I plan on adding to this challenge for the rest of the year as well, but thought I’d mark it complete anyway. This was a great challenge! I love reading world literature, and it’s been my goal for the last two years to also read more in translation. In 2007, I read 14 titles with 10 different languages represented, and in 2008 I read 24 books with 11 different languages in translation.
The goal of Frances’s challenge was to read six works in translation. I wanted to stretch myself a bit and have at least 6 different languages respresented as well, and so far I’ve read 7 in translation which are listed below. I really enjoyed almost all of these books, but my favorites were The Housekeeper and the Professor, Fear and Trembling, So Long a Letter, Solaris, and The Devil and Miss Prym.
Ready to sign up for the third Book Awards Challenge? This one is going to be a little shorter, only 5 months, from July 1 through December 1, 2009. That is because Book Awards 4 will be from February 1 through December 1, 2010. Book Awards 3 will be reading 5 books from 5 different awards. Book Awards 4 will be reading 10 books from 10 different awards, which will be a little more challenging to complete!
I hope you will consider participating in one or both!!
A Fatal Grace (aka Dead Cold) by Louise Penny (Agatha)
Bonus reads:
A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor (Pulitzer) The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (Pulitzer) The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (Pulitzer) The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (Agatha)
One of the best challenges out there! Thanks, Maggie, for hosting this lovely challenge once again. This year, I hope to take some pictures of ‘my old Kentucky home’ while I’m in Kentucky this summer. I’ll try to get some pics in and around Louisville and/or Lexington. I also hope to go to Natural Bridge and some other Kentucky attractions.
As for the books I want to read, I’ll just have to pick from a pool because I can’t yet decide! I’ll choose from the following:
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
While I appreciated Sara’s growth in the book and the tenderness between Sara and Charlie, it definitely isn’t one of the stronger Newberys that I’ve read. It is positive in its illustration that family relationships are more important than selfish concerns, but the book just didn’t grab me. To be fair, my conclusion could be based on the mediocre performance of the audio narration, which I didn’t at all care for.
My favorite narrator for this challenge was Lisette Lecat, who narrates The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. She has also narrated Purple Hibiscus, which I also loved.
I loved doing this challenge even though it felt a bit like cheating. It seems I am using audiobooks more and more as I’m cooking and folding laundry, etc. Something I didn’t used to do until recently. It sure does make chores go faster.
Books I listened to:
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman won the Newbery Medal in 1996. I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator did a fantastic job.
‘Beetle’ is an orphan girl who is a midwife’s apprentice. All the difficult aspects of being poor in Medieval times are aptly described in the story. There is hard work with very little benefit for Beetle, but yet she knows she is lucky to have her job. She learns midwifery from the very difficult Jane but thankfully doesn’t pick up Jane’s more callous traits. There are some very graphic birth scenes. I didn’t mind it as an adult who has had two children myself, but it may be a bit too much for very young kids. There are also some s*xual connotations in the book that were, to be fair, probably typical for the time period and setting.
One of the best things about this book is that Beetle (who later names herself more appropriately) finds her own inner strength and discovers what it is she wants out of life that is within her means. I really appreciated the book in that regard.
I guess there has been some controversy surrounding the book due to its more graphic content, but I think it is appropriate for 12 and up. I would encourage parents of younger children to read it first if unsure.
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
by Meg Rosoff (Printz)
by Eudora Welty (Pulitzer)
by Valerie Martin (Orange)
Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars won the Newbery Medal in 1971. The title of the book refers to a little boy’s fascination with the birds. Charlie (who is mentally handicapped) and his sister Sara live with their Aunt Willie. The story begins with Sara’s dissatisfaction with herself and her life, but when Charlie goes missing, she puts all that behind her to help find her brother.
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman won the Newbery Medal in 1996. I listened to this one on audio, and the narrator did a fantastic job.
