Book Awards Reading Challenge

This is a book for the A to Z challenge as well as a Pulitzer Prize winner so I'm using it for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. I've read so much about this one on various blogs that I had to give it a read.

It is the story of three women in three different time periods; Virginia Woolf as she's writing Mrs. Dalloway (which is a book I highly recommend), Clarissa Vaughan as she's planning a party for a friend dying of AIDS, and Laura Brown, a suburban 1950s housewife. Cunningham interweaves the three stories in alternating chapters. I read Mrs. Kimble for the Book Awards Reading Challenge. It is also the story of three women yet their lives are intertwined with a shared husband, and they do interact in the book. The women in this book live in different times and places. Yet, Cunningham is able to make them seem remarkable similar.

Strengths of The Hours: The fact that he was able to make me care about these three very different women in only 200 pages is amazing. He basically told the story of one momentous day in each of their lives. For more of my review, visit my blog.

It seems we are midway through the time for this challenge and it's time to update my progress.
I've finished 8 of the 12 books on my list, and loved most of them. I even got my book of the year from this list. I have four to go and may make a substitution. I'm almost done with The Hours which qualifies as a Pulitzer Prize winner. I will probably substitute it for The Road because that one seems to be getting buried on the TBR pile.

So here's the finished list:


1. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer Prize, 2003)
2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Man Booker Prize, 2002)
3. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery, 2004)
4. Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (PEN/Hemingway, 2003)
5. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Book Sense Adult Fiction Winner, 2000)
6. City of Bones by Michael Connelly (Anthony Award, 2003)
7. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (Pulitzer Prize, 1995)
8. California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker (Edgar Award, 2005)


Here's the TBR list:

1. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Newbery, 2006)
2. Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery, 2007)
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer Prize, 2007)
Possible substitution of The Hours by Michael Cunningham
4. March by Geraldine Brooks (Pulitzer Prize, 2006)

I read this one for the Newbery Project as well as for the Reading Awards Challenge. It is the winner of the Newbery Award, which honors the best in children's literature. This is the same author as Because of Winn-Dixie so I guess this also qualifies as a 2nds, even though I completed that challenge.

Despereaux is a mouse who goes on a quest to save his beloved Princess Pea from the rats in the dungeon. A servant, Miggery Sow, gets involved in the rat's evil plans. The story is one part fairy tale, one part quest story, one part fantasy, and one part bedtime story. The author relates that her son's friend asked for a story about a hero with large ears, and this book is that story.

The entire review is posted on my blog.

I just finished this one. It is my seventh book for this challenge. In short, I really like this one. My full review is here.

I read this book for both the Reading Awards and the Canadian Authors Challenges. It is the second book in the Canadian and my sixth in the Reading Awards Challenge. It is the winner of Pulitzer Prize.

Shields has written a pseudo-biography of Daisy Goodwill Flett and follows this character from her birth in 1905 until her death near the end of the century so her life stories spans the incredible changes in Canada and America in the 1900s. However, Shields chooses to tell the story in selected vignettes of time.

STRENGTHS OF THE STONE DIARIES: The writing is marvelous, and Shields is able to draw the reader into this story even though she changes point of view throughout the telling of this life. I call it a telling, but it really feels like a remembering - how memories are indistinct at time and sometimes skip around to what may, or may not, really be important. That is what I loved most about this story. Shields was able to capture the life of an ordinary woman without an excessive focus on her role as wife and mother.

Read the entire review here.

This book is the winner of the 2002 Booker prize, and I read it for two challenges. It is the first book in the Canadian authors challenge and my fifth book in the Reading Awards Challenge.

Briefly, Pi is Piscine Patel (nicknamed Pi) who, at the age of 16, is on a boat immigrating with his family from India to Canada when the boat unexpectedly sinks. The majority of the story is told from Pi's point of view as he becomes the lone survivor during months at sea in a rescue lifeboat.

STRENGTHS OF LIFE OF PI: This is not normally the type of book I'd choose to read. I am not into adventure/survival stories, but Martel's writing was able to hold my attention throughout the book.

The rest of my review is here.

This is my fourth book for the Reading Awards Challenge and the winner of the 2005 Edgar Award. The plot revolves around the gruesome murder of Janelle Vonn in the late 1960s in Orange County, California. It traces the murder investigation by a rookie detective who happens to know the victim, and the case's portrayal in the newspaper by the detective's reporter brother.

Strengths of California Girl: I really enjoyed this novel.

Visit my blog for the rest of this review.

This is the third book for the Book Awards Challenge and won the Anthony Award. It is basically the story of a detective in the LAPD, Harry Bosch, who is investigating a 20 year old murder case based on the discovery of the bones of a twelve year old boy buried in a hillside. There is a subplot involving a romance with a female rookie cop.

Strengths of City of Bones: I truly enjoyed the mystery element of this book. There were some great plot twists which did keep me guessing throughout the book. Every time I thought I knew who the killer was, there would be something clearing that person and implicating another. I also liked that these clues didn't come out of midair, but they were things that had been mentioned, discussed, or dismissed at an earlier time in the story. I like Bosch's character. Connelly was able to give him some complexity that is not always prevalent in this genre.

If you'd like to read more, read the complete review at my blog.

I just finished reading my first book in the challenge. The full review is on my blog . I have some doubts about the ending and would love to hear what other people thought of the book.

I just couldn't resist this book challenge. The idea is to read twelve award winning books over one year's time. I liked the fact that I could pick from any award list so I got to include Pulitzer Prize winners and Newbery winners as well. Here's my list:

1. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer Prize, 2003)
2. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (Man Booker Prize, 2002)
3. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Newbery, 2006)
4. The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (Newbery, 2004)
5. Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (PEN/Hemingway, 2003)
6. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Book Sense Adult Fiction Winner, 2000)
7. City of Bones by Michael Connelly (Anthony Award, 2003)
8. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields (Pulitzer Prize, 1995)
9. California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker (Edgar Award, 2005)
10. Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newbery, 2007)
11. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Pulitzer Prize, 2007)
12. March by Geraldine Brooks (Pulitzer Prize, 2006)

I tried to keep the book list current because I tend to read older books. I also picked books that have been recommended by friends and on blogs.