Nickelini's 999

As someone said elsewhere in this group, actually completing the 999 challenge will be a bit of a stretch, but I'm going to give it a shot. I found the 888 challenge to be a great way to organize my reading. My goal is to significantly reduce my TBR mountains. Here are my categories:

1. The Oldest Books in My Closet ~ completed
2. Books for University ~ completed
3. Women Authors ~ completed
4. Prize Winners ~ completed
5. 1001 Books List ~ completed
6. Politics
6. Books Related to My Trip to England and Italy ~ Completed
7. Non-fiction ~ completed
8. Canadian Literature ~ completed
9. More Books from My Closet ~ completed




See you all in January!

Here is the link to my 888 thread:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/26979

I think you should get extra points for finishing category 1!

Well, I've done pretty well with "The Oldest Books in My Closet" category this year--I think I've read 7, and the year isn't over yet. One of the books I'd been packing around since 1986. It feels great to finally get these books read!

I love those first and ninth categories.

1. the Oldest Books in My Closet

1. Larry's Party, Carol Shields (Jan 9)
2. Travelers' Tales Tuscany, James O'Reilly ed. (Apr 29)
3. The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx (May 28)
4. The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim (July 11, read within 50 miles of where the book was set)
5. Paula, Isabel Allende (July 28)
6. Quite a Year for Plums, Bailey White (August 29)
7. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (September 1)
8. Sweeter Than All the World, Rudy Wiebe (September 9)
9. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway (Nov 25)

In 2009, as in 2008, one of my reading goals is to chip away at Mnt. TBR. I find this category helps me stay focused.

Had planned to read the Agony and the Ecstasy, by Irving Stone for this one, and I packed it along to Italy with the hope of inspiration. Alas, I just find the details of Michelangelo boring. Sorry. Made just under 100 of over 700 pages.

2. Books for University

1. The General, CS Forester (Jan 11)
2. Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West (Jan 19)
3. Jacob's Room, Virginia Woolf (Feb 4)
4. Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh (Feb 26)
5. Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (March 30)
6. Parade's End, Ford Maddox Ford (March 31)
7. The Idea of Canada, Leslie Armour (Sept 30)
8. Lament for a Nation, George Grant (October 21)
9. The Malaise of Modernity, Charles Taylor (Nov 29)

3. Women Authors

1. Helen of Troy, Margaret George (January 5)
2. Leonardo's Swans, Karen Essex (May 9)
3. Oranges are not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson (June 11)
4. The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood (June 18)
5. Divided Minds, Pamela Spiro Wagner (July 24)
6. Five Quarters of an Orange, Joanne Harris (July 31)
7. Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy, Ann Cornelisen (Aug 6)
8. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (August 17)
9. Brixton Beach, Roma Tearne (August 20)

4. Prize Winners

1. Larry's Party, Carol Shields (Jan 9) Orange Prize, 1997
2. The Great War and Modern Memory, (Feb 19) National Book Award for Arts & Letters, 1976; National Book Critics Award for Criticism
3. Mr Pip, Lloyd Jones (Apr 22) Commonwealth Writer's Prize
4. Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay (May 16) Giller Prize, 2007
5. The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx (May 28) Pulitzer Prize, 1994
6. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris (June 9) Lambda Award, humor, 2004
7. Remains of the Day, (July 6) Booker Prize, 1989
8. Beloved, Toni Morrison (September 6) 1988 Pulitzer Prize
9. The Diviners, Margaret Laurence (October 18) Governor General's Award

All prizes are fair game here, but I will focus on Giller, Booker and Orange Prize winners.

5. Books from the 1001 List

1. after the quake, Haruki Murakami (Jan 12)
2. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (Mar 4)
3. Parade's End, Ford Maddox Ford (March 31)
4. Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho (April 11)
5. The Graduate, Charles Webb (May 31)
6. Oranges are not the only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson (June 11)
7. The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole (June 22)
8. Death in Venice, Thomas Mann (July 18)
9. The Child in Time, Ian McEwan (August 5)

6. Books Related to My Trip to England and Italy

1. The Lost Painting, Jonathan Harr (April 16) - Italy
2. Travelers' Tales Tuscany, James O'Reilly ed. (Apr 29)
3. Where Angels Fear to Tread, EM Forster (May 4)
4. Leonardo's Swans, Karen Essex (May 9)
5. Portrait of a Lady, Henry James (June 7)
6. The London Scene, Virginia Woolf (June 24)
7. Short Stories in Italian ed. Nick Roberts (July 6)
8. The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnnim (July 11, read within 50 miles of where the book was set)
9. Immaculate Deception, Iain Pears (July 18)

7. Non-fiction

1. Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, (Jan 22)
2. A Fine Brush on Ivory, (Jan 27)
3. Chaucer, (Feb 3)
4. 100 Ways America is Screwing Up the World, John Tirman (Apr 30)
5. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, Jessica Valenti (May 13)
6. Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff (June 24)
7. Kingdom Coming: the Rise of Christian Nationalism, Michelle Goldberg (August 21)
8. The Things That Matter:What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life, Edward Mendelson (August 26)
9. Thames: Sacred River, Peter Ackroyd (September 23)

8. Canadian Literature

1. Fruit:a Novel about a Boy and His Nipples, Brian Francis (January 2)
2. Generation X, Douglas Coupland (April 8)
3. Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay (May 16)
4. The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood (June 18)
5. Halfbreed, Maria Campbell (August 10)
6. As For Me and My House, Sinclair Ross (Sept 22)
7. Under the Ribs of Death, John Marlyn (Oct 5)
8. Kiss of the Fur Queen, Tomson Highway (Oct 27)
9. Kappa Child, Hiromi Goto (Nov 5)

9. More Books from My Closet

1. The Frozen Thames, Helen Humphreys (April 2)
2. M is for Magic, Neil Gaiman (May 5)
3. Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, Peter Goldsworthy
4. The End of the Alphabet, CS Richardson (July 16)
5. Unformed Landscape, Peter Stamm (July 24)
6. Green Grass, Running Water, Thomas King (August 12)
7. the Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham (Nov 8)
8. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen (Dec 16)
9. Disgrace, JM Coetzee (Dec 20)

The TBR pile catch-all. The only rule for this category is that the book must have made it to my closet or bookshelf by Dec 31, 2008.

10. List of Duplicates

Viva la duplicate! I'm a big fan of the overlap. It's a sign of efficient reading and effective planning. In that spirit, this year I am ripping this list wide opening and allowing unlimited overlaps. For simplicity's sake, I'm only putting any one book in two categories though (even though it might qualify for several).

1. Larry's Party
2. Parade's End
3. Travelers' Tales Tuscany
4. Leonardo's Swans
5. Late Nights on Air
6. The Shipping News
7. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
8. The Robber Bride
9. The Enchanted April

and so on . . .

I came up with another category I want to include: Books No One Else Is Reading. I notice that there are some books that everyone seems to be reading and talking about (Half of a Yellow Sun, for just one example). Those books are great, but all those other books that are less known get neglected. Unfortunately, I can't think of a category that I want to get rid of, so either I'll just have to work these in to the existing categories, or save it for next year. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll just keep an informal list here:

Books No One Else Is Reading that Deserve to be Read (these books are all overlaps and included in a previous category)

1. Fruit: a Novel About a Boy and His Nipples, Brian Francis
2. The General, CS Forester
3. Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, Peter Goldsworthy
4. Short Stories in Italian, Nick Roberts editor
5. The End of the Alphabet, CS Richardson

How about the possibility of reading a category called Unsuggested - the books your unsuggester believes you will not like? This might be too much for 9 books, really, but it might be a fun experiment to read a couple of these apparently unsuitable tomes...

Yea Unlimited Overlapps!

We may need to form an Overlappers anonymous here. Maybe a 9/9/x group. Perhaps an award for the most overlaps.

Bravo! Inspiration!

1. Fruit: a Novel About a Boy and His Nipples, Brian Francis

category: Canadian lit

comments: post 9, here

I think your Books No One Else is Reading category may backfire. I can't wait to see what you read for it. You may start a run on those titles!

Oh, you really shouldn't encourage me. I just added Fruit to the list. Initially, I wasn't going to because it is in the CBC Canada Reads 2009 contest, so lots of people probably are reading it, but there are only 80-something copies on LT, and it was worth reading.

2. Helen of Troy, Margaret George

category: Women Writers

Comments at post 18

3. Larry's Party, Carol Shields

categories: Oldest Book in My Closet & Prize Winners. I could also put this in my Women Writers and Canadian Lit categories--talk about efficient and well-planned reading! Anyway, for now I'll stick to the first two, because seeing the book repeated too many times would get boring, and we can't have that.

Comments here

I liked your review of Larry's Party but have to say that I really loved that book. More than anything, she is such a good writer and there are images that remain in my mind (like the cut-in-half maze) although it's been years since I read the book.

I look forward to your future commentary.

4. The General, CS Forester

Category: Books for University

Comments at: Post #32

5. after the quake, Haruki Murakami

Category: 1001 Books

Comments at: Post #33

6. Return of the Soldier, Rebecca West

Category: Books for University

Comments at: Post #42

7. Terry Jones' Medieval Lives, Terry Jones

Category: Non-fiction

Comments at: Post #43

8. A Fine Brush on Ivory: an appreciation of Jane Austen, Richard Jenkyns

Category: Non-fiction

Comments at: Post #44

9. Chaucer, Peter Ackroyd

Category: Non-fiction

Comments at: Post #64

10. Jacob's Room, Virginia Woolf

Category: Books for University

Comments to follow next week on my other thread.

11. The Great War and Modern Memory, Paul Fussell

Category: Prize Winners -- not the kind of prize winner I envisioned when I created that category, but it fits, so voila!

Comments at: Post #74

12. Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh

Category: Books for University

Comments to follow at my thread. I have to think about what I want to say about this book--I definitely liked it, but I'm not sure what I actually think about it.

>32 Nickelini:, This is in my pile of new books, Nickelini. Glad to hear you liked it - I'll be waiting for further comments!

13. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Category: 1001 Books

Comments to follow.

14. The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

Category: Books for University

Comments to follow on my 75 Book Challenge thread later today.

15. Parade's End, Ford Maddox Ford

Categories: Books for University and 1001 Books . . . you better believe I'm using this one in two categories. It took me ten and a half weeks to read. And every minute of it was work. If I could, I'd put it in all nine categories. I want those hours back! Soooooo happy to have finished this one.

Phew - you have been busy! How are you going to have hours for travel books?!!

School is almost over, so pass those travel books!

And funny you should mention that Julie -- I decided to change one of my 999 categories. Since it was empty, out went the "political" category and in came "Books Related to My Trip to England and Italy". All the books I had lined up for the political category will either have to wait for next year, or fit themselves into one of the other categories.

>36 Nickelini: Why was it hard work`? Was it boring? (I know nothing of the book).

Oh, you're missing so much fun! Not. Well, kinda.

It's an 836 page modernist novel with shifting consciousness and time lines. Which would be okay if I cared about anything the author wrote, but I really didn't. It's raised lots of fun conversation though, which you can read starting at post 92 and running through post 106.

16. The Frozen Thames, Helen Humphreys

Category: More Books from My Closet

Comments to follow at my 75 Book Challenge thread later today.

17. Generation X, Douglas Coupland

Category: Canadian literature

Comments: Post #109

18. Veronika Decides to Die, Paulo Coelho

Category: 1001 Books

19. The Lost Painting, Jonathan Harr

Category: Books for My Trip to England and Italy

As usual, comments at my 75 Book Challenge thread.

#39 Great idea!!! How are your plans going - I keep thinking of you and your trip ....

Haven't done much yet--I wrote my final exam this afternoon, and had family in town from California, so I've been busy with other things. The next on my list is to update my passport. But you'll be the first to know what we plan to do! Thanks for your thoughts :-)

I just borrowed The Frozen Thames from the library. I raced out as soon as I saw your comments on it on your other thread. It is a beautiful looking book. I don't think I will be able to wait too liong too read it!

I'll be interested to see your review of The Canterbury Tales. I read them for the challenge and found them frankly, underwhelming. There were a few here and there that I liked, but the majority were not my thing at all. I appreciate their historical value, but that doesn't mean that I liked the stories.

I loved The Canterbury Tales. You can read my comments at

Strange how that happens sometimes . . . is it me, or LT? Anyway, I'll try to insert the link again:

Sorry, I don't know why sometimes LT won't let me insert a link. Anyway, you can find the link to my 75 Book Challenge thread at post 43, above. Once you're there, you can find my Canterbury Tales comments at post #91. Sorry for the roundabout route.

20. Mr Pip, Lloyd Jones

Category: Prize winners

I did find the post, and I have to agree that the prologue was fun. I think that was my favorite part. And I think that reading it in modern English, as I did, made it easier to read, but it did take something away from the experience.

21. Travelers' Tales Tuscany, edited by James O'Reilly

Had to put this one on two lists: it's one of the oldest books in my closet, but I'd never have pulled it from the bottom of the TBR pile if I wasn't looking forward to a trip to Italy.

22. 100 Ways America is Screwing Up the World, John Tirman

Category: Non-fiction (would have gone in my Politics category, but I postponed that heading until next year).

23. Where Angels Fear to Tread, EM Forster

Category: Book for my trip to England and Italy.

This book is perfect for this category because it is about people in England who travel to Italy, so it covers both countries.

24. M is for Magic, Neil Gaiman

Category: Nine More Books from My Closet

Chipping away at Mnt. TBR.

25. Leonardo's Swans, Karen Essex

Category: I read this book for two reasons, and they align perfectly with two of my categories--Books for my Trip to England and Italy, and Books by Women (I've had a too long stretch of books written by men).

Comments on my 75 Book Challenge thread.

26. Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam, Peter Goldsworthy

Category: More Books From My Closet

Comments to follow May 12 on my 75 Book thread.

#50 Maybe Canterbury should be added to your trip! Actually, it is in completely the opposite direction!

It's tempting! Maybe if I had two weeks, maybe on my next trip . . .

27. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, Jessica Valenti

Category: Non-fiction

Excellent book! Comments to follow on my 75 Book Challenge thread May 14.

28. Late Nights on Air, Elizabeth Hay

Category: Prize Winners and Canadian Literature

Comments on my 75 Book Challenge Thread, post #170

29. The Shipping News, E. Annie Proulx

Categories: Oldest Books in My Closet & Prize Winners

Comments to follow on my 75 Book thread at some later time.

30. The Graduate, Charles Webb

Category: Books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

Comments at my 75 Book thread.

31, Portrait of a Lady, Henry James

Category: Books for my trip to England and Italy

Comments as always at my 75 Book Challenge thread.

32. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris

Category: Award Winners

Comments at always over at the 75 thread.

33. Oranges are not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson

Categories: Women authors, 1001 books

Comments and discussion over at 75 books . . .

34. The Robber Bride, Margaret Atwood

Categories: I read this book for many reasons, and it fits four of my categories, but I'll just take Canadian Literature and Woman Writers, because those are the two main reasons I read it for 999.

Comments to follow on my 75 Book thread once I digest this one--I liked it a LOT.

35. The Castle of Otranto: a Gothic Story, Horace Walpole

Categories: Written by a Brit about Italy, I'm putting this one in my Books for My Trip category, even though in the end it had little to do with Italy, really.

Comments: good thing it was only 92 pages long.

36. Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines, Nic Sheff

Categories: Non-fiction.

Comments to follow in the usual place.

good thing it was only 92 pages long

I think I had a similar reaction to Otranto. It wasn't particularly great, but it was too short to get bored with. It helps that Walpole mostly keeps things moving along, even if not always with much skill.

Yeah, that describes it well.

37. The London Scene, Virginia Woolf

Category: Books for my trip to Italy and England.

This was a reread, but I added it to the list because the only reason I read it now is because of my trip.

38. Remains of the Day

Comments to follow.

You're meant to be away from the computer eating gelato!
And I only just found you over here, so a good thing you're not. Looking forward to your ROTD comments, because I adored that book.

So - you found a computer!! How is Tuscany?

39. The Enchanted April, Elizabeth von Arnim

40. Short Stories in Italian, Nick Roberts, editor

41. Immaculate Deception, Iain Pears

42. The End of the Alphabet, CS Richardson

43. Death in Venice, Thomas Mann

Comments eventually to follow on my 75 book thread . . .

44. Divided Minds, Pamela Spiro Wagner

Comments at their usual place . . .

It might give you a taste of revenge on Ford Madox Ford to read what Ernest Hemingway thought about him in A Moveable Feast.

Bwha-ha-ha-ha-ha. Sounds deliciously evil. I'll have to hunt that one down.

45. Unformed Landscape, Peter Stamm

Comments as usual (later today).

46. Five Quarters of an Orange, Joanne Harris

Category: Books Written by Women

Comments at my 75 Book thread.

47. Paula, Isabel Allende

Forgot to note this one. I put it in my oldest books category because someone lent it to me ages ago. I like to return books promptly.

48. The Child in Time, Ian McEwan

This book completes my 1001 Books category. Two categories down, seven to go!

49. Any Four Women Could Rob the Bank of Italy, Ann Cornelisen -- category: Women Writers

50. Halfbreed, Maria Campbell -- category: Canadian literature

51. Green Grass, Running Water, Thomas King -- category: 9 More Books from My Closet

52. To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf -- category: Women Writers

53. Brixton Beach, Roma Tearne

With this book I complete the Women Authors category.

54. Kingdom Coming: the Rise of Christian Nationalism, Michelle Goldberg

category: non-fiction

55. The Things That Matter: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life, Edward Mendelson

category: non-fiction

56. Quite a Year for Plums, Bailey White
57. Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

Both for my category: The Oldest Books in My Closet

58. Beloved, Toni Morrison

Prize winners category; comments on my new thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/72139

59. Sweeter Than All the World, Rudy Wiebe

Woo-hoo, this is number 8 for the Oldest Books in My Closet category. One more to go. Comments to follow in the regular place.

60. As For Me and My House, Sinclair Ross

Canadian lit category. Reviews on my second 75 book thread. This was a good book for this category, because it's part of the CanLit canon.

61. Thames: Sacred River, Peter Ackroyd

With this book I complete my Non-fiction category.

62. The Idea of Canada, Leslie Armour

Category: Books for University

63. Under the Ribs of Death, John Marlyn

Category: Canadian literature.

64. The Diviners, Margaret Laurence

category: Prize Winners

With this novel, I've now completed my Prize Winners category. When I came up with this one, I envisioned reading Giller, Booker and Orange prize winners. It turned out a little differently--the winners I read were:

1 Orange Prize
1 National Book Award
1 Commonwealth Writer's Prize
1 Giller Prize
2 Pulitzer Prizes
1 Lambda Award
1 Booker Prize
1 Governor General's Award

65. Lament for a Nation, George Grant

Category: books for university

66. Kiss of the Fur Queen, Tomson Highway

Category: CanLit

67. Kappa Child, Hiromi Goto

With this book, I complete my Canadian Literature for this year (this is an annual category).

No more Canadians for the rest of the year? Are there really no Canadians hiding in your closet?

You know me too well! Of course there are lots of Canadians lurking that I'll get to yet this year. They just won't get to join this particular category! I'm so glad you care :-)

68. The Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham

One from the More Books From My Closet category.

69. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

With this one, I complete the Oldest Books in My Closet category. In truth, there are still a lot of old books in my closet, so this category will return in 2010 for its 3rd appearance. I bought this book in about 1992 and I'm actually glad I read it now because I think I got a lot more out of it than I would have then.

Congrats, Joyce! That's a hard category to get through. You're a better person than I am for reading and finishing Hemingway--or maybe I'm just not old enough! ;0 You've made me curious... Just what's in that closet?

Bonnie - Next time you try Hemingway, go to gradesaver.com or sparknotes.com, or one of those other high school and college sites and read a little of what they have to say about the book. I find it helps me to get behind what the author is trying to do. It worked well with this last one because the writing is so sparse, it's sometimes difficult to see what's actually going on when all you see is characters sitting around drinking.

Sorry, no skeletons or hidden sexuality in my closet--it's just where I physically store all my books (no room for nice bookcases in my house--but one day!). I have a few books that I've packed around from the 80s and 90s, but most books are less than five years old. I'm trying to get all the oldest stuff read.

Aint gonna be no next time for Mr. H, sorry! And, LOL, I was talking about the books, Joyce! I'm hoping you'll list them on a new thread referencing the "skeletons in my closet" and let us opine on which books you should unearth first!

Maybe I'll do that when I finish with this term of school--it's quite a long list!

So did you like The Sun Also Rises? I read A Moveable Feast earlier this year, and in it he explains that he always tries to leave out anything unimportant, and also some important things. Every time he rewrote something, it became shorter, so that a full page could become a short paragraph.

Yes, I did like it, although I didn't love it. My comments are on my 75 book thread:

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=72139

I can see how he used that shortening. An interesting technique that I think loses many readers :-)

70. The Malaise of Modernity, Charles Taylor

One more category down--Books for University. Only two books and one category left to complete--exactly as planned

touchstone doesn't seem to want to load.

71. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

On the 234th anniversary of the birth of Jane Austen, I finished Northanger Abbey. I put it in the More Books From My Closet category. One more book to go to complete my 999!

Brilliant Joyce - respect!!

72. Disgrace, JM Coetzee

One more for the More Books From My Closet category--and I'm done! The 999 challenge is complete!

Very nice! Congrats on finishing before Christmas.

Congratulations - interesting two books to finish with as well.