Reading challenges for 2012

Why a reading challenge? So that I'm pushed to pick up books for myself and finish them.

I tend to read more of children's books. Not really reading for myself. Also, I tend to read a dozen books at a time, skimming, browsing, but never really sticking with one till the end unless it can give competition to a Harry Potter.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? A little bit of both, I suppose. I get to read so much more at a time. But some books are worth sticking to, mulling over, learning from. I do that too, but not every book I read seems to get that attention. And I should be giving that kind of attention to more of those I read.

The reading challenges of 2011 set me on the way to correcting my reading habits, for sure. The rules for those challenges, though, required that I look for books beyond what I already own, and should be reading first.

So here are few challenges that a person like me, a book hoarder (who has to wade through books to get to the other side of a certain room) should take up!

Off The Shelf challenge: Hosted by Bookish Ardour.

These are the different challenge levels.:-
*Tempted - 5 books
*Trying - 15 books
*Making a dint - 30 books
*On a roll - 50 books
*Flying off - 75 books
*Hoarder - 76-135 books
*Buried - 136-200 books

This challenge requires me to read as many of the books in my collection already owned by me before 2012. Books bought after 31st Dec 2011 do not count. Crossovers permitted.

Let me sign up for Trying - 15 books at the beginning. If I can, I will try going up to the next level. I really need this kind of pressure to get through at least some of my books. (Though buried under books is more the scene at my home!)

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Mount TBR Reading Challenge. Hosted by Myreadersblock.

Only books that I own prior to 1st January 2012 count. No library books, no re-reads. Crossovers permitted.

The challenge levels are:
*Pike's Peak: Read 12 books
*Mt Vancouver: Read 25 books
*Mt Ararat: Read 40 books
*Mt Kilimanjaro: Read 50 books
*El Toro: Read 75 books
*Mt Everest: Read 100 books

I'm signing up for Pike's Peak - 12 books from my TBR pile for now. As with the previous challenge, I shall try to upgrade.

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The Unread Book Challenge of 2012. Hosted by The Hopeful Librarian.

Another challenge similar to the above two- that much more push for me to read more of the books I've accumulated!

Any books lying around on my shelves (or elsewhere!!) waiting to be read, count- even books I may buy after I've signed up! There is no limit to the number of books. So no levels. Just the pleasure and satisfaction of getting through that humongous collection of books!





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2012 Banned-Challenged Book Reading Challenge. Hosted by The Eclectic Bookshelf.

Considering that my last two years' reading included many books that are challenged / banned at some time, and that I enjoy reading books dealing with conflict, I thought I could include this challenge- upping the ante on clearing my shelves of unread books. No re-reads are allowed, and I can count these books for other challenges.



I may choose books from these lists:
The most frequently challenged books: Goodreads
Popular challenged books: Goodreads
Banned and frequently challenged classics: ALA
100 most frequently challenged books 1990-1999: ALA
100 most frequently challenged books 2000-2009: ALA

I am signing up for Level 1- for which I have to read 12 books. I really hope to read some gems from these, and I'm going to choose from books I already own...I'm sure there are many!

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2012 Fearless Poetry Exploration Challenge. Hosted by Savvy Verse & Wit.

I enjoy reading poetry, books on poetry. So it is natural that I will be reading some poetry along the way- soul food. Why not incorporate a poetry challenge along with the other challenges?

In this challenge I shall have to read and review at least 2 books of poetry. Signing up!




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Charles Dickens Reading Challenge 2012. Hosted by Newly Impassioned Soul.

I love love love the work of Charles Dickens. And this is after having read only 3 of his books in their entirety- Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities. These are books I've read over and over again.

7th February 2012 is the bicentennial anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth, and why not celebrate one of my favourite authors by reading more of his works?

So I'm signing up at the basic level- 3 books by Dickens. Why not read 3 books that I haven't yet read, but have been planning on reading forever? I will read A Christmas Carol, The Pickwick Papers, and David Copperfield, which is supposed to be autobiographical.

