Flashman at the March

Just completed my next challenge book:  Flashman at the March.  A slow read, but that's only because I kept re-reading passages.  Full review here.

Biggles Works It Out

Biggles Works It Out isn't the best of the Biggles books, but it was a pleasure to revisit a childhood fictional hero after nearly thirty years.  In this adventure, Biggles and Co. take on an airborne gang of international gold hijackers.

Full review here.

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Where the sidewalk ends is a not really a story. It is a book of poems. There are exactly 166 pages in this book.

It is a very funny book to read it for the first time. If you had read it before you might have read the invitation (which is a poem).

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Completed Walter Miller's A Canticle For Leibowitz; a post-apocalyptic novel that follows a monastery in what used to be New Mexico as the world crawls painfully out of a new dark age toward a new civilisation for doomed to repeat the holocaust in a final act of Armageddon.  Though it's never been out of print since its publication in the 1950s and is recognised as one of the true classics of science fiction, it never sat very comfortably with the sci-fi readership.  This is not surprising, since the novel lacks the usual trappings of shiny machinery or romantic post-atomic adventure.  It's frank and sincere Christian (not to mention Roman Catholic) was also uncomfortable for the typical fan's more materialistic prejudices. However, the level of writing with its strong characters, wry humour, and insightful plots place it head and shoulders above the more common fare of the genre.

Full review here.

The Diary of a Killer Cat

The Diary of a Killer Cat is a great book. It's about a cat named Tuffy. the author is Anne Fine who is the author of Four Babies and Madame Doubtfire. Well ,this story is where the killer cat has ate
a bird and the main victim is a rabbit named Thumber [who is very old]. He died of oldness, but you don't knew it until the end.

1975: And the Changes to Come

Completed my second challenge book: 1975: And the Changes to Come by Arnold B Barach & the Kiplinger Washington Editors. (1962). 

It's a non-fiction work intended to take a look at how the world, and especially the United States, would change by 1975.  Unlike many such predictive books, many of its predictions are right on the money.  This isn't surprising since the book took such a restrained approach that one chapter was a very sober rundown on the safest investments over the next decade. 

It's also notable for many rare photos of architecture and technology of the future.

Thea stilton and Dragon's Code

Thea stilton and Dragon's Code is my 2nd reading challenge book. From a scale to ten, I would say
#1.

Nicky is my favorite Thea sister . The others are Colette, Violet, Paulina, and Pamela. I love this
series.

Glide Path

I've just finished my first challenge book: Glide Path by Arthur C Clarke. 

It's one of Clarke's better efforts with surprisingly well-crafted characters.

If Wishes Were Horses

If Wishes Were Horses by Sibley Mill is a good book. I like it because of the magic horses,
which are Sumatra, Sirocco, Kona, Brisa who have trouble with thier magic.

This is my first reading challenge book.

Getting started

I just finished Hill of Fire.

Now I'm going to start my first challenge book.

It is a great book and fun to read.

One down, twenty to go.

Okay, we're off! I finished my first of the 21 books tonight - A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. I've never been very good with book reports. I'm going to take a little more time to craft my review later, but I will say it was a good book.

Hello

Hello and welcome to The 2011 Szondy Family Summer Reading Challenge or, as we like to call it, because of space limitations, The 2011 Szondy Family Summer Reading Cha.

What's happening here is that the Szondy family, the wife, the daughter, and myself, will be spending the next 21 weeks reading 21 books and this blog will record our progress, reviews of our books, and any random rants on the process that we wish to share.  At the end, if we succeed, we will award ourselves a prize.  If we fail, we'll be forced to read the literary equivalent of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Think of it as Top Gear for books.