So the verdict on my reading challenges this year...

Not so good, I am afraid. I wanted to read 40 books this year but managed to read only 20, and the 20th was a mad dash to finish last night. Below is the break down from the challenges over at Bev's.

Color Coded Reading Challenge

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title/on the cover 

BLACK AND BLUE BY ANNA QUINDLEN

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title/on the cover. RED POPPIES BY ALAI

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title/on the cover. YELLOW BIRDS by KEVIN POWERS

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title/on the cover. Green on Blue by Elliot Ackerman

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title/on the cover.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title/on the cover. 

Spectre Black by J. Carson Black

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title/on the cover. Winter Journey by Diane Armstrong (this was the book I finished last night!)

8. A book with any other color in the title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.). PURPLE CLOUD BY M.P.SHIEL (this is cool sci-fi/fantasy from 1901)

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.). 

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat

Vintage Mystery Challenges

I did not complete my bingo challenges this year but I did get to read some pretty awesome mysteries by some of the best authors (I especially love mysteries from the golden era)

 

 

The body in the library (Agatha Christie)

And then there were none (Agatha Christie)

The circular staircase (Mary Reinhart Roberts, first published 1908)

The Nursing Home murder (Ngaio Marsh, 1935) 

Death at a bar (Ngaio Marsh, 1940)

The moving toyshop (Edmund Crispin, 1946)

 

Silver: 1960-1989

There hangs a knife (Marcia Muller, 1988)

Killing of Katie Steelstock, Michael Gilbert (1980)

VINTAGE BINGOooooooo and other Reading challenges

The color coded challenge hosted by the lovely Bev

 

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title.
 

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title.

 RED AZALEA by Anchee Min 

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title.
Something Yellow  by Laura Templeton

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title.
Death by Chocolate by David Yurkovich (graphic novel)

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title.
Black Bullet by Tom Lowe

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.
White Oleander By Janet Fitch

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.).
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.).
Flowers of Algernon by Daniel Keyes


And the Vintage Mystery Challenge

Hopefully I will be able to at least a one or two sentence reviews for all of these books.  I am also doing the silver mystery challenge- have not signed up for it yet though.

Reading Challenges- an update

 

Updates on the Color coded challenge

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue (Turquoise, Aquamarine, Navy, etc) in the title
2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red (Scarlet, Crimson, Burgandy, etc) in the title-

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow (Gold, Lemon, Maize, etc.) in the title

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green (Emerald, Lime, Jade, etc) in the title.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown (Tan, Chocolate, Beige, etc) in the title- 
The Poisoned Chocolates Case By Anthony Berkeley

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black (Jet, Ebony, Charcoal, etc) in the title-  

The Black Cat by Martha Grimes

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White (Ivory, Eggshell, Cream, etc) in the title.
The Ivory Trail by Talbot Mundy

8. A book with any other color in the title (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, Magneta, etc.)-

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

9. A book with a word that implies color (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Paisley, Stripe, etc.)



A vintage mystery mini-challenge: must read 4 vintage books in one of the categories mentioned by Dec 31st (doable you think, I say you think?!!)

Updates on the Vintage Mystery mini challenge- I AM DONE; not quite there! As of June 12th, 2013- I am done with this challenge... yippee!
Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (Category: Wicked women) this is neither a mystery nor have I finished it :)
Mystery of 31 New Inn by Austin Freeman (Category: Murder by the Numbers)
Orange and Yellow Diamond by J.S.Fletcher  (Category: Colorful Crime)
Dyke Darrel, the railroad detective by Frank Pinkerton (Category: Planes, Trains & Automobiles) 
Daffodil mystery by Edgar Wallace

If you have suggestions for me- please do let me know. And in case you are interested, hop on over to Bev's to sign up for the challenge.

Few more books

For the color coded challenge- finished Mundy's Ivory trail


My impressions: For about 50-75 pages into the book, I was unsure as to
whether I would ever finish this book "white" ivory hunters. With such flowery words and description of the wide variety of geographical locations (mostly deep into the African continent) and the people of different lands, it was really hard to follow. And then, it happened, I could not put the book down- it had a certain pace to it and reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean. Mundy takes us on this adventure and does it so eloquently. I was thoroughly impressed.
Do keep in mind that this book was published in 1919.


I also read- Immortals of Meluha (the first book of the Shiva trilogy)
It is a fast paced book and I did finish it but seemed to lack originality and I did not like it that much. There were hints of few other books I have read, some Bollywood movies I have seen. The book is about the ascent of Shiva from being a simple Tibetan tribal chief to Neelkanth (the one with blue throat), saviour of Meluha.
It is one of those books that is just alright.