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message 1: by Chloé (last edited Dec 31, 2014 08:52AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Chloé Goodreads Challenge 2014
32/48


COMPLETE LIST


1.The Book Thief
2.Life of Pi completed January 3rd 2014 ★★★★★
3.The Night Circus completed April 26th 2014 ★★★★★
4.The Help completed March 26th 2014 ★★★★★
5.Cloud Atlas
6.The Cuckoo's Calling completed March 16th 2014 ★★★★★
7.Please Look After Mom completed May 11th 2014 ★★★★☆
8.Tell the Wolves I'm Home completed February 11th 2014★★★★★
9.A House in the Skycompleted June 23 2014 ★★★★★
10.The Catcher in the Rye completed January 27th 2014 ★★★★☆
11.Delirium completed July 1st 2014 ★★★★☆
12.An Unofficial Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World: Exploring the Harry Potter Universe
13.Gone
14.Love in a Fallen City
15.Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference★★★★★ completed June 7th 2014
16.Ethics completed March 29th 2014 ★☆☆☆☆
17.The Man Without Qualities, Vol. 1
18.Boy Meets Boycompleted November 30th 2014 ★★★☆☆
19.How I Came to Sparkle Again complete MAy 27th 2014 ★★★★★
20.Beauty Queens completed April 30th 2014 ★★★★☆
21. Animal Farm completed January 1st 2014 ★★★★☆
22. And the Mountains Echoed completed January 13th 2014 ★★★★☆
23. Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution completed January 22nd 2014 ★★★★☆
24. The Rosie Project completed February 16 th 2014 ★★★★★
25. Cruel Beauty completed April 4th 2014 ★★★☆☆
26. Aliss completed February 26th 2014 ★★★★☆
27. Glitter and Glue completed May 2nd 2014 ★★★★☆
28. No One Else Can Have You completed June 15th 2014 ★★★★☆
29. The Glass Casket completed May 15th 2014 ★★★★☆
30. The Inventor's Secret
31. Vietnam: Rising Dragon
32. Love Life
33. The Forever Watch
34. A Burnable Book
35. The Undertaking
36. Archetype
37. A Game of Thrones Completed July 28th ★★★★☆
38. A Clash of KingsCompleted August 30th ★★★★☆
39. A Storm of SwordsCompleted September 28th ★★★★★
40. A Feast for CrowsCompleted October 16th ★★★★★
41. A Dance with Dragons Completed december 16th ★★★★☆
42. The Compact Reader: Short Essays by Method and Theme Completed October 26th ★★★★★
43. A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage 6e Completed November 3rd ★★★★☆
44. A Touch of Deaddecember 29th ★★★☆☆
45. Le fou de l'île 22nd december ★★★☆☆
46. Open
47. Open
48. Open


message 2: by Chloé (last edited Dec 31, 2014 08:52AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Yearly Challenges

RECOMMENDED BY READING CHALLENGERS
12/14 books

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel 2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 3. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini 4. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt 5. The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) by Robert Galbraith 6. The Help by Kathryn Stockett 7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 8. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray 9. Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin 10. How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren 11. A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout 12. A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin

13. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 14. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

THE DEWEY DECIMAL CHALLENGE - 2014
7/10

000-099:.A House in the Sky(70)
100-199: Ethics(170)
300-399: Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution(306)
400-499:A Commonsense Guide to Grammar and Usage 6e (428)
900-999:Glitter and Glue(994)
600-699:Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference(612)
800-899:The Compact Reader: Short Essays by Method and Theme (808)

200-299:
500-599:
700-799:



AROUND THE WORLD IN BOOKS CHALLENGE
8/5

Regions
North America:The Catcher in the Rye
West Europe: Animal Farm
Middle East: Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution
South Asia: Life of Pi
Australia & South Pacific: The Rosie Project
East Europe and Former Soviet Union Cruel Beauty
East AsiaPlease Look After Mom
Africa A House in the Sky

Central America
Caribbean
South America

Southeast Asia

THE 2014 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS CHALLENGE
4/10 books
4/6 categories

Young Adult Fantasy
Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe, #1) by Rosamund Hodge
Memoir & Autobiography
Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
Fantasy
The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman
Mystery & Thriller
No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Fiction
Historical Fiction
A Burnable Book (John Gower, #1) by Bruce Holsinger
Paranormal Fantasy
Science Fiction
The Inventor's Secret (The Inventor's Secret, #1) by Andrea Cremer The Forever Watch by David B. Ramirez
Romance
The Undertaking by Audrey Magee
Horror
History & Biography
Love Life by Rob Lowe
Nonfiction
Food & Cookbooks
Humor
Graphic Novels & Comics
Poetry
Debut Goodreads Author
Archetype by M.D. Waters
Young Adult Fiction
Middle Grade & Children's
Picture Books

