2011 Global Reading Challenge Update - the last stretch

Africa:

1. Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed - IN PROGRESS
2. The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

Asia:
1. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
2. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Australasia:
1. Genesis by Bernard Beckett - DONE
2. Lilian's Story by Kate Grenville - DONE

Europe:
1. The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk - DONE
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - DONE

North America:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald - DONE
2. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger - DONE
3. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery - DONE (do I get bonus points for this extra book?)

South America/Central America:
1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - in progress
2. Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

Seventh Continent/Other World:
1. God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert - DONE
2. ???

Three continents down, three in slow progress, and my own backyard not started. 7 more to go in 5 1/2 weeks...

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

I read the e-book, but realised when I got to the penultimate chapter that a hardcopy was sitting in the bookshelf downstairs all this while. Oh well...

Since this was an e-book, and written as a collection of twelve cases (such that I wasn't compelled to read the whole book in one go), it has taken me a long time to finish it. So much so that I cannot remember the plot of all the cases. What I did enjoy is the logic and deductive skills employed by the main protagonist, and having seen the recent movie, it was quite fun to picture the detective and his companion as they were in the film. Some of the cases had a very dark and sinister setting, while others were mere anecdotes of wit and cunning. All of them, though, portrayed Holmes' strong powers of observation. As he said to dear Watson in one of the first cases, "You climb the stairs everyday, but you fail to observe how many strps there are."

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Kindy raya

Since school restarted after the raya break, Aiesyah has insisted on wearing the hijab to school. Just before the Malaysia Day weekend, the kindergarten organised a combo Merdeka-Malaysia-raya celebration, where the kids were asked to put on traditional costumes. I'd say these two make quite a dashing couple, don't you think?

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P/S This was supposed to be published on my other blog, but I posted here by mistake. I think it does add more colour to this site, though.

Global Challenge 2011 Update

The Medium Challenge
Read two novels from each of these continents in the course of 2011:

Africa:
1. Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed
2. The Boy who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

Asia:
1. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
2. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

Australasia:
1. Genesis by Bernard Beckett - DONE
2. Lilian's Story by Kate Grenville - DONE

Europe:
1. The Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk - DONE
2. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

North America:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger - DONE
2. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery - DONE

South America/Central America:
1.
2.

The Seventh Continent ( either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it):
1. God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert - DONE
2. 


From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.


Try to find novels from fourteen different countries or states.

6 out of 14, and only 3 and a half months to go. Not good.

Genesis

Author: Bernard Beckett

This book was in my wishlist for last year's Global Challenge, but I only managed to buy it this year at Kinokuniya, KLCC. My verdict? BRILLIANT!!!

The book is part science, part historical study, 100% philosophical. It is set in the future, when the World has plunged into biological warfare, economies crumble and a plague is threatening to wipe out mankind. A group of refugees set up an isolated Republic on a remote island, blocking out disease-carrying ships with a Great Sea Fence and trained snipers along the coastline.

A rigid order governs the island-state - its society is classified into Labourers, Soldiers, Technicians and Philosophers. Children are screened at birth for classification or termination, then subjected to "a rigorous education, both physical and intellectual". Any individuality is stamped out, until Adam Forde appears.

The narrative is an interview for a position in a select council, where the interviewee's chosen subject is The History of Adam Forde. Without giving too much away, this is a philosophical discourse on AI, society and government in a much more readable format than Sophie's World. About halfway through the book I was able to determine the nature, or origin, of the interviewee, but this did not lessen my enjoyment of the book. The ending, although not entirely unexpected, was still very cleverly done.

The lesson to be learnt: If you want to survive, stay within the norm.

Something Wonderful

Author: Judith McKnaught

Tall, dark and handsome nobleman. Naive, spirited, intelligent down-and-out virgin. Flaring tempers. Passionate love. Enough said.

This is one of my favourites though. Purely because they were properly married (albeit very early indeed) before any romps took place.

Almost Heaven

Author: Judith McKnaught

This was read sometime last year, and I had a long debate whether it was worth posting or not - it is hardly the most intellectual or thought-provoking material in my collection. Then I decided to be honest to myself and my readers, so here it is.

After a truly depressing experience reading 'Disgrace' for the 2010 Global Reading Challenge, I needed something light and fluffy. Well, this was hardly light and fluffy, but a good dose of pleasurable reading nonetheless. I am not including this in the Challenge, though.

It is a typical, formulaic romance where the hero is tall, dark, coldly handsome and turns out to be of noble birth. The heroine is the most attractive creature on earth, spirited and independent - with an intellectualism that she is forced to hide in a bid to be accepted by society. I can hardly remember the plot (something about Scotland, a scandalous encounter, debutantes), but reading it reminded me of being seventeen when I was still in school and we denounced the male of the species as heartbreakers and decided to stick to falling in love with fictional characters instead.