Tag: Books: 2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge

Review: The Tempest

Posted 10 January, 2014 by Lianne in Books / 6 Comments

The Tempest
By: William Shakespeare
Format/Source: Ebook; my copy

In The Tempest, long considered one of Shakespeare’s most lyrical plays, Prospero—a magician on an enchanted island—punishes his enemies, brings happiness to his daughter, and comes to terms with human use of supernatural power. The Tempest embodies both seemingly timeless romance and the historically specific moment in which Europe begins to explore and conquer the New World.

I decided to read this play first to kickstart the Shakespeare Reading Challenge for two reasons: 1) I want to see the recent adaptation starring Helen Mirren (so pretty) and 2) I remember picking up an illustrated copy of this play in the library when I was in elementary but never finished reading it. Actually, three reasons: 3) I love Loreena McKennitt’s “Porspero’s Speech”. So this is me, finally getting around to it =P

This book is part of the William Shakespeare Reading Challenge 2014 that I am participating in.

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2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge [Master List]

Posted 30 December, 2013 by Lianne in Books / 2 Comments


2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge hosted by caffeinatedlife.net

William Shakespeare is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, playright in the English speaking world. You’ve probably encountered his works one time or another, either in high school English or from a movie adaptation, a quote or a scene used in a novel or a reference made in a song. Maybe you’ve been meaning to check out his other works or maybe you’d like to re-visit a play of his you’ve enjoyed when you were in school. Well, this reading challenge is all about William Shakespeare’s works.

Please sign up for this reading challenge IN THIS POST, thank you! (all sign-ups posted int his list will be moved to the appropriate list)

This post contains the master list of all the book reviews made by participants for this challenge. Linking your reviews here is optional but strongly recommended just so that we can share titles and thoughts with other bloggers, learn new titles out there and get to know each other in the process 🙂

If you have any questions, feel free to drop a comment or email me at webmaster [at] caffeinatedlife [dot] net. Have fun and I look forward to reading your reviews!

Books: 2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge

Posted 1 December, 2013 by Lianne in Books / 8 Comments


2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge hosted by caffeinatedlife.net

I have been meaning for ages to read more of Shakespeare’s plays but alas, I keep putting it off. I’ve only read four plays in high school (Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth) and one outside of school (Hamlet). The idea of creating a reading challenge about it occurred to me after commenting on someone’s blog about Shakespeare. You can sign up for the reading challenge IN THIS POST 🙂

Ideally it would be nice to read one play a month but given my own reading patterns and pace, I very much doubt that will happen. But I would like to, at the very least, read the following titles as I’ve been meaning to for ages (for the record, I haven’t read any of them but for some I know a wee bit about the plot):

Date Updated: 25 November 2014

It would also be nice to revisit one of the above plays that I mentioned if I have time but we’ll see 🙂

What about you? What are you favourite Shakespeare plays? Are there any you’d like to recommend to me? Or if you’re participating in the reading challenge, what plays will you be reading?

2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge [Sign-Up!]

Posted 1 December, 2013 by Lianne in Books / 14 Comments


2014 Shakespeare Reading Challenge hosted by caffeinatedlife.net

William Shakespeare is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, playright in the English speaking world. You’ve probably encountered his works one time or another, either in high school English or from a movie adaptation, a quote or a scene used in a novel or a reference made in a song. Maybe you’ve been meaning to check out his other works or maybe you’d like to re-visit a play of his you’ve enjoyed when you were in school. Well, this reading challenge is all about William Shakespeare’s works.

Here’s the brief rundown on the challenge:

  • This reading challenge runs from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014
  • You can join at any time
  • Any of William Shakespeare’s works are acceptable–his plays and his sonnets–so long as it is a text. No movie or television adaptations or theatre performances (unless you read the text first and then watched an adaptation…that’s okay) 😉
  • Linking your reviews to the Linky Widget THIS POST is optional but strongly recommended just so that we can share titles and thoughts with other bloggers and get to know each other in the process 🙂

Levels (sorry, not feeling very creative coming up with these levels, lol; I’m pretty laxed about this):

  • 1 – 4 plays — Occasional theatre-goer
  • 5 – 9 plays — Frequent theatre-goer
  • 10 – 12 plays — Regular theatre-goer

For a full list of Shakespeare’s works, please refer to this page or this page.

Interested in joining me for this reading challenge this year? Feel free to sign up in the linky widget below and post your reviews to THIS POST (which will remain open until 31 December 2014):

Please note: If, for whatever reason, the following widget refuses to allow your link through and the url you are inputting is too long, try using a shortlink (e.g. bit.ly) and try again.

Please spread the word (through Facebook, Twitter, etc.)–the more, the merrier! If you have any questions (or if the widget is acting up–this is the first time I’m using Simply Linked so *fingers crossed*), please feel free to drop me a comment in this post or email me. Have fun and I look forward to seeing what everyone’s reading next year 🙂

Note: image source used for this reading challenge’s graphic