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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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