Fiction Reading Bingo Challenge 2014

Following up on my previous post about my experiences with the Young Adult Reading Bingo Challenge I undertook in 2014, the second of my reading challenges was a general fiction one, the original board which can be seen on the left.

This was by far the hardest of the three, principally because I don't read a lot of fiction. As a result, besides fiction, this category became a catch-all for basically anything else that couldn't fit into either the romance or young adult categories, hence the inclusion of titles like Panic (young adult) and The Corinthian (romance). Despite being used as a surplus category, the fiction challenge managed to yield a number of surprisingly good reads. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend any of the titles below to different readers who are searching for different sources of reading inspiration - which is more than can be said for the other two categories. To evidence this fact, three titles from this RBC challenge made it onto my Best Of 2014 list (A Dark and Twisted Tide, The Girl Who Saved ... and Emma) with another (The Fortune Hunter) rounding off the list as an honourable mention. Given that only 11 titles made the list, this is a lot more as a proportion of total number of books read, than any of the other lists.

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

Lost in a Good Book (2002) (Hodder)
Jasper Fforde
Grade: B+
Genre: fiction / crime / alternate reality
Source: own
Thursday Next: (1) The Eyre Affair, (2) Lost in a Good Book, (3) The Well of Lost Plots

Fiction RBC 2014: The second book in a series 

Having just married the man of her dreams (after a very lengthy estrangement) and concluded the biggest case of her career as an operative in the Literary Detectives division (rescuing the fate of Jane Eyre from the hands of criminal mastermind Acheron), Thursday Next is ready for a little less excitement in her life. Adventure, however, is more than happy to find her and turn Thursday’s life inconveniently upside-down.

In a puzzling string of events, it becomes clear that Landon, Thursday’s newly-wed husband of just four weeks, drowned as a toddler thirty-eight years ago and no one other than Thursday has any memory of history being otherwise. The threatening Goliath corporation wants Thursday to rescue their operative Jack Schitt from the poem in which she’d trapped him, and are willing to go to any lengths to fulfil their goals. Thursday begins a mission to discover the truth while evading interviews and the press, trying to keep out of Goliath's clutches and going on a series of new literary adventures ...

The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

The House at Pooh Corner (1928) (Egmont)
A.A. Milne / E.H. Shepard
Grade: B
Genre: children's
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A book that is more than 10 years old 

Milne takes us back to the Hundred Acre Wood with The House at Pooh Corner and to the nation’s favourite bear (with little brain). With beautiful colour illustrations by E.H. Shepard, readers are delighted to watch as Tigger hops his way across our pages, Pooh discovers a tireless new game he calls Poohsticks, a new house is built for Eeyore and many more adventures!

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer

The Corinthian (1940) (Arrow Books)
Georgette Heyer
Grade: B
Genre: regency romance
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A book at the bottom of your To Be Read pile 

Sir Richard Wyndham, notable whip, dandy and Corinthian is on his way home one evening, suitably inebriated and on the cusp of making the biggest decision of his life, when he’s met with the most startling sight. Suddenly, his imminent (and slightly dreaded) proposal of marriage to Melissa Brandon, whose family is in as dire financial straits as he is fabulously rich, doesn’t seem quite important. On a sudden whim, Richard finds himself acting as cousin, tutor and whatever other guises the journey requires as he escorts young Penelope Creed across the country.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We Should All Be Feminists (2014) (Fourth Estate)
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Grade: A+
Genre: non-fiction
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A book of non-fiction 

Watch the TEDx talk here.

Adapted from her phenomenal TEDx talk of the same name, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie draws upon her experiences growing up in Nigeria and uses her gift for storytelling to put forward a persuasive argument for why we should all be feminists and what every man, woman, boy, girl and parent can do to contribute towards the equality of the sexes.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) (Egmont)
A.A. Milne, illustrated by E.H. Shepard
Grade: A
Genre: children's illustrated fiction / classics
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A book of short stories 

Winnie-the-Pooh, a bear with little brain, lives in the One Hundred Acre wood, surrounded by his friends, Christopher Robin, Piglet, Rabbit, Owl and the eternally grumpy Eeyore. This collection of stories about the world’s favourite bear follows his adventures as he goes hunting for a Woozle, tries to trap a Heffalump, meets Kanga and baby Roo, finds the North Pole and saves the day when Piglet is in need of rescuing.

