Beastmomma

I love the idea of this challenge and even though I did not finish for the last two years, I am hoping that the third time will be the charm. 

As in the past, the Global Reading Challenge (GRC) challenges you to expand your reading boundaries, go where you haven't been before, move a little outside your comfort zone.

The Easy Challenge
Read one novel from each of these continents in the course of 2012:

Africa
Asia: Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil Most of the book takes place in India. You can find my review here. 
Australasia/Oceania: March by Geraldine Brooks The author was born in Australia and still spends some time there. My review is here. 
Europe: The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. Book takes place in Croatia. You can find my review here. 
North America: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult  The book takes place in the United States. My review is here. 
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)

The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it): The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins The book takes place in the future. You can find my review here. 

From your own continent: try to find a country, state or author that is new to you.

I love the idea behind the What's in a Name challenge. Even though I have not completed the challenge for the last two years, I am trying again.  Maybe 2012 will be a lucky year for challenge completion. 

Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories. My selections will appear after the category name as I finish reading:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini I finished it in August 2013. You can find my review here. 
2. A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green I finished it on September 17, 2013. You can find my review here.
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: 
   
4. A book with a type of house in the title: Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult My review is here. 
   
5. A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title:  Operating Instructions: A Journal of my Son's First Year by Anne Lammott My review is here. 
6. A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title: March by Geraldine Brooks My review is here. 

From goodreads: 

One miscarriage too many spelled the end of Max and Zoe Baxter's marriage. Though the former couple went quite separate ways, their fates remained entangled: After veering into alcoholism, Max is saved in multiple senses by his fundamentalist conversion; Zoe, for her part, finds healing relief in music therapy and the friendship, then romantic love with Vanessa, her counselor. After Zoe and Vanessa, now married, decide to have a baby, they realize that they must join battle with Max, who objects on both religious and financial grounds.

Pages: 496 (hardback)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Source: Checked out from the public library

The only thing I had been reading since the beginning of the year was bar exam study materials; one of the many reasons I was excited to be finished with the test was the chance to read again.  While we were on vacation, Partner's aunt and uncle were able to watch the Little Lady while I pumped.  As a result, I got to read! 

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult is the selection for the March meeting of the Partners and Professors book club. The book is a good read for when you are hungry for a good story. I did not know much about the plot before I began. I watched an interview that Picooult did with Ellen Degeneres about how some of the proceeds from book sales were going to the the Trevor Project.  

My favorite thing about the book was how the lives and relationships between the characters illustrated that love makes a family.  The contrast between what is assumed for heterosexual couples and what must be proven for same sex couples is striking.  Instead of being preachy, the point is made simply by getting inside the characters' heads as they grapple with various hurdles.  

I also appreciated that none of the characters were one dimensional. When I think of religious zealots who attack homosexuals, picket abortion clinics, or who constantly try to push their religious world view on others, I get VERY upset.  One thing I learned from the novel is that even within the religious community there are different degrees of how to practice, judgment, and methods of making a point.  While it is not my world view, I could relate to Max grappling with wanting to belong to the church community and accepting their beliefs while feeling a connection to his ex-wife. 

I wish that the ending had been a bit stronger. I love sweet and happy endings, but the ending of this book did not fit as well with the rest of the novel.  I wanted the story to be unpacked a little more.  Although, I think that would have made a pretty hefty book much longer.  I am looking forward to our book club discussion to see what everyone else thought. 

This is my first full read of 2012 and I hope that enjoy the rest of the books I read this year as much or more than this one! 

I am counting the book for the following challenges:

• Chunkster Challenge: The book is 496 pages
• 2012 Global Reading Challenge: The book takes place in the United States and I counting it for the continent of North America.
• What's in a Name Five: I am counting it for the house category.  

Last year, I made a resolution to read one more book than I did in 2010. My goal was to read 20 books this year and I read 10. I was also hoping to do better with the challenges that I had signed up for, but I broke a record of not finishing a single challenge this year.  In some ways I had more time to read because I had a job for which I took the metro to and from work.  The job was demanding in a way that made it hard for me to focus at the end of the day. I wanted to zone out or sleep which cut down on my reading time.  In January, I found out I was pregnant. Morning sickness, fatigue, staring at my swollen feet, and touching my belly in wonderment were all distractions from reading. 

