So here we are, a month away from the end of the Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge. It looks like a grand time has been had by all (so far), and I hope those of you who have completed the challenge already made it safely home from your literary adventures. If and when you finish reading your six chosen books, please post your name and website below. You can post the link to your final review, your challenge wrap-up post, or just your main blog url. Although the challenge ends on December 31st, I’ll leave this up for a few days longer to allow for any last-minute or returning-from-holiday posters, and then I’ll make the drawing for the grand prize:
Edit 01/08/08: And now we come to the end of our journeys! I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, even if you didn’t get to all of your books. For those who did complete the challenge (including anyone who posted about finishing on one of the other ATR posts but not here), the grand prize winner is … drum roll, please … Andi! Congratulations chickie, and I’ll be in touch for your mailing address.
Thanks to all who joined, spread the word and participated in the challenge!
Ola Leslie…Just dropping by to say just that! Singapore is mentioned in the book above, funnily enough.
I have two more books left; I REALLY home that I can make it. I need to write up one or two reviews (I have to check) and then finish up two books in one month. Oh the challenge!!!
I am assuming it is okay to leave reviews of books here. Please let me know if it is not and I will post the last two in the correct spot. Here is my review of book four:
http://beastmomma.squarespace.com/from-shelf-to-hand/2007/12/5/chin-kiss-king-complete.html
Here is my completed review of my third book– Walk in the Woods. I am not sure if I posted this review. Also, the fourth book I read was Chin Kiss King. Okay, onto the final two:
http://beastmomma.squarespace.com/from-shelf-to-hand/a-walk-in-the-woods-complete.html
Book 6: “The Stone Raft” by José Saramago (Portugal and Spain)
http://mrgregoc.blogspot.com/2007/12/bookwhore-chronicles-stone-raft-in-town.html#comments
This was a great challenge!!
Thanks for hosting this challenge. It’s been fun traveling. My 6th review took me to Paraguay, a place I never thought I’d visit, and before that I was in Big Sur and Crete and Prague and backwoods Georgia (USA) and before that, India. What an adventure.
http://www.readertravels.com/2007/12/Competitive-Reading-in-Paraguay.php
Bon voyage!
Thanks for hosting the Armchair Traveler. I enjoyed my reading and wrapped up quite a while ago:
http://bookfoolery.blogspot.com/search?q=armchair+traveler+wrap-up
Thank yew for hosting this fun challenge! I was afraid I wouldn’t quite make the six book cut so I took the liberty of also revisiting my youth. Hope that counts! Here’s the end of challenge post… http://maggiereads.blogspot.com/2007/12/challenge-wrap-up.html
Thanks again!
Thanks for hosting this challenge; I really enjoyed reading (most) of the books on my list!
I’ve enjoyed this challenge enormously as well. I’m pages away from finishing my sixth book and I will do an omnibus report in the next couple of days!
Hooray I finished!!! I barely made the midnight deadline, but I am excited to be at the finish line. Here are my last two reviews:
http://beastmomma.squarespace.com/from-shelf-to-hand/2008/1/1/garlic-and-sapphires.html
and
http://beastmomma.squarespace.com/from-shelf-to-hand/2005/10/7/midnights-children-complete.html
For the last one, I just added to my original post (where I did not finish the book) and talked about starting over.
Happy New Year!
I nearly missed your deadline – thanks for leaving it open a few extra days. Although I have not read all the books on my list I have read others instead, and reviewed them going along! I’ve definitely read more than six and I have enjoyed this challenge tremendously. Many thanks for hosting this.
Sigh. I only read two of my selections. I posted a summary here.
Guess that link didn’t work. Here ya go:
http://lesleysbooknook.blogspot.com/2008/01/armchair-traveler-reading-challenge.html
Oh, I did it! I did it! See my wrap up here.
OK, I’m just about finished with my last book, which I switched out from even my alternates list, but it still deals with Ireland. Anyway, my big plan to finish on time was blown by getting the flu over Christmas break. Anyway, I’m *nearly* done, and will post about it soon.
Good thing I stopped by – I’d forgotten about posting here that I’d completed the challenge! I [still] don’t have my own webpage, so I can’t provide a link … that’s a project to think about this year. I’ll keep it brief; the books I read are/were:
Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin – beautiful cover, reportedly beautiful country, sad history, and very thought-provoking to read during the news of unrest there this year. I’d love to see it, but not with the current political situation.
City of Falling Angels by John Berendt – for a book group discussion, or I’d never have read it. Would like to see Venice again, though.
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz – the author’s good company (I can also recommend his Blue Latitudes), though I sometimes questioned his judgment. I would like to visit at least some of the Civil War battlefields – which I remember every time I drive through Manassas on my way to see family, without time to stop.
The Stone of Heaven: Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark – this was too heavy on political history, and far too light on the jade itself (in my not-at-all humble opinion). It’s the 2nd non-fiction book about the Far East that I read this fall, and also touched on Burma, which I’m sure says something about my tastes in reading and desires for travel ….
Beyond the Body Farm by Bill Bass and Ron Jefferson – I read MANY mysteries, and have even been on a tour of the local morgue, so perhaps it’s not too surprising that I’d like the chance to visit the Body Farm, which is owned by the University of Tennessee (though not too close to the main campus!).
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson – the cholera epidemic in question actually occurred during roughly the same era as both Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper. So the entire time I spent reading, I had thoughts of visiting London to visit sites associated with both of them, albeit not with this book itself.
Fun challenge! Looking forward to seeing what you think of next …
I visited Ireland for my last “travel” of this challenge. Here’s my post about the book: http://the-ravelld-sleave.blogspot.com/2008/01/bibliopost.html.
Thanks for hosting this – I have really enjoyed myself!