HRO Is Afraid Of 13

triskaidekaphobia (noun) an abnormal fear of the number 13



One of the treatments for phobias is immersion therapy, a technique in which a person endures prolonged exposure to the thing they fear. Immersion therapy is my theme for this year’s challenge - each category is a phobia and the books I’ll read for the category will be a “cure” for that particular fear.

Numerophobia - fear of numbers
Immersion technique: books with numbers in the title: 1-13

Achievemephobia - fear of success
Immersion technique: prize winning books

Chrysophobia - fear of the colour orange
Immersion technique: books that were nominated for the Orange Prize

Microphobia - fear of small things
Immersion technique: short story collections

Megalophobia - fear of large things
Immersion technique: big books (600+ pages)

Dementophobia - fear of going insane
Immersion technique: books with characters who are mentally ill

Arrhenphobia - fear of men
Immersion technique: books by male authors

Coulrophobia - fear of clowns
Immersion technique: books with clowns, circus, carnival, etc.

Cynophobia - fear of dogs
Immersion techinque: books with dogs in plot and/or title

Bibliophobia - fear of books
Immersion technique: books with books or authors in plot

Melophobia - fear of music
Immersion technique: books with music or musicians in plot

Hydrophobia - fear of water
Immersion technique: nautical fiction

Amathophobia- fear of dust
Immersion technique: books that have been on my shelves for too long

With the exception of two categories (numbers and prize winners) I’m not going to set a number of books per category, but I’ll aim for 75 books total with a minimum of 2 books in a category.

BONUS CATEGORY
Cenophobia - fear of empty spaces
Immersion technique: clearing out the bookshelves (instead of buying more books!)

Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title: 1-13)

1. One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson (4 Stars) February
2. Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles (2.5 Stars) November
3. The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas (4 Stars) July
4. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (5 Stars) August
5. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris (2.5 Stars) July
6. Six Moon Dance by Sheri S. Tepper (3 Stars) December
7. Seven Moves by Carol Anshaw (3 Stars) September
8. The Eighth Day by Thornton Wilder (3 Stars) August
9. The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen (4 Stars) July
10. Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler (4.5 Stars) June
11. Eleven by Patricia Highsmith (2 Stars) October
12. The Twelve by Justin Cronin (4 Stars) December
13. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (5 Stars) January

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books - 1 each from 13 prizes)

1. Commonwealth Book Prize: Haweswater by Sarah Hall (Best First Book Overall, 2003) (4.5 Stars)
2. Nebula Award: Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (1999) (3.5 Stars)
3. Locus Award: Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (1992) (5 Stars)
4. Costa/Whitbread Book Award: The Innocents by Francesca Segal (Best First Novel, 2012) (2.5 Stars)
5. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1921) (4 Stars)
6. Green Carnation Prize: A Perfectly Good Man by Patrick Gale (2012) (3.5 Stars)
7. Encore Award: Hotel World by Ali Smith (2002) (4 Stars)
8. Hugo Award: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin (1975) (5 Stars)
9. Booker Prize: Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2002) (2 Stars)
10. John W. Campbell Memorial Award: Jack Glass by Adam Roberts (2013) 4 Stars
11. Orange Prize: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2005) 5 Stars
12. National Book Award: Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon (2010) 4.5 Stars
13. World Fantasy Award: The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce (2003) 3.5 Stars

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Chrysophobia - Fear of the colour orange (books that were nominated for the Orange Prize)

1. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell 2011 LL (3.5 Stars)
2. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson 2005 LL (3.5 Stars)
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 2013 LL (4 Stars)
4. Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 2013 SL (5 Stars)
5. The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna 2011 LL (3.5 Stars)
6. The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox 1999 LL (3 Stars)
7. War Crimes for the Home by Liz Jensen 2003 LL (3 Stars)
8. The Observations by Jane Harris 2007 SL (4 Stars)
9. The Book of Fires by Jane Borodale 2010 NW/SL (2.5 Stars)
10. Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding 2012 SL (3.5 Stars)
11. The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi 2001 LL (4 Stars)
12. This Is How by M.J. Hyland 2010 LL (3.5 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Microphobia- Fear of small things (short story collections)

1. The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall (3.5 Stars)
2. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell (4.5 Stars)
3. Meet Me in the Moon Room by Ray Vukcevich (3 Stars)
4. The First Person and Other Stories by Ali Smith (2.5 Stars)
5. Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (3 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Megalophobia- Fear of large things (big books - 600+ pages)

1. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke - 1,006 pages (5 Stars)
2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - 592 pages (5 Stars)
3. The Passage by Justin Cronin - 912 pages (4 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Dementophobia - Fear of going insane (books with characters who are mentally ill)

1. The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (2 Stars)
2. The Rapture by Liz Jensen (3.5 Stars)
3. Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale (4.5 Stars)
4. Inglorious by Joanna Kavenna (2 Stars)
5. Affinity by Sarah Waters (4 Stars)
6. The Other Side of You by Salley Vickers (4 Stars)
7. The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan (5 Stars)
8. Remember Me by Trezza Azzopardi (3.5 Stars)
9. Carry Me Down by M.J. Hyland (3.5 Stars)
10. Bogeywoman by Jaimy Gordon (3.5 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Arrhenphobia - Fear of men (books by male authors)

1. Touch by Alexi Zentner (4.5 Stars)
2. The Cat Sanctuary by Patrick Gale (4.5 Stars)
3. The Silent Land by Graham Joyce (4.5 Stars)
4. Veronica by Nicholas Christopher (4 Stars)
5. The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier (3 Stars)
6. TransAtlantic by Colum McCann (4.5 Stars)
7. Sleeping in Flame by Jonathan Carroll (4 Stars)
8. In the Country of Last Things by Paul Auster (3 Stars)
9. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (2 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns (books with clowns, circus, carnival, etc.)

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (4 Stars)
2. Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter (3 Stars)
3. Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum (1.5 Stars)
4. The Circus of the Earth and Air by Brooke Stevens (2 Stars)
5. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (4 Stars)
6. The Final Confession of Mabel Stark by Robert Hough (3 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Cynophobia- Fear of dogs (books with dogs in title and/or plot)

1. Started Early Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson (4 Stars)
2. Lucky in the Corner by Carol Anshaw (3 Stars)
3. Wild Dogs by Helen Humphreys (4 Stars)
4. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (4 Stars)
5. Black Dog by Stephen Booth (3.5 Stars)
6. Outside the Dog Museum by Jonathan Carroll (2 Stars)
7. The Companions by Sheri S. Tepper (4 Stars)
8. So He Takes the Dog by Jonathan Buckley (3.5 Stars)
9. Timbuktu by Paul Auster (2 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Bibliophobia- Fear of books (books with books or authors in plot)

1. The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas (3.5 Stars)
2. Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi (3.5 Stars)
3. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip (2 Stars)
4. The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll (4 Stars)
5. Mr. Golightly's Holiday by Salley Vickers (3 Stars)
6. The Truth About Celia by Kevin Brockmeier (3.5 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Melophobia- Fear of music (books with music or musicians in plot)

1. An Unfinished Score by Elise Blackwell (4 Stars)
2. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee (1.5 Stars)
3. Damiano by R.A. MacAvoy (3 Stars)
4. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (2 Stars)
5. The Song House by Trezza Azzopardi (3 Stars)
6. The Enigma Score by Sheri S. Tepper (4 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Hydrophobia - Fear of water (nautical fiction)

1. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan (2.5 Stars)
2. The Solitude of Thomas Cave by Georgina Harding (3 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

Amathophobia- Fear of dust (books that have been on my shelf for too long)

1. The Knot by Jane Borodale (4.5 Stars)
2. When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (3.5 Stars)
3. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (3 Stars)
4. Like by Ali Smith (3 Stars)
5. Fair Play by Tove Jansson (3 Stars)
6. The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (3 Stars)
7. The Crown by Joanna Stafford (3 Stars)
8. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (3.5 Stars)
9. Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge (5 Stars)
10. The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons (4 Stars)
11. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (4 Stars)
12. Oystercatchers by Susan Fletcher (3.5 Stars)

CATEGORY COMPLETED!

