LauraBrook's 999 Challenge

I'm still trying to decide if these categories will remain (if I stopped looking at other 999 categories and getting filled with ideas, that would help) or if some of them will change or disappear entirely.

A. Contemplate a Classic

B. Children & Teen

C. Travel Literature

D. Unfinished Business

E. Guilty Pleasures

F. Mystery & Suspense

G. Biography, Autobiography & Memoir

H. New in the last 9 years

I. Genres

Some overlapping may occur, but I'll try to avoid it as much as possible.

A. Contemplate a Classic - titles picked by my bookclub, going on 7 years!

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (March 6) 196 pgs

2. Parnassus On Wheels by Christopher Morley (May 1) 105 pgs

3. Candide by Voltaire (June 4) 122 pgs

4. The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov (July 4) 288 pgs

5. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie (August 7) 216 pgs

6. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (October 5) 405 pgs

7. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (October 24) 209 pgs

8. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (October 25) 125 pgs

9. The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart (November 8) 286 pgs

I removed 1 book from this category (in Sept 09) because we will be spending the last 2 months of bookclub reading Les Miz and I won't be able to finish it before the end of the year.

I added book 9 back in on Oct 25. I read 2 extra classics outside of my Classics Bookgroup, so the next book posted here will be the official November pick.

B. Children & Teen

1. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (March 11) 534 pgs

2. The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Barbara Kerley (March 14) 48 pgs

3. The Boy of a Thousand Faces by Brian Selznick (March 14) 35 pgs

4. Gossip Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar (March 18) 199 pgs

5. The Houdini Box by Brian Selznick (March 19) 56 pgs

6. The Titanic, An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple (April 15) 112 pgs

7. The Dulcimer Boy by Tor Seidler (May 5) 155 pgs

8. Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dav Pilkey (June 22) 175 pgs

9. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (Sept 14) 149 pgs

10. The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams (Oct 1) 232 pgs

+ The Mousewife by Rumer Godden (Oct 1) 34 pgs

+ The Unscary Scarecrow by John Patience (Oct 1) 21 pgs

C. Travel Literature

1. First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How A Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third World Adventure Changed My Life by Eve Brown-Waite (May 29) 306 pgs

2. Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William Anderson (July 30) 118 pgs

3. Islands Apart: A Year on the Edge of Civilization by Ken McAlpine (Aug 14) 256 pgs

4. Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story by Christina Thompson (October 24) 262 pgs

5. Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It by Geoff Dyer (November 24) 257 pgs

6. Venice is a Fish: A Sensual Guide by Tiziano Scarpa (November 25) 153 pgs

7. Dream of a Thousand Lives by Karen Connelly (December 27) 206 pgs

8.

9.

D. Unfinished Business - books that I started and never finished, some of them have been in progress for years.

1. The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley (February 16) 253 pgs

2. It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh (April 9) 230 pgs

3. Civilisation by Kenneth Clark (May 5) 359 pgs

4. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee (October 24) 225 pgs

5. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster (December 20) 400 pgs

6.

7.

Removed another from this category on Oct 25 to make up for the change in my Classics category. This is the one I'm having the hardest time making progress with. Here's hoping I get it completed!

E. Guilty Pleasures

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (April 29) 498 pgs

2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (May 6) 563 pgs

3. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (May 15) 629 pgs

4. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (May 16) 754 pgs

5. Full Moon Rising by Keri Arthur (July 18) 291 pgs

6. Kissing Sin by Keri Arthur (Aug 13) 400 pgs

7. Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur (Sept 6) 371 pgs

8. Dangerous Games by Keri Arthur (Sept 12) 356 pgs

9. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs (Sept 14) 155 pgs

10. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (Feb 18) 250 pgs

11. New York Public Library's Books of the Century by Elizabeth Diefendorf (April 6) 229 pgs

F. Mystery & Suspense

1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie (March 6) 196 pgs

2. Hercule Poirot's Early Cases by Agatha Christie (March 25) 250 pgs

3. Mallory's Oracle by Carol O'Connell (April 25) 286 pgs

4. He Who Whispers by John Dickson Carr (May 5) 358 pgs

5. Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt (May 23) 314 pgs

6. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (July 3) 569 pgs

7. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich (July 4) 309 pgs

8. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (August 23) 378 pgs

9. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (Sept 24) 308 pgs

G. Biography, Autobiography & Memoir (both factual and fictional)

1. So Me by Graham Norton (February 1) 341 pgs

2. The Girl from Botany Bay by Carolly Erickson (July16) 217 pgs

3. Scenes From My Life by Judi Dench (July 20) 222 pgs

4. Incidents in the Life of a Slave-Girl by Harriet Jacobs (October 9) - I'm reading this through dailylit.com, so I'm going to go by what Amazon has to say... 256 pgs

