The 50 Book Challenge is a hangout that encourages users to read as much and as often as possible, especially during the holidays!

Does anyone have some favorite holiday stories that they enjoy reading each year?
Did you get any new books as presents?

Come discuss it here!

How fabulous to have a event hang out! I love when the 50 Book Challenge thread has these. *does an excited dance*
Most of my favorite holiday books are children's books, I'll have to break them out and share some titles! :lol:

*dances with you*

I'm just happy to be on vacation and have some time to read for leisure. It'll be nice to dig through my bookshelf and pull out everything I still haven't finished.

My holiday reading time begins on December 26th, so I've got that to sort of make the day after Christmas less depressing. :lol:
What are some of the books you're thinking about finishing during your break?

Right now I'm reading Despair by Vladimir Nabokov. After I finish that, I'm going to start on Sashenka by Simon Monteforre. :yes:

Oh, had my first (and currently last) Nabokov since my sophomore year! I read Lolita, around the middle it got tedious and disturbing, but I ended up liking it a lot. How are you liking Despair? I really want to read more of his stuff. My teacher recommended another one of his called... Pale Fire, I think? That was more of an "It's been on the AP test, PREPARE YOURSELF" recommendation than a "I think you'd like it" recommendation, though.
Monteforre doesn't sound Russian, but Sashenka does! I'll have to look that one up. :yes:

Man, I set up a challenge for myself a while ago to get myself to read, but it's just not worked. I only own a few books that I've not read yet, but I'm just not excited by them. I did, however, find a bunch of books that I'd really like to read, so as soon as I get some Christmas money I'll be placing an order. I'd read so much more if it wasn't for the pesky problem of books not being free. :lol:

*posts to subscribe* be back after i finish looking for kitty food. =D

Good morning everyone!

I ended up reading through my knitting books last night instead of working on any of my novels, so it looks like I'm going to be even farther behind on my challenge now. :sweat:

Well, at least that's a productive use of time! :yes:

True! I'm now one step closer to finishing my antler-cabled scarf. :lol:

Eeeee, this thread is awesome! :D I always feel like a nerd putting books on my Christmas List, so it's nice knowing other people are as excited about books as I am.

So far, I've gotten Portnoy's Complaint by Phillip Roth, the entire works of Franz Kafka and Koko Be Good by Jen Wang (which is a simply AMAZING graphic novel), and am working on reading Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger, Trash by Dorothy Allison and Leaves of Grass (the first edition, not the deathbed edition, though I want to read that one too) by Walt Whitman. I freaking love breaks; they give me so much more time to totally geek out and read books that aren't assigned for class. =w=

How about you, Knerd? What novels are you reading now?

Wow, that's a lot of Kafka! If I were you, I'd start in on that first. He's an amazing author. :yes:

Practical stuff has made me take a little break from reading, but I finished up Despair by Nabokov today. Whatever I read next will be determined by what books I get for Christmas tomorrow (if I get any at all). :lol:

Ooh, Nabokov and Kafka are on my mental to-read list. Anyone read any by Chuck Palahniuk? I was looking into his stuff the other day and it sounds really good. I've now got most of his books on the aforementioned mental list. :lol:

I started reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath today.

Palahniuk is pretty "meh" for me. He's a great writer for teens, but if you ever go back and read his stuff later on, I can guarantee that it will fall flat. If you read more than a couple of his books, you'll start to notice some patterns and similar themes. :yes:

But if you end up really liking his style, try out these books too:

Notes From the Underground by Dostoyevsky
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Our Lady of the Flowers by Genet (not for the faint of heart!)
Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

@Knerd- Oh, definitely! I read a few of his stories in the bookstore the other day (specifically The Metamorphosis, The Hunger Artist and A Letter From The Emperor), and I love the way he writes, so I'm going to start reading his work the second I get the wrapping paper off. :3

I hope you get a lot of books tomorrow! You put books on your list for Santa, right? :D

@Cherry- I've been meaning to read Fight Club, but other than that, I haven't heard of any of his work. /uncultured
How are you liking The Bell Jar so far?

Knerd - Aww, really? That's disappointing to hear. The way I heard his style described sounded so good. Thanks for the suggestions, though! I'll look into them.

Anna - Well, so far it's good, but I'm only about two chapters in, so it's hard to tell.

THE BELL JAR I SEE TALK OF THE BELL JAR.
I LOVED that book! We read it for my women in literature last year.

I found this thread back in April and started my challenge and I'm on book 29 =] I have 4 months left... i think i can do it. O.o

As for books for Christmas I'm not sure yet. ^-^

I got some money for Christmas, so I can buy me some books! *dances*
My best friend got me Way of the Shadows and Shadow's Edge by Brent Weeks, though. I love those books, but didn't have them, so yay! Soon I'll do some rereading. :yes:

Grats, Shidami! Sounds like you've made good headway.
Are there any books you asked for for Christmas? c:

I love reading, for christmas I got a amazon kindle thing so I've bought a lot of books on that so I have quite a few new books to read

one of my all-time favorite books is Graceling

I've had a few people tell me to read Graceling, what's it about?

So I didn't get any books for Christmas, but I did get a small gift certificate to Barnes and Noble!
I'll have to head over there this week and figure out what I want to get.

Any plans on what to get, or are you just gonna buy whatever catches your fancy while you're there?

I'm trying to figure that out, now.

My problem is that I like buying used books - You can get them so much cheaper and it's pretty fun to look for old editions. So I don'y really know if I should wait to buy certain books because they might be available at library sales, or if I should just spend the money and grab them while I can.

I'll probably end up buying a couple more graphic novels. :yes: