New Classics and Japanese Literature Challenges Wrap-Up
Books Read:
New Classics:
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- The Giver by Lois Lowry
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
- Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
- Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
- When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
- Strangers by Taichi Yamada
- Goodbye, Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto
- Black Rain by Masuje Ibuse
- Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Favourite Book: For the new classics challenge, it's actually really difficult to pick, but I think my absolute favourite was The Handmaid's Tale. For the Japanese Literature Challenge, either Goodbye, Tsugumi or Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World. I recommend them all, though!
Least Favourite Book: New Classics challenge - easily Practical Magic. It wasn't bad, but I enjoyed it a lot less than the other Alice Hoffman books I've read. For the Japanese Literature Challenge, Strangers. I was loving it until the last few chapters, but the ending really disappointed me.
My thanks to the lovely hostesses, Joanna and Bellezza. For anyone interested, there is now a perpetual challenge to read the whole EW new classics list.
Congratulations, Nymeth!!! Oh, but you put me to such shame.
ReplyDeleteI read Practical Magic in 1999, and I remember being very disappointed. The story wasn't bad, but the writing, I thought at the time, was pretty awful. It's been nearly a decade though, and I wasn't real practiced at reading at the time, so maybe I'm off.
ReplyDeletecongrats on finishing the challenges!
The Handmaid's Tale and The Road are both books that I've never been able to get out of my head.
ReplyDeleteLezlie
It feels good to complete a challenge, doesn't it? I have to say I absolutely loved the Handmaid's Tale.
ReplyDeleteAnd of the one's I've not yet acquired, you've added nearly all of them to my wishlist :p Congrats on finishing Nymeth!!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing both these challenges. I've had it for a while so I'm going to have to try to read Goodbye, Tsugumi this year.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are doing great - congrats on finishing two challenges!
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to read Goodbye, Tsugumi one of these days as I've really enjoyed a couple of Banana Yoshimoto's books.
Congrats on wrapping up 2 challenges. I am planning on reading Practical Magic this year and I hope I enjoy it... I love Maragret Atwood and I am glad you loved Handmaids Tale so much. I really must read The Road this year too.
ReplyDeletecongrats on finishing these two challenges! great books read.
ReplyDeletehttp://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Thanks everyone! It's always so satisfying to finish a challenge.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great challenge. I have several of those books just haven't gotten around to reading them!!
ReplyDeleteHi Nymeth,
ReplyDeleteI gave you an award on my blog.
http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/2009/01/your-blog-is-fabulous-award-and-blog.html
Congrats on finishing both challenges! You picked some great ones for the New Classics challenge and have definitely given me some great ideas for the next Japanese Challenge! I'm definitely going to be on the look out for Black Rain.
ReplyDeleteThank you for participating, Nymeth! I'm anxious to get to Hard-Boiled Wonderland...myself; that one keeps getting the best reviews, after Kafka On The Shore. Well, I can't seem to get enough Murakami period. Can I assume you'll join in a Japanese Literature Challenge 3? ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat an accomplishment. Well done!
ReplyDeleteThe Japanese Challenge sounds like a lot of fun. :D
Congrats on finishing, I'm glad you enjoyed (most of) your choices :-)
ReplyDeleteWeirdly, i also didn't really like Practical Magic when i read it a few years back. I thought the movie was great and picked up the book thinking it'd be better but it was meh.
ReplyDeletecongrats on the challenges!