BONUS CATEGORY


Cenophobia - Fear of empty spaces

I have the best of intentions to read books from my shelves (and boxes) (and piles) in 2013. Of course, I say that every year, and it never happens. So, I'm going to try something different. Book purchases will be a REWARD. For every 15 books I clear off the bookshelf, I can add a new one. (Oy. My cenophobia is already kicking in!)

Technically, to follow the theme, this list would be the books I've read and removed from my bookshelf. But I'm going to do this one backwards, and post the books which I allow myself to purchase.

1. The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier (2.5 Stars)
2. Night Film by Marisha Pessl (2.5 Stars)
3. The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (3 Stars)
4. The Uninvited by Liz Jensen (4 Stars)
5. Cooking with Bones by Jess Richards (4 Stars)

Ah, now I know why I had this random reserved spot lurking here! I've recently discovered Worlds Without End and will be participating in their Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge - read 12 sci-fi/fantasy books by new-to-me female authors. (These titles will be cross-posted with my categories above but I wanted to keep a separate list of the challenge books.)



1. Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (5 Stars)
2. Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge (5 Stars)
3. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin (5 Stars)
4. The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan (5 Stars)
5. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (5 Stars)
6. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin (4 Stars)
7. The Rapture by Liz Jensen (3.5 Stars)
8. The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna (3.5 Stars)
9. The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox (3 Stars)
10. Damiano by R.A. MacAvoy (3 Stars)
11. The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord (3 Stars)
12. The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee (1.5 Stars)

At the time I completed this challenge (end of August) 5 of the 12 books were on my list of Top Ten Books of the Year! I think that's rather noteworthy. Either I was really in the mood for sci-fi/fantasy or there are truly some great books in those genres...or perhaps it was a little bit of both.)

Some very interesting categories. Your bibliophobia category is similar to one of my categories.

Clowns, circuses, carnivals should be fun. I have a friend who is a clown/juggler/magician.

Wow, you are so organised and I love your theme. Your first post reminded me of Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series where tridecalogism or 13-letter words were a feature of the plot.

Some fantastic phobias out there, especially the fear of dust. Wish I was slightly more uncomfortable with it ;)

LOVE YOUR CCATEGORIES....................

I love your theme and your categories. I had no idea that the fear of orange was a phobia. The dog picture is great.

love the phobia theme :-)

Excellent categories!! And, educational. :)

So impressed by your theme! I've never done one before, but I'm trying to think of something clever for 2013.

Well I have a only a few suggestions and excuse me if you have already in your library.

It by Stephen King for you Coulrophobia, Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol, American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and all of other can be the Dementophobia.

Cool!

really nice categories, HRO!

Very creative, HRO, looking forward to seeing what you choose to read for these categories.

Damn - I wish I'd thought of this! Love your categories.

Thanks everyone. :D I had so much fun creating this! The first thing that came to mind when I thought of "13" was triskaidekaphobia, and my theme evolved from there.

>25 ALWINN: Stephen King and It are probably the reason I suffer from coulrophobia! Clowns (and mimes) freak me out like I can't even explain. So.....why do I own numerous books which feature clowns and circuses and such? I have no idea! :)

HAHA I can see that.

Oh and Water for Elephants has a circus plot theme and is a pleasant read.

Can someone have "bibliophobiaphobia"? The thought of being afraid of books is a scary one! :P Really like your categories :)

I think half of the high school students I work with have that! And to think I probably have a cure for it here in the library.

The categories look great and seems like there's lots of fun ahead for you in 2013!

>31 ALWINN: - Water for Elephants has been on my shelf forever! Hopefully I'll actually read it in 2013. :)

>32 rabbitprincess:, 33 - I think a lot of people suffer from bibliophobiaphobia, unfortunately. I can't even imagine not liking books. Inconceivable!

>34 cyderry: - I certainly hope it will be a fun year. :) Thanks for stopping by.

LOL!!! Fantastic categories!!! & Water For Elephants was loaned to me, so it's my last on the begged/borrowed/stolen for this year. I'm resisting it, but everyone seems to love it. I always start resisting books that "everybody must read" and everybody does read it for a year or two. Remember Bridges of Madison County? I think that's when my trendophobia regarding books kicked into high gear.

I share your trendophobia! If a book is on some best seller list, or my friends are pushing it like crack, I'm heading for the hills and other books!

Awesome phobia categories!

I love your categories, although they're strangely frightening!

I think my phobia is when Oprah puts a book on her BOOK OF THE MONTH.... really like Oprah's seal of approval is all people need oh give me a break.

I am afraid of clowns, they freak me out. Thinking of titles to suggest... The Spangled Road is a bit older, might be difficult to find. Have you read Something Wicked This Way Comes by Bradbury?

I agree with the concept of trendophobia, although sometimes I get sucked in by the hype and am pleasantly surprised. Cloud Atlas for example, which totally blew my mind with its awesomeness!

>40 ALWINN: - I have to confess that Oprah's Book Club was the bridge that led me into the land of literary fiction. A lot of the books she promoted in the 90s, though not literary fiction, were one step removed from genre fiction and that was exactly what I was looking for at the time. I haven't paid any attention to the Club since about 2003, though. :)

>41 VictoriaPL: - Greetings fellow coulrophobe! :) Something Wicked is on the shelf (though not very high on the list at the moment, although I've loved previous works I've read by Bradbury). The Spangled Road sounds intriguing, and it does seem that there are some rather cheap copies floating around Net Land. I'll add it to the list of possibilities.....thanks!

icky icky I hate clowns too. I've read a few short stories that should fit in that category - vampire clowns - but can't think of a novel to recommend. I did love Walking on Air by Pierre Delattre that is set in a circus. I'm sure it is hard to find now, and it isn't a horror novel at all. It's just odd, and not many clowns.

I'd recommend the pilo family circus for your clown category

If I wasn't already terrified of clowns, I think The Pilo Family Circus would cause it. Eeeek! :)

Totally brilliant! Looking forward to how you fill in your categories, HRO!

Thanks, LauraBrook! :)

These are so imaginative, and how great is that dog picture. I definitely have a fear of short story collections. I can never read more than two.

I have a bit of trendophobia myself. I absolutely refuse to read a book hyped by Oprah because I don't see where she is such a book critic. I don't believe that she has a degree in either literature or writing. Normally, I won't read a book that everyone is all hyped up about until the furor dies down. For example, Hunger games I finally read this year - 4 years after it's publication. By waiting I feel that I'm making my own decision about the book and not just riding along with everyone else.

know exactly what you mean and am pretty much the same - however I've still not read Harry Potter or Hunger Games, mainly due to the fact that I'm not a big fan of YA - I think Anders (Gingerbreadman) had a whole category on hyped books he hadn't read when they were hyped last year or 10/10....

Another trendophobic here, altho I confess to being a Game of Thrones fan, but I discovered that before the TV series began and made it a phenomenon so I forgive myself for that.

I own The Hunger Games but have not got round to reading them and find myself resistant to do so. And I tend to dismiss any book recommended by Oprah which is silly but still... If a book is on the bestseller lists that makes me less likely to read it.