5. Straight Up And Dirty by Stephanie Klein (August 23) 291 pgs

6. Chocolate, Please by Lisa Lampanelli (October 16) 292 pgs

7. American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson (November 2) 268 pgs

8. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (November 7) 153 pgs

9. Beg, Borrow, Steal by Michael Greenberg (December 6) 222 pgs

10. Madame de Stael:The First Modern Woman by Francine du Plessix Gray (December 31) 224 pgs

H. New in the last 9 years

1. The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier (April 9) 250 pgs

2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (April 27) 423 pgs

3. He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt (May 30) 187 pgs

4. Shelf Discovery by Lizzie Skurnick (September 2) 425 pgs

5. Embraced By Darkness by Keri Arthur (Sept 14) 355 pgs

6. The Darkest Kiss by Keri Arthur (Sept 29) 356 pgs

7. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen (Oct 18) 324 pgs

8. A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen (October 25) 307 pgs

9. The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle (December 2) 223 pgs

I. Genres

1. SciFi: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (February 6) 309 pgs

2. Science:

3. Horror: The Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King (February 9) 128 pgs

4. Poetry: The Pinnacled Tower by Thomas Hardy (March 31) 146 pgs

5. Organization: The Clutter-Busting Handbook: Clean It Up, Clear It Out, and Keep Your Life Clutter-Free by Rita Emmett (Oct 6) 180 pgs

6. History:

7. Short Story: The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekov (February 8) 17 pgs

So are you going to read Parnassus on Wheels now that you've finished Morley's other book? And what did you think of Haunted Bookshop?

I talked to Nan last night and she is probably going to choose Parnassus on Wheels for her next pick. If she doesn't, I'll read it for sure. I really liked The Haunted Bookshop. I didn't expect such a mystery in the middle of the book, but it was such a great surprise. Very charming and cozy, and I'm so glad I finally finished it! Any other recs for similar books (aside from POW)?

If she does pick POW, that'll be a very easy month for me (and Suzanne, since she read my copy of it).

As far as something similar -- not so much. You could try Dorothy Sayers, or maybe P.G. Wodehouse or more Evelyn Waugh. Sayers would be more mystery, Wodehouse and Waugh more satire, of course. I haven't read her, but I have the sense that Barbara Pym might work: try Excellent Women or Crampton Hodnet.

Or if you want to get really adventuresome, you could try to track down Zuleika Dobson. Beerbohm's book is probably closest in feel, but it's hard to find. I had to get it through interlibrary loan.

See you soon.

So how are you choosing which children's titles you're reading? You seem to be on a Selznick kick, since he wrote or is associated with all three books in that category so far.

p.s. -- If you post your thoughts about your books in separate messages from the lists themselves, it keeps your thread from going dormant. Found that out last year with the 888.

I updated number 2 in my Genre category, changing it from "Humor" to "Science". I was having a hard time figuring out a good book to pick for the humor subject (I was going to try "Mapp & Lucia", but didn't know if it would qualify or not), and I have two Science books here that I'd really like to read. I'm planning on reading "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes, thanks to multiple very enthusiastic recs by a friend (thanks, Renee!), and after reading just a bit of it, I'm looking forward to it a lot. Hopefully once I finish the next book for my bookclub (Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos) I'll be able to start "Eve".

On a progressive note, I'm currently only reading 7 books, as opposed to my normal 13 or 14. Yahoo! Normally I end up going nowhere fast, and now I tend to be getting somewhere slightly faster. I'm working up to an "adagio" pace. Good thing I stretched first! :)

Finished "The Pinnacled Tower" by Thomas Hardy tonight. I picked this up in college, secondhand, after I read "Jude the Obscure" and fell in love with Hardy. I flipped through the book semi-obsessively for about a month, and then when I fell in love with Edith Wharton, this was left by the way-side.

In trying to up my numbers for this challenge, I thought reading some poetry would be a nice break and would be fairly quick. Instead, I got sucked in and read every one of them hungrily. I also have an edition of the "essential Hardy", and hope to dip in to and out of that for awhile. My favorites in this volume are all fairly depressing, talking about funerals, death, rain, and the like. I think that's why I like "Jude" so much - it's depressing, but still real. I've always been attracted to things that are quote-unquote depressing, classical music in minor keys, slow songs compared to fast, etc. A little heavy, perhaps, but I guess that's how I really am.

Anyone have any recs for similar poets? I also really like Tennyson, Dickenson, Frost, and Arnold.

Do you like Longfellow? I enjoy his shorter poems, but if you like Tennyson you might like the longer ones too.

I do like Longfellow, though he isn't necessarily one of my favorites. Length of a poem doesn't necessarily do much for me, it's mostly about the poem itself. I'll have to check my poetry shelf at home here and see if I have any of his work. Otherwise, oh no, I'll have to check out a book from the public library! ;)

Thanks, VictoriaPL!