THE TBR RANDOMISER CHALLENGE
6/10

89. Ethics by Baruch Spinoza 189. Beauty Queens  by Libba Bray 187. How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren 81. Delusions of Gender How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine 41. Delirium (Delirium, #1) by Lauren Oliver 107. Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

44. An Unofficial Muggle's Guide to the Wizarding World Exploring the Harry Potter Universe by Fionna Boyle 50. Gone (Gone, #1) by Michael Grant 77. Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang 91. The Man Without Qualities Vol. 1 A Sort of Introduction and Pseudo Reality Prevails by Robert Musil

THE MONOPOLY GENRE CHALLENGE
3/8 Monopoly
15/22 books

Young Adult
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Delirium (Delirium, #1) by Lauren Oliver

Romance
The Help by Kathryn Stockett The Undertaking by Audrey Magee A Touch of Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #4.1, #4.3, #5.1, #7.1, #8.1) by Charlaine Harris

Suspense
The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) by Robert Galbraith Aliss by Patrick Senécal No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Historical (time periods)
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe, #1) by Rosamund Hodge A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin

Fantasy
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Life of Pi by Yann Martel The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman

Science Fiction
Gone (Gone, #1) by Michael Grant The Inventor's Secret (The Inventor's Secret, #1) by Andrea Cremer The Forever Watch by David B. Ramirez

Biographical
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan Love Life by Rob Lowe

Non-fiction
Delusions of Gender How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine Vietnam Rising Dragon by Bill Hayton


message 3: by Chloé (last edited Nov 03, 2014 05:54PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Quarter

FIRST QUARTER CHALLENGE: LILAC'S RAINBOW CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1 - March 31, 2014

7/7

Animal Farm by George Orwell The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Help by Kathryn Stockett Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt Life of Pi by Yann Martel Aliss by Patrick Senécal Bi Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner


SECOND QUARTER CHALLENGE: #READWOMEN2014
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2014

15/24

Bi Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner Shiri Eisner ★★★★☆ completed 22nd January 2014
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt Carol Rifka Brunt ★★★★★ completed 12th Febuary 2014
The Help by Kathryn Stockett Kathryn Stockett ★★★★★ completed 26th Mars 2014
How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren Kaya McLaren completed May 27th ★★★★★
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang Eileen Chang
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray Libba Bray ★★★★☆ completed 30th April 2014
Delusions of Gender How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine Cordelia Fine ★★★★★ completed June 7th 2014
Delirium (Delirium, #1) by Lauren Oliver Lauren Oliver ★★★★☆ completed July 1st 2014
Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin Kyung-sook Shin ★★★★☆ completed May 11th 2014
A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout Amanda Lindhout ★★★★★ completed June 23 2014
Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge Rosamund Hodge ★★★☆☆ completed 4th April 2014
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern Erin Morgenstern ★★★★★ completed 26th April 2014
Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan Kelly Corrigan ★★★★☆ completed 2nd May 2014
The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman McCormick Templeman ★★★★☆ completed 15th May 2014
No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale Kathleen Hale ★★★★☆ completed June 15th 2014
Jane E. AaronThe Compact Reader: Short Essays by Method and Theme ★★★★☆


message 4: by Chloé (last edited Jan 23, 2014 12:27PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Monthly challenge, group reads, and others

Best Book of 2013, January Group Read:
And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
Je t'aime, Febuary Group Read
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion


message 5: by Chloé (last edited Jan 09, 2014 08:13PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Personal challenge! Read Harry Potter and the Philosopher Stone in Japanese
1/100%

ハリー・ポッターと賢者の石 by J.K. Rowling

Read Harry Potter and the philosopher stone in Japanese. It will be longue so let's do it little by little through the year! It's my first attempt to read a book in Japanese. Considering my vocabulary is super limited that will be a though challenge, but really rewarding.


message 6: by Adriana (new)

Adriana | 3888 comments You know How I Came to Sparkle again is also in the list for the Recommended Readers Challenge so you could read the book for both challenges.


message 7: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Yeah I noticed it when the random came out and I read your post on the Recommended Readers Challenge ;) I'll add it there!