That's a good selection of categories, HRO. I'll look forward to following your reading. I will admit that I did a double take at the books by male authors category, though.

I'm trendophobic too, and I have just started The Hunger Games this week. Only 50 pages in, and it's okay. Perhaps things will pick up soon?

I also have to confess that I caved to pressure and read the entire Fifty Shades trilogy a couple of months ago - all I can say is that I'm relieved to have done it and very glad to say that I read it and didn't like it. That's one off of the trendy list for me!

Though I read quite a few Oprah books back in the day, I'm not a huge advocate of her book club. But I will say that she does well at directing people away from mainstream stuff and towards more literary work and classics.

Laura, I read The Hunger Games at the request of my sil and niece. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. (Waaaaay too much kissing! lol And not enough philosophy.) I hated Catching Fire and have no intention of ever reading Mockingjay.

Susanne and RidgewayGirl....thanks for stopping by!

I made up a list of possible reads for 2013, and sorted out my books and put the books from the list onto two of my bookshelves. Everything else is getting boxed up and put away. It's so sad (and ridiculous) how many books will be gathering dust until 2014! I wish I could read twice as fast as I do. (Or buy books half as often. :))

or buy books half as often

lol I think that's something we could all relate to! There is something to be said for having plenty of choices on the shelves though :-)

@ 54 -- HRO, I actually get annoyed when Oprah picks classic works like Anna Karenina. I always think, "Oprah, Tolstoy does not need your help!" Although, sadly, maybe he does...

>56 christina_reads: - Oh, you have no idea! The other day, some of my co-workers were discussing upcoming movies and Anna Karenina was mentioned. I commented that I hoped it was a good adaptation of the book. Their response? "Oh, it's a book?" *facepalm*

Another time I mentioned to someone that I had watched Jane Eyre (for about the 39th time) and she asked what it was about. I began to explain the plot, and she was giving me this look of "Wow....booooring" so I lamely concluded, "It's based on the book by Charlotte Bronte." To which she responded, "Who?" *facedesk*

It's easy to forget, while hanging out in the bookish part of the internet, that the vast majority of people read James Patterson, Debbie Macomber, Greg Iles, Lauren Weisberger, etc. That is, of course, if they even know what a book is.

I will read a book that has been made into a movie, but I insist on read the book first. They are always better than the movies. The best though when the books are made into miniseries - then they can stay truer to the book.

@ 57 -- Jane Eyre BORING?! I'm shocked! (OK, to be fair, the stuff at Lowood isn't super interesting. But the stuff with Mr. Rochester...!!!)

@ 58 -- I agree with you. I don't mind film adaptations, and sometimes they're quite good, but I always want to read the book first.

"Boring" as a description of Jane Eyre made me laugh a little - not everyone has to like it, but it's hardly boring. :)

ugh. Jane Eyre. ugh.

Jane Eyre is arguably one of the best books ever written. And her friend dying at Lowood was the stuff that teenage girls live for.

Not to say I've never read an Oprah recommendation, but usually if it's recommended by someone else, and usually I've read it before I even know it's a recommendation by her.

HRO - I agree with you about Hunger Games; I liked one, liked two less and actually could have cared less by the time I got done with 3. You're not going to miss much by not reading it.

We all wish we could read faster!

I've got a few suggestions for you.
Cynophobia: Disgrace, Cujo and The Call of the Wild (I'll be reading that one myself)

Bibliotephobia:
Northanger Abbey

Numerophobia:
The Big Four, The Seven Dials Mystery, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, Five Little Pigs, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, A Tale of Two Cities, Murder in Three Acts, The Three Musketeers, Sign of the Four and Three Men in a Boat (Can you tell I have thought of a similar theme?)

Dementophobia:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I'm another sufferer of trendophobia. I always back away from books that "everyone" is reading. It's too much of a mass psychosis for my taste.
And I agree with majkia about Jane Eyre. I absolutely can't stand that book - it's dreadful! I was bored all the way.

Another trendophobic here. I'm just tackling Hunger games and Game of thrones in 2013. YourRoyalOrangeness, your challenge is almost the reverse of mine, which is a celebration of all things thirteen. For books with books or authors in the plot, had you thought about some Jasper Fforde? If you haven't read The Eyre affair it's fun and their are sequels. For your nautical fiction, you might consider Riddle of the sands by Erskine Childers, which was the first British spy novel. It's a good book, but it reeks of yachting terminology.

Another idea for bibliophobia is Helene Hanff's 84 Charing Cross Road. I'll probably be reading it myself for my Post-WW2 category.

Thanks for the book suggestions. Between my overflowing shelves and all the ideas suggested here, I could do these same categories for 2014....and 2015....and probably 2016. :)

Jane Eyre is one of my all-time favorite classics and I adore several of the movie adaptations as well.

About books and movies....the book is usually better, but there are definitely exceptions. The Wizard of Oz, for one example.

JANUARY


The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Category: Numerophobia (fear of numbers)
Rating: 5 Stars
Brief summary: A woman is hired to write the biography of a famous author.
My thoughts: This book completely mesmerized me. The pacing was perfect, the story enthralling. Creepy, dark, and gothic.


The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Category: Coulrophobia (fear of clowns, circus, carnival, etc.)
Rating: 4 Stars
Brief summary: Two young magicians compete to prove their skills…and fall in love.
My thoughts: Wildly imaginative and thoroughly entertaining.


Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
Category: Chrysophobia (fear of the color orange - Orange Prize nominees)
Orange Prize list: 2011 LL
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Brief summary: A young girl schemes to save the family theme park after the death of her mother.
My thoughts: Very original and well written. The pacing dragged in some places and at times the plot was just too weird.


The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
Category: Bibliophobia (fear of books - books or authors in plot)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Brief summary: A young woman discovers a rare copy of a mysterious book which teaches her how to enter an alternate universe where she must complete a mission.
My thoughts: Absolutely fascinating. But the excessive information about physics was dreadfully boring.


Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Category: Chrysophobia (fear of the color orange - Orange Prize nominees)
Orange Prize list: 2005 LL
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Brief summary: Detective Jackson Brodie must solve several crimes which turn out to be interrelated.
My thoughts: The plot was brilliantly constructed but I found the chronology of events to be confusing.


The Beautiful Indifference by Sarah Hall
Category: Microphobia (fear of small things - short story collections)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
My thoughts: The writing style is sparse, but the author really says a lot without ever saying too much. I would have rated this higher, but there were a definitely a few clunkers. Favorite story: The Butcher’s Perfume.


The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
Category: Hydrophobia (fear of water - nautical fiction)
Rating: 2.5 Stars
Brief summary: A group of people try to survive on a lifeboat after the ocean liner they are traveling on sinks.
My thoughts: I never connected with the story or the characters. What could have been a breathtaking adventure and a tale of philosophical depth was just boring.

Too bad about The Lifeboat, because the cover is fantastic.

Ah yes, cover art can be so deceptive, can't it? I know some people enjoyed The Lifeboat but it just didn't work for me at all.

Lots of great books! I have The Thirteenth Tale on Mt. TBR and "Creepy, dark, and gothic" makes me want to pick it up soon!

Agree with you about The thirteenth tale I bought it by mistake from the Book of the Month Club, sat down to look at a few pages and didn't really move until 4:30 am the next morning.

Ah..... The Thirteenth Tale and The Night Circus, both great books and I agree with the higher rating you gave Tale over Circus, it was a fantastically creepy gothic read!

This has been a beast of a year thus far. I've fallen way behind on my reading and even further behind in keeping up with this challenge. I've updated my lists but I'm not even going to attempt to write up a bit of info for each title. Hopefully I'm back now for the remainder of the year!

