Tanglewood's 1010 Challenge

I'm going to shoot for 100 books, 10 per category (I'm reading 50 titles for the Off the Shelf Challenge, but I think most of those books will fit into my other categories).

1. Diaries, Journals, Correspondence
2. Short Story Collections
3. Women's Studies
4. Ancient History
5. Classics
6. Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales
7. YA, Children's Fiction
8. Fantasy
9. Contemporary Fiction
10. Off the Shelf Challenge

Diaries, Journals, Correspondence

1. Duchess of Bloomsbury Street finished 7/8/2010
2.. 84 Charing Cross Road finished 8/30/2010

Short Story Collections

1. Willful Creatures finished 1/20/2010

Women's Studies
1. Khul-Khaal:Five Egytian Women Tell Their Stories by Nayra Atiya finished 12/28/09
2. Swimming to Antartica finished 10/3/2010

Ancient History

1.The Secret History finished 9/24/2010

Classics

1. Daisy Miller finished 4/1/2010
2. Bel Ami finished 4/9/2010
3. Song of Songs Which is Solomon's finished 4/10/2010
4. The Art of Love finished 5/30/2019
5. Zuleika Dobson finished 10/5/2010

Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales

1.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight finished 5/30/2010
2. Book of a Thousand Days finished 6/17/2010

Fantasy/SF
1. The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist finished 2/12/2010
2. Lenore: Cooties finished 12/3/2010
3. World War Z finished 11/9/2010
4. The Gates finished 12/19/2010

YA/ Children's
1. The Annotated The Wizard of Oz finished 12/27/2009
2. 8012545::The Annotated Secret Garden finished 1/13/2010
3. The Book Thief finished 1/18/2010
4. When You Reach Me finished 1/22/2010
5.The Lightning Thief finished 1/28/2010
6. The Sea of Monsters finished 1/29/2010
7. The Titan's Curse finished 1/30/2010
8. I am the Messenger finished 4/16/2010
9. The Stuff of Legend finished 5/30/2010
10. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz finished 5/30/2010
11. The Enchanted World of Winnie the Pooh finished 6/3/2010
12. Emil and the Detectives finished 6/14/2010
13. Charles and Emma finished 11/8/2010
14. City of Bones finished 11/24/2010
15. Graceling finished 11/28/2010
16. City of Ashes finished 12/1/2010
17. Fire finished 12/3/2010
18. Hunger Games finished 12/4/2010
19. The Warrior Heir finished 12/7/2010
20. The Dragon Heir finished 12/11/2010
21. City of Glass finished 12/11/2010
22. Catching Fire finished 12/12/2010
23. Mockingjay finished 12/13/2010
24. Incarceron finished 12/17/2010
25. The Maze Runner finished 12/18/2010
26. Finnikin of the Rock finished 12/19/2010
27. The Thief finished 12/21/2010
28. The Sea Trolls finished 12/23/2010
29. The Land of Silver Apples finished 12/26/2010

Contemporary Fiction

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo finished 1/8/2010
2. People of the Book finished 1/27/2010
3. The Girl Who Played with Fire finished 3/28/2010
4. Juliet, Naked finished 4/12/2010
5. Fear and Trembling finished 4/14/2010
6. The Late Hector Kipling finished 4/15/2010
7. Little Bee finished 4/21/2010
8. Divorcing Jack finished 4/25/2010
9. Cover Her Face finished 5/28/2010
10. All Over Coffee finished 5/31/2010
11. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest finished 6/29/2010

Books off the Shelf Challenge

1. Harry Potter and the Sorceres Stone Re-read, finished 5/4/2010
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Re-read, finished 5/7/2010
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Re-read, finished 5/28/2010
4. I Capture the Castle finished 6/7/2010
5. The Pursuit of Love finished 6/13/2010
6. American Writers at Home finished 6/19/2010
7. London finished 7/7/2010
8. The Rule of the Bone finished 8/28/2010

You have a lot of great categories! I'll definitely be checking back here.

Hi! I really like your categories...I look forward to your reads!

Another star for your thread! The pictures are great, too.

I have starred your thread! Love the pictures too, especially the one for your Fantasy category. It is the same picture I am using for my Magical Realism category on my 1010.

We have a couple of similar categories, so I'm interested to see what you read for those.

Also, a completely off-topic question, you're not the same tanglewood who's in the brigits flames writing group are you?

You all have some great categories. I look forward to seeing what everyone reads (I already sense my reading list getting longer).

>17 andreablythe: Nope, sorry not that Tanglewood.

I've gotten behind on posting my updates and reviews, but there is nothing like a three day weekend to catch up.


The Annotated Wizard of Oz

I highly recommend the book. It has all sorts of fascinating tidbits, including the tacit banning of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in some public libraries in the 1950's-1960's.

The Annotated Secret Garden

This was a great disappointment after the excellent Wizard of Oz edition. The annotations in this one were for the most part dry and dull. The book also includes several illustrations from various editions but infuriatingly doesn't list the artist under the plate and instead you have to keep flipping to the back of the book. The only part of real interest is the introduction, which talks about Frances Hodgson Burnett's life.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I wasn't sure I would like this book at first as I don't read many mysteries or thrillers. However, once the story caught me, it didn't let go.

Once I've redeemed myself some in my Books off the Shelf Challenge, I plan on getting the next two in the trilogy.

