Now that I’ve completed my 50 book challenge, I thought it would be good to reflect on it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve truly challenged myself (outside of battling my illnesses) so it was really good for me to do this challenge and succeed at it.
If you really do enjoy reading, I highly recommend this challenge – you don’t have to do 50 books – you can set the amount to whatever you like but make it challenging for yourself. The great thing about this particular reading challenge (there are many others) is that you can read whatever you want.
For me this took on many different types of books, I read books published in 2012 itself but also right back from 1843. In those 50 books; I read 10342 pages.
Of those 50 books I thought I’d share 3 of my favourite books and 3 I didn’t really enjoy. I apologise that I’m still behind with reviews however after being horribly ill over the Christmas period with a virus. Nevertheless:
3 Worst Books of the Challenge
- Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo – Which I’ve yet to write a review on. It’s really not an awful book but so many characters are introduce to you, people constantly entering and exiting the (usually moving) car that it’s hard to keep up with who is who, never mind really grasp much about the characters. Perhaps if you see the movie or read it through again things will become much clearer but for me, the last few scenes are the best as they reveal the most about the main character, it’s just too bad it ends not long after.
- Do Bats Have Bollocks?: and 101 more utterly stupid questions by Jon Butler – This is sort of a spoof of the New Scientist books where they do actually answer weird questions. This however is also the story of the office (not New Scientist) where all those questions come to – which I believe is supposed to be funny, but it just isn’t. It’s a quirky humour book, but that’s about all. Too much gimmick and not enough substance.
- Pale by Chris Wooding – Written with dyslexic children in mind – the font used is dyslexic friendly and the story short so as not to frustrate them – I thought I would pick this up as I enjoyed Wooding’s other books. It’s probably not an awful book for it’s intended readers – but the story is so short it lacks a lot of depth and although I understand the actual reading must be made easy for such children, I also wonder if this would even engage their interest in reading more at all.
3 Best Books of the Challenge
- The Well of Ascension: Mistborn Book Two by Brandon Sanderson – There is just no escaping that Sanderson is one of my favourite writers and I love the characters from the Mistborn series. This book did not disappoint at all. Sanderson always keeps you guessing until the very end.
- The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh – Another book with fantastic characters. The setting is really unique; putting together the religious grounds of a monastery and the realm of the Fae. I loved it so much I picked up the second book and I’m
patientlyhounding Walsh for the third book. - Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – At first I couldn’t decide if I wanted to read this or not, but I was so damn curious about it I just had to. The first half of the book is quite dark and pretty much everything is kept from you, it almost feels like a horror story but it unfolds cautiously into a secretive wonder in the world.
Don’t get me wrong, there are other books that I really loved too.
If you want to read the full list of books I’ve read in my challenge, plus easily find all the updates I did just check out my 50 Book Challenge page.
Now how about that giveaway?
I’ve chosen two books to giveaway that I read during this challenge and enjoyed. I choose two different genre’s because although my main love is fantasy – that’s not to everyone’s taste.
WHAT YOU WILL WIN
- ONE COPY OF Room by Emma Donoghue (Read my [Review])
- ONE COPY OF The Crowfield Curse by Pat Walsh (Read my [Review])
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
- Comment below telling me what your favourite book is.
- Leave your twitter username in the comment also OR leave consent for me to contact you by email using the email address provided in the email box of the comment (you don’t need to write your email address in the comment).
RULES
- I will ship the books worldwide, so it doesn’t matter where you live, you can enter.
- If you are under 18 years old please get your parents permission before entering.
- Giveaway ENDS on 1ST FEBRUARY. The winner will either be announced here on my blog or contacted directly.
That’s it!
Happy Reading! Good luck to those taking up the challenge this year and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
As Life Like As. 