They can all be counted as part of my first three challenges.:)

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There is just one more challenge for which I shall sign up- the challenge I'm expecting Papertigers to host this year, and I'll be signing up for both A and myself. We had fun with their Reading the World Challenge 2011, and would like to do it in 2012 too.

2011 reading challenges wrap-up

It is already 2012, time for me to take stock of my reading challenges. For all books listed, please link to the relevant review from the list on the left-hand-side panel on the blog. Listed alphabetically.

A. Reading the World Challenge.  Hosted by Papertigers.

I signed up here both for A and for myself. We had to complete six books each, based in/about different countries or written/ illustrated by people from different countries. 3 of which had to be from different continents. At least one from your country/state/city. There had to be at least one each of fiction, non-fiction, poetry.

For A: Status- complete.
*The Wolves in the Walls. Written by Neil Gaiman. British. Fiction.
*Ajoba-my grandfather. Written by Taruja Parande. India. Non-fiction.
*Hana's Suitcase. Written by Karen Levine. Czech Reublic. Non-fiction.
*Oranges in no-man's land. Written by Elizabeth Laird. Fiction.
*A Kick in the Head. Anthology by Paul B Janeczko. Poems sourced from Britain, USA, Canada, Australia. Poetry.
*On my Honor. Written by Marion Dane Bauer. US of A. Fiction.
The continents represented are Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. 

For myself: Status- complete.
*Anne Frank- Diary of a young girl. Holland. Non-fiction.
*The Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler romance triology. Historical fiction.
*A Poem for CRY. Anthology. India. Poetry.
*The boy who harnessed the wind. Malawi, Africa. Non-fiction.
*Dear Zari. Written by Zarghuna Karghar. Afghanistan. Non-fiction.
*Nanberry: Black Brother White. Written by Jackie French. Australia. Historical novel.
The continents represented are Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and North America.

B. 2011 South Asian Challenge.  Hosted by S. Krishna's books.

I signed up here for the South Asian Explorer level, which required me to read at least 5 books. The books had to be by a South Asian author or set in a South Asian country or about South Asians living elsewhere.

According to the UN and the World Bank classification, the countries of South Asia are Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives.

Status: Complete.
*The Groaning Shelf and other instances of book love. Written by Pradeep Sebastian. India.
*A Poem for CRY. Anthology of poems recommended by famous Indians. India.
*The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. Written by Urvashi Butalia. India/Pakistan.
*Dear Zari. Written by Zarghuna Karghar. Afghanistan.
*Belonging. Written by Sameem Ali. Pakistan.

C. 2011 Global Reading Challenge.  Hosted by Dorte.

I signed up here for the easy level. For which I had to read one novel each from each continent, and include a seventh continent of my choice, which could be science fiction, future, past or fantasy.

I did not fare very well in this challenge, as I realised halfway through the year that I tend to favour reading non-fiction for myself, although I read a lot of fiction with A. Consequently, I did not really read 'novels' for this challenge, unless one counts those read under North America, Australasia and the seventh continent. Also, I have not yet got through my book for South America, though the year is over. I will be finishing the book in due course, though, and linking it up here.

Status: Incomplete. For both the above reasons- not finishing, and not being able to stick to the rules.

Asia : The Groaning Shelf and other instances of book love.
Africa : The boy who harnessed the wind.
Australasia : Nanberry- Black Brother White.
Europe : Anne Frank- diary of a young girl.
North America : The Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler trilogy.
South America : (to be finished)
Seventh continent : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

D. 2011 Read-a-Myth challenge. Hosted by Bibliojunkie.

I signed up here for the Athena level, for which I had to read 2 books based on mythology.

I have read the two requisite books, but have not yet reviewed them. Which I will this year. They are
*In Search of Sita: revisiting mythology. Written by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal.
*Women of the Mahabharata: the question of truth. Written by Chaturvedi Badrinath.

Both these books take a look at these women from the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, in that order, from a fresh perspective.

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A few observations:

*My reading is centred mostly around Europe, Asia and North America. Maybe a few stray books from Australia and Africa. I am hard-pressed to find any good books from South America, and cannot name any writers/illustrators/books from there off the top of my head. Something I should look into.