The Book Thief

A story told by Death. A young book thief. Now I can't believe how many times I looked at the cover of this book and thought, eh. I love it. I was seriously tempted to call in sick to work last week, so I could stay home and finish it. But then halfway through the book, I found myself slowing down because I didn't want it to end too soon, which it did. Now I really want to read his I am the Messenger.

22> I really enjoyed I am the Messenger. I wasn't going to read The Book Thief because I was afraid it would make me sad but I am the Messenger convinced me to give it a try and I am so glad that I did. I am a huge fan of his writing and look forward to his new book that is coming out this year called Bridge of Clay.

I like those Norton Annotated editions. I've read the Uncle Tom's Cabin one and parts of the Dracula. I want to get to The Annotated Alice. I just wish those editions were easier to physically handle and tote around.

> 23 I'm glad to hear that I am the Messenger is a good read. Thanks too for the heads up on the next book.

>24 VisibleGhost: I have the Annotated Alice and have high hopes for it. It seems ideal for an annotated edition. I'm certainly going to look out for more editions done by Michael Patrick Hearn since his Oz was superb.

Willful Creatures

I really enjoyed Aimee Bender's first short story collection The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, so I thought I would check out this darker collection. It's a treat if you enjoy magical realism or contemporary fairy tales. The standouts were:
"End of the Line" in which a big man buys a little man at a pet store and then tortures him (this story was so disturbing I almost wish I hadn't read it)
"Motherfucker" the title says it all
"Ironhead" a family of pumkin heads deal with the unexpected birth of a son with an iron head
"Dearth" a childless woman is adopted by some very determined potatoe babies
"The Case of the Salt and Pepper Shakers" a couple's salt and pepper collection eclipses their murder
"The Leading Man" features a boy with keys for hands searching for what they unlock (this one was my hands down favorite)

I am glad to hear that you enjoyed Willful Creatures. I just recently started hearing about Aimee Bender from reading these threads and this is one I have been looking forward to reading!

**edited for grammar**

When You Reach Me

I loved this YA novel. The protagonist is 12 year old Miranda whose favorite book is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, which she carries everywhere with her. During the novel, she loses her best friend, makes some new ones, and receives mysterious notes predicting the future. Truely a heartwarmer.

>Edited for Touchstone

I really need to break down and buy Willful Creatures. It's been on my wishlist for ages. Almost everything I've heard about it points to the fact that I would like it.

People of the Book

Having read and loved two of Brooks' previous works, The Nine Parts of Desire (non-fiction) and The Year of Wonders, I had high expectations for this novel and was not disappointed. In fact, I think this will be one of my favorite reads for 2010.

The novel starts out in 1996 when Hanna a passionate book conservationist is given the chance to examine a rare illuminated Jewish text. As Hanna tries to unravel the history of the text, the novel flips back to the actual events surrounding the text. So the novel travels through Bosnia in WWII, Venice in 1609, Tarragona in 1492, and Seville in 1480. This novel offers the twin joys of a historical novel and a book about books (alright only one book). I did have a slight twinge about one event later in the novel that I felt was pushing it, but I still feel this is a fantastic read. Now I want to check out her novel, March , which I somehow missed.

The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse

I'd heard that this series was a knock-off of the Potter books, but I feel that's a little harsh. Yes, there are parallels, but this series is clearly set in its own world. In case you haven't seen the movie preview, teen Percy discovers he is a "half-blood", meaning he has one mortal parent and one Olympian God parent. And if you remember your mythology, you'll know things don't normally turn out well for half-bloods. Each book features a main quest, and while the Gods are not supposed to interfere, they're all over the place helping or thwarting him. The first three books were fun, light reads with a nice dose of mythology thrown in. This is the kind of series even reluctant readers would embrace. I felt the series got stronger has it went along, so I'm going to check books four and five, as well. (My Books off the Shelf Challenge is so doomed).

I had been wondering if the Percy Jackson books were worth reading. I guess onto my wishlist they go. *sigh* :)

I also plan on reading The People of the Book this year. Luckily, I already have that one.

if you don't remeber your mytholgy it tells you about all the gods and some other information i have read all most the whole series it rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!! a good book on about a 8th grade level. i would reccomend it any one who likes adventure and action

I really loved The Book Thief as well - it is one that my husband recommended to me, and my 9th grader then devoured. Can't wait to hear if you like I am the Messenger. I share lots of your categories, and will be checkin' in frequently. I have a short story collection category too, as well as an "about women" category.

> 33 I'm glad to hear the other books are good too.

>34 lalbro: I just added you to my starred threads. There are so many people with great lists (my TBR list is growing hopelessly long).

Well, I failed miserably at this challenge, and it was a double whammy since I didn't even keep up with my reviews. On the positive side, I did read at least one book per category. (I don't even want to talk about how short I fell from my Books off the Shelf Challenge). In an attempt to redeem myself somewhat, here's a list of my favorite books for the year, not all from this 2010 challenge.


Edit: Typo

#36 - I wouldn't say you miserably failed at this challenge. In fact, I have marked your list of YA/Children books as something to wade through with interest. Besides, it looks like you read some great books!

Ikernagh,
Thanks for your comments. Now that I've scaled down my new challenge for 2011, I'm feeling pretty good about my chances.