Sorry to hear you are having a difficult year, but very glad to see you back posting.

Reading should never be a source of stress! Relax, read when you can (or not) and post here only when you have both time and inclination. I'm glad to hear from you, but there's no obligation.

Thoughts of you have crossed my mind now and again, and am glad to know you're still here in whatever way you need just now. Hope things start looking up for you soon and your joy of reading returns - should never be stressful - Kay is right.

Thanks! *hugs*

Books and reading have definitely taken a back seat so far this year but hopefully that will be changing, because I've missed my books.....and all you guys! I can't possibly get caught up on what everyone has been reading; I can't believe some of you are on your third or fourth threads. But I'm nosing around to see what everyone has been up to. :)

I just finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and I've got my fingers crossed for it to win the Orange Prize next week. I'll wait until after that to add it to my challenge. For now I'll just say that it was phenomenal!

Nice to see you back posting.... and very excited with your hopes for Life after Life and the next Orange Prize (or is it called something else now?) I haven't read it yet but I have been paying attention to all the LT traffic that book has been generating and hope to get to it at some point!

Welcome back, I hope the second half of the year is better than the first half for you.

Thanks a lot, HRO! I've been exerting will power and telling myself that I can wait to read the Atkinson when it's out in paperback. It's on sale at Costco, so you know it's been a struggle. So now I'm going to get my own copy and read it right away.

>81 RidgewayGirl: - Go buy it immediately and read it today! :)

>79 lkernagh: - Yes, the Orange Prize is now the Women's Prize for Fiction. But to me it will always and forever be the Orange Prize, simply because I adore the serendipity of my favorite prize and my favorite color being one and the same.

Thanks for the additional welcome backs. I'm currently lost in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and wondering why I allowed the enormity of this wondrous tome to delay my reading of it for so very long.

Nice to see you here!! No stressing over threads - this is supposed to be relaxing and fun, not another thing to worry about. Great to hear you're enjoying Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - it's one I enjoyed immensely when I read it, so much so that I'm planning a reread.

Jonathan Strange is so great, isn't it?! Glad you're enjoying it, HRO.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Category: Chrysophobia - fear of the colour orange
Orange Prize list: 2013 SL
Rating: 5+ Stars
Brief summary: Life After Life is the story of Ursula Todd, a woman who is mysteriously given the chance to correct life’s mistakes and take new directions along her journey through time. These corrections become increasingly epic until her choices have the potential to impact history.
My thoughts: Wildly original, brilliantly executed...this book is a masterpiece!

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Category: Megalophobia - fear of large things
1,006 pages
Rating: 5 Stars
Brief summary: In the early 19th century, it is believed that magic has vanished from England. But two men - Mr. Norell and Mr. Strange - reveal that they are practicing magicians and together - first as teacher/pupil, and then as rivals - they alter the course of history.
My thoughts: The writing style is almost Dickensian, or at least very reminiscent of the authors who wrote during this time period. The plot is very creative, the characterization is well done, and all in all the book is utterly engrossing. The book was nominated for several major literary awards including the Booker, Locus, Hugo, and Nebula, and is certainly worthy of this recognition.

The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna
Category: Chrysophobia (fear of the color orange - Orange Prize nominees)
Orange Prize list: 2011 LL
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Brief summary: The Birth of Love tells four different narratives, all of which are loosely connected. Dr. Semmelweis is a physician in Vienna in the 19th century who has been committed to an asylum because of his belief that improper hygiene protocal by doctors is resulting in an epidemic of deaths among women who have recently given birth. Michael Stone, an author in the present day, is writing a fictional book based on the life of Dr. Semmelweis. Brigid is struggling through the labor of her second child when she hears a radio interview with Michael Stone about Dr. Semmelweis. Finally, there is Prisoner 730004, a woman living in a future where natural birth is outlawed who is charged with concealing another woman’s miraculous pregnancy. Prisoner 730004 is the great great granddaughter of Brigid’s son.
My thoughts: Kavenna has used an interesting premise to explore the theme of the importance and fragility of motherhood. The narratives are interesting and the interconnectedness of the stories is well done. There was nothing about the book that particularly wowed me, but I did enjoy it and am rather surprised at how unknown this title seems to be.

Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia McKillip
Category: Bibliophobia (fear of books)
Rating: 2 Stars
Brief summary: In the Kingdom of Raine, an orphan girl has been raised by the palace librarians and trained to be a translator of rare books. She is working on the translation of a text that tells the tale of two heroic figures while the Kingdom verges on revolution after the coronotion of a young teenaged queen.
My thoughts: I think I might have loved this book when I was about 12 years old, but as an adult I found it very juvenile and contrived.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Category: Amathophobia- Fear of dust (books that have been on my shelf for too long)
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler
Category: Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books)
Nebula 1999
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Brief summary: In a post-apocalyptic America, young Lauren Olamina leads a group of people into the wilderness and becomes a prophet and founder of a new religion.
My thoughts: This duology is a deep complex work that explores many issues - religion, politics, human interaction. It is an incredibly well-crafted concept, but I found the pacing to be quite slow and there was something about the end-of-the-world premise that felt dated.

I've read a book by Joanna Kavenna, which I also found to be a good enough writer, but not memorable. She's certainly popular with the bestowers of awards, though.

>85 Her_Royal_Orangeness: - Although I'm not a fan of her Jackson Brodie series, this book sounds rather interesting. Might need to put it on the wishlist list.

Glad you liked Strange& Norrell that's probably due a re-read for me soon

I've seen Joanna Kavenna at two events this year and haven't yet been inspired to read her stuff...

>90 RidgewayGirl:, 92 - I have another Kavenna book on the list to read this year but I'm suspecting it's not going to do anything to make me add her to my list of favorite authors.

>91 dudes22: - Life After Life is nothing at all like the Jackson Brodie books. I liked that series well enough, but Life After Life completely blew my mind with it's awesomeness.

Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper
Category: Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books)
Locus 1992
Rating: 5 Stars

Brief summary: What if Sleeping Beauty found a way to circumvent the curse that would cause her to fall into an enchanted sleep on her 16th birthday? That is the premise on which this story is founded, in which Beauty travels through space and time, moving inexorably to the true fate destined her by the Faeries.

My thoughts: I LOVED this book! It's incredibly well written and so very original. I was completely enthralled and wanted to do nothing but read.

I’ve avoided Tepper for years because of her reputation for being a raging ecofeminist. Not something I really have issues with from a political standpoint, but not something that sounds like entertaining reading. There are certainly elements of “Beauty” that give credence to Tepper’s reputation in this regard, and the author states in the introduction, “It seems to me sometimes that all beauty is dying. Which makes me hope that perhaps it isn’t dead but only sleeping…with the magical hope of being reawakened, perhaps by love.”

Though the author’s allegorical intent is evident throughout the book, I didn’t find it to be overbearing and was able to enjoy the book simply for the delightful storytelling. I am so glad that I decided to give Tepper’s writing a chance despite my misgivings and will definitely add more of her work to my Must Read list.

Ooohhhhh.... you have caught my eye with your review of Beauty, HRO!

>95 lkernagh: - Fantastic...I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

My book club is reading Life After Life in a couple of months. Really excited to read it based on your review b

>97 LittleTaiko: - Life After Life will be great for a group discussion.

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee
Category: Melophobia- Fear of music (books with music or musicians in plot)
Rating: 1.5 Stars
Brief summary: Sixteen year old Jane falls in love with a robot who has been specifically designed to seem nearly human, having the ability to perform music and - um - more carnal functions.
My thoughts: “The Jetsons” meets “Fifty Shades of Grey.” (Are you cringing? You should be.) I found it pretty much unbearable.

