2014 14-New-Authors Challenge

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10

[JBI]

Hoffmann, The Land of Five Flavors - A Cultural History of Chinese Cuisine, 2013: Columbia - 6.5/10 - interesting premise but rather shallow research for an academic book. It's hard to convince someone that one nationality likes to eat more than another - all people like to eat.

[Lykren]

Hoffmann, The Land of Five Flavors - A Cultural History of Chinese Cuisine, 2013: Columbia - 6.5/10 - interesting premise but rather shallow research for an academic book. It's hard to convince someone that one nationality likes to eat more than another - all people like to eat.

I Googled that book and found a review of it that contained the following sentence:

"This fact, along with most of what comprises “The Land of Five Flavors,’’ points to how integral food has been (and remains) to the inhabitants of China."

Food! Integral to human beings! What a thought.

[Dark Muse]

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10
10. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 5/10

[papayahed]

1. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 7/10
2. Year Zero by Rob Reid - 6/10
3. Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb - 7/10
4. The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan - 6/10. I received it for Christmas and I couldn't put it down until about halfway through when it started to get a little drawn out. I probably won't read the rest of the trilogy.
5. Less Than Zero by Ellis, Brett Easton - 7.5/10
6. Plaster City by Shaw, Johnny - 7.6/10 (Sheer entertainment)

[Paulclem]

1) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke 7/10
2) After Dark by Haruki Murakami 7/10
3) Greybeard by Brian Aldiss 8/10
4) Q by Luther Blisset 8/10

Excellent new authors so far.

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10
10. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 5/10
11. The Vickar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 6/10

[Paulclem]

1) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke 7/10
2) After Dark by Haruki Murakami 7/10
3) Greybeard by Brian Aldiss 8/10
4) Q by Luther Blisset 8/10
5) Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis 7/10

[Yaur]

Anyone willing to take up the challenge this year?

I got messed up with 2013 cause I couldn't get through satanic verses, but I'll give it a go. So far this year:
1) Saul Bellow, Humbolt's Gift -- The execution of the book didn't really live up to its ideas. Purdy does a better job taking a swipe at artistic orthodoxy IMO.
2) Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray -- The "drama" parts are good. The fantasy parts are.... not his thing
3) Mo Yan, Red Sorghum -- Very pretty and very sad.
4) Jonathan Lethem, Chronic City -- It was fun up until the big reveal, at which point I realized I had already read a better version of essentially the same story. Slogged through it, but plot driven books where I can predict every "surprise" twist in the last 100 pages are not good.
5) Mario Vargas Llosa, War of the end of the World -- Kind of a Latin Falukner. IDK yet, but maybe my favorite book ever.

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10
10. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 5/10
11. The Vickar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 6/10
12. The Way of the Wyrd by Brian Bates 9/10

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10
10. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 5/10
11. The Vickar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 6/10
12. The Way of the Wyrd by Brian Bates 9/10
13. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome 6/10

[Dark Muse]

*Updated*

1. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg - 6/10
2. Iceland's Bell by Halldor Laxness - 6/10
3. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 7/10
5. The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford - 6/10
6. Jack Maggs by Peter Carey - 9/10
7. Pavane by Keith Roberts - 6/10
8. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - 8/10
9. The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney 8/10
10. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 5/10
11. The Vickar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 6/10
12. The Way of the Wyrd by Brian Bates 9/10
13. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome 6/10
14. Zroba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis 9/10

[Yaur]

1) Saul Bellow, Humbolt's Gift -- The execution of the book didn't really live up to its ideas. Purdy does a better job taking a swipe at artistic orthodoxy IMO.
2) Oscar Wilde, Picture of Dorian Gray -- The "drama" parts are good. The fantasy parts are.... not his thing
3) Mo Yan, Red Sorghum -- Very pretty and very sad.
4) Jonathan Lethem, Chronic City -- It was fun up until the big reveal, at which point I realized I had already read a better version of essentially the same story. Slogged through it, but plot driven books where I can predict every "surprise" twist in the last 100 pages are not good.
5) Mario Vargas Llosa, War of the end of the World -- Kind of a Latin Falukner. IDK yet, but maybe my favorite book ever.
6) Herta Müller, Land of Green Plums -- Starts slow and strange, kind of flounders in the middle, and ends very strong.
In progress, Tropic of Cancer.

[Paulclem]

1) Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke 7/10
2) After Dark by Haruki Murakami 7/10
3) Greybeard by Brian Aldiss 8/10
4) Q by Luther Blisset 8/10
5) Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis 7/10

6) In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murukami 5.5/10