Tuesday 2 June 2009

Book awards fail

Oh dear, I seem to have failed again. I don't always do too well at this challenge lark. I start off with amazingly good intentions, loads of books lined up here on the shelf, really determined to read them this time, come what may. And what happens? Two days after lining them up, all neat and tidy, I lose interest in the actual process of reading them. I must have the attention span of a gnat, that's all I can say. It's pathetic.

So. This time the failure is... *fanfare*...The Book Awards challenge hosted by 1morechapter.com



And the reason for the failure? I only managed to read nine books, not ten. These are they:

1. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (Gov. Gen. Canada)
2. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones (Comm. Writer's Prize)
3. Tamsin - Peter S. Beagle (Mythopoeic)
4 Mortal Engines Philip Reeve (Nestlé book prize Gold winner, and Blue Peter book of the year, 2003.)
5. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (Newbery)
6. A Fatal Inversion - Barbara Vine (CWA Gold Dagger Award 1987)
7. The Reaper - Peter Lovesey (CWA Diamond Award for Lifetime Achievement)
8. The Sedgemoor Strangler - Peter Lovesey (As above)
9. The Circle - Peter Lovesey (As above)

I really did enjoy the challenge I must admit, despite not finishing it, and would like to thank 1morechapter.com for hosting.

ETA: I meant to say that I thoroughly enjoyed all nine books too. Not one of them was a dud... a favourite is thus quite hard to choose but would probably go with The Handmaid's Tale, followed closely by The Graveyard Book and Mortal Engines. But Tamsin was terrific too... and The Reaper. I'll stop. Now.

7 comments:

Tara said...

Are you kidding? You did great, this is NOT a failure! And you read some great books, so that is an achievement.

Kailana said...

bah, you only missed it by one book. I don't think that is a failure at all!

DesLily said...

talk about failure.. I am not even going to do a May wrap up lol...and the way I am going at the moment not a June one either! sheesh.. just glad I did finish Carls challenge! last year I did it 4 times over! what a difference a year makes~

it sounds like you enjoyed this book so thats always a small blessing!

Cath said...

Hi Tara. Yes, I suppose nine books is not so bad and I *was* really pleased with the quality of the books this time. There really wasn't a bad one among them.

Hi Kelly. Okay then... lol... I'll stop calling it a failure. Annoyingly the book I'm reading now, Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop, won something or other so if I'd only been a bit quicker...

Hi Pat. You've had so much going on in your life that it's hardly surprising your reading's suffered. I think you've done really well to finish Carl's challenge, to be honest! (And, btw, that's one challenge I've already succeeded at because I've read six books for it and am on the seventh.)

DesLily said...

I knew I'd be "out of it" and only actually committed to reading one book but after that I also finished the one for 4 books and I read one or two more.. my mind is foggy on the count lol

Susan said...

I did it! I have to do my post, but I actually finished this one! this joy is short-lived though, as I face the great debacle which is the Canadian Challenge - 3 out of 13 read! what was I thinking???

So I know how you feel - it's that rush of signing up for a new challenge, all the expectations we carry that we can do this, all these books lined up to read......and I agree with everyone else, it's not a failure when you read that many, and good ones too!!!

Cath said...

Susan: LOL! I almost signed up for the Canadian challenge myself... and might actually do that one next year as there are a few Canadian authors I like - Kelley Armstrong for instance.

You clearly understand that first rush of enthusiasm you get for a shiny new challenge. I've tried not to be so hasty this year and have succeeded *a little*. To be honest I think we're just lost causes when it comes to anything to do with books!