Fantastic categories. I wish I had picked a travel literature one myself as I love nothing more than travelling. And of course reading about travelling.

I had my regular bookclub meeting last night. I can't add the book we read to this list because I didn't finish it, but I wanted to at least acknowledge its' presence somewhere.

We read Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos, and no one had it finished by the time we met. I tried very hard to like it, and after getting almost halfway through, I gave up. I couldn't tell exactly who the three soldiers were supposed to be (I had to check the back of the book to find out), and there were so many men that pass in and out of the book with similar names that it was hard to keep track of who was who.

Perhaps it was because of the time it was written (1921), or perhaps it is simply how Dos Passos writes, but there didn't seem to be much of a plot here. The point of view is passed from man to man, and they all seem to be wandering around France . Battles are not discussed, nor is any real action discussed. You have no real sense of where they are going, why they are going wherever they are going, or what the end result is that they're fighting for (aside from the obvious). The reader is left to assume that things happen, or that someone is injured by where they go to next, not by saying outright that "he was shot" or anything.

I might have had different expectations of what this book would be like, but I certainly would not have guessed that reading this would have left me feeling so blah about it. It's about soldiers in WWI! I expected some kind of action, or more personal stories of the three men, but I didn't find any of that, and neither did anyone else in the group last night. I can't say I'd recommend this, but I can't un-recommend this either. It was just middle of the road.

I would like to read a book about WWI, maybe something in the vein of what I thought this one was going to be. I have Citizen Soldiers here, unread, but that's about WWII. Anyone have anything to recommend?

It's been a fairly productive reading day at home today. I love pajama days!

I finished "It's All Too Much..." by Peter Walsh, a book that I think I started maybe a year and a half ago. My rationale for not finishing it sooner was that a) I wanted to go through each room in the order that the book had it in, so I was waiting, and b) I wanted to read it when I was feeling really alert so I could really think about the advice and then apply it instantly. Makes lots of sense, right? Gah. (That would explain why my house is still a cluttered mess 6 years later.)

I also finished "The Lady and the Unicorn", by Tracy Chevalier. I liked it. Didn't love it, but I liked it. Ms. Chevaliers' books are always readable, though they seem to be all written in the same style. (Characters rotate chapters, overt sexuality, etc...) The other thing about her books is that they're very readable. I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars. I'll read the rest of her books at some point, though I'm not necessarily in a rush. After all, there are about 600 books that are unread on my shelves!

I finally finished "Mallory's Oracle" last night, after having it for three weeks from the library. I first picked it up after reading rave reviews about the book and Kathleen Mallory's character here on LT. I kept trying, really trying, to like it for the first 100 pages, then for the next 100 I kept thinking "I must have missed something, there's a lot going on, maybe it'll click in to place if I keep reading", and then for the last 86 pages I was interested, and then didn't really care. It was one of the weirdest reading experiences I've had in a long time. Usually, if a book I'm reading doesn't grab me by page 50 (or at the most, 100), I put it down, forget all about it, and pick up one of the other 8 books I'm in the middle of. But because this one was so highly praised, I kept going.

Now, I'm not saying that I wish I hadn't read it, but the whole experience left me feeling kind of...blah. There were diverse characters, an interesting plot, magic, investigations - and yet I didn't really care what happened so much. The killer (who I won't reveal) seemed fairly obvious to me from the start, but with so many people and backstories and keeping who-told-what-to-whom straight, it was fairly confusing. I feel like I should have taken notes.

To sum up, I'd give this one three stars. It was interesting, but didn't really pull me in or make me care about any of the characters, save Charles. Now, if there was a book about him, I'd read that for sure. Other than that, I'm glad it was another book to knock off of this 999 Challenge.

Monthly Tally (including books that are read outside the Challenge)

January: 0

February: 6

March: 9

April: 7

May: 10

June: 2

July: 7

August: 5

September: 8

October: 13 (+2 extras)

November: 5

December: 5

Just in the nick of time...

I've just finished "My Sister's Keeper" for a bookclub tonight, with a half hour to spare. Because of a couple of friends who work at a bookstore and have met Ms. Picoult, and because her books are always incredibly popular, I had avoided reading anything by Jodi Picoult previously. (I heard she was, let's say, distracted and brash.) And I figured that anyone who writes books as fast as she does and who is so well-read (by lots of people, not necessarily her personal reading habits) couldn't be anything more than fluff or simple or somehow below me. Hello, reading snob!

Reading this book was an experience. It was a very fast read (I think it took me 5 hours total), it made me think, it made my cry, it made me angry and upset, sad and fragile...all sorts of things. Considering that it had such a heavy plot line, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish it, or if I'd throw up my hands in frustration and say "I give up!". It had a (now not-so-unexpected) twist, but at the time I found myself crying when it happened. And for all of the times when I was frustrated with Sara, or feeling desperate for Jesse, I'm so glad I read this book.

