Laura's Challenge Wrap-up

Thanks to Ariel at for sponsoring the Unread Authors Challenge! For this challenge -- the first one I've completed in 2008 -- I read 7 books by new-to-me authors:

1. The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al-Aswany (completed 9/19/2007 - review)
2. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, by Ann Fadiman (completed 9/19/2007 - review)
3. When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka (completed 10/12/2007 - review)
4. Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys (completed 11/16/2007 - review)
5. The Art of Mending, by Elizabeth Berg (completed 12/14/2007 - review)
6. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (completed 1/17/2008 - review)
7. The Secret River, by Kate Grenville (completed 2/3/2008 - review)

Favorite book: Oh, this is a close one. I loved Ex Libris, but as a collection of essays it's really quite different from my other selections. So I will cheat and choose The Secret River as another favorite.

Least favorite book: The Art of Mending. I found this book to be a bit trite and cliche.

What I learned: I read more "unread authors" than familiar ones. When I started the challenge, I thought I might list other new authors in my challenge post. However, it quickly became apparent that I'd be listing almost every book I read. While I do read multiple works by certain authors -- Jane Austen & John Steinbeck, for example -- I usually don't read series, and I don't tend to get on a "kick" reading a certain author's entire oevre.

This was a fun challenge that helped clear out my TBR stack a bit. Thanks Ariel!