1/4 of the Way - from Kelli

Phew. Skating in barely before my winter break ended (literally, 30 minutes before my "school days" bedtime), I finished "In Cold Blood" - which is the best book I've read so far in this challenge. Perhaps because I'm a sucker for crime stories, but also because Truman Capote's ability to realistically recreate feelings, thoughts, and images is astounding. If you haven't read it - stop reading this post and go buy it.

"Catch-22" ended up being pretty great. The last 160 pages of the novel went much more quickly than the first 300. It just took some stamina and determination. I think the reason the book was so hard to read for me was because Joseph Heller's writing presents its own imaginative, wonderful logic. The irrationality of the book (a reflection, I believe, of Heller's view on war) made it difficult to read chapter by chapter. You really have to get into the mindframe of the book - a challenge when you're only reading 20 or 30 pages each time before you hit the sack. My recommendation for the book: pick a time when you have nothing to do all day and power through it. The book is a delightful challenge to the American status-quo and will leave you feeling satisfied.

This year, Caitlin, Marie and I (Caitlin and I currently at 25 books a piece, and Marie at 27) need to keep a pace of approximately 1 book for every 2 weeks to keep on track for a 2014 finish date. My mother, however, can take a more leisurely approach (especially considering she's been reading as fast as I have!). She needs only 56 more books to declare victory!

Summary scoring of 2011 books:

"Slaughterhouse Five": A+++ (this is the book, never blogged about, that actually roused my interest in partaking of the challenge)

"Lord of the Flies": B-

"Franny and Zooey": C

"In Our Time": B+

"Catch-22": B

"In Cold Blood": A++