Ha! I adored The Silver Metal Lover when I was fifteen!

Oh, I'm due for a reread of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell as well!!

>100 RidgewayGirl: - If The Silver Metal Lover were to be published today, it would most definitely be heavily marketed as YA book. There really wasn't such a categorization back in the 80s, though. I don't think I would have enjoyed this even as a teenager, however. I've never been very tolerant of weepy hand-wringing heroines. :)

>101 -Eva-: - Jonathan Strange is definitely a book worth re-reading and I'm certain I will do so sometime in the far future.

The Rapture by Liz Jensen
Category: Dementophobia - Fear of going insane (books with characters who are mentally ill)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Brief summary: Bethany Krall, a teenager who has been incarcerated to a mental institution after committing a violent crime, is able to predict natural disasters which culminate in an end-of-the-world event. Gabrielle Fox is her therapist, and must determine if Bethany is a true prophet or simply insane, while battling her own issues that result from a recent personal tragedy.
My thoughts: The plot is intriguing, the characters are well developed, and the story is told in a manner which is slow enough to be deep while being fast enough to be suspenseful. There was just “something” missing - I enjoyed the book but didn’t find it overly compelling.

The Vintner’s Luck by Elizabeth Knox
Category: Chrysophobia - Fear of the colour orange (books that were nominated for the Orange Prize)
Orange Prize list: 1999 LL
Rating: 3 Stars
Brief summary: Set in France in the early 19th century, “The Vintner’s Luck” chronicles the annual meetings Sobran has with a mysterious angel named Xas and how Sobran’s life progresses as a result of his interaction with the angel.
My thoughts: There was something about the writing style that felt very distant and made it difficult for me to fully engage in the story or understand the characters. And there were aspects of the plot that made me uncomfortable. The only thing that bumped it from a 2 Star to a 3 Star is that much of the prose is poetic and rich in imagery, which I did enjoy.

A shame you didn't enjoy The Vintner's Luck more, HRO. It had been on my shelf for a number of years before I finally got to it last year and I loved it. I hope your next read is a better one for you.

Damiano by R.A. MacAvoy
Category: Melophobia- Fear of music (books with music or musicians in plot)
Rating: 3 Stars
Brief summary: This historical fantasy novel, the first of a trilogy, is set in Renaissance-era Italy. It tells the tale of Damiano, a young wizard who must save his village from an invading army whilst learning to play the lute from the archangel Raphael, conversing with his talking dog Macchiata, and falling in love.
My thoughts: The is a strong sense of time and place in this book, although it is obviously an alternate version of medieval Italy. The author did quite well at giving Damiano a level of complexity as he battles questions of religion versus magic, loyalty versus duty, etc. Overall, though, the book just didn’t quite work for me. The prose - while poetic - felt forced, the interactions Damiano had with Raphael and Macchiata were too unbearably precious and cute, and Damiano was simply too much the hero-of-all-that-is-goodness-and-light. I felt the book needed a dark edge that MacAvoy seemed to deliberately avoid. I don’t plan to read the rest of the trilogy.

Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler
Category: Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title)
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Brief summary: The book has two storylines - that of Alice, a vagabond who has been called home because her father is dying, and Daniel, a homeless man who wanders the streets of London leaving cryptic messages using found objects. Through Alice and Daniel, the author explores a theme of feeling lost and longing to belong, and eventually their stories come together.

My thoughts:
This novel is so unique and lovely and poignant. In the beginning it reads almost like a collection of short stories, with alternating chapters told from the viewpoint of Alice and Daniel. Each chapter is fascinating and beautifully written, but there doesn’t seem to be any connection to what came previously. And dividing each chapter are lists of Ten Things, which are cryptic yet also so revealing about the person who wrote them. It all seems so obtuse, but Alice and Daniel both become these vivid characters that you know and understand and the plot progresses in such a way that the book becomes unputdownable. And when the storylines all come together….ah, it’s just a delightfully weepy moment.

Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love reminds me of the experience of cooking. You start out with some ingredients - succulent chicken breasts, tart lemons, briny capers, verdant parsley - each of which is delicious on its own but doesn’t necessarily seem like it goes with any of the other things. But then you spend time incorporating everything together and it becomes a sublime Chicken Piccata that delights your palate and makes your heart happy.

This novel was published in the UK in January 2013 and will be available in the US in July. I was fortunate to find a reasonably priced copy from awesomebooks.com so I was able to read it before the US release date.

Great find and being able to read Ten Things I've Learnt About Love before its US release date. Sounds like a good one, so on the future reading list it goes!

Will you post your review of Ten Things I've Learnt About Love? I went to thumb it, but it was not there.

>108 lkernagh: Hope you enjoy it when you read it lkernagh!

>109 RidgewayGirl: Will do. Thanks in advance for the thumb. :)

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
Category: Arrhenphobia - Fear of men (books by male authors)
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Brief summary: Zoe and Jake are on a ski holiday in the Pyrenees when they are caught in an avalanche. When they return to the hotel they discover everyone has vanished…and they soon learn that they are now inhabiting “a place where laws of physics and laws of dreaming meet.”

My thoughts:
“The Silent Land” is not a horror novel, though it most certainly has a fair share of creepy moments. Nor would I classify it as fantasy, despite the fact that it was nominated for both the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award.

What “The Silent Land” really is, in my opinion, is an existential novel. It’s an exploration of transience and memory and religion and purpose and grief and love. And all that profundity is wrapped up in a compelling plot, excellent character development, and vivid writing.

My only complaint - and the reason my rating isn’t 5 Stars - was that the ending was just a bit too remininscent of The Wizard of Oz. I suspected the author might be heading that direction and I was hoping he’d surprise me. He didn’t, unfortunately.

All in all, though, I really loved this book. I want to grab someone else who has read it and go to a coffee shop and hang out for hours and discuss it. And I definitely plan to re-read it someday.

I need to read more from Graham Joyce at some point. I have this one on my tbr shelves so I'll have to try and get it read sometime.

>106 Her_Royal_Orangeness: - I think the other two get darker, been a while since I read them though, I seem to remember that the middle book was the strongest

>112 AHS-Wolfy: - Hope you enjoy the book when you read it.

>113 psutto: - I might read the rest of the series someday, but right now there are many other books that are calling for my attention.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Category: Cenophobia - Fear of empty spaces (books purchased in 2013)
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Scott McGrath nearly destroyed his career as an investigative reporter when he pursued a false lead while working on a story about Stanislas Cordova, an enigmatic film producer whose dark and twisted movies have earned him a cult following. When Cordova’s daughter Ashley dies of an apparent suicide, McGrath sets out to prove that she was murdered in the hopes of resurrecting his career and enacting revenge on Cordova. He is assisted in his investigation by Nora, a homeless teenager who saw Ashley on the night of her death, and Hopper, a drug dealer who was supposedly acquainted with Ashley.

“Night Film” is an okay novel that had the potential to be a great one. Any praise I might give it is tempered by a “but.”

The main characters are well drawn - easy to visualize and complex yet understandable. Unfortunately, though, this isn’t due to Pessl’s writing skill but because she used stock characters - divorced man with a failing career and a drinking problem, quirky teenage girl with a tortured past, sullen and mysterious drug dealer. And I found Scott’s trust in Nora and Hopper completely unbelievable. There is nothing reputable or honest about them, yet Scott allowed them to fully enter both his life and the investigation with no hesitation. Why?

