IRELAND READING CHALLENGE 2011

I don't usually participate in reading challenges. I like to pick my reads as the mood strikes me and a reading challenge can potentially lead to the feeling that I have to read (a) certain book(s) before a given date. 

However, I do like the sound of this particular challenge.
I like the idea of reading at least a few books this year that is either written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters. 
I've lived in Ireland for almost 14 years now and still feel that I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to reading Irish authors. This challenge might just give me the push I need to read a few more. 
The challenge itself is not too demanding either. Yes, the participant commits to reading a certain amount of books, but the numbers are, for me anyway, quite low:

Shamrock level: 2 books
Luck o’ the Irish level: 4 books
Kiss the Blarney Stone level: 6 books

I've decided to commit myself to reading at least 6 Irish books this year, but would be disappointed if I didn't read a few more then that. Especially since I'm already on my second book by an Irish author this year and have at least two unread books by Irish authors on my shelves. Working in a library will make it very easy to come up with any other Irish novels.
For anyone wanting to know more about this challenge, here's the link to the Ireland Reading Challenge 2011.

ORYX AND CRAKE

TITLE: ORYX AND CRAKE
AUTHOR: MARGARET ATWOOD
Pages: 433
Date: 14/01/2011
Grade: 4.5

In terms of year of publication Oryx and Crake would be a prequel to The Year of the Flood. However chronologically it would be more accurate to call it a parallel novel, if there is such a thing.
We are once again introduced to our world at some time in the (not too distant?)future. A lot has changed, whole species of animals are completely distinct and human experiments have introduced new creatures; combinations of pre-existing animals theoretically with only the good qualities of old species, but in reality turning out to have quite unexpected and often undesirable characteristics.
This is the story of Snowman, formerly Jimmy, who is, as far as he knows the only human survivor of a worldwide disaster. Dressed in only a sheet he sleeps in a tree and keeps an eye on "Crake's People", a new creation looking somewhat like humans, but also completely different. With little to occupy his time Jimmy/Snowman spends his time looking back on his life and on the events that lead to him being in the position he finds himself in.
Slowly a picture emerges of a world where the population is divided up into basically two groups. There are the privileged ones who are talented enough to work for the corporations that create products, medication, new animals and anything else their minds can think of that might create a profit. And there is the rest of humankind, living in what's called the Pleblands where life is less regulated and far more dangerous.
Jimmy is the son of corporation employees but doesn't have an easy life. His mother runs away and disappears when he's still young. He's nowhere near as smart as most of his contemporaries and struggles with life.
When he's in his teens Crake enters his life, and although he doesn't meet her face to face, so does Oryx.
Crake is a genius, a quality that will end up having severe consequences for Jimmy and for the whole of humankind.
This story, like the one in The Year of the Flood leaves the reader with lots of fruit for thought. If, like me you are already afraid of the human need to expand, dominate and "improve", this book will re-enforce those fears. No conspiracy theory I have come across paints as bleak a picture as these two novels do. And yet it is all to easy to believe that some day, something like this could all to easily happen. A very bleak picture presented in a way that is all to plausible, this is a story that will stay with me for a long time.
There is room for a third book I think, one that does take the story forwards from the endings of both books. I hope Atwood will write that book. 

THE TWELVE

TITLE: THE TWELVE

AUTHOR: STUART NEVILLE
Pages: 464
Date: 09/01/2011
Grade: 3.5
Details: no. 1 Jack Lennon Investigations
Own

I read this book for the Bord Gais Energy Book Club on TV3’s “Ireland AM”.

Coming Friday some my book club will be filmed while we answer questions about this book the result of which will be broadcasted at a later date.

In the time between now and then I’ll have to try and figure out what I actually think about this book.

This is the Story of Gerry Fegan. For years he was a hit man for the Republican’s in Northern Ireland, killing who he was told needed to be dead without questioning either the deed or the motives of those ordering him.

