Spring Reading Thing 2007 Wrap Up

Katrina at Callapidder Days hosted the Spring Reading Thing 2007 this year. She offered readers the opportunity to do a little spring cleaning with their reading by finally getting caught up, getting to those books that just seem to lanquish of the shelves, or to read a book a friend recommended a long while ago that you never got to.

My own list was a compilation of titles I had planned to read either for other challenges or because I knew I had put them off too long as it was.


Spring Reading List
1. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
3. The Inhabited World by David Long
4. The Angel of Forgetfulness by Steve Stern
5. April Witch by Majgull Axelsson
6. The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer
7. I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb
8. Atonement Ian McEwan


What was the best book you read this spring?

I was able to fit in 19 books this spring, all but one of which I enjoyed reading without a doubt. The two books that stand out above the rest this season just happen to be books I read for the Spring Reading Thing 2007 Challenge.

Ian McEwan's Atonement is a well-crafted and beautifully written novel and Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a powerful and moving book. Half of a Yellow Sun was the most gripping and emotionally charged of the two, the one that had me enthralled from the very first sentence. In the end that is why Half of a Yellow Sun will go down as my favorite book this spring.

What book could you have done without?

The Angel of Forgetfulness by Steve Stern was my least favorite. It was based on an interesting premise, and I am sure will find an audience who will love it, however, it did very little for me. It had it's good moments, but I was too often bored and wished it would end so I could move on to the next book.

Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again?

This spring I took on several new authors. In fact, of all the books I read this spring, only two are ones I have read before. For this particular challenge, there was only one of which I'd read before, that being Wally Lamb. All the rest were new to me. I most definitely will be seeking out more books by several of the authors I was introduced to during this challenge: Ian McEwan, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Colleen Gleason, David Long, and if possible Majgull Axelsson.

What did you learn -- about anything -- through this challenge? Maybe you learned something about yourself or your reading style, maybe you learned not to pick so many nonfiction books for a challenge, maybe you learned something from a book you read. Whatever it is, share!

Well, I learned that there is such a thing as biting off more than you can chew in regards to reading challenges! The advantage to this challenge was that I was able to read books that crossed over into other challenged, otherwise, I would have been drowning by now. And to be honest, I am still having difficulty treading through the water I call books. Don't get me wrong though; I am in no way complaining.

What was the best part of the Spring Reading Thing?

I felt I had been neglecting the New York Times Notable Book Challenge and the Spring Reading Thing gave me the perfect excuse to remedy that situation. Since the NYT Challenge is so open, I think I needed the structure this challenge offered to get a kick start.


All in all, the Spring Reading Thing was an enjoyable experience. Many thanks to Katrina for hosting the challenge.