The author does some brilliant things with imagery and metaphors, like this bit:

Making love to Aurelia was like rummaging through a card catalog in a deserted library, searching for one very obscure, little-read entry on Hungarian poetry. It was dead silent, no one gave any direction, and nothing was where it was supposed to be.

The problem is that’s 43 words that have absolutely nothing to do with anything, and a whole lot of these types of things led to a big issue: this book is far too long. I felt like I was constantly sifting through the overblown writing to find the plot.

The storyline is intriguing but the execution is substandard. The “investigators” bumble from one clue to another and somehow manage to always find the people who are eager to reveal their piece in the puzzle. Also, it’s more than a little murky what is motivating Scott, Nora, and Hopper to investigate Ashley’s death.

I completely lost interest in the book by the halfway point. I could have easily put it down and never learned the conclusion and it wouldn’t have bothered me in the least.

Pessl obviously put a great deal of work into this novel and there are certainly glimmers of an enormous talent, but I think the book would have benefited greatly from a heavy-handed editor. “Night Film” is getting a lot of buzz in the book world and other readers have seemed to enjoy it much more than I did. Perhaps you will agree with them more so than with me so if it sounds like a book you would like, I encourage you to give it a chance. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.

“Night Film” is scheduled for publication in August 2013. This review is based on an ARC I received through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers.

Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
Category: Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title)
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Brief summary: An elderly woman returns to the village where she grew up. She deals with her memories of an event that happened during WW2 when the Germans occupied the village and learns more about her tragic mother.

My thoughts:
Unlikeable characters. Verbose writing style. Slow pacing. I really struggled to read this book and found it far lacking in comparison to Chocolat. This title was longlisted for the 2002 Orange Prize so I expected it to be superior to Chocolat but . . . no.

The Innocents by Francesca Segal
Category: Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books)
Costa/Whitbread Book Award, Best First Novel 2012
Rating: 2.5 Stars

Brief summary: In her debut novel, Francesca Segal recasts Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence with a story of a love triangle between a man, his fiance, and her cousin.

My thoughts:
My problem with this book was a weird one. I found the setting - an ultra-conservative Jewish community in northwest London - unbelievable. It seemed more like the 1950s than the present day. Are people really still like that? I didn’t understand the character’s actions or motivations, I found the writing dry and the dialogue stilted, and some plot points felt forced in an effort to mimic Wharton’s novel.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Category: Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books)
Pulitzer Prize 1921
Rating: 4 Stars

Brief summary: Set in New York City in the late 1800s, The Age of Innocence explores class issues in a story about a love triangle between a man, his fiance, and her cousin.

My thoughts:
The writing is so lovely in this novel. Why have I waited so many years to read it? The characters are quite often elitest snobs, but Wharton makes it logical and uses this personality trait to add depth to the plot. The protagonist’s struggles with obligation are wholly believable, the unconventional cousin is a delight, and the romance between them is well conveyed.

The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
Category: Cenophobia - Fear of empty spaces (books purchased in 2013)
Rating: 3 Stars

Brief summary: When an alien society’s world is destroyed, they travel to another planet to try to preserve their race and culture.

My thoughts:
Maybe it was just the wrong time for me to read this book. I found it so complicated and difficult to follow that I was unable to really engage in the plot. It’s not badly written - the characters are well developed and the writing style is on par with quality lit fic (if a bit stiff) - it just never quite worked for me. (And a minor quibble: the many unprounouceable character names that all began with the letter D. In just a few pages - Dllen, Daniyel, Dllenahkh. Darithiven, and Delarua. Oy! No wonder I was confused.)

@ 117,118 -- So glad you loved The Age of Innocence! Interesting reaction to The Innocents, too; I also read it recently. I found the setting more believable than you did, but I don't really know why! I suppose, since it's so far outside my personal experience, I was willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. In any case, I definitely prefer the original novel! :)

Madeleine is Sleeping by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
Category: Coulrophobia (fear of clowns, circus, carnival, etc.)
Rating: 1.5 Stars

Brief summary: When a young girl falls into a deep sleep, the border separating dreams from reality blurs. There’s a gypsy circus, and cannibalism, and a pedophile, and farting, and a fat flying woman, and… Yeah.

My thoughts:
Weird and gross. And weird. I think I totally missed the point of this book. Or something.

The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen
Category: Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title)
Rating: 4 Stars

Brief summary: While on a picnic outing with his parents, nine year old Louis Drax suffers a tragic accident and the injuries he sustains cause him to fall into a coma. His father, accused of committing the crime, has gone missing. The police and Louis’ physician work to solve the mystery, and dark truths about Louis’ life are revealed.

My thoughts:
The character voices! The way the book is constructed! The plot twists! The suspense! I was so utterly enthralled by this novel and the author’s talent. The denouement was perhaps a bit predictable (at least, I wasn’t totally shocked) but how the author got there? Mind blown.

Madeleine is Sleeping does sound totally strange - thanks for the warning.

The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons
Category: Amathophobia- Fear of dust (books that have been on my shelf for too long)
Rating: 4 Stars

Brief summary: Fearing the impending arrival of the Nazis in Austria, the Landau family make plans to flee the country. The parents and eldest daughter intend to immigrate to America and the youngest daughter - Elise - accepts a position as a domestic servant in England. The book follows Elise’s story as she adapts to a new way of life in a foreign country.

My thoughts:
I’ve intended to read The Novel in the Viola ever since reading (and loving) Mr. Rosenblum’s List in April of last year. I’m actually glad I waited because the two books are really not very similar in style. I enjoyed both but for different reasons.

I admit I had difficulty getting into The Novel in the Viola at first because in the beginning Elise is one of those types of characters I don’t like - insecure, needy, weepy, etc. But I’m glad I stuck with it because the book becomes this amazing story about the cultural barriers between the working class and the privileged, the magic of first love and the complications of finding one’s place in the world, the horrors of war and the ugliness of racism. I quickly become enraptured by this book and came to understand - and empathize - with Elise.

There are shadows of obvious influences. Downton Abbey. Jane Eyre. Rebecca. And the story of how Irène Némirovsky entrusted her daughter with a copy of her latest novel before being taken away to a concentration camp. (That novel - Suite Française - was finally published about fifty years after Némirovsky’s death.) In the same way, Elise’s father hides what she believes is his most recent novel in the body of a viola, thus the title of the British version of the book (which, incidentally, I much prefer to the US title - The House at Tyneford.) But even though the sources that influenced Solomons are apparent, she masterfully does her own thing with this story.

All in all, it’s a captivating and moving story that is well written. The ending didn’t quite work for me - it seemed a bit rushed and anti-climatic - but overall I enjoyed the book a great deal.

Solomons' latest novel - The Gallery of Vanished Husbands - is scheduled for publication next month. It's on my Wish List!

Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale
Category: Dementophobia - Fear of going insane (books with characters who are mentally ill)
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Brief summary: When Rachel Kelley - a famous artist who suffers from bipolar disorder - dies, her family must unravel the mystery of who she really was and deal with the emotional impact her illness had on them.

My thoughts: This is such a beautiful novel just bursting with emotional intensity. The unraveling of Rachel’s life is so well done and I felt so invested in the lives of each of the characters. I enjoyed this book so much but I really can’t do much but flail and squeal about it’s awesomeness.

This is the second novel I’ve read by Patrick Gale this year (The Cat Sanctuary was the first) and both are currently on my list of Top Ten Best Books of the Year. He’s quickly become one of my favorite authors.

The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas
Category: Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title)
Rating: 4 Stars

Brief summary: Greek opera singer Sophia Simeonidis discovers that someone mysteriously planted a tree in the garden of her Paris home. Three historians - all nearly broke and almost homeless - decide to move in together into a ramshackle house next door to Sophia. She hires them to investigate the tree planting incident, and when she goes missing a few weeks later their quest becomes more urgent.