Now Fegan finds himself haunted by the ghosts of 12 people he killed. They won’t leave him alone, following him everywhere they leave him sleepless and trying to drink himself and his ghosts into oblivion.

But no amount of drink can keep the ghosts at bay. They want their revenge on those who ordered or caused their deaths, and they want Fegan to do the killing.

And so Fegan finds himself in modern day Belfast, hunting down those the ghosts want killed and doing the ghost’s bidding. And with every new killing, Fegan loses a ghost.

But today’s Belfast in this book is not such a different place from what it was during the troubles. The hard-men still run the city, politicians scheme to gain or retain power and the powerful both, Republican and British, won’t stand by and allow a lone madmen to derail what it took them over 30 years to accomplish.

I’m really not sure how I feel about this book.

It is really well written and it’s a page turner if ever there was one. Once I started reading the book I couldn’t put it down.

On the other hand, I can’t remember ever having been this enchanted by a story in which none of the characters appeared to have a redeeming quality. The problem with this book is not that it’s too black versus white, it is that there appears to be no white, and not a whole lot of grey either.

At times while reading The Twelve I really wanted to like Fegan, wanted to try and explain his actions, both in the past and now, away, wanted to make it alright for him to be who and what he was. But really, you can’t. He is a cold blooded killer. Killing in the past because he was told to do so and killing in the present to make his pain go away. But always killing because “he had always thought of killing as work”.

This book also left me feeling that either Stuart Neville is very cynical or I’m a complete innocent. My fear is that I’m probably an innocent, and that is a very scary thought. 

I will say this for the book though:

It would also make a great discussion book. 

If I find myself arguing with myself in my review I can only imagine what it might be like if I had others to discuss this story with.

It is however not a book for those who abhor violence, nor for those who can’t read about cruelty to animals. And if you want your endings to be of the (all) evil gets punished variety, you’d better stay away from this book too.

Morality issue and possible spoiler:

Fegan’s killing spree was really only about getting rid of his ghosts, in an effort to make his own life bearable again. It had nothing to do with trying to right wrongs or get revenge for those who had unjustly been killed. He only killed those who the ghosts pointed out to him and allowed others, at least equally bad, to live because they had no ghost attached to them.

THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG

TITLE: THE WEED THAT STRINGS THE HANGMAN'S BAG
AUTHOR: ALAN BRADLEY
Pages: 336
Date: 07/01/2011
Grade: 4+
Details: no. 2 Flavia de Luce Mystery
Own

This book was send to me by Bookdagger for my honest review.

This is the second book by Alan Bradley featuring the precocious Flavia de Luce.
Flavia is eleven years old, the youngest of three sisters who live with their philatelist and rather absent father in a mansion in the country-side in England in the 1950's.
Flavia could easily have been a lonely and sad little girl, bullied by her sisters, half believing that she caused her mother's death and more or less ignored by her father, but she's far to busy to be miserable. Her natural curiosity, her chemical laboratory, her fascination with poisons and her trusted bicycle Gladys combined keep her more than occupied.
It is on one of her rambles in the neighbourhood that she meets puppeteer Rupert Porson and his assistant Nialla. She immediately senses that there is a strong undercurrent between these two characters and that there might a mystery to resolve. But even Flavia's more than active imagination couldn't have conjured up what happens during a show put on my Rupert and Nialla. Within days of first meeting the duo Flavia is not only trying to solve a murder she all but witnessed but also the tragic death of a five year old boy six years earlier.
I do enjoy these mysteries, and am growing quite fond of Flavia.
The mysteries are very well plotted and the solutions make perfect sense. The characters in the book are quirky and eccentric enough to keep a smile on my face and the story flows really well.
My only reservation is that Flavia at times is a bit too precocious for an eleven year old. While in may ways she is a child and acts as one, she seems to be a bit too wise when it comes to solving a crime, and, this stretches the imagination the most, understanding the motivations of adults.
I personally could also do without the, at times very elaborate, descriptions of chemical experiments and compounds.
But, despite these two, minor, issues I do enjoy these books and the character of Flavia a lot. And I'm very happy to know that a third book in this series is due to be published this year.