*As a corollary to the above statements, I can cite this map which shows countries around the world where English is the de jure (official)/ de facto (commonly spoken) language.



map courtesy wikipedia

The only exceptions perhaps are classics, books on the holocaust, and books on women's issues from elsewhere that I pick up- usually translations or for some reason originally published in English.

*I tend to favour non-fiction over fiction, at least among the contemporary books.

*In fiction, I favour classics, historical fiction, fantasy fiction. Am not very enamoured of contemporary fiction. I'm sure there is plenty of good stuff that I am missing out on, so I must learn to look beyond the tottering piles of the current best-sellers at bookstores.

*I do a lot of reading about conflict in any form. I wonder what that says about me!?

*I have very exacting standards for what I pick up for A- one could call it the Saffrontree standard!:)

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I have certainly enjoyed, and learnt a lot from my reading journey in 2011. Another post will soon be coming up on my reading plans for 2012.

A Kick in the Head: An everyday guide to poetic forms

Pic courtesy flipkart.com

A Kick in the Head:
An everyday guide to poetic forms
Selected by Paul B Janeczko
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Published by Candlewick Press
Ages: 8+

Do you know what a couplet is? A quatrain? A haiku? A sonnet? A limerick? A ballad? An elegy? An ode? You do? Great!

Now, do you know what a clerihew is? A roundel? A triolet? A villanelle? A senryu? An aubade? An acrostic? A pantoum? A cinquain? No? Do all those words sound as if they were a set of carpenter's / goldsmith's tools? Or some kind of flowers or herbs? (That is what A thought they were.) Well, they're not. They're forms of poetry, which follow certain rules.

Let's take a senryu, for example. Our book explains a senryu thus: "I like to call senryu a 'haiku with an attitude.' A senryu follows the same pattern as a haiku -- three lines of 5-7-5 syllables -- but it is about human nature rather than the natural world around us."

Intrigued? Let's take the senryu in our book to illustrate the point.

First day, new school year,
backpack harbours a fossil...
last June's cheese sandwich.

Or let's take an acrostic- one of the simplest way for a child to write poetry. "Descriptive poems- when read downward, the first letter of each line must form a word or phrase, usually the subject of the poem." It is a form that any enterprising child can experiment with, using any word that they may. Even their own or their friends' names. And it can be so much fun!

Santa Claus will come out tonight
And deliver presents
Near the
Time of midnight you can hear him
And what you will hear are the words ho ho ho

OR

Father
And
Mother
I
Love
You!

All these poetic forms have certain rules that have to be followed, for them to fit in the particular category. Doesn't that make it more difficult in a way? Why not write in free verse?

Free verse does have its merits, especially in modern poetry, which often is an unfettered expression of thought and feelings, a way of writing prose with a cadence, if you may.

Having specific rules for poetry does make it that much more fun to write, though, as well as making it fun to enjoy and appreciate it. As Paul Janeczko explains in his foreword, "Knowing the rules makes poetry -- like sports -- more fun, for players and spectators alike."

Beautifully illustrated in quirky watercolours by Chris Raschka, the book can be read as a picture book for younger children too, as the lilt and rhythm will appeal to the little ones too. Older children can appreciate the poems better, the form, the themes and the beauty of them. High school kids? The details of each poetry form will make much sense to the student with a literary bent of mind. Adults too can take a lot away from the book. Great for learning a particular form at a time, researching it, dabbling in it. Or just to keep it on the shelf to dip into a bit of poetic joy from time to time!

Acrostics, opposites, riddles, limericks, tanka, haiku...A and I have tried our hand a little bit at each. Here's a site which makes it easy for children. Why don't you try it?

A multiple award winning book, this is a poetry anthology with a difference. A must read for anyone appreciative of fine poetry.

I will be entering this book for the Reading the World Challenge over at Papertigers for A, under US of A, poetry.

Book Review: Nanberry - Black brother White

Pic courtesy harpercollins.com.au

Nanberry
Black Brother White
Written by Jackie French
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
YA

It is the story of Nanberry, the 9yr old Eora (aborigine) boy whose life takes an unexpected turn when smallpox brought into Australia by the First Fleet carrying convicts wipes out almost his entire tribe. Surgeon John White, the fleet's surgeon, adopts him as a son, much to the chagrin of his housekeeper, who is surprised to realise that the 'native' is as much a human being as she is!