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Panic (2014) (Hodder)
Lauren Oliver
Grade: A-
Genre: young adult
Source: bookbridgr

Fiction RBC 2014: A book with a mystery

Panic started in the town of Carp, population 12,000, for two reasons: because it was summer, and because there was nothing else to do. Now, Panic has become an institution. Played by recent high school graduates, participants sign up to compete in literal life-or-death challenges for the chance to win $67,000. People have died and two years ago, a girl was left paralysed from the waist down after her car was tampered with so that she would lose at the last hurdle. Still, Panic goes on.

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

War Horse (1982) (Egmont)
Michael Morpurgo
Grade: A-
Genre: children's
Source: own

Fiction RBC 2014: A best-selling book 

When a young colt is sold at an auction, he doesn’t expect to find a friend and loyal master in Albert, a boy at a Devonshire farm who names his new love, Joey. A beautiful red-bay foal with a distinctive cross on his nose, Joey is forced to become a farm horse by Albert’s father in order to ‘earn his keep.’ When the war breaks out, Joey is sold again to a Captain Nicholls to be used as a war horse, travelling over to France and facing the horrors of the First World War. Finding a friend in another thoroughbred horse, Topthorn, he and Joey lead a cavalry charge towards enemy lines, being captured by the Germans in the process. War Horse tells the story of Joey’s journey across Europe and Albert’s mission to be reunited with the horse he loves.

Emma by Jane Austen

Emma (1815) (Penguin Classics)
Jane Austen
Grade: A+
Genre: fiction
Source: own
Fiction RBC 2014: A book with a one-word title

“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich” is the belle of Highbury. Mistress of her father’s house, Hartfield, since her sister Isabella married, Miss Woodhouse is not in want of company. Nevertheless, when her governess and closest friend Miss Taylor becomes Mrs Weston and leaves Hartfield, Emma finds herself in need of a companion and project. The young Miss Harriet Smith becomes her new protégée, much to the despair of long-time family friend Mr Knightley who always professes to know best for Miss Woodhouse.

The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin

The Fortune Hunter (2014) (Headline)
Daisy Goodwin
Grade: A
Genre: historical, fiction
Source: bookbridgr / NetGalley

Fiction RBC 2014: A book based on a true story

Charlotte Lennox, debuntante and amateur photographer is one of the Town’s biggest catches, known colloquially as the ‘Lennox heiress’. Her reckless mother and the original Lennox heiress died in a hunting accident when Charlotte was a child and her fortune is currently managed by her half-brother, Fred, until she marries with his approval. Despite being the most eligible girl on the market, Charlotte isn’t known for her striking looks or scintillating conversational skills; rather, Charlotte has a passion for photography and a mere mention of her hobby is usually enough to frighten off any potential suitors, much to Fred’s dismay.

A Dark and Twisted Tide by Sharon Bolton

These past three-and-a-half weeks have been a crazy haze of essay writing, editing, reading and revision. I have pretty much lost all sense of dates and days of the week, but there remains a ticking countdown in my head checking off the days and hours until my degree is finally over. I'm handing in four essays totalling 15,000 words in four days, my first exam starts in five days and the last exam of my academic career is in twelve. As much as I can't wait for the freedom, I also wouldn't mind if another couple of weeks materialised somewhere so I can revise some more!

Anyway, that's the reason why the blog has been dead for a month. A Dark and Twisted Tide was one of my most anticipated books for 2014 and is published today (8 May) and so here's my review. Now, back to the edits and revision ...


A Dark and Twisted Tide (2014) (Bantam Press)
Sharon Bolton
Grade: A-
Genre: gothic thriller crime
Sex scenes: MORE sexual tension
Source: NetGalley
Lacey Flint: (1) Now You See Me, (1.5) If Snow Hadn't Fallen, (2) Dead Scared, (3) Like This, For Ever, (4) A Dark and Twisted Tide

Fiction Reading Bingo Challenge 2014: A book by a female author 

Crime keeps coming to find former detective Lacey Flint. After her last big case, Lacey took the difficult decision of going back into uniform and taking life easy – or so she’d hoped. She’s now part of the Thames Marine Unit, getting used to living on a houseboat and her new peaceful lifestyle, but murder has other ideas. Swimming in the Thames one morning, Lacey comes across a body laboriously wrapped and preserved in some sort of burial ritual that the police are unable to identify. Lacey can’t help but get involved and her former team are more than willing to have her back.

2014 Reading Challenge(s)

I discovered these beauties from Random House Canada on Pinterest at the end of last year and immediately committed myself to doing them - in my head. Of course, merely mentally agreeing to something is a sure sign that I won't actually get round to doing it - something I've learnt from experience.