On a side-note, I ran into two coincidences while reading this book.
To start with, the line I quoted from my previous read, Alice in Wonderland, "I shall begin at the beginning, and go on till I come to the end. And then I shall stop" made a re-appearance in this book. Serendipity like that never ceases to amaze me and happens more often that you'd expect.
The second surprise was to find an online friend and fellow book enthusiast, Lesa Holstine, mentioned in the acknowledgements.
Surprises like that make reading even more fun than it is for its own sake.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

TITLE: ALICE IN WONDERLAND

AUTHOR: LEWIS CARROLL
Pages: 164
Date:; 04/01/2011
Grade: 4
Library

It's hard to know what to write about story that everybody in the world must be familiar with, even if they haven't read the book.
Most people would know about the little girl, Alice, who is out with her sister when she sees a White Rabbit in a waistcoat, looking anguishedly at his pocket-watch, muttering to himself about being late.
Being a curious little girl, Alice can't help herself and follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole only to find herself in a world filled with strange and wond...moreIt's hard to know what to write about story that everybody in the world must be familiar with, even if they haven't read the book.
Most people would know about the little girl, Alice, who is out with her sister when she sees a White Rabbit in a waistcoat, looking anguishedly at his pocket-watch, muttering to himself about being late.
Being a curious little girl, Alice can't help herself and follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole only to find herself in a world filled with strange and wonderful creatures.
She finds herself growing very small and very tall in turns, scaring little animals by mentioning her cat, playing a strange game of croquet and taking part in a trial in front of the king and queen of Hearts, who appear to be obsessed with chopping heads off.
This is a wonderful children's book, and I enjoyed reading it.
My main reason for picking it up though was to familiarize myself with Wonderland and it's creatures now that I've taken a liking to Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars series, and I do feel that I'll have a better picture in my head now.
This copy of the book also contained the nonsense rhyme, The Hunting of the Snark. Which is exactly what it proclaims to be, nonsense put to rhyme. Great fun, but don't try to make sense of it.
Now I'm ready to get back to Beddor's series in the near future.

Two side-notes:

I read the short biography of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) that was included in the book and have to say I had quite a few qualms about his fondness of children and little girls in particular. I can't help wondering what we would think about him if he were alive now. Having said that, maybe I'm seeing sinister motives where none were intended by Carroll. I suppose we will never know for sure.

Finally, here is what must be my favourite quote from the story:

"Begin at the beginning, the king said, very gravely, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

ONE DAY

TITLE: ONE DAY

AUTHOR: DAVID NICHOLLS
Pages: 435
Date: 02/01/2011
Grade: 4+
Own

When you decide to read a book that has received some serious hype, that everybody appears to be raving about and that's about to be turned into a movie, I suppose there's always the risk of setting yourself up for a disappointment.
This wasn't so much a disappointing experience, as not quite as good as I hoped it would be.
I love the premise of following two people over the course of twenty years by focussing on a single date, year after year. It gives the reader all the information she...moreWhen you decide to read a book that has received some serious hype, that everybody appears to be raving about and that's about to be turned into a movie, I suppose there's always the risk of setting yourself up for a disappointment.
This wasn't so much a disappointing experience, as not quite as good as I hoped it would be.
I love the premise of following two people over the course of twenty years by focusing on a single date, year after year. It gives the reader all the information she needs to keep up with the lives of the two main characters, but also keeps the story steadily moving forwards.
I really like that this is basically the story of my generation. The two main characters meet in 1988, when they graduate from university. A year later I graduated myself. But, that's also where one of my personal downfalls of the novel occurs. I don't recognize a lot, if anything, of myself in these two contemporaries.
This is the story of Emma and Dexter, who spend their graduation night, July 15th, and the following day together. Both are really drawn to each other, but Dexter is about to go travelling and that first encounter is over within 24 hours.
Over the subsequent years they stay in touch, sometimes through letters, sometimes face to face, but never losing contact for a long time. They never really get back together either. Although it's clear from their individual stories that they care about each other and probably should be together, jobs, other people, drink, drugs and life in general keep on getting in the way.
While Emma struggles to get herself out of a dead end job, Dexter finds fame as a television personality. But with the fame comes a life-style that isn't very attractive and might well destroy him.
Emma, at the same time, seems to have a hard time allowing herself to be happy, to follow her dreams.
Years later, when it is Dexter who is facing a tough time and Emma seems to have made it they are granted another opportunity at happiness together. But are they really destined to get that?
If I'm honest I have to admit that as much as I got caught up in the story, I really didn't like the main characters very much. I wanted to shake Emma for most of the first part of the book and tell her to kick start her life already. And don't even get me started about Dexter who came across as self-indulgent, selfish and childish in his efforts to sabotage his life. While I could see why Dexter would want Emma in his life, if only to provide stability, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why she stayed so hung up on him.
This book fascinated me, kept me compulsively reading and I did really enjoy it. But, like I said before, it just didn't quite live up to what I hoped it would be.

