Category: reading challenge 2017
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Title: Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air Author: Richard Holmes How it fulfills the challenge: Besides the normal strategic inserts of color photographs, the text of the book is studded with black and white pictures of hot air balloons, portraits of the balloonists who flew them, and various documents and drawings. Genre: Nonfiction Quick Description: A…
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Title: Ethan Frome Author: Edith Wharton How it fulfills the challenge: This is sort of self-explanatory, but it seems like this kind of title was far more common in days of olde. There are a ton of classics that are named after their protagonists, but there are far fewer that are published now, or at least that’s…
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Title: Sula Author: Toni Morrison How it fulfills the challenge: Toni Morrison is a person of color, and many of her books center on what it is like to be a black woman in America. Sula was nominated for the National Book Award, and her 1987 novel, Beloved, won the Pulitzer prize. Genre: Fiction Quick Description: Morrison’s book is a study…
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Title: Ragnarok Author: A.S. Byatt How it fulfills the challenge: This book is an adaptation of the Norse end of the world myth (Ragnarok) Genre: Fiction (maybe could be considered fantasy? Literary Fantasy…) Quick Description: A detailed and almost poetic interpretation of a Norse myth with amazing imagery and a complex look at good and evil, power and…
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Title: Victory of Eagles Author: Naomi Novik How it fulfills the challenge: This book takes place during the Napoleonic wars, though the battles that are depicted never actually happened. Genre: Fantasy Quick Description: In the 5th book of the Temeraire series, the dragon’s captain, Laurence, has been branded a traitor and Temeraire has been sent to the breeding grounds, no…
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Title: Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned” Author: Lena Dunham How it fulfills the challenge: This book doesn’t actually give all that much advice in the traditional sense, but the essays are written in such a way that you discover the career lessons for yourself. Namely, listening to your…
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Title: Foundation and Empire Author: Isaac Asimov How it fulfills the challenge: Every year our library has two huge book sales put on by the Friends of the Library. I helped run the fall sale, but I went a day early to check out all the books. I ended up with a huge box of books for both…
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Title: Bouchon Bakery Authors: Thomas Keller & Sebastien Rouxel with Susie Heller, Matthew McDonald, Michael Ruhlman, & Amy Vogler How it fulfills the challenge: Have you seen the list of authors? That’s a lot for one cookbook, even as big as this one is… Genre: Cookbook Quick Description: For the serious home or small professional baker. A collection of…
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Title: The Night Circus Author: Erin Morgenstern How it fulfills the challenge: The Night Circus is one of those books that uses its imaginative and fantastical powers to charm and delight. The circus Morgenstern creates is one that I would love to experience. It’s a book that made me happy the first time I read it, and…
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Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude Author: Gabriel García Márquez How it fulfills the challenge: Márquez is from Colombia, and I’ve never been outside of North America Genre: Literary Fiction/Classic Quick Description: A sweeping family saga in a small Caribbean town filled with super long lived residents and plenty of mystery and intrigue. It follows…
Allison Burris 