I was going to give this book four stars, but maybe I should give it five. Considering my reading experience, isn't this what we look for each time we pick up a book? To be moved and challenged and shocked and sorrowful and happy? And isn't it amazing that one person sitting down and putting pen to paper can conduct all of these emotions out of not just one person, but millions? The pen truly is mightier than the sword. Five stars after all, for this wonderful, thought-provoking book.

And Jodi Picoult just might be my new go-to when I'm standing at the library thinking "what book should I take home with me this time?". Not that I don't have hundreds of others on my shelves here at home, but you know what I mean. And now, for the big question - what other recommendations do you LT'ers have for her books?

I'm so glad you enjoyed it - it's my favorite Picoult.
I also liked The Pact (touchstone doesn't want to load), Songs of the Humpback Whale, Mercy and The Tenth Circle.

thanks for your message on my 999 thread! i'm keeping my eye on your list as well!

I'll do a brief review of the books I've finished in the last week.

"Parnassus On Wheels" - so great. It was wonderful to read about how Miss McGill, Bock, and Mifflin got their start. And while it was a short book, there certainly was a lot of action that happened. Reading it made me feel like I was right there and that my modern life didn't exist at all. It reminded me of what it felt like to read books when I was in grade school. I can't recommend this and "The Haunted Bookshop" enough. If you're in the mood for a charming little book, I'd pick both of these.

"Twilight" - I aboslutely loved this book, and despite the fact that it only took me a few hours to read it, I absolutely gobbled it up. No, it may not be the best written book around, but it's incredibly readable. I felt totally pulled in to the story. This is the book that my dreamy 16 year-old self always wanted to read. A great storyline, great characters - it seems so real and possible in some ways. We talked about this series at my classics bookclub this past Friday, and the general consensus seemed to be that it was ridiculous and poorly written and "for the masses". I agree that all of those things may be true, but who cares? It's a great book. I'm going to start "New Moon" tonight, and I can't wait to see what happens to Edward, Bella, and the whole gang next.

"Civilisation" - I first started this book in the spring of 2000, while I was touring Europe with my college concert choir. We used this book as our main textbook for classes, and visited at least a third of the sites and works of art in this book. Amazing that little old me has seen and experienced so much history! I really enjoyed reading the entire book by Mr. Clark, it's extremely impressive and great for a history nerd like me. So glad to have read this completely, even though it made me quite nostalgic and wistful. Looking forward to watching the TV series this weekend.

"He Who Whispers" - Really good. I didn't see the many twists coming, I just enjoyed the ride. I found out about this book because, according to fantasticfiction.co.uk, this was one of Agatha Christie's favorite books. Who needs a better recommendation than that? It's wonderfully old-fashioned, with plenty of interesting characters and references to historical figures to keep it rooted in "reality". I'm happily passing this along to my mother, who loves mystery novels.

"The Dulcimer Boy" - A wonderful story about twin boys deserted on their aunt and uncles' doorstep after their mothers' death with only each other and a dulcimer to their name. One of the twins runs away from home, and ends up playing his dulcimer in a sea town, running in to his estranged father, the mayor of New York, and in an effort to find his brother, leaves fame and lodging with strangers to find his mute brother once again. A fantastic little book, with fantastic drawings by Brian Selznick. A charming, imaginative story.

"New Moon" - Loved this book as well. I read this very quickly, with my heart in my throat a lot of the time. And, because I am apparently a swoony teenager, I cried. Three times. Yeah. This series is such great escapism, I found myself annoyed that I had to work yesterday and couldn't finish it. I mean, really?!? Don't people understand when you are trying to read a great book uninterrupted? We should have "book days" along with "vacation days". Sigh.... Anyway, this book took a turn in plot that I didn't see coming, but totally adored. Italy, no matter what the circumstance, is always a great space to spend some literary time. Rest assured that I'll be picking up Eclipse very shortly.

"Eclipse" was fantastic, and "Breaking Dawn" was too. It took me a week and a half to read E because I had to work so much and I knew that if I really started reading for at least 10 minutes I'd have a very difficult time putting the book down. I finally finished that yesterday afternoon and picked up BD right away, finishing it this afternoon. I'm so glad that I've read them all, but I'm also bummed that I've read them all. I'll have to give "Midnight Sun" a read on stepheniemeyer.com to get another fix. But maybe I'll just re-read the books before the movies come out. I always meant to do that with the "Harry Potter" series and never did. I'll try again.

I loved this whole series of books, it was such pure, emotional, fun escapism...just the reading kick-in-the-pants I was looking for!

I thought it might be a bit of a motivator and encourager to keep track of how many pages I have read for this challenge. To date, that total is....

7,430 PAGES!!!

