Bev of My Reader’s Block has called for the second check in of the 2012 Mount TBR (To Be Read) Reading Challenge and I’m a little less pleased with my progress this time than I was at Checkpoint 1, but still pleased at the steady progress.. For this challenge I have read For this challenge I have read 17 of 25 books which is 68%! I’m in the process of wrapping up Anna Karenina so I’ve counted it towards my progress. (As it will be done before the 30th – hopefully tonight!)
In addition to our basic check in – Bev has asked us to do a couple of things. The first is how far we’ve made it up the mountain (that’s above) and if possible convert it into actual distance – that would be 10,735ft or 3, 272m (Mount Vancouver is 15,787 ft/4,812m tall according to Google). The second thing she asked us to do was to compose a poem (with extra words if needed), write about our favorite character or explain if any of the books surprised us. I’ve decided to do two of them. My poem is below and after that is my surprise read of the year!
Untitled
A Storm of Swords,
between Two Serious Ladies
over The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
People in Trouble, chaos reigns;
Dogeaters and Murder on the Orient Express:
A Feast for Crows,
and coming—Death’s Hood,
The Color Purple…
Apparently the books I read so far have titles which encourage tragedy! It comes across really morbid, especially as I re-read it, but I really like it. I even got some allusion (I think) in there. Basically I sort of took the protagonists or just the title and turned it into a mini-story. The two women in two series ladies are fighting over the (female) tenant and chaos ensues (people eating dogs, murder, the carnage creating the feast) and then death’s hood is purple because of the LGBT connection… So it’s a bit of a stretch, but I had fun.
My Surprise Read
I’ve enjoyed all of the novels I’ve read so far as part of the challenge, but two have definitely stood out: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Anna Karenina. Honestly, I didn’t expect to like Anna Karenina and was reading it to find out about the hype, but it’s definitely struck something inside of me. It’s made me want to visit Russia and learn more about its history (not just the Tsars!). Although I’m not sure I like the character of Anna, I like the story over all.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was also surprising because I didn’t know what to expect! I knew the title and I knew it was a ‘classic’, but I had never had an interest to read it. I’m definitely glad I picked up the copy I did when I did (it was like $2) because I fell in love with Francie and her outlook on life.
Check it out–I can “like” your posts again! I didn’t even attempt to figure it out. It just suddenly started working again.
ANYWAY, I haven’t written my check-in post yet, but it’s going to be SHORT. Two. I read two books from my pre-existing TBR pile this quarter. Oops.
Whoohoo! (Weirdo WordPress :-D) I surprisingly read more than I thought I did. I was convinced I’d only read 2 since the last, but apparently read a few more than that!
Love your allusion explanation for your poem! My poetry is a bit grim this time ’round too–it’s all those murder mysteries I’ve been reading. Glad you enjoyed Anna Karenina…That was one of my favorite reads in college. I’m not a big fan of Russian writers, but I really liked Tolstoy’s way of depicting the people in this one.
His characterization really made the novel, especially Kitty and Levin. But for me it was definitely the broad sweeping representation of Russia and the Russian elite/aristocracy.