was reading, I’d be drawn into the story, oblivious to what was going on around me. I felt guilty that I was neglecting my family!

Luckily it was all over in just 6 days. That’s almost a record for my 100 book challenge. Beaten only by Catcher in the Rye, which had a similar effect on me and took just 5 days to finish.

If it wasn’t for one small thing, I’d have given it a perfect 10 out of 10.

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March 12, 2016 · 12:41 PM

19. The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett (100 book challenge)

How did I manage to get through my childhood without reading this book?

The Secret Garden was published in 1911 and is about a spoiled little English girl (Mary), born in India but sent back to England to live with her uncle when she suddenly becomes an orphan. Mary becomes intrigued when she hears a story of a secret garden that’s been locked up for ten years, and as expected, the story follows her search and (*spoiler alert*) discovery of the garden.

The main characters drive this story and stop it from becoming cliche or predictable. There’s one boy I love (Dickon) and another boy I can’t stand (Colin), but Mary manages to find qualities in both.

Secret Garden cover

You will even love the red robin – trust me

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February 23, 2016 · 1:44 PM

18. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute (100 book challenge)

When I realised that it took me 85 days to finish A Town Like Alice, I was shocked. That’s a long time to read a book. And in this case, I must stress that it had nothing to do with the quality of the story.

I was shocked… because I know that every time I picked up this book I was hooked. I’d fall into the story and find myself racing through the chapters. The 85 days it took to get to ‘The end’ just doesn’t do this book justice. And it’s purely an indication of what my life has been like over the past few months.

Town Like Alice cover

In November 2015, pretty much the day I started this book, I also found out I was pregnant with our second child. A wave of nausea and tiredness hit me from day of conception and lasted till I was 16 weeks along. It was a struggle to make it through everyday life, so to then find the energy to pick up a book at the end of the day? No chance.

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