Thursday, September 29, 2011

Book 2: Pride & Prejudice


we're getting back on track!
get cracking.... we'll be discussing Pride & Prejudice next week


if you've read it
and can't bear the thought of reading it again
there's always......


it's a bit weird
but worth it for a chuckle

happy reading!

Monday, September 26, 2011

The Help



okay, so it's not on the list 
but have you read The Help by Kathryn Stockett?


QUICK! Read it before the movie comes out


the trailer gave me goosebumps....... or maybe it was just the aircon :)
I can hardly wait to see the movie, 
but I'm glad I read the book first

what did you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.


Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Kite Runner Discussion Questions


I hope I've given everyone enough of a chance to finish the Kite Runner. What did you think?

This was the second time I have read The Kite Runner and I appreciated Hosseini's beautiful writing far more this time. In fact, I was far more emotional and cried this time. Hosseini's writing is so artful that it makes the reader almost feel Amir's guilt. 

The theme of guilt was so overwhelming and I felt like almost everything Amir did  and who he became was driven by guilt. Guilt for teasing Hassan, for not being as pure of heart as Hassan and for being more priviledged. "And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does to", says Amir. 
  1. What did it teach you about friendship and forgiveness?
  2. Who suffers the most?
  3. What do you make of Baba? How was he different in the USA? 
  4. Did Baba love Amir?
  5. How did learning that Hassan was Baba's son change your understanding of Baba?
  6. Why do you think Amir acted so harfully towards Hassan after he saw him get raped?
  7. Why did Hassan still love Amir?
  8. Did Amir redeem himself?
  9. What do you think happened to Sohrab?
  10. Rate the Kite Runner on a scale of one to ten
Let me know what your thoughts are.

Happy reading!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Book 1: The Kite Runner

Wow! I am so excited that so many people have joined the book challenge. 

I've started the challenge with The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I was going to post discussion topics but thought I'd rather give everyone a bit longer to finish reading. 


If you haven't bought it yet you have quite a few options. I bought the Kindle version on Amazon for USD$10.98 (about R85). However, if you're not priviledged enough to own a Kindle you can get it from Kalahari for R92. Exclusive Books was quite a bit more expensive at R140. 

Speaking of Kindle, the new Kindle DX is out. Can barely wait for mine to arrive. Bigger and better display, more memory, longer battery life and even social networking. 

Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks of The Kite Runner.

Happy reading!




Monday, June 28, 2010

Join the Book Challenge


The book challenge is gaining momentum and quite a few people have pledged. So, I'm going to start a mailing list so that everyone is aware of what book(s) we're currently reading, where they can get them at the best price, send me your reviews etc.

If you'd like to join send me an email at mybookchallenge@gmail.com and I'll add you to the mailing list.

Happy reading!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Challenge


As a child my mother challenged my sisters and me to read books. The motivation was R5 per book. I started then….. and I haven’t stopped. My love of books and passion for reading steered the course of my studies and even my career to a certain extent.

I’m competitive by nature and rarely turn down a challenge. I didn’t hesitate to accept when my friend  Sandra challenged me to work my way through the Exclusive Books 101 Books to Read Before You Die list. Even better, I’m going to document it on this blog.

I’ve already read many of the books on the list and own many, but I will re-read those. I’ll read every book on the list and then write a review. 'I'll even review a few other books in between. It would be great if you joined me on this journey and left me your comments and opinions.