For the recommended, I picked half in the first pages with most recommendations and the other half in the page with less recommendations. So I thought I would have good chance to love the usually loved books, and maybe make a nice discovery on the less known books.


message 8: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:45AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 1 - Animal Farm by George Orwell ★★★★☆
Finished Animal farm. I liked it, but god I got pissed at those dumb animals. It was my second read from Orwell, I prefer 1984, but this one is good, it's a 1984 hidden in a child's tale.


message 9: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:45AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 2- Life of Pi by Yann Martel ★★★★★

I knew I would love it because I loved the movie. It is actually quite similar. Not any major popping differences, mostly, just some omitted parts.


message 10: by [deleted user] (new)

Chloé wrote: "Life of Pi by Yann Martel★★★★★

I knew I would love it because I loved the movie. It is actually quite similar. Not any major popping differences, mostly, just some omitted parts."


Hi Chloé, I enjoyed this book as well. I read the book first and then saw the movie, and I thought the film did a great job bringing the book to life.


message 11: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments Yeah I thinks so to. There's not big controversial change that's for sure. :) Plus who doesn't like tiger!


message 12: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:45AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 3- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini ★★★★☆
I just finished it! It was really good. Bad things keeps happening, and it is a heavy book to read and I was longing for some hope, but when I didn't expect it anymore, we finaly get a ray of sun through the clouds. I liked it all along, but the way I got to love some characters in a chapter and than there's a cut in his/her story annoyed me by moment, because I kind of lacked a closure or something, especially because everything happening to them was mostly always so sad. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking for a Disney happy ending for all of them, but yeah I felt like you feel when you broke up a relationship and you don't have the chance for closure. Though, I'm happy I stuck to it.


message 13: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:46AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 4- Bi Notes for a Bisexual Revolution by Shiri Eisner ★★★★☆

I finished this books! My fourth this year and my first non fiction. It's a really interesting book, especially because it is not a really popular subject. It try to deconstruct our prejudice and suggest a new model of activism. It really is an interesting book for people from all orientation that want to challenge there vision of the stereotype, or are looking for new way to described their sexuality. It's also great activist of all kind and people interest in sexology.


message 14: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:46AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 5- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger ★★★★☆
I liked it. I liked the depressed teenager, who doesn't know what he wants to do with his life. But I'm still not sure how much I liked it, it could be a 3 stars book or a 4 one, I'm not sure. It's hard to explain, I really liked the character, I liked his personality and attitude, and he wouldn't be who he is if the book would have been written differently, but at the same time, the book kind of bored me... guess the book, made me be in the same lousy mood he was in. So if it made me feel the way he felt, then I guess it's a good book, but I can't say I enjoy reading it. Does it makes any sense?


message 15: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:46AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 6- Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt ★★★★★

It is a beautiful coming-of-age novel. It's the tale of two sisters growing apart, and how a family grieves the lost of a member to AIDS. The main character is a awkward but charming teenager, who feels completely lost and alone when her uncle dies. The book succeed in breaking some of the prejudices we have toward this disease and it talks about it in a very sensitive way. The man isn't hidden by the sickness, he's in the front row as loving uncle, a missed brother and a charming lover. This book was a recommendation, and I'm glad I read it. I would have most likely missed it, if it wasn't for the group recommendations list.


message 16: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:46AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 7- The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ★★★★★

A charming and refreshing love story. The main character is a single, most likely Asperger man. He's a really brilliant scientist, more precisely geneticist. The book is really entertaining, the social inabilities spikes the story with quite a bit of humour. The topic revolves around psychological disorders, but instead of turning it in a heavy drama, Graeme Simsion wrote a charming funny romantic comedy.


message 17: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:47AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 8- Aliss by Patrick Senécal ★★★★☆

If Lewis Carroll, Sade and Nietzsche had been literary promiscuous their ugly child would have been Aliss. This an horror version of Alice in Wonderland, set up in Montreal, Quebec. This book is really trash, and won't please everybody, a lot of violence, sex and drug. But if you like dark retelling of fairy tales you might like this one.


message 18: by Chloé (last edited Mar 19, 2014 10:47AM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 9- The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike, #1) by Robert Galbraith ★★★★★

J.K. Rolling can definitely write all kinds of genre in an skillful way. I think the way she expends her characters in her head and in her notes, makes them much more complete and makes it much more interesting. Yes you have the fun of discovering who's the killer is and how the killing took place, but you also enjoy to discover more about the main and secondary characters. You get the feeling you do know them. That's what I liked about all the books I read from her.