Too bad I'm not counting magazine pages also, I'm sure that the number would be at least tripled. (I'm a bit of a magazine whore too, not just a book whore. What can I say?)

"Mistress of Mellyn" was wonderful. It reminded me of "Rebecca" and "Jane Eyre", two of my favorites. I'd always heard of Victoria Holt and hadn't had the chance to pick her up until I got this ARC from LT a few months ago. I'm a little behind, but I wanted to finish this before it got to be embarrassingly late. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Martha, and was only half surprised by the twist at the end. The language and settings were wonderful, and appropriately atmospheric for a romantic suspense novel. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Holts' work in the future!

"First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria" was a wonderful escape. I've always loved reading travel literature (hence the 999 category) and am so glad to have FINALLY read something about Africa! You're right there with Eve as she battles giant flying termites, job-seeking frustrations, and all of the ridiculousness and laughter that comes along with living in a different country. I highly recommend this book!

"He's Just Not That Into You" - I had absolutely no intention of ever reading this book. Nothing against it, but the subject didn't interest me. A book that explains men to women? Bah! Don't need it - I've never had a problem "interpreting" what men were really saying to me. If anything, I beat them to the punch. But after my best friend (who is a non-reader) read it a few times and bought a copy of the book for another mutual friend, I asked to borrow it.

I'm glad I read this book - it was pretty insightful, honest, positive, and made very good no-nonsense points. I could see myself being one of the example women a few times, and Greg's advice was right on target. It's what I tell my friends all the time but can't seem to necessarily apply to myself. It's a great advice book. I may have to buy a copy for my own reference in the future! I'm shocked!

"Candide" - It was okay. I've heard of this book for a very long time and never knew what it was about. The plot was a little ridiculous ("oh, my trusted philosopher is dead"....30 pgs later, "oh, thank heavens, you are alive when it is not at all possible!") I know it's a satire, blah blah blah, but it just seemed preposterous . I'm not really a fan, but I'm glad that I've read it and that I have something to reference in my brain when someone mentions "Candide". I think I may be done with Voltaire entirely, but never say never.

"Captain Underpants" book 8 - Eh. I've read better in the series. I realize this is no James Joyce, but I always enjoy some good potty jokes and adult humor in kids stuff. That's partly why I like Looney Tunes so much. Anyway, it was a fast read, it made me laugh out loud a couple of times, and since I finished this book that means that I'm only 1 away from finishing my first category! Yahoo!

"The Gods Themselves" - Not as great as I was expecting. I kept reading and hearing about how fantastic this book was, so maybe I had fairly high expectations, but this just didn't do it for me. It was hard to follow at times (mostly parts 1 and 3) and there were a few ridiculous things that made me say "What?" out loud. You want to row the moon away from Earth? What? Anyway, it was okay to read. Sadly, I understood the book better after reading a summary I found on Wikipedia. Maybe I'm just not a SciFi person.

"Angels & Demons" - I really liked it, even better than "The DaVinci Code". It wasn't quite as readable at first for me, but it really pulled me along. A great, quick, don't-have-to-constantly-be-thinking book to help kick my reading butt back in to gear. Wish I would have read it first, and I hope Robert Langdon pops up again in future books.

"Plum Spooky" - Great as always. Janet Evanovich always gets me a few laughs and it's just so darn entertaining. Love the characters, love the plots. Just love Stephanie Plum. Can't wait to get my hands on the next Number!

Just another page update. So far I have read... 9,750 pages! I can't wait to see what the final total is at the end of the year!

I also remember reading Angels and Demons after The Da Vinci Code. What surprised me was how very similar those two books are. The format is practically the same. It's as if Brown didn't quite have the success he wanted with A&D and simply re-wrote the book in an attempt to hit it big next time round.

re 39: The plot in his first two books is also the same, even though the settings and mysteries are very different.

re:39 & 40 - They are similar, but they're still quick, enthralling reads. I'm looking forward to reading "The Lost Symbol", but don't know if I'll buy it or just get on the waitlist at the library. I'll probably just wait for the library. I mean, I like Dan Brown, but do I really want to plunk down $20 for a book I don't think I'm going to be in love with? Not really...

"The Girl from Botany Bay" - I've liked others by Ms. Erickson much better. It seemed to run together a little and I had a difficult time keeping at it. I finally plowed through it this morning before work just to get it done and off of my coffee table. I watched the movie "The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant" recently, and that was pretty good. It's (obviously) the same story, but it was a little more entertaining to watch it instead of read it. Actually, this may be one of those rare cases where the movie is better than the book. (Not to say I loved the movie, either. I actually watched a bunch of it on fast forward and I don't think I missed anything.) I picked this book up because I like Carolly Erickson, any kind of history of Australia interests me, and I'd only heard of Mary Bryant in passing. I'm glad I read about her life and watched the movie, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book. Three stars.