About a month before I was due, a pipe burst in our house.  We had mold and flood damage.  It was very stressful to not know if we were going to be in our house before our baby arrived.  While I technically had time to read between finishing my job and the baby's arrival, I was stressed and trying to do as much preparation as I could from our extended stay hotel.  Six hours after getting back to our house, before anything was unpacked, my water broke.  My daughter arrived on September 17th.  Since then, I have been in a whirlwind of adjusting to parenthood and setting up house.  I am amazed that I managed to read even a little bit to finish The Emperor of All Maladies which I had begun in May and got to double digits in my reading. 

With all of that in mind, I am going to have a modest goal of reading 12 books in 2012. Because I love the idea of them, I will also sign up for a few challenges, but not expect to finish.  Until March 1st, I will be preparing for the MA bar exam which is incredibly stressful.  Most of my pleasure reading will be magazines until then.  As a reward and to make it easier to read when I am holding a baby, I think that I will get an ereader.  In spite of a low number of books completed, I still had an amazing year! I am glad that books were part of that and I look forward to more in the new year! 

From goodreads: 

The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The Emperor of All Maladies is about the people who have soldiered through fiercely demanding regimens in order to survive—and to increase our understanding of this iconic disease. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.

Pages: 571 (Hardcover)

Rating: 9 out of 10

Source: Originally checked out from the library and then given to me by Partner as a second anniversary present

 I started reading The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee in May and I cannot recall exactly why I picked up the book.  I think it was a combination of curiosity and a need to have a book that would count towards many challenges.  The book is really long and dense, so I created a strategy which would give me a built in break.  I checked it out from the library and there was a long waiting list.  I figured that I would read the book as much as I could for the three week period, then return the book and enjoy other things while I waited to return to the top of the list.  My sweet Partner changed that approach when he gave me my own copy for our second wedding anniversary.  I read the book during the last trimester of my pregnancy. This impacted my reading time because things got very hectic towards the end and then I had very limited reading time with a newborn.  I wish I could say that the extra time gave me the chance to develop a more insightful review, but the reality is that I am writing the review in bits and pieces.  Much like my reading, it will be sporadic and hopefully filled with at least something useful :)   

What amazed me most about the book was how it is a combination of history and personal stories.  At various points, I felt like I was reading a soap opera as I was learning about the various people who changed the approach to cancer treatment and diagnosis.  Some aspects of cancer treatment are timeless-- fear, panic, and hope that a particular approach will work.  Another common theme running through the book is that all the researchers, fundraisers, and doctors who had a breakthrough were both persistent and imaginative.  They kept seeking an answer to various questions and then were open to novel ways in which to seek answers. 

My favorite parts of the book were reading about the evolution of the patient doctor relationship.  I liked the correlations and crossovers between the feminist movement and cancer patients.  I also liked the links made between those who were advocating for better HIV/AIDS treatment and finding a cure for cancer.  Patients as partners in the health care decision making is certainly a change of which I am supportive.  I wanted to know more about the relationship between traditional medicine and "alternative approaches." The book did not discuss much about the emphasis on healthier diets and exercise on the battle against cancer; although, I imagine that more detailed discussions would have made the book much longer.

I was hoping for a happy ending or some type of resolution at the end of the book which went something like this, "We do not have a cure for cancer yet, but it should be coming in the next year." Instead, there is more uncertainty about when and what breakthroughs will come.  What makes battling cancer so complicated is that there are so many variations and types of cancers.  Each one responds to slightly different approaches.  What is universal among all cancers is the genius with which the disease morphs and the hypnotizing hold it has on those who study it. 

In addition to being the last book I read in 2011, I am counting the book for the following challenges: 

•  What's in a Name Four: I am counting it for the evil category as "maladies' is evil
•  2011 Global Reading Challenge: The book takes place all over the world, so I am counting it as the seventh continent. 
• South Asian Challenge 2011: The author is South Asian
• Chunkster Reading Challenge 2011: The book is 570 pages.