Katherine’s Comments (group member since Dec 23, 2014)

Katherine’s comments from the Puzzles Presents: Ultimate Reading Challenge 2015 group.

Challenge Won! :)

I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee before I read Go Set a Watchman. It was just as good as the first time I read it!

Time and the Art of Living by Robert Grudin is a book I finished reading but in a way will remain a book I never finish. Its discussion of time, memory, and life is simply amazing and will remain a work I’ll plum for wisdom in the future.

I was intrigued by The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak because it had no pictures and thus no interesting cover. Reading the book is more of an auditory experience than a literary one, but I found it captivating and very silly. The video of the author reading the book to a group of children went viral and for good reason, it is a fun book!

I thought I would give Rainbow Rowell a read this year and picked up Landline. Although she is famous for her YA, I really enjoyed reading this adult fiction book.

Dune by Frank Herbert is one of the weirder books I read this year. It's a bit too long and complicated for my taste, but it's a science fiction classic for a reason.

My mom and I both read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt and loved it. It's been a hit with the kids and its a great introduction to talking to them about individuality and creativity.

I completely forgot about this challenge and it's a bit too late to read a trilogy now so I am going to cheat a little. This year I read The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonderstruck, and The Marvels by Brian Selznick. While not a trilogy, they are written in the same style, alternating between text and drawings, and have similar themes. For me, this alternating style took a little getting used to but after awhile I usually yearned for more drawings than text. The books are excellent and I was happy to get a signed copy of the Marvels earlier this year.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon was awesome! I can see why it is so popular. If you like Game of Thrones, but want something slightly toned down and with fewer characters, go with this series.

I read The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney which takes place in Rhode Island at a school that is similar to Brown.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews was obtained at a book conference and read on the train home. Although the book deals with tough issues, it was really funny and the characters had unique voices.

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver was a book club read. In had a similar tone to an Agatha Christie novel and I really enjoyed reading it.

I also read Looking for Alaska by John Green. It is fascinating to compare his first novel to his later novels. You can definitely see an improvement in character development. I enjoyed reading the novel but I felt rather neutral about it in general.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is a classic read for teens. I enjoyed it when I read it as a teen but the spark was kind of gone when I re-read it. I'm glad I caught it at the right age though as it strongly impacted my perspective of the world.

I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. It was really good and so was the movie.

Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson was pretty fascinating as it is an epistolary novel (composed of letters) but extremely long and I must admit I skimmed some of the letters.

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty was a good soft read but nothing spectacular in my opinion.

The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde was originally called Shades of Grey. It is a rather challenging book as the world is described chromatically but I really enjoyed it.

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury did not necessarily scare me but it was pretty spooky when I listened to it on audio-book. It's a quintessential read for Halloween.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo is the book I finally settled on. It was a fairly depressing book but illuminating towards the lives of those who live on the outskirts of Mumbai, India.

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta was pretty good. It was a novel whose form takes some getting used to but after awhile it developed into a captivating story. (Sorry for the short review. I've run out of energy.)