My thoughts: This was so delightfully quirky. The historians (who are nicknamed The Three Evangelists by the uncle of one of them because of their names - Matthias, Marc, and Lucien) are such vivid characters with the most unique personalities. In many ways, my interest in and enjoyment of this novel was because of them. The mystery is intriguing but it really took second place for me. This book is the first in a trilogy but unfortunately is the only one that has been translated into English from the French. (ETA: The English translation of the second book is scheduled for publication in 2014. Hooray!)

Vargas' characterization skills reminded me in many ways of another French author, Anna Gavalda, especially in her novel Hunting and Gathering. If you enjoyed that book, I think you would definitely like The Three Evangelists.

Definitely agree with you about reading The Three Evangelists for the characters. Really different and enjoyable mix. If that's your first by the author then I'd certainly advise trying the Adamsberg series by her as well. First of the series is The Chalk Circle Man.

Thanks! I certainly plan to read more by Vargas. Unfortunately right now I own so many unread books that I really cannot justify the purchase of any more. :/

The Solitude of Thomas Cave by Georgina Harding
Category: Hydrophobia - fear of water (nautical fiction)
This book doesn’t fit the category as well as I thought it would but it was what I had planned so it stays here.
Rating: 3 Stars

Brief summary: In the 17th century, the British crew of the Heartsease has traveled to the Arctic Circle to spend a season harvesting whale blubber. One night a member of the crew, Thomas Cave, accepts a dare to try to survive an entire winter there. So the Heartsease sails without him, and Thomas sets forth to endure ten months of solitude in the dark cold north.

My thoughts: The descriptions of the landscape are poetic and lovely and there are moments that are heart stirring, like when Thomas is remembering his wife or when he plays his violin and the only audience is a rapt seal. Unfortunately, though, much of the story is flat, in part because of Harding’s choice of a third person narrative and in part because Thomas is a taciturn and reasonable individual. There’s little emotion and no whimsy, and I found it difficult to fully engage with the story. I didn’t love this book, but I am intrigued by Harding and plan to read more by her in the future.

Is anyone else beginning to make plans for the 2014 challenge? I've spent the weekend sorting through books, deciding what to read in 2014 and what needs to be boxed away until 2015 (oh, how that pains me!). I don't have any interesting theme or categories for the 2014 challenge but I'm already anticipating many of the titles I've chosen. Only five more months and I can begin working on the new list...lol.

I've already got my categories completely planned. The theme came to me serendipitously, and I'm rather enamored of it. But I'm keeping it a secret until I've read 60 books this year or December 1, whichever comes first. If I start talking about the details of next year too early, it becomes that much harder for me to finish this year.

So jealous that you have a fabulous theme! I can't wait to hear about it. I've had so much fun with the theme I chose for this year but for next year I've got no grand ideas.

> 124 - Love that book cover!

Another batch of great and varied reading, HRO!

I have started to pull together my categories for next year. No theme figured out as yet - it just may become the 'no theme' theme! - but I will be reading some chunksters next year so a scaled down version of the category challenge is what I have been planning.

I know - isn't that cover for The Novel in the Viola fabulous? I'm so grateful I found a copy of the British version. They almost always seem to do better with cover art (and titles) than the US.

I look forward to hearing more about your reading plans for 2014, lkernagh.

I didn't have a theme for this year and ended up with setting up categories just based on the alphabet. As soon as I finished I thought of a theme so I held it for next year. Every once in a while I work on my categories and I've even started looking for pictures and soon I'll think about some books although I try not to plan everything I'll read. Someone mentioned elsewhere that it was in Aug last year when the group for this year was started. So soon I'm guessing.

For the past few years, the new group has started in August. We're all too excited about the next year's plans to wait until closer to the new year.

Yes, it was August last year, near the end of the month. I remember because on August 1st we were all like, "Where's the new group? Where's the new group?" and we had to wait WEEKS for it to appear....lol.

You must be so excited, dudes22, to finally be able to unveil a theme you've been keeping secret for a year!

I can't wait to see what everyone has planned for 2014.

I feel so behind since I haven't come up with any ideas for next year yet! Ponder, ponder, ponder...

I'm definitely in the excited-for-2014 camp as well!

HRO, finally caught up with your thread! Nice review of The Novel in the Viola (which, I agree, is a much better title than The House at Tyneford)...I read that last year, I think, and remember enjoying it. Great review of The Three Evangelists as well; your comparison toAnna Gavalda sold me!

Catching up on your thread. Some great reading and reviews here...I am afraid to get out my TBR list!

I have my theme-less 2014 planned out for next year and too many books plugged in already. I am amazed at the themes that people can come up with, so I'm looking forward to what is revealed in about a month.

>138 mamzel: mamzel - that was me last year. Sometimes once the group starts, ideas start to flow too.

HRO- It still needs a little more work and once the group starts there's usually a little "twist" that has me rethinking some things (I.e. the Cats this year), but I'm well on my way and yes - a little excited.
Having said that - everything is on my husband's laptop which wasn't working very well last night. If he gets it running again, I really need to think about putting it on a thumb drive so I don't lose it.

I love being responsible for flying book bullets...bahahaha.

It's amazing how many of us are already plotting for 2014. An obsessive bunch, aren't we? :)

If we weren't, by nature, planners, then we'd hardly consider it fun to catalog all our books on a website, would we? And then joining the group that enjoys planning out a year's reading in advance?

Isn't it comforting to be a group of like-minded iconoclasts?

Well said, RidgewayGirl.

Last weekend, while I was sorting books for 2014, a friend was over and she was looking through some of the piles of books. I cautioned her to please not mix them up, and when she asked why, I explained what I was doing and that the books were already sorted by month. She was like, "So, you already know what you're going to be reading in, like, October of NEXT YEAR?" My response, "Doesn't everyone?" lol

I don't know what I'll be reading next week, much less next year (well, that's not strictly true if I don't finish my library books over the weekend, but whatever). Planning to read a book means I won't read it any time soon. I try not to think about what to read next until I put it on request at the library (unless it's the next book in a series, which takes a different kind of not-thinking), and then I try not to think about it until I get it. Otherwise, by the time I get home with the book, I don't even want to read it and have no idea why I ever thought it sounded interesting.

I know, I'm just weird.

145 heh I am almost the same, I pick books on a whim and shiny new books to immediately read otherwise I find it hard to pick up a planned book. I failed by 1st category challenge that way!

Nice to see you back here, and reading so many books! This is the first year that I did an "open" category challenge, and I've really been enjoying the change. (Actually, since real life has been so screwy this year, it's been a blessing!) I'm up in the air about next years challenge, not about joinging, but about how structured I want my 2014 reading to be. One of my problems this year is that now that I work at my library as a shelver, I see new and interesting-looking books 4 days a week! My poor home shelves aren't going to get out of this without some serious damage, that's for sure.

I think the only goal I'll keep next year is to try my best to focus on books I already own, especially as I suspect that at least 100 or so will be ones I don't want to keep. Goodness knows I could use the space! :)

Oops. I completely neglected to update this at all in September! I'm still reading on plan for the challenge but I haven't been writing any reviews. I've updated the lists above. Possibly sometime in the next few days I'll put up some comments of the ones I really enjoyed. (I had some great reads in September!)

Well, I was woefully behind on posting book comments/reviews.....and now there is no hope of ever getting caught up. I suffered a hand injury that required surgery and am limited to the use of only one hand until at least the end of the year. I do not have the patience for one-handed typing!

