2016 Reading Challenge: Weeks 16 and 17

I finished up The Paris Architect this week.  Set in occupied Paris during World War II a young architect is tapped to design clever hiding places for Jews being hunted by the Gestapo.  He undertakes these designs with an eye toward more work/bigger contracts from the wealthy businessman who has sought him out to create the hiding spaces.  A good, but not great book - this one ties things up almost too neatly for my tastes, but I did find the psychological growth of the character engaging.  In that respect, the author does a fine arc of character development.  I didn't find the book particularly gripping or earth-shattering, but it was a perfectly respectable read.

Next up, I started Clara Parkes, Knitlandia, for week 26 - a book everyone is talking about.  Everyone who knits anyway.   A series of short chapters marking her travels through the knitting universe to various teaching gigs and festivals, from the UK to the west coast, to back in New England. A lovely, quiet little book - recommended to me by lots of knitterly folks (how could they not?).  My favorite chapter was the piece on Squam Lake, which is the last chapter in the book.  With just this set of pages, she grabbed me and made me want to go spend time with her sitting on the dock.  The rest of the book for me, while charming, didn't grab me quite as much as that last chapter, but for me, it was worth the price of admission.  And now I've read it.  :)

This week, I'm tackling a biography of Jack London for week #28.  I haven't started this one yet - I've just downloaded it, but it's by Earle Labor and it looks interesting.  More to come once I get that one read.

20/52


The 2016 List
1. A book you meant to read in 2015, but didn't.
2. A book set in a different continent
3. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2015 (winner or nominated)
4. A book by an author you discovered in 2015: Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr - DONE.
5. A book with a title beginning with the 1st letter of your name:  Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose - DONE.
6. The highest rated on your TBR
7. A book about books
8. A classic book with less than 200 pages:  Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence - DONE
9. A book that was mentioned in another book
10. A book by an author you feel you should have read by now
11. A book from the Rory Gilmore challenge
12. A childhood classic:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling - DONE.
13. Reader’s Choice:  Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell - DONE.
14. A book with one of the five W’s -or H in the title (Who/What/Where/When/Why/How) What She Left - T.R. Richmond - DONE.
15. A book set in the past (more than 100 years ago):  Cervantes Street by Jamie Manrique - DONE.
16. A book from the top 100 mystery novels
17. A book with a beautiful cover: Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret Atwood
18. A book on a summer/beach reading list
19. A non-fiction book
20. A book with a first name in the title
21. A book from the Goodreads Recommendations page
22. The first book in a new to you series
23. The next book in a series you are reading
24. A "between the numbers" book of a series (0.5, 1,5, 2.5, etc.):  The Three Monarchs by Anthony Horowitz - DONE.
25. A book whose main character is in a profession that interests you
26. A book everyone is talking about - Knitlandia by Clara Parkes - DONE.
27. A book with a beautiful title (in your own opinion): Belle Cora - Richard Margulies - DONE.
28. A biography, autobiography, or memoir: Jack London: An American Life by Earle Labor.
29. A book by an author who writes under more than one name:  The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling) - DONE.
30. A fairytale from a culture other than your own
31. A work of young adult fiction:  The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge. DONE.
32. A historical fiction book
33. The 16th book on your TBR
34. A book about mental illness: Adeline by Norah Vincent - DONE
35. An award winning book: River of Doubt by Candice Millard - DONE.
36. An identity book - a book about a different culture, religion or sexual orientation:  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - DONE.
37. A book that you've seen the movie of but haven't read
38. A book about an anti hero:  Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace - DONE.
39. A previous suggestion that did not make it into the list
40. A novella from your favorite genre:
41. A book about a major world event (fiction or non-fiction): The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure - DONE.
42. A top 100 fantasy novel
43. A book about a thing that goes bump in the night
44. A book you're embarrassed to read in public
45. A book related to a hobby or passion you have
46. A crime story:  The Cutting Season by Attica Locke - DONE.
47. A book with a type of food/drink in the title
48. A dystopia
49. A book with a great opening line
50. A book originally written in a language other than English:  Tove Jansson's The Summer Book - DONE.
51. A short story from a well-known author
52. A book published in 2016