Five on Friday

Today I'm joining in again with Amy at  Love Made My Home's  link up 'Five on Friday'.

I've been taking part in an on-line reading challenge since the beginning of the year ( 2015 Reading Challenge). The aim is to read 50 books in the year, which averages out at one book a week, and so far I'm up to date. We're in week  nineteen, and I've read eighteen books so far. There isn't a set of titles as such, but a list of themes instead ..... for example a book translated from another language, a memoir, a book that was turned into a film and so on. My list is on a page at the top of my blog.

The best thing about doing this challenge is that I have read books that I might never have considered before. 

So, here's a little peep at what I've been reading in the past few weeks.

One:

A book set in a different country .....

This is a haunting glimpse into China in the Nineteenth century when foot binding was practised and women were kept secluded. It tells of a friendship between two little girls that lasts a lifetime as they endure the hardships and sufferings caused by life, marriage and motherhood.  I found it quite an emotional read at times.

Two:

a book from your childhood

This was one of my favourites when I was young. I had a battered copy that had belonged to my auntie and I read it over and over again. Later, I loved the film too. When I read it this time I was surprised how faithful the film was to the book, but I also discovered chapters that are not in the film that I'd totally forgotten. A pleasant trip down memory lane.

Three:

a book with a love triangle

Another favourite of mine from long ago, I was determined to re read this wonderful book before the new film came out. This time, I found I was a bit disappointed in Bathsheba, the main character. She is such an independent,  free-spirited young woman at the start of the book, and then makes some dreadful choices in her life with dire consequences for many of the other characters around her. Maybe it's because I'm older now, but I wasn't swept up in the romance of it all, and I wanted to shout "No! Don't do it you fool!  He's the wrong one!!!"  

Four:

a book translated from another language

This was originally written in German.
 A young American woman follows her missing father to Burma where she believes he grew up, and learns of his life before. It is very simply written, almost like a fairy tale, and is quite lovely. 

Five:

I've been wanting to join a Book Club for years and now I have. 

A new group was starting up locally, and we had our first meeting on Tuesday.
I met some lovely new people, all passionate readers, and we had an interesting chat about what we'd read, and what we hadn't.

And this is what we've chosen to read this month, as four out of six of us had it on our list of suggestions.

Again, many thanks to Amy for hosting Five on Friday.

Why don't you pop over there and see what everyone else has been up to?