2010 A READING OVER-VIEW

Well, 2010 is over, and it is welcome to 2011 and a happy New Year to everybody.
Last year was not a bad reading year for me at all. I didn't manage to read as many titles as I did in previous years, but that's just due to having less time. Taking on a course in Local Government Studies took up a lot more of my time than I thought it would and did cut into my reading time. Since I won't take my exam until April, the same will be true for 2011, but it's all in a good cause.
I did have a few nice developments last year.
First of all, I discovered the joys of Young Adult and, to a lesser degree, juvenile fiction, and I can definitely see myself reading more books aimed at younger people in the future.
Secondly, I've discovered the joys of receiving books from publishers and bookshops for review. This was both encouraging, because it's nice to think that people like my reviews enough to want me to review their books, and fascinating because it brought me books I would otherwise never have encountered.

Here are the statistics for last year:
I read 144 books of which only 36 copies were my own. I guess that is an occupational hazard for a librarian, but it still isn't good enough. With over 150 unread owned books on my shelves, and in the certain knowledge that I bought more than 36 books last year, I'll have to make sure I read more books of my own shelves in the future.

My favourite books last year were:
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALL FLOWER by Stephen Chbosky
THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY by Suzanne Collins
ROOM by Emma Donoghue
FAITHFUL PLACE by Tana French
A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS by Khaled Hosseini
NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro
THE REBEL PRINCE by Celine Kiernan
THE LACUNA by Barbara Kingsolver
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNESTS' NEST by Stieg Larsson
LET THE GREAT WORLD SPIN by Colum McCarthy
THE DISTANT HOURS by Kate Morton
THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny
AMONG THE MAD by Jacqueline Winspear

Not quite a top 10, but why restrict myself? It was hard enough getting the list down to these 13 titles (16 if you count the trilogy as three books), and I didn't want to force myself into further reductions. Also, the titles mentioned are not the only books I read last year that I marked 5 or more; in total there were 42 books ranging between 5- to 5++. The big question being if that is because I tend to mark high or because I'm good at picking books for myself. I guess it's probably a mixture of both. 
The books I listed above made the list because they still made me feel excited about having read them, because they made me flash back to the feelings they invoked at the time, and because I can see myself reading them again at some point in the future.

Another highlight of the year was the meeting my book club had with Celine Kiernan, author of THE REBEL PRINCE, last October. It's so rewarding to be able to discuss a book with its author, and when that author happens to be a very friendly and engaging person, you find yourself rewarded with a brilliant experience.


As far as my reading plans for next year. Well, I don't really have any. I hope to continue reading at least 10 books a month and I intend to read more of my own books. However, that last resolution is one I have at the start of every year, so whether I actually manage to read more of my own books remains to be seen. 
Ultimately my goal for next year has to be to continue enjoying my reading and writing about what I read as much as I've done this year. If I manage that, next year will be another reading success.