Let's be for real real...

Okay, as much as it pains me to say it...I am pretty sure I will not be completing the Well Seasoned Reader Challenge. Which is sad, considering I only had to read three books. But I let time get away from me. And so I'm pretty sure I will not finish the two books I have to finish before the end of the month. That's okay, I'm not going to stress about it. I'm still going to read the books, since I have them as choices for other challenges, but I'm not going to just try and plow through them to get them finished. I'd rather enjoy them.

That being said, I feel SUPER behind in my reading and so am posting a list of the books in all my challenges that I should have completed by the end of April. This will definitely probably not actually happen, but it's still good to set the goal.

To Be Read by the End of April

The Toss of a Lemon - Padma Viswanathan
Royal Escape - Georgette Heyer 
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Graham
Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salmon Rushdie
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips
Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
The Tsarina's Daughter - Carolly Erikson
Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte
Possession - AS Byatt
The Year of Living Biblically - AJ Jacobs

Okay. This goal is supremely laughable.

A change is gonna come...

I am having a very hard time getting a hold of a copy of The Girl in Saskatoon. I think it's a fairly new book and I could probably get it from Canada, but I don't want to pay for the shipping. So I've ordered it from Amazon, but it's not in stock so they'll email me and ship it once it comes in, but I don't know how long that will be. Because of this, I'm going to have to take it off my list for the Well Seasoned Reader Challenge. Boo. Instead I'm going to substitute Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I hate changing my book lists! I feel like I'm failing. Oh well. I am still holding out hope that it will come in at some point, so it will stay on my list for the Orbis Terrarum Challenge. For the time being at least.

The Teahouse on Mulberry Street - Sharon Owens

the tea house on mulberry street

sharon owens

c. 2005
321 pages
completed 2/3/2009

read for: well seasoned reader challenge, what's in a name challenge

*may contain spoilers*

This book was a little too chick-lit for me. Which is not me dissing chick-lit. Though I know there are some exceptions, that particular genre is not for me. It just seems there's a little too much sunshine and rainbows, even when we're talking about very sad and depressing things. For some people, that is what they like about chick-lit. So. To each his own.

I was a little distressed by the amount of adultery that went on during this book. At least FIVE different story lines centered around people committing or seriously contemplating adultery. And that just seems like too much. Is no one in Belfast, Ireland happily married?

3/5

For those who like their food well seasoned...

Another challenge for 2009!

Melissa over at BookNut is hosting the Well Seasoned Reader Challenge. From January 1st through March 31st, read three books that will fit into any of the following categories:

1. food name in the title

2. about cooking and/or eating

3. place name in the title

4. about a person's travel experience

5. by an author who's ethnicity is not your own

Lot's of stuff to choose from! I went through my enormous TBR pile and chose three books from there that will fit into some of those categories. My books will be...

1. The Teahouse on Mulberry Street - Sharon Ownes (about eating)

2. The Girl in Saskatoon - Sharon Butala (place name)

3. The Toss of a Lemon - Padma Viswanathan (food name)