"Full Moon Rising" - I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I heard about this book through LT (thanks, BookLizard), and it sounded pretty unusual. A half vampire, half werewolf woman working for an organization to help protect supernatural races whose twin brother goes missing on an undercover operation and might be "farmed" to create a perfect killing machine, all set in hot, sweaty Australia? Um, okay! Sounds good to me! Keri Arthur creates a completely believable world where all sorts of races mix (mostly) peaceably, and each time I put the book down it took me a little time to realize that that world is not our own. Good writing, a compelling story line that kept me up late for 2 nights, a surprising amount of steamy and frank sex, bad guys galore, and a pretty tough chick at the lead. It was a great read! I'm heading over to the library this afternoon to pick up book #2. And if I wasn't already curious, the romance novel-y look of the cover would have turned me off with just a glance. Looking at the other covers in the series, they're all sort of the same, but now that I'm involved in the series, I don't really care what they look like. These books may be a little on the cheesy side, but they're so good that the calorie content doesn't matter - I'll balance my reading diet with some Rushdie and gobble up the rest of this series greedily.

"Laura Ingalls Wilder Country" - I grabbed this book off of a shelf in the library while I was looking for a biography about Ms. Wilder, and I'm so glad I did! It was so great to see photos of her family, the houses where she lived, family items (pa's fiddle!), and the beautiful scenery that surrounded her everywhere she lived. So much of what is described in the books is real - I'm impressed that her memory was that good, but given todays "must multi-task at all times" way of doing things, it shouldn't be too surprising. I'd love to own this book so I could refer back to it and daydream. Oh, and I realize that this is kind of a stretch for my Travel Lit category, but I'm getting nervous that that's the one category I won't be able to fill up in time, so I fudged it in there.

A fascinating look at the life of a beloved childhood author. I'd always planned on taking a drive up to Pepin to see where Laura was born (being a Wisconsin girl myself), and now I just may get around to it this summer.

That one sounds good! I will recommend it for the 50 States Challenge.

"Kissing Sin" - Another guilty pleasure, #2 in the Riley Jensen series. This one took a little longer to get into for me, but it did really pull me in. I love the world she lives in... Ms. Arthur has a fantastic imagination, and the creepy creatures and the backstory she creates is wonderful. In this book Riley wakes up to find herself naked and fighting to stay alive against creepy monsters who are after her. She goes through an ex-lover, a few cars, and several exploding apartments, fighting for her life and to find out who is after her for breeding experiments, and why. Great - book number 3, coming right up!

"Islands Apart" - This book is exactly the kind of thing I have been thinking and talking about for the past few months. Exactly what kind of impact does our "advanced culture" have on our lives? We are all so disconnected from nature and quiet and one-to-one contact that it is poisoning us in so many ways. Mr. McAlpine has done a wonderful thing - he has written a book that is thought-provoking, funny, and insightful without being preachy or snarky. I absolutely loved it! I'll be heading to my nearest bookstore and buying copies for presents. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't take something away from this book. Thank you, LTER, for gifting this book to me!

"The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie" - I grabbed this at the library when I was strolling through the New Books section, and I'm so glad I did. After hearing nothing but glowing reviews about it, I couldn't believe it was sitting on the shelf, without a wait list, just hanging around waiting to go home with someone. I was so excited that I yelped and snatched it to my chest, with a giant grin plastered on face, practically running to the checkout. After reading the book, I have to say that I agree with the glowing reviews. There has never been another character like Flavia de Luce (what a great name!), with her love of chemistry, bicycle named Gladys, and wonderful brain. Bishops Lacey sounds like a wonderful old family house. The book was so descriptive of place that I couldn't help but think of what it would look like in a movie. Sometimes the plot seemed a little obvious, but it turned away from the "obvious" thinking pattern and turned it around and picked up the plot in a different direction. It wasn't until the end that everything got tied together (in two different ways, no less), and now I can't wait until book #2 comes out. Granted, I don't read a lot of mystery novels (that's more my Mom's wheelhouse) so maybe I'm a little out of touch, but this was such a great, unusual mystery. Four and a half stars!!!

"Straight Up and Dirty" - When I was looking for a Laura Ingalls Wilder bio, I found this memoir on the next shelf. At first I picked it up because of the title (those darn marketers got me again!), and then I thought I'd read a bit of it to recommend to a friend of mine (she's not a big reader, and her year-long divorce was just recently finalized). Instead, I got sucked into Ms. Klein's memoir of her divorce and how she re-made her life in the following year or so. It's funny and crass, and whenever I got sick of her shtick and whiny-ness, the next paragraph would have some big, monumental "reveal" of truth and I'd be sucked right back in again (despite her obsessive need to make every other word a kind-of mashed up new word, "showing off" her smarts and sarcasm). All in all, I really liked it. I don't know if I could spend any time with her without being a little annoyed and overwhelmed, but I really appreciated her honesty about her life. This was a quick read, and a great story. Nice job, Stephanie!

