Goodbye….2017

Twitter: @burns_nancy

Challenges 2017: ( here are the links to all the books read)

• Time to say goodbye to 2017 and look at the results:

Most looking forward to 2018 – #DealMeIn2018

1. Jay host a refreshing challenge each year.
2. It give me the opportunity to read short stories
3. …and essays!
4. I will be joining his challenge for sure!
5. I will be making my  ‘to read list’ soon!

My favorite of the year – #AusReadingMonth @Bronabooks

1. …here is the reason why:  ‘Wrap-up AusReadingMonth’

Most difficult: #HLOTRreadalong2107

1. Read-a-long @Brona’s books
2. I decided to leave my comfort zone and read all 4 of Tolkien’s books.
3. Brona had to nudge me along at times…but I did finish the books!

Most fun –The New Yorker Magazine

1. I tried reading the New Yorker Magazine the week it arrived!
2. I failed miserably (read only 5 issues since June 2017).
3. But is was the most fun….because I never knew what I would read!

Most intoxicating – Cocktails and Literature

1. I stumbled upon National Daquiri Day this summer.
2. After some investigation I found more links between
3. …cocktails and writers and even WWI  weapons!

Most disappointing – Modern Library’s Best 100 Novels List

1. I had high hopes for this challenge.
2. Some of the choices
3. …I doubted if they were worthy to be on the list!
4. I read 20 books and enjoyed only…4    (20%)

Most surprising – Read Ireland challenge

1. Again, I stumbled  into this challenge via
2. …the History Book Club group on Goodreads.
3. I throughly enjoyed Irish plays, non-ficton, fiction!
4. No one can tell a story like an Irishman!

Most work – Nobel Reading Challenge

1. I started this challenge 3 years ago.
2. Every chance I had I searched for a new book for this list.
3. Now, sadly, I just cannot find the enthusiasm I once felt.
4. I ‘m afraid this challenge will be dropped in 2018.
5. There are too many other genres ( poetry) I want to discover!

Here are my top 5 in 3 catagories:

Fiction:

1. Cloudstreet – T. Winton
2. The African Queen – C. S. Forester
   
3. The Slow Natives  – T. Astley
4. The Dry – J. Harper
   
5. Bleak House – C. Dickens
   

Non-Fiction:

1. Milligan, L. – Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell
2. Franklin, R. – Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life
3. Lamb, K. – Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather
4. White, R.C. – American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant
5. Meade, M. – Dorothy Parker: What Fresh Hell Is This

French:

1. Le pouvoir au féminin – Badinter, E.
   
2. Passagère du Silence – Verdier, F.
3. Ça ira (1), Fin de Louis – J. Pommerat (play)
4. Dans la tête de Marine Le Pen – M. Eltchaninoff
5. Le diable est dan les détails – L. Slimani