College Students! discussion

David's Challenge

OK, so I'm taking a note from Tahleen's 2009 personal challenge and issuing one to myself:

I will not buy any books until I either finish 50 of the ones I already own, or until a year goes by... whichever one comes first.

My rules:

1.I will accept books if they are gifts.

2.I can borrow books out of the library or from other people, but those will not count in the 50.

3.I cannot use gift cards to buy books (not that I get any).

I probably have 200 books I own and haven't read (or reread in the past ten years), so this is a good way to get me reading.

This challenge begins at 12 AM, January 1, 2010.

Haha, hooray! I have inspired another! Good luck David, I promise it gets easier as time goes by. I've gone almost five months and have only bought one for myself (that I didn't get signed).

Ok. I've started already. Two down, 48 to go! Yay.


1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Five down. I did slip a little in my goal. My girlfriend asked to borrow the second Artemis Fowl, which I don't have. I saw it in a Bargain Books sale at the university I work at. So I bought it and lent it to her. I also bought Truman by David McCullough because it was only $6. No more breaking it.

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer

The first one I won't count because, technically, you bought it for someone else. The second one however does count, and I expect a third-grade report on it when you complete it (in third-grade English). That is my punishment as well for the one book that I bought too! lol

Ah! Third Grade English for a book report on a 1120 page Pulitzer Prize winning biography? If I must I must, but I can't say it won't be difficult. Haha

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan

Proceeding smoothly. Ten down and six weeks in.

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot

We're still going.


1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler

Updated list



1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker

Latest Update


1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker
17. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
18. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
19. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Haha. Thanks, Amanda. I'm about to start book two and am hoping I can cope with the anticipation for the book 3 release. I've got it on pre-order. :)

Lol breaking your pact are you? For Mockingjay I guess that's acceptable :) (unless you think you'll be done by then!)

That's the plan. I'm reading a lot. Either way, it was only $8.50 so I had to bite.

June (6 month update)



1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker
17. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
18. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
19. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
20. The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
21. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
22. The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
23. Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
24. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Hooray. I've given up on mine, I rounded to the year. I'm being good though, not going crazy!

I haven't been as good as I should. I've bought 6 or 7 books, but 2 were used and all were under $4 (except Mockingjay which was an $8 pre-order and Truman, which was $6). But I've been reading a lot of books I own (including most of the ones I got for Christmas last year....Lightning Thief series, etc.)

It's been awhile. I've borrowed a lot from friends or from the library recently.


1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker
17. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
18. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
19. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
20. The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
21. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
22. The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
23. Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
24. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
25. And Another Thing.... by Eoin Colfer

And another thing....



1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker
17. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
18. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
19. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
20. The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
21. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
22. The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
23. Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
24. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
25. And Another Thing.... by Eoin Colfer
26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
27. Meet Mr. Mulliner by PG Wodehouse

And another thing....



1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
3. The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
4. Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
5. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
6. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
7. It Was A Dark And Stormy Night by Scott Rice
8. Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot... by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
9. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
10. Silas Marner by George Eliot
11. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
12. The Teachers from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler
13. On Wings of Faith by Frederick Babbel
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
16. The Heroes of Nightingale by Mark Basker
17. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
18. The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
19. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
20. The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
21. Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
22. The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
23. Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
24. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
25. And Another Thing.... by Eoin Colfer
26. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
27. Meet Mr. Mulliner by PG Wodehouse
28. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
29. The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
30. Superfudge by Judy Blume (since given away)
31. Bride of Dark and Stormy by Scott Rice
32. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
33. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale
34. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
35. The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
36. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Only 36 in the year. I lost harsh. I guess it's time to restart.