The rest of the book is a narrative told in the first person by the different characters.

John White, the surgeon of the First Fleet, and later at the newfound colony. A good man of strong convictions and a thirst for knowledge.

Rachel Turner, who survived a wrongly given death sentence and deportation to the convict colony. Who has rather genteel origins, and works as Surgeon White's housekeeper, and later becomes his emotional anchor and mother of his son, Andrew. Who later becomes one of the richest and well-loved women in Australia.

Nanberry himself- the black brother, who, blossoms under the love and care showered on him by his foster father Surgeon White, and Rachel, but is loath to relinquish his roots, and is unable to quite become the 'English gentleman' that his foster father wanted him to become. Especially after he finds himself a target of the other white people's prejudice.

Andrew White, the son, the white brother, who gets a privileged education in England, and becomes a hero in the battle against Napoleon.

Which, along with a handful more of characters, both English and Eora, makes for a kaleidoscope of emotions, motives, actions, stretching across a period of history from the first Bitish settlement in Australia in 1788 to after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. A piece of history that is in many ways still taking a shape. We see the arrogance of the Europeans in their 'finders-keepers-owners' attitude which has shaped much of the history of colonisation. "Britain did not recognise the country as being inhabited as the natives did not cultivate the land, and were, therefore, 'uncivilized'. " We see the reasoning they used in their ruthless decimation of the original inhabitants of the Australian continent- the aborigines- and their relentless claiming of the land.

We see the utter bewilderment of the Eora who did not have the concept of  individual ownership of land and resources- through the voice of Nanberry Buckenau. Who, although fostered by an exceptionally enlightened man for his times, keeps his roots, and returns to his people and their ways from time to time. Even as a child, he refuses to answer to the English name given to him by his foster father, and responds only to his rightful name, Nanberry.

A piece of history that we know really took place, as there are written records of it. All the characters really lived, even Nanberry about whom there are records researched and listed in the bibliography by the author, Jackie French, whose book for children 'Diary of a Wombat' has been reviewed by me earlier. She traces her mother-in-law's ancestry back to the family into which one of Andrew White's daughters married.

In an extensive afterword, she says, "All history books are detective stories, and history writers must track down information and put it together exactly as a detective does....The events in this book are as true as I can make them. The first decades of the colony were an extraordinary and fascinating time. But there comes a point where a historian and author has to say, 'I don't know'. "


"Neither the English nor the Eora understood each other. In most cases, perhaps, they didn't want to...To me, now, Nanberry (Nanbree / Nanbaree in the records found) and Andrew White seem to be the first modern Australians, triumphantly accepting both sides of their heritage."

I will be entering this review for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge under Australasia, and for the Reading the World Challenge 2011 over at Papertigers.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind



Pic courtesy flipkart

THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND
Creating currents of electricity and hope
Written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Cover illustration by Mary Schuck
Published by HarperCollins
Ages: YA / 15+

William Kamkwamba was a regular boy growing up in Kasungu, Malawi, Africa. His father was a farmer living off the land, a hardworking, honest man, who nevertheless found it difficult to feed his family of a wife, six girls, and a boy, with his yearly crop of maize and tobacco. The tobacco would be sold to pay for the children's education, and the maize would feed them...until the middle of the year. Then there would be the struggle to make it last till the next harvest. It was a dreary, difficult life, with not much hope for any better future. Added to that were ignorance, an overall poor state of education, rampant health problems like AIDS, superstitions that were crippling in their belief in magic-- not science, lack of basic amenities like drinking water and electricity. There was also the frequent failure of the rains, leading to a failure of crops, compounded by a tyrannical and indifferent government. All problems that are usually associated with the third world countries.

There was one such famine in 2002 when William was 13, leading to widespread malnutrition and deaths. William's family managed to scrape through it, all of them working odd jobs for a bit of food. There was of course, no money for school fees, and he and his sisters all had to drop out. The following year, there were better rains, and food was manageable, but school fees still were a problem.

William, though, had a keen mind and a thirst for knowledge. While many of his peers loafed around, he would go to the local library, and try to read, (there was a local library with books donated by charities) even though his English was not very good. He chanced upon two books, Explaining Physics and Integrated Science, which lucidly explained the science behind common objects with line diagrams. Using the concepts there, he tried creating electricity with the help of a bicycle dynamo to power a radio. Soon he found another book, Using Energy, which fascinated him with the pictures of windmills on the cover. This gave him his 'eureka moment.' He decided to build his own windmill.

"No more kerosene lamps that burned our eyes and sent us gasping for breath...I could stay awake at night reading instead of going to bed at seven with the rest of Malawi. But most important, a windmill could also rotate a pump for water and irrigation...No more skipping breakfast, no more dropping out of school. With a windmill, we'd finally release ourselves from the troubles of darkness and hunger. In Malawi, the wind was one of the consistent things...A windmill meant more than just electricity, it was freedom."

In the rest of this amazing and un-put-downable book, William recounts his struggle to find material for his windmill in the junk heaps around the village, the hounding by the villagers who considered him crazy, the painstaking putting together of the parts, the support by his family and close friends who helped out at crucial points, the setbacks, and finally, the sweet taste of success.

William's first windmill next to his house.
Pic courtesy Tom Reilly

Soon word spread to neighbouring villages and towns, and people would come in hordes to see this 'electric wind' (as he called it in his local language, Chichewa), and it caught the attention of the media and academics. It was remarkable that a school dropout with not much formal education had achieved what many who are priviledged cannot- found a way out of the darkness harnessing a natural resource- with just a few basic science books at his disposal.

He was invited to be a TED Fellow, and this platform brought his acievement to the notice of the world, along with the spreading word on the blogosphere. It was at the TED conference that he met Tom Reilly, the TED Fellows Director, who would help to launch the Moving Windmills Project  for self-sustainable economic development in Malawi. Since then, William's village has seen unprecedented development, with wind power and solar power at the forefront. William is also all set to complete his education, with dreams of a brighter future for his country.

It is an inspiring story- one that should be widely read. The first few chapters give a stark picture of the poverty and deprivation which make William Kamkwamba's enterprise all the more spectacular.

This is a book for older readers-- 15years +, so I told A the story as I read through it, reading bits aloud to her. There is a Young Readers Edition due to be out in January 2012 that I'll be looking out for.

There is also this video that tells William's truly inspiring story in his own words. After watching this, A is keen to get her hands on the book.



Crossposted at Saffrontree.

Will be entering this review for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge under Africa, and for the Reading the World Challenge 2011 at Papertigers for myself.

On the love of books - and a giveaway!

First: My friend Zoe, over at Playingbythebook has a fabulous new giveaway that I would love to get my hands on. It is a children's movie, Eleanor's Secret, a must-see for those who love books, and those who would love to see a movie which promises some lovely 'un-adult-rated' fun (Zoe's word, not mine!) You may go over to her post to view details of the giveaway! I have put in my claim, too, and am keeping all fingers (and toes) crossed!



Pic courtesy flipkart.com

Talking about love for books, I recently came upon this wonderful book that I would love to share with fellow book lovers.

THE GROANING SHELF
and other instances of book love
Written by Pradeep Sebastian
Published by Hachette India

This is that ultimate fantasy for me- a book about books and about love for books- that explains a lot about my inexplicable book-lust:

Why I need to explore every book shop there is in any place.

Why I need to visit every book sale.

Why I need to own every book that I feel A or I would love to read.

Why I have more books in my house than an average person would need in her/his life, lying around in piles.

Why I need to read and re-read many of my books.

Why I need to shuffle my books around on shelves periodically, taking them off the shelves, sorting through them, opening those that I haven't looked at in a while, losing track of time, and then putting them all back over a period of weeks, by which time it is again time to sort through them!

Why I do not consider the above described work as a chore, but enjoy it thoroughly, spinning it out.