Happy reading

  1. The Lord of the Rings  J.R.R. Tolkien
  2. The Kite Runner  Khaled Hosseini
  3. Pride and Prejudice  Jane Austen
  4. To Kill a Mockingbird  Harper Lee
  5. The Harry Potter series  JK Rowling
  6. The Poisonwood Bible  Barbara Kingsolver
  7. The Alchemist  Paulo Coelho
  8. Life of Pi  Yann Martel
  9. The Da Vinci Code  Dan Brown
  10. The God of Small Things  Arundhati Roy
  11. Memoirs of a Geisha  Arthur Golden
  12. Spud  John van de Ruit
  13. The Power of One  Bryce Courtenay
  14. The Hobbit  J.R.R. Tolkien
  15. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin  Louis de Bernieres
  16. Shantaram  Gregory David Roberts
  17. Wuthering Heights  Emily Bronte
  18. Catcher in the Rye  J.D. Salinger
  19. Jane Eyre  Charlotte Bronte
  20. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  Douglas Adams
  21. One Hundred Years of Solitude  Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  22. Disgrace  J. M. Coetzee
  23. My Sister’s Keeper  Jodi Picoult
  24. The Time Traveller’s Wife  Audrey Niffenegger
  25. Birdsong  Sebastian Faulks
  26. Catch-22  Joseph Heller
  27. Pillars of the Earth  Ken Follett
  28. Gone with the Wind  Margaret Mitchell
  29. Cry, the Beloved Country  Alan Paton
  30. The Great Gatsby  F. Scott Fitzgerald
  31. A Fine Balance  Rohinton Mistry
  32. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time  Mark Haddon
  33. Great Expectations  Charles Dickens
  34. Atonement  Ian McEwan
  35. Atlas Shrugged  Ayn Rand
  36. The Grapes of Wrath  John Steinbeck
  37. The English Patient  Michael Ondaatje
  38. Anna Karenina  Leo Tolstoy
  39. Midnight’s Children  Salman Rushdie
  40. Love in the Time of Cholera  Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  41. The Shadow of the Wind  Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  42. I Know This Much is True  Wally Lamb
  43. A Suitable Boy  Vikram Seth
  44. Nineteen Eighty-Four  George Orwell
  45. War And Peace  Leo Tolstoy
  46. Clan of the Cave Bear  Jean M. Auel
  47. The Unbearable Lightness of Being  Milan Kundera
  48. The Little Prince  Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  49. The Secret History  Donna Tartt
  50. Possession  A. S. Byatt
  51. Perfume  Patrick Suskind
  52. The House of the Spirits  Isabel Allende
  53. Chocolat  Joanne Harris
  54. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency  Alexander McCall Smith
  55. Q & A  Vikas Swarup
  56. Dune  Frank Herbert
  57. Wind in the Willows  Kenneth Grahame
  58. Fugitive Pieces  Anne Michaels
  59. River God  Wilbur Smith
  60. Little Women  Louisa May Alcott
  61. Lord of the Flies  William Golding
  62. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe  C.S. Lewis
  63. Mort  Terry Pratchett
  64. Crime and Punishment  Feodor Dostoyevsky
  65. The Blind Assassin  Margaret Atwood
  66. East of Eden  John Steinbeck
  67. The Name of the Rose  Umberto Eco
  68. The Other Boleyn Girl  Philippa Gregory
  69. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas  John Boyne
  70. The Prince of Tides  Pat Conroy
  71. Rebecca  Daphne du Maurier
  72. Bridget Jones’ Diary  Helen Fielding
  73. The Shipping News  E. Annie Proulx
  74. Alice in Wonderland  Lewis Carroll
  75. Animal Farm  George Orwell
  76. The Red Tent  Anita Diamant
  77. Watership Down  Richard Adams
  78. Magician  Raymond E Feist
  79. Middlemarch  George Eliot
  80. The Day of the Jackal  Frederick Forsyth
  81. We Need to Talk About Kevin  Lionel Shriver
  82. The Magus  John Fowles
  83. The Remains of the Day  Kazuo Ishiguro
  84. Agaat  Marlene van Niekerk
  85. The Count of Monte Cristo  Alexandre Dumas
  86. The Shell Seekers  Rosamunde Pilcher
  87. The Colour Purple  Alice Walker
  88. The Beach House  James Patterson
  89. Doctor Zhivago  Boris Pasternak
  90. Kringe in ‘n Bos  Dalene Matthee
  91. The World according to Garp  John Irving
  92. Northen Lights  Phillip Pullman
  93. Middlesex  Jeffrey Eugenides
  94. Shades  Marguerite Poland
  95. Kane and Abel  Jeffrey Archer
  96. Fiela se kind  Dalene Matthee
  97. Story of an African Farm  Olive Schreiner
  98. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  Roald Dahl
  99. The Magic Faraway Tree  Enid Blyton
  100. Things Fall Apart  Chinua Achebe
  101. Winnie-the-Pooh  A.A. Milne