I have finally completed my June challenge, despite thinking i wouldn’t be able to finish in time!
My tasks for June were as follows:
I have finished all of the books, except for Task7, the non-fiction title “The Queen’s English” because it is fairly heavy going as a textbook (although the book says it is a “light” textbook, which it really isn’t!), but i will keep reading it inbits at a time because i won’t absorb it otherwise!
It has been an interesting challenge though, as you can’t deny that i’ve covered a wide range of books!
My favourite book was “Z for Zachariah” because it was easy to read, yet it was interesting to re-read it after so many years have passed since i studied it at school!
There isn’t a book i didn’t like, although i found myself getting a little irritated by “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” with Tess being a bit pathetic at times and the ending being a bit rubbish. I thought it was worth reading though, but i’m glad i didn’t have to study it at school/university!
That’s the end of my Mixing It Up Reading Challenge, and i will now have a little break from challenges because i want to just read without worrying about a deadline!
Here is an update of my latest Challenge, with just under 2 days left to go!
My tasks for June are as follows:
Deliberately chose a short book for Task6 as i’m running out of time, but it’s good to read about Buffy’s early days again!
My non-fiction choice has been sitting on my shelf for a while and is really interesting! (Doesn’t count for Task5 as well though, because i’d already started it a while ago!) A bit heavy going though, taking a while to read it!
Decided to re-read “The Changeling” by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley for Task4, which i read during my A Level English and actually quite enjoyed. We went to see it performed at the Barbican in London and it was a great show! It is also fairly easy and quick to read (especially if you’ve read or studied it before like i have!) which is good as i’m running out of days in June to finish this challenge!
Can i finish 3 books by tomorrow night? We’ll see!
Here is an update of my latest Challenge, 25 days in!
My tasks for June are as follows:
I managed to finish “New Finnish Grammar” although it took a while! Wasn’t the best book i’ve ever read, but was interesting enough that i wanted to finish it.
Otherwise doing badly, 5 days left of the month and i have to finish “Tess of the D’Urbervilles” and read 4 other books!
Here is an update of my latest Challenge, 9 days in!
My tasks for June are as follows:
I have a selection of books ready for the other challenges, but i need to finish the three i have on the go at the moment!
Here is an update of my latest Challenge, 9 days in!
My tasks for June are as follows:
I have just finished re-reading “Z for Zachariah” by Robert C. O’Brien. I read this book back in school when i was about 14 and was fascinated by it! I recently found a copy in Waterstones quite by accident, so i thought i would re-read it, to see how differently i read it compared to the first time.
Z For Zachariah – Robert C. O’Brien (via Amazon)
The blurb reads:
“Ann Burden, the lone survivor of a nuclear holocaust, is threatened by the arrival in her valley of an unknown intruder. She hides, he watches and they both wait. Might he be a friend and ally, this scientist in a radiation-proof suit, or have the horrors he has witnessed turned him into something more sinister? The answer unfolds in a battle of wills which ends in a chilling struggle for survival, between a girl and the last man on earth.”
The book opens with Ann explaining how she was left alone in her valley after her family went to look for survivors outside and never came back. She writes in her journal each day about what she does to keep herself alive, as she plans for the future alone. That is until Mr Loomis arrives. She looks after him when he gets radiation sickness, and for a while it looks like they might be able to coexist in the valley, and Ann imagines a future where they manage to survive in the valley and maybe even have a family one day.
However, once Mr Loomis starts getting better, he starts playing mind games with her, and she grows increasingly uneasy, especially as he doesn’t talk about himself or his life before he entered the valley. This only proves that he has something to hide, and Ann gets an idea of what has happened through his delirious mutterings when he is ill. He grows increasingly threatening towards her and she starts to avoid him as much as possible but he cuts off her supplies, causing her to take action.
Ann is maybe a little bit naïve as she is only 15 (16 when the book ends), but she is also fairly self-sufficient and sensible with good instincts. She has had to deal with the loss of her family and everyone she knew all by herself in the valley where she lived with them, which can’t have been easy surrounded by memories. She knows how she can survive in her valley by planning out how to grow and harvest food and so on, but she seems to have become a little bit complacent in believing that no-one would come and has let her guard down a bit. But at least she knows how to use a gun!
Mr Loomis is a mysterious stranger who is ill for the first part of the book, so we don’t really get to know much about him until he gets better. The name should be enough to suggest that he is clearly more of an older and more superior character: we don’t know his first name, which makes him seem distant and less friendly. The stronger he gets after the illness, the more disturbing his behaviour is towards Ann. It is only in this re-reading of the book that i realise how much of a sexual predator he could be. He is clearly aware that she may be the only female left on earth, and that she is completely at his mercy. This turns the story into a more chilling plot. Ann becomes gradually aware of his attentions and is disgusted. She leaves him stranded in the valley when she steals his suit, because she would rather face the unknown than stay in the valley with a creep like him. Good on her!
I give this book 8/10 because it is a fascinating but chilling post-apocalyptic and dystopian story, and the characters are really interesting, with their relationship changing throughout the book. There is a lot of tension throughout the book, and it explores human emotion and the vulnerability of both characters really well. I highly recommend this book to everyone, even though it is teenage fiction!
Here is an update of my latest Challenge!
My tasks for June are as follows:
