The Sunday Salon: Orange July!!!

Last year my friend Jill over at The Magic Lasso came up with the brilliant idea of Orange July. It was her personal commitment to read books that had won or been short or long listed for the Orange Prize; she invited anyone who was interested to join in at any level, whether you chose to read just one of the books or a dozen. It turned out to be such a popular challenge that we repeated it in January. And now it's almost time for the second annual Orange July.


Why Orange Prize books? I think they are the best contemporary women's fiction being written today. Of the seven I read last July, one received an average rating (3 1/2 out of 5 stars) and the rest were all 4 to 5 star books. The Orange prize books are consistently among my favorite reads of the year.

On deck for me for this year's Orange July are:

Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
The Magician's Assistant by Ann Patchett
The Colour by the beloved Rose Tremain (I'm savoring her books, reading one every six months or so)
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman

And today I received in the mail from the publisher (LOVE free books!) another one that made this year's short list: The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt.

What about you? Have you read any of these books? Have a suggestion which one I should start with? Are you reading Orange this July?

Links of interest:
The Orange Prize Project
Official Orange Prize website

Whatever you're reading, I hope it's enjoyable!
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The Sunday Salon: Orange July Wrap-up

I was almost sorry to see July come to an end, I so enjoyed the Orange Prize reads for the month. Not that I can't continue reading great contemporary women writers; but it was fun to dedicate a whole month to it. Thanks to Jill for coming up with the great idea and for hosting it.

I started with a list of twelve books to pick from; the titles in orange are the books I read:

• A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka
• Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
• Property by Valerie Martin
• Sorry by Gail Jones (my review)
  
• The Girls by Lori Lansens
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville (my review)
  
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
• What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (my review)

Only two of these I rated below a 4 (out of 5), and those were both 3.5s, still pretty good books (...Tractors in Ukrainian and The Namesake). It would be hard to pick a favorite from these eight. They're all so different - writing styles, emotional impact, character and narrative styles - which says a lot for the Orange Prize selections; there is variety! If I were forced to pick a favorite, it would be When the Emperor Was Divine, for its uniqueness, its sparse, poetic narrative and its emotional punch.

I'll be reading at least one more book from my list this month - The Girls is the first book picked for my new face-to-face book group, and we'll be discussing it the end of August (which is why I didn't read it in July, given my memory...or lack of). I'm intrigued by this story of conjoined twins.

Jill is adding Orange January to the mix, so this will become a semi-annual tradition; it's a great way to focus on some really outstanding books.

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Reading Challenges - Weekly Geek #9

And this week’s theme is: Reading Challenges. Dewey says:

If you participate in any challenges, get organized! Update your lists, post about any you haven’t mentioned, add links of reviews to your lists if you do that, go to the challenge blog if there is one and post there, etc.

I participate in two reading challenges (and I use the term 'participate' very loosely!) - the Man Booker Prize Challenge and the Orange Prize Project. (Some of my blogging buddies are signed up for multiple challenges - ten or more! Even though there is some crossover, I don't think I could wrap my brain around keeping track of all that. More power to 'em!)

What's the purpose of a book challenge and why sign on to them? Well, given that I love a good challenge and I love lists AND I love to read, it feels like a good fit. The two I signed up for (besides my Library Thing 100 books in 2008 challenge) have long lists of books that I'm already interested in and some of my favorite authors (Margaret Atwood, Jhumpa Lahiri, Carol Shields, Kazuo Ishiguro). What do I get out of it? Satisfaction. And sharing with a community of people who are interested in the same kind of literature I am.

Most challenge participants write reviews of the books they've read. I haven't been reviewing many books lately, so for this WG installment, I posted updates to my book lists -- books I've read since I joined the challenges in March and books I plan to read in the next six months. Here's my Orange update and here's my Booker update.

I'm excited to be participating in "Orange July" -- fellow book blogger Jill came up with this bright idea: devote the month of July to reading Orange Prize books (winners, short- or long-listed or new authors). This annual literary prize is awarded to women who've written full-length novels in English that were published in the United Kingdom (but not exclusively). I love contemporary women's writing, and these are some of the best novels written today, so devoting a month to reading them is like a slice of heaven. Plus this will move me along in my Orange challenge. Here are the books I've chosen:

• The Girls by Lori Lansens
  
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (4/5)
  
• The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville (4/5)
  
• The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney (4/5)
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (3.5/5)
  
• What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
  
• Property by Valerie Martin
  
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (4/5)
  
• Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
  
• When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (4.5/5)
  
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka (3.5/5)
• Sorry by Gail Jones (4.5/5)
  

Check back at the end of July to see how I fared.

For other Weekly Geeksters' thoughts about challenges, check out these websites:

• The Welsh Witch's Cottage (Cymraeg)
• Literary Escapism (Jackie)
• Rebecca Reads
• Caribou's Mom (Wendy, the Queen of Challenges)
  

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The Sunday Salon - Bookshelves!

Another Sunday, another Salon. Sunny, warm days here in Portland. I'm anticipating a trip to the beach next weekend with some Library Thing friends, our first face-to-face, so exciting! We'll be staying at Sylvia Beach Hotel - a book lovers' paradise. My partner and I have booked the Alice Walker room; another friend will be in the F. Scott Fitzgerald Room.



I have my new bookshelves installed! And they're rapidly filling up! There's another just like this one on the other side. It's wonderful to get my books out of boxes and crates - though a little intimidating to actually see all those unread titles.

Lots of reading this week, not much time for posting. So here's a pictorial of past, current and future reads.


Here's what I've read or am reading so far for Orange July. I finished We Need to Talk About Kevin yesterday and must say it's quite a disturbing book - rather like watching a train wreck, awful to witness but riveting. I felt emotionally drained at the end - and the writing is so good. Now I've picked up something much lighter, A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian.


This is what's left of Orange July after Tractors. So much good reading ahead. I don't know that I'll get to all of these at the rate I'm going, but even half will be heavenly.





Other enticing titles await after July... Read More!