At the beginning of July I wrote about the ABC Reads challenge that I heard about on my friend Mia’s blog. I’ve always wanted to take on a challenge like this, so I thought this year would be the best year to do it. And since that last update, I’ve read one book that can count toward the challenge.
C // Chronicles of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [Completed September 2016]
A murder–and the events and people surrounding it–is recounted in this short novel.
This is the second book by Marquez that I have read and, just like the first, it’s another short one. I mentioned in my review of Memories of My Melancholy Whores that Marquez has always been a little daunting for me to think about reading. I attempted One Hundred Years of Solitude a couple of times over the years and was never able to get into that book, but since I visited Colombia this year, I decided it was time to read some books by Marquez. I guess the idea of reading a longer book is still somewhat daunting, because as soon as I saw nother smaller book I grabbed it.
It’ll be interesting to move on and read something a bit longer from him, because both of these smaller books have been so easy to read in one sitting. This one didn’t grab my attention as much as Memories did and I thought that if something else had diverted my attention I could have put it down and walked away from it for awhile. I tried to walk away from Memories because I was packing for my trip at the same time, but I kept picking it up. 🙂
Don’t let that scare you away, though! I really liked this book. I really enjoyed getting to know the different characters–even though I didn’t particularly care for all of them at all times. One thing that caught my attention was how my opinion of certain characters changed throughout the book. Each chapter focused on a different character and their perspective of the events and as I read the story I realized that my opinion of some of the characters changed based on their perspective of events.
While reading this novel I felt like I was reading a report. While I enjoyed this style of storytelling because it allowed the reader to get different perspectives, I think this is why the book was harder to get into it because that “report” style kept me at a distance. I still thought that style of narrative was perfect for this story,
I highly recommend this book, especially if like me, you’re easing your way into the world of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Check out some of the other books I read in 2016 that count toward the challenge:
A // All Stories Are Love Stories, by Elizabeth Percer [Completed March 2016]
B // Breaking Pointe, by Lani Woodland [Completed June 2016]
D // (A) Drop of Night, by Stefan Bachman [Completed June 2016]
E // (The) Ex, by Alafair Burke [Completed February 2016]
G // Girl Through Glass, by Sari Wilson [Completed February 2016]
H // Half-Resurrection Blues, by Daniel José Older [Completed April 2016]
I // Illuminae, by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff [Completed January 2016]
K // Keep You Close, by Lucie Whitehouse [Completed June 2016]
L // Lagoon, by Nnedi Okorafor [Completed June 2016]
M // Memories of My Melancholy Whores [Completed May 2016]
O // (The) Opposite of Everyone, by Joshilyn Jackson [Completed February 2016]
P // (The) Past, by Tessa Hadley [Completed January 2016]
R // Rise of the DEO, by Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland [Completed March 2016]
S // (The) Sister’s of Versailles, by Sally Christie [Completed March 2016]
T // Thief of Lies, by Brenda Drake [Completed June 2016]
W // Where We Fall, by Rochelle b. Weinstein [Completed April 2016]
And here are the letters that I still need to get to in order to complete the challenge: F, J, N, Q, U, V, X, Y, Z
Thanks so much for sharing this! always looking for a good book to read, and haven’t read anything by this author in… more than 10 years I think! Plus, a shorter book is a welcome break. I’ve been picking up TOMES lately, and while I feel a sense of accomplishment after it’s over, sometimes I’m in the middle wishing I had picked a quicker read, LOL.
XOXO and have a great weekend!!
Haha! I definitely feel that sense of accomplishment when I finish longer books too, but like you I always wish I had picked up a shorter one as I’m reading. I think I have attention issues if it’s too long of a book. 🙂
You’re 2/3 done! That’s awesome! I haven’t read anything by Marquez… I should definitely remedy that! 🙂 Adding to my list. Thank you so much for joining us, you made my day!
Yes! So close! I definitely recommend starting with one of his smaller books. They were easy to get into and piqued my interest for more. 🙂
You’re welcome! 🙂 I’m really enjoying it.
I love this challenge! Also I think sometimes you just need to read a “shorter” book. I feel like I have to mentally prepare for a longer one sometimes and then I’ll put it off.
That’s a great way to put it! I feel like I have to mentally prepare for longer ones too. 🙂
This looks so fun! Do you have to go in the order of the alphabet or you can read them randomly? 🙂 I still have a few more books to read to reach my reading goal, but I’ve been procrastinating haha I know how you feel. I feel intimidated by reading longer books too.. but usually once I get into it, it’s not so bad. It’s just hard getting myself to open it first!! 😛
You can read them randomly. It has been fun so far! And easy, because I’ve just been able to read and then plug my books in. It’ll be fun to have to find books to read to fit some of the letters soon. 🙂 Good job on being close to meeting your reading goal. There’s a good chance I won’t make mine this year, considering I’m not even close to halfway to it. I’m the same way with longer books! Once I get into them I do well, but it’s opening them up. They seem so intimidating! 🙂
You got me thinking: I wonder if I have read a book for every letter of the alphabet this year. I had a look and I’ve got six letters to go. I might even try and get to them just for fun, not really for a challenge.
I like the sound of this book, I like to have some short books and longer books to read, so I’m always on the look out for a short story (or short stories collection) to add to my Kindle. I’ll have to keep my eye out to see if I see this around.
Good luck with the rest of the challenge! I’ve still to complete letters: J, K, O, Q, X, Y and Z!
I’d love to hear if you end up reading through the rest of the alphabet this year! I should go see how close I got previous years. 🙂
Let me know what you think if you check this out! I’d also recommend Memories of My Melancholy Whores, which I liked a little bit more than this one and is also a short read.
I’ve mostly been reading blogging books lately. I need to get back to some fun reading as well!
Ooh, what blogging books have you read?