Finished 2 categories today and 3 books! Woo hoo! I'll do some reviews once this little reading spurt goes away, but I have to take advantage of it while it lasts.

So glad to have finally completed some categories!

OK, here's a little summary of reviews for the last 7 books I've read:

Shelf Discovery - A great book, funny, and had nice reminders of books I've loved before. It encouraged me to re-read Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, and to scrounge around some local used bookshops to find others I had forgotten about. A nice trip down a somewhat-fuzzy memory lane.

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Interesting to read again. I didn't realize how well Ms. Blume writes young teenage girls. I could really relate (and had some interesting flashbacks), and it was a nice nostalgic reminder of what life was like in 6th grade.

The Figure In The Shadows - I used to absolutely love John Bellairs books, and I especially liked the Lewis Barnavelt series of books. I had forgotten about Mr. Bellairs, but when I was in the YA section of the library getting "Margaret" I found his books again. I'd love to make a concerted effort to reading all of his books, but I should probably wait until next year, or until I finish this challenge, whichever comes first. A great little mystery with some magic thrown it. Loved it!

Embraced By Darkness, Tempting Evil, & Dangerous Games - All three and a half stars. I'm really enjoying this series, but with reading them all close together, it's getting to be a bit much. That being said, the last 100 pages are un-put-downable in every one, and I really enjoy the world that Keri Arthur has created. I'm just starting book #6 today, and will give myself a break between this one and #7.

Finger Lickin' Fifteen - Loved it, and laughed out loud more than I have with her other Stephanie Plum books. Can't wait for the next number and the next between-the-number books!

In looking ahead to the rest of this reading year, I'm a little worried that some of my categories will be left empty. I am probably going to have to tweak the numbers read in every category and do some shifting. I feel a little, okay, a lot, guilty about doing so, but I don't want to count a book that I won't have finished reading by the end of the year (Les Miz, I'm looking at you), and there are some that I REALLY want to read soon that won't fit in or count otherwise. Is this okay to do? I mean, I know it is, but is it?

Once I set a goal, I hate to change it to fit my new needs, but I should probably get a grip. It's only life. And reading. And while I love reading books, giving myself a mini-panic attack about finishing this challenge is soooo not worth it.

I'll wait a little bit to see exactly what needs to be shifted, but in the meantime will continue to quietly stress-out and will semi-obsessively re-jigger this thread.

p.s. God, I love making lists of lists! Especially about books!

I've been swapping books in and out all year so there really is nothing to worry about. Even if you want to completely change a category then that's ok also. Who knows at the start of the year (or 3 months before) what they are going to read by the end of it?

OK, just did some small shifts to my challenge.

I added an extra place to my Biography and Children's categories, and added 2 extra places to my Guilty Pleasures category.

I then removed 2 out of my Genre category (New Age and Massage - especially massage, because if I need to look something up for work, I'm very unlikely to read the entire book to get the info), and removed one from my Classics category (reading Les Miz and won't finish by years' end) and one from my Unfinished Business category.

This also eliminates my "books read outside of the challenge" message, adding them into the total.

I can't believe it has been over a month since I have posted here! However, it has been for good reason - I have been busy reading!!! I participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon on October 24th, which was a lot of fun. By some miracle I stayed awake for all 24 hours (excluding an involuntary 10 minute nap), read for 14 hours and finished 5 books. I was shooting for 18 hours and 6 books, so I was close. It was my first time, though, and I learned what to do for next time.

In the spirit of keeping this Challenge alive and kicking, I'll do a quick review of the books I've read in October.

1. A Confederacy of Dunces - Meh. It was okay. Despite my not-liking one single character I couldn't seem to stop reading it.

2. All Quiet on the Western Front - Quite touching and affecting. Listened to on audiobook while running an errand and eating meals during the Read-a-Thon. Not such a great choice for that.

3. The Turn of the Screw - Read during the 'Thon. Really enjoyed it, creepy storyline, and certainly kept me awake in the wee hours of the morning.

4. The Boy in the Dress - Funny and touching, about accepting yourself and others. The drawings by Quentin Blake were wonderful, as always.

5. The Mousewife - Heard about this somewhere online that it was one of the great childrens books. It was a good storyline for girls, to know that there is always something else out there aside from typical "wifely" duties. Drawings were fantastic.

6. The Unscary Scarecrow - My first Fern Hollow book, and I'm now a convert. Cute and imaginative and colorful. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

7. Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All - An ARC from the ER program. Wasn't like your average travel lit book, I really felt like I learned about the history of New Zealand and the Maoris along with her life story. Highly recommended.