message 19: by Chloé (last edited Apr 26, 2014 05:07PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 10- The Help by Kathryn Stockett ★★★★★

It is a great story! The maid are charming and entertaining. The white ladies are bitches you'll like to despise. Though the subject is kind of heavy the story is read easily and never feels so, actually it has some quite funny parts. If you saw the movie and liked it you most certainly will like the book.


message 20: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 11 - Ethics by Baruch Spinoza ★☆☆☆☆

I was excited to read it because I didn't read much philosophy for the past few years. I really wanted to like it, especially because of its influence over modern notion of moral and ethic, but I really could get into it, of relate to the way Spinoza thought. I really got bored and annoyed with it and end up skimming it more than reading it. Maybe it's my fault, maybe I wasn't in the right "spirit" when I started it. But for now, I think his philosophy isn't for me.


message 21: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 12- Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge ★★★☆☆

The story is a mash up between the Beauty and the Beast and the tale of Cupid and Psyche. The story is interesting, I loved the concept, but the characters were kind of annoying by moment. It's a nice read for fans of fairy tale retelling. Some people will definitely adore it, while other will get really annoyed with the characters and the most cheesy parts.

Personally I rather enjoyed, it in a guilty pleasure kind of way, but if I hadn't read a e-book version, I would have probably thrown my paperback at a wall a few times. Maybe borrow it instead of buying if you can find it in a library or at a friend's place.


message 22: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 13- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ★★★★★

It's a big enough book and there's many characters, and the focus change of character each few pages. I'm really horrible at remembering names (is it in social setting or on paper) so I was confuse a bit at first, especially some characters change appellation during the story which made it even more confusing. Well after 1/3 I finally sort out all the names.

I think the best way to describe "The Night Circus" is as a charming Victorian Gothic Shakespearean tragedy. At the same time romantic and fantastic as well as tragic and frightening. It will leave you enchanted and disturbed. The environment is so rich and beautifully described and so artistic, it would be perfect for a movie. This book definitely need to be turn into a movie, and I actually, I think a project is effectively on the table. I can't wait to hear about a concrete project.

This is a must read!


message 23: by Chloé (last edited May 31, 2014 02:00PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 14 - Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan ★★★★☆

A bittersweet story of motherhood, and mother/daughter relationship, loss and travel. Why do we dislike even hate our mother when we are younger and then grew up to see their way and become like them. If our fathers are the glitter, our mothers are the glue.


message 24: by Chloé (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 15 - Beauty Queens by Libba Bray ★★★★☆

I actually started this one thinking I wouldn't like it. I didn't thought a book about pageant contestant would really interest me. But it's quite a nice comedy, it's a good satyr of America, well the world in general sometimes. It makes fun of advertisement, big corporation, pageant, politic, terrorism, gender and sexual stereotype.

It's written in an unusual way, cut with silly advertisement breaks.

It's quite hilarious, it won't be liked by everybody for sure, but you do need to give it a try. I really like the audio-book, I think it add up to my experience (the different voices and personalities), thought I realized it takes greater concentration. It's the first book I listen to as an audio-book because my virtual library just have this one and not the e-book, and it made me realized my primary sens is my vision. If I looked at things I lost my focus, so I had better focus in bed light closed or in the metro, eyes closed.


message 25: by Chloé (last edited May 31, 2014 02:15PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 16- Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-sook ★★★★☆

Another tale of motherhood this one taking place in Korea. This mother knew time of war when the safest thing for women was marriage and she also knew the hardship of farm life in a small country side village. She succeed to offer a better life to her children, but they they realize how they neglected her and sometimes look at her with contempt once she disappear in Seoul.


message 26: by Chloé (last edited May 31, 2014 02:20PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 17- The Glass Casket by McCormick Templeman ★★★★☆

A retelling of Snow White, but the story is closer to a Gévaudan Beast tale. This one is part romance, part mystery, and even though it is fantasy, it's far from being a fairy tale.


message 27: by Chloé (last edited May 31, 2014 02:27PM) (new)

Chloé (fullmetalclo) | 573 comments 18- How I Came to Sparkle Again by Kaya McLaren ★★★★★

A beautiful story about loss and overcoming adversity. How do we heal from loss and regain trust in life after being betrayed by the people we loved. This is a time to question ourselves on what we expect of life and our definition of love and family.


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