Sunday, December 11, 2011

Smooth Criminals 2012 Reading Challenge


I was fully intending to stop at one challenge for 2012. (I already have plenty of job-related reading deadlines, thank you very much.) BUT this one hosted by Ben at Dead End Follies looks so fun, and it encompasses a lot of genres I've been wanting to dabble in. So, eight books, 12 months . . .


Hardboiled classic: Red Harvest, Dashiell Hammett

Noir classic: Double Indemnity, James M. Cain

Prison book: King Rat, James Clavell

Book written by a writer who did time: If He Hollers, Let Him Go, Chester Himes

Book with psychopath protagonist: The Killer Inside Me, Jim Thompson

Gothic novel: Uncle Silas, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Classic where the plot revolves around a crime: The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins (reviewed in four parts: uno, dos, tres, cuatro)

The “why the hell am I doing this to myself?" book: We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver

6 comments:

  1. How come you're going with We Need To Talk About Kevin for your challenge book? (I haven't read it but I heard it's a good one)

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  2. I've heard it's really good, too...but difficult. I love books that put me in the dumps temporarily, but I'm afraid this one may send me reeling into legitimate depression. I may need to take frequent breaks to hug my puppies and think of rainbows.

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  3. Megan.... We Need To Talk About Kevin left me feeling nauseated and upset for about a week. Read with caution.

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  4. I watched the trailer and a few clips from the movie AFTER reading the novel, and I don't think I can bring myself to watch the movie.

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  5. The movie trailer is kind of what made me want to read the book. It looked so painful and beautiful...and it had SWINTON. But I'm nervous.

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