8. The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop - A fantastic little book about books, booksellers, bookshops and all things book-y, by the amazing Lewis Buzbee. One of my favorites of all time.

9. Chocolate, Please - A memoir by Lisa Lampanelli, Comedies' Lovable Queen of Mean. I wanted to know about her life and how she became the person she is today. I feel like I learned a few things, and that if she wasn't quite as busy making jokes it could have been even better. Despite how that last sentence may sound, I did enjoy reading it.

10. The Clutter-Busting Handbook - Sadly, I have multiple books in the "Clean Up and Organize Your Crap" genre. Of course this still means I have too much stuff, but honest to God, this is the only book that has actually helped. Great hints and tips, realistic outlines and it is not condescending in the least. The best book if you want actual help, hands down!

11. Her Royal Spyness - Picked up based on a rec here on LT, and it did not disappoint. First in a wonderfully British mystery series, set in the 1930's, with great characters and names. Nothing but enjoyable.

12. A Royal Pain - Number two in the series, and I enjoyed it even more than the first. Can't wait to read number three!

13. Incidents in the Life of a Slave-Girl - A true and truly horrifying story of a slave, her life, and how she eventually escaped. I can't imagine what it would have been like to experience what she (or any slave) went through. A good book.

And that's it for now! I'm off to catch up on my book journaling (which I did hardly any of in October) and to hopefully finish another book tonight! I need to really focus in on my books now that there are 59 days left this year and I have to read 14 more to complete this challenge. I know I can read 14 books, but will they be the ones that I need? Oy...

I wondered where you were! I may have to look into book #10 myself. I've been on a get-it-out-of-here kick.

See you Friday.

Here are the last 4 books I've read this month. This has been a slooooow reading month for me, but I can feel the "need to read" coming on now. While I'm thankful that we haven't had any snow yet (if I never shovel again, it'll be too soon), I'm also looking forward to having some snow on the ground and cozying up with a book.

1. Persepolis- Wonderful, I completely loved it. It was great to learn a little about Iran, and to learn about a different side of events that were happening when I was little. Can't wait to read Persepolis 2!

2. The Circular Staircase- Our November Classics bookclub pick, and it took me 3 extra weeks to finish it! That is completely my fault though, I tend to read when I'm getting tired and you need to pay attention with this book! Lots of characters, a wonderfully evolving mystery, light humor... terrific! I have 2 more books by "America's Agatha Christie" on my TBR shelf that I'm looking forward to reading next year.

3. Yoga for People Who Can't Be Bothered to Do It - Meh. Can't Be Bothered to write any more about it.

4. Venice is a Fish - Totally wonderful, some of the best writing I've read in a long time. It's called a "sensual guide to Venice" and it's completely true. Makes me want to go back again Right Now! Beautiful!

11 books to go to complete this challenge. I'm not sure if I can do it, and read Les Mizerables in its' entirety, and work both jobs. I'd really really like to finish this, and I'll do my best, but I might not make it. Does it count in my slacker favor that I didn't start this until mid-February? No? Didn't think so...

Slacker? You? Never!

I am very impressed how much you managed to cover. So far I have only managed to cover one of my categories, though in two others I am only one title short, so hopefully by the end of the year I'll have 3 categories finished.

In one category I didn't even read a single book yet.

Mind you this has been my busiest reading year in a long time, I just get distracted with all kinds of other books outside my categories. LOL

I think you're doing just fine! We all go at different rates. I've done the 999 challenge 2 or maybe 3 times now, but my husband was saying he didn't think he'd come halfway to finishing the 75 books challenge! He does other stuff. I read.

All Quiet on the Western Front and The Turn of the Screw are both on my 10-10-10 list. We may do All Quiet as a book club book. I'm glad you enjoyed them both.

Well, seeing as how 2010 will start in about 3 hours, I think I'm done here. In the end I was 6 books short of the goal. But reading 75 books isn't too bad, is it? Oh well. I'd like to think that if I had started the challenge at the beginning of January (instead of mid-February) that I would have completed it.

Here are my totals for the year:

Books read - 75

Categories completed - 6

Pages read - 20,001

All in all, not a bad year, if I say so myself. This is the first time that I've participated in a reading challenge and I wasn't sure how it would all pan out. I have to be honest and say I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't read 81 books this year, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be thrilled by reading 75.

Looking ahead a few hours to 2010, I'm anticipating lots of good books and good conversations. I also joined 6 (or 7?) other reading challenges for next year, aside from the 1010 Challenge. I've learned quite a bit from doing this this year and I hope to complete the lofty goals I've set for myself.

Thanks to all who cheered me on and contributed to my TBR pile. Happy New Year, and I'll see you on the 2010 threads!

You'd have definitely made it if you started in January. In actual fact you should look at the 12 month period from when you started rather than 2009 proper. Either way: Very well done!!!!!