I am keeping my lists updated above and will almost certainly complete my challenge but my postings here will be minimal until the doctor gives my hand back. :)

Take care of yourself! I hope you are on the mend. Ignore those silly reviews until you're fully healed and can't wait to tell us what you thought, but then just start with the last book you read. We'll survive. Will you do the Orange January next month, do you think?

Oh dear! Hope your hand heals soon!

Yikes! It's hard enough to type with two hands. Hope you're better soon.

Take care of yourself and as RidgewayGirl says, don't worry about the reviews. I hope you get the full use of both hands early in the new year.

#149 by Her_Royal_Orangeness> Hope you are back to perfect form in the New Year!

Oh my gosh, quick healing to your hand so you can function more normally again!

Thanks so much everyone! I'm going to attempt to peck out a few summary wrap-up threads toward the end of the month.

>150 RidgewayGirl: - Although I have several Orange titles in the 2014 stacks, I plan to space them out over the year rather than reading them only in January and July.

2013 WRAP-UP!

Numerophobia- Fear of numbers (books with number in title: 1-13)
Total books read: 13

This category was so much fun…finding titles with numbers….and not just any number but specifically one title for each number from 1 to 13. I had quite a few on my shelves or wishlist but some I had to hunt for.

I had two 5 Star reads in this category - Child 44 and The Thirteenth Tale. Of the two, I have to say Child 44 was my favorite. Brief summary: Russia, 1950s. Government officer Leo Demidov tries to capture a serial killer against the orders of his superiors.

Had Child 44 not been nominated for the Booker Prize, I would have dismissed it as some sort of pulpy-genre fiction-action novel. Even with the Booker nom, the synopsis didn’t make me want to rush out and buy it. But then I stumbled on a cheap copy at a thrift shop so I decided to give it a try. And….wow. I was captivated from the start.

Superb storytelling, excellent characterization. Well paced and well written. What really put it over the top for me, though, was how the author took this totally alien culture and made it make sense to me. Everything about Stalinist Russia was foreign to me - the lifestyle and beliefs and actions - and understanding and accepting these things is integral to how and why the plot unfolds as it does. How the author did this just kinna blew my mind.

Ok. I’m typing one-handed so the rest of these category summaries are going to be shorter.

Achievemephobia - Fear of success (prize winning books - 1 each from 13 prizes)
Total books read: 13

I guess it’s only logical that a category consisting of prize winners would have a lot of highly rated books - three 5 Stars, two 4.5 Stars, three 4 Stars. The three 5 Stars were:

Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper (Locus Award: 1992)
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (Orange Prize: 2005)
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin (Hugo Award: 1975)

Beauty and We Need to Talk About Kevin made my Top Five of the year (and The Dispossessed was number seven). So excellent.

Chrysophobia - Fear of the colour orange (books that were nominated for the Orange Prize)
Total books read: 12

I just heart the Orange Prize. It’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ll enjoy any of the titles that are nominated. My favorite of the Oranges I read for this category was Life After Life. This book has gotten a lot of buzz and I don’t think I can say anything here that someone else hasn’t already said, so I’ll simply declare that I adored it.

Microphobia- Fear of small things (short story collections)
Total books read: 5

I had so many books planned for this category but they kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the reading list. Favorite was St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell - so creative and fanciful and fun.

Megalophobia- Fear of large things (big books - 600+ pages)
Total books read: 3

Three books totally worth every single one of their many many pages!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. 5 Stars…and the best book of the year. Wildly original, competely mesmerizing, wonderfully written….lovelovelove.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Susanna Clarke is smart. Very smart. That is all.

The Passage by Justin Cronin. Back in the day, I read every book Stephen King wrote. He had an ability to transport and spellbind me like no other author. Until now. Cronin created that same magic for me…and I was utterly delighted. The Passage was very nearly a 5 Star, except for a few niggly details I just couldn’t ignore.

Dementophobia - Fear of going insane (books with characters who are mentally ill)
Total books read: 10

Intriguing category with a lot of good reads. Favorite (by far) was The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan. Initial thought upon finishing: “It's like...someone resurrected Virginia Woolf but she came back kinna twisted, like the animals in Pet Sematary. Awesomeness.”

Arrhenphobia - Fear of men (books by male authors)
Total books read: 9

I don’t know why I don’t read more male authors because, as evidenced by this category, I certainly enjoy their work. I gave 4.5 Stars to four of the nine books:

Touch by Alexi Zentner
The Cat Sanctuary by Patrick Gale
The Silent Land by Graham Joyce
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann

I especially loved The Silent Land - so complex and thought-provoking.

Total stats for the year on male authors - 32 books (by 22 authors)… about 29%.

Coulrophobia- Fear of clowns (books with clowns, circus, carnival, etc.)
Total books read: 6

I don’t like clowns…and apparently I don’t like clown books either. The Night Circus and Something Wicked This Way Comes got 4 Stars but the rest? Not so much.

Cynophobia- Fear of dogs (books with dogs in title and/or plot)
Total books read: 9

Another fun category! Surprising how easy it was to find qualifying books…and four of the nine were 4 Star reads. Of those, my fav was The Dog Stars by Peter Heller - very original, quite well-written, and beautifully emotive.

Bibliophobia- Fear of books (books with books or authors in plot)
Total books read: 6

Good books…but no fantastic ones. Fav was The Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. I read a few of his books many years ago and decided to rediscover him this year. In addition to this one I read Outside the Dog Museum (for the dog category) and Sleeping in Flame (for the male author category). Carroll is just as creepy-weird as I remembered.

Melophobia- Fear of music (books with music or musicians in plot)
Total books read: 6

This category has the honor of containing my lowest rated book of the year - The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee with 1.5 Stars. I described it as “The Jetsons” meets “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Hydrophobia - Fear of water (nautical fiction)
Total books read: 2

Only two books…and neither of them worth mentioning. Epic fail.

Amathophobia- Fear of dust (books that have been on my shelf for too long)
Total books read: 12

Sometimes I read a book so wonderful that I am horrimazed that’s it’s been stuffed in the closet for five years. I definitely found a few of those gems with this category, especially Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge. Oh my g!!!!! So much awesome.

Brief summary: a woman is sentenced to virtual solitary confinement for a crime she didn’t commit. The book chronicles her story before, during, and after her imprisonment.

The plot! The world building! The characterizations! The writing style! Oh my g!!!!! Also, the relationship between the main character (Jackal) and her lover (Snow) is the most authentic romance I’ve ever read. Jackal + Snow 4Ever. Amen.

Solitaire was shortlisted for the Nebula (alongside big names like Neil Gaiman and China Miéville and Ursula LeGuin) so why does this book seem to be relatively unknown…and why has Eskridge never written another novel?

And the best books of the year are...



Tied for #5: Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Tied for #5: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
#4: We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
#3: Solitaire by Kelley Eskridge
#2: Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper

AND

#1: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Total books read: 112
Total pages read: 39,139
Average book length: 349 pages

Total 5 Stars: 11
Total 4.5 Stars: 10
Total 4 Stars: 27
Total 3.5 Stars: 21
Total 3 Stars: 23
Total 2.5 Stars: 8
Total 2 Stars: 10
Total 1.5 Stars: 2

Average rating: 3.5 Stars

Great wrap-up! Looks like a very successful challenge :)

YAY, you win! Congratulations!

Great wrap up, and you typed it with one hand! Looking forward to following your reading next year (tomorrow!). I hope your hand heals completely and quickly.

Wonderful wrap-up!

Thanks everyone! It really was a great reading year...and such a fun challenge to work on.

Love your wrap-up! Very dangerous for my TBR pile. See you on your 2014 thread!