Why I start the work with an intention to clear clutter, (shame on me for considering books clutter, but an excess of even books takes up space.) but end up putting most of the books back, as I cannot bear to give them away. Yeah, Sangi, I need the Serenity Prayer too!

Why reading a well-loved book, caressing the pages and breathing in the fragrance of paper and ink is the ultimate sensual experience.

"This pleasurable, absorbing ritual of rearranging books, even trying to downsize one's library, now seems to be really about getting to know these books all over again. To pick up one from the shelves, remember where and when you bought it, and recall the pleasure that finding the book gave you - this is why a book collector gets all her books off and on the shelves every year."

Pradeep Sebastian speaks of the collecting of books, even of first editions, and brings to our notice the difference between a bibliomaniac (...has a rage for collecting and possessing books) and a bibliophile (a book collector of refined judgement, the quality of whose library reflects his or her exacting bibliographical standards). Where do I stand? Somewhere in between.

We come to know of the different reasons we buy a book - not just for its content. The edition, the cover design, illustrations, paper quality, the font used, the whole look and feel of the book, too matter. Ask me- I often buy whole lots by a favoured author, and favour certain publications which add to the overall experience of reading.

First editions, especially if in a pristine condition with their book jackets, and if they are signed or inscribed by the author, could become valuable additions to one's collection par with rare pieces of art by masters.

We have chapters on rare books, history of books in the world, and in India.

A whole section on notable works by his favourite authors, which include works by Pico Iyer, J.D.Salinger, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ayn Rand and Ira Levin. He discusses both the life and works of these writers, giving us a peek into how their creative energies worked.

A whole section on noteworthy bookshops in India, book museums and a chapter on books in movies. Yes, 'You've got mail' is one of the movies discussed, as are '84 Charing Cross Road', 'The Name of the Rose', 'The Mystic Masseur', 'Fahrenheit 451' and 'The Jane Austen Book Club'. There is also a real story, about how a documentary about an out of print classic, the only book by that author (The Stones of Summer by Dow Mossman) resurrected that book in print.

Some of the chapters on the actual experience of reading gave me an eerie sense of 'he's reading my mind'!.

"The books we read make us part of a larger (invisible) community of readers. Could the opposite be true as well? That our reading makes us lonely. Wrapped up in a book, we shut the world out, cutting ourselves off from those who cannot share in our private world."

Maybe. But then I find that my reading can also open up a world of like-minded friends, where we can share our mutual love of, and impressions of different books, enriching us all. I think the reading-aloud of books shared by A and I is a part of this process, as is this compulsive sharing of a book I loved with all of you in my reviews. I want to convey what I loved about a book, maybe compel you to pick it up!

There is an interesting chapter on re-reading. I'll quote - "What a commited reader has with a book is a relationship. And like most relationships, it is sustaining, volatile, vulnerable...the question is - does the book remain the same book the second time around? Are we even the same readers when we revisit these books?...it seems to me that our experience alters the book even as the book alters our experience."

Very true. A book that I have loved reading could not be read just once. One reads it rapidly at first, then mulls over what one has read for a while- which could be anything from a few hours to a few years. One then HAS to return to the book and read it over and over again, finding things one has not noticed or noted at the first reading, somehow managing to internalise the book, until it becomes a part of one's self.

As J.K.Rowling said while announcing PotterMore: "the experience of reading requires that the imaginations of the author and reader work together to create the story."

There is obviously more to reading than just a pastime, just a gleaning of information or learning of something. It is a whole experience that has to be, well, experienced. Even books that one has loved and lost, or books that one has encountered in a store or library, found interesting, but not gotten around to really reading through, never to find them again, are part of this experience.

Let me end with one more quote from this wonderful book by Pradeep Sebastian. This one for non-readers, too!

"I often envy non-readers for all the wonderful books out there that they have never read. Imagine the number of books that await them and the joy of encountering these great works for the first time. A favourite literary fantasy of mine has been to turn amnesiac for a year and read all my favourite books as though for the first time." 

I am entering this review for the 2011 Global Reading Challenge under Asia and in the 2011 South Asian Challenge at S.Krishna's books.