The Book Challenge discussion

OK...

New Year, New Goal.

I want to read 200 books. Also I'll be doing several "sub-challenges"

* A-Z Authors that I have never read
* A-Z Titles
* Decade challenge (one book from each decade 1850s-2000s)
* Genre challenge
* No book can be on more than one of these lists

A-Z Authors I've Never Read


A - Ilona Andrews--------------- N - Laurie Notaro
B - Jill Conner Browne --- O - David Oppegaard
C - Tracy Chevalier -------- P - Marie Phillips
D - Lois Duncan ------------ Q - Eça de Queirós
E - Richard Paul Evans------- R - Patrick Rothfuss
F - Andrew Fox -------------- S - Michael J. Sullivan
G - Leland Gregory ---------- T - Donna Tartt
H - Helene Hanff --------------- U - Barry Unsworth
I - Kazuo Ishiguro -------- V - A.E. van Vogt
J - Brenda Jackson--------- W - Kate Wilhelm
K - Barbara Kingsolver --- X - Gao Xingjian
L - John le Carre ---------- Y - Paul Yee
M - Roland Merullo ---------- Z - Yevgeny Zamyatin

A-Z Titles

A -- Artemis Fowl--------------------------------- N -- New Moon
B -- Breakfast of Champions -------------------- O -- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
C -- Children of God --------------------------------P -- The Prince
D -- The Darkest Evening of the Year ----------Q -- Quitters, Inc
E -- Edward VI ---------------------------------- R -- Rapture in Death
F -- Farthing----------------------------------------- S -- Spin
G -- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ------- T -- Third Degree
H -- The Highest Tide ---------------------------- U -- Unaccustomed Earth
I -- Infected -------------------------------------- V -- Vengeance in Death
J -- Jane Eyre ------------------------------------ W -- What Dreams May Come
K -- Kiss of Midnight ------------------------X -- The X-President
L -- Little Brother --------------------------------Y -- Ysabel
M -- Morrigan's Cross ------------------------------Z -- Zen Mind, Beginner Mind

Decade Challenge:

1850s:
1860s: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1870s: The Mysterious Island
1880s: The Man Who Would Be King
1890s:
1900s: Five Children and It
1910s: My Man Jeeves
1920s:
1930s: Conjure, Wife
1940s: The Plague
1950s: Have Space Suit, Will Travel
1960s: Something Wicked This Way Comes
1970s: The Stepford Wives
1980s: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
1990s: The Pact
2000s: The Host

Genre Challenge:


Autobiography/Memoir -- Chain of Thought: The Story of a WWII Marine
Biography
Fable, Fairy tale, Folklore -- The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye
Adventure novel -- A High Wind in Jamaica
Humor -- The Stupidest Angel
Crime or Detective fiction -- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Fantasy -- Haunted
Graphic novel -- Nightmares and Fairytales
Historical fiction -- Ragtime
Horror -- Four and Twenty Blackbirds
Nonfiction -- The Universe in a Nutshell
Philosophical -- The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book
Political fiction
Romance novel -- True Blue
Saga, Family Saga -- Brideshead Revisited
Satire -- A Modest Proposal
Science fiction -- Red Mars
Thriller -- Abduction
Tragedy -- Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Short Story -- Fragile Things

January

1. Killing Mr. Griffin - Lois Duncan (223 pages - 4 stars)
2. Ragtime - E L Doctorow (369 pages - 3 stars)
3. Infected - Scott Sigler (audio - 3 stars)
4. Slan - A E van Vogt (255 pages - 4 stars)
5. My Man Jeeves - P G Wodehouse (audio - 4 stars)
6. Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut (audio - 4 stars)
7. the Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver (543 pages - 3 stars)
8. Third Degree - Greg Iles (audio - 3 stars)
9. Girl With a Pearl Earring - Tracy Chevalier (233 pages - 5 stars)
10. The Highest Tide - Jim Lynch (audio - 5 stars)
11. The Host - Stephenie Meyer (619 pages - 4 stars)
12. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro (288 pages - 5 stars)
13. The Spy Who Came In From the Cold - John le Carre (223 pages - 2 stars)
14. Haunted: Women of the Underworld 5 - Kelley Armstrong (495 pages - 4 stars)
15. True Blue - Luanne Rice (476 pages - 4 stars)
16. The Darest Evening of the Year - Dean Koontz (audio - 3 stars)
17. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer (563 pages - 3 stars)
18. The Universe in a Nutshell - Stephen Hawking (audio - 4 stars)

total pages this month: 4,287

February

19. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh (366 pages - 3 stars)
20. Have Space Suit Will Travel - RObert A. Heinlein (audio - 5 stars)
21. Breakfast With Buddha - Roland Merullo (323 pages - 4 stars)
22. The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin (123 pages - 5 stars)
23. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - Stephen King (264 pages - 5 stars)
24. Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity Strangeness and Mythconceptions Through the Ages - Leland Gregory (267 pages - 3 stars)
25. Children of God - Mary Doria Russell (438 pages - 5 stars)
26. Broken: Women of the Underworld - Kelley Armstrong (444 pages - 4 stars)
27. Rapture in Death - J D Robb (audio - 3 stars)
28. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss (720 pages - 5 stars)
29. Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman (audio - 3 stars)
30. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli (113 pages - 3 stars)
31. The Deepest Water - Kate Wilhelm (audio - 3 stars)
32. Death Masks - Jim Butcher (374 pages - 4 stars)
33. The Man Who Would Be King - Rudyard Kipling (96 pages - 4 stars)
34. Spin - Robert Charles Wilson (454 pages - 5 stars)

books this month: 16
pages this month: 3,715
pages read YTD: 8,002

March

35. The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love - Jill Conner Browne (212 pages - 3 stars)
36. The Sovereign's Last Battle - Ray Ruppert (364 pages)
37. The Suicide Collectors - David Oppegaard (294 pages - 4 stars)
38. The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne (672 pages - 4 stars)
39. Chain of Thought: The Story of a WWII Marine - John B. Minnick (159 pages)
40. The Pact - Jodi Picoult (389 pages - 4 stars)
41. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson (495 pages - 5 stars)
42. Little Brother - Cory Doctorow (382 pages - 3 stars)
43. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams (306 pages - 3 stars)
44. Farthing - Jo Walton (320 pages - 4 stars)
45. The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death - Laurie Notaro (224 pages - 3 stars)
46. Lady Windermere's Fan - Oscar Wilde (80 pages - 4 stars)
47. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer (277 pages - 3 stars)
48. Ceremony in Death - J. D. Robb (audio - 2 stars)
49. Irresistible Forces - Brenda Jackson (256 pages - 2 stars)
50. Goodbye Lemon - Adam Davies (289 pages - 4 stars)
51. Nightmares and Fairytales 1140 Rue Royale - Serena Valentino (176 pages - 3 stars)
52. Fat White Vampire Blues - Andrew Fox (334 pages - 3 stars)
53. The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book - Don Miguel Ruiz (138 pages - 4 stars)
54. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama (375 pages - 3 stars)
55. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips (292 pages - 4 stars)
56. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks (audio - 4 stars)

books this month: 22
pages this month: 6,034
pages read YTD: 14,036

I saw someone else had a short story challenge, and I like the idea. I'm not going to set a goal for short stories, but I think I'll read more of them if I keep track.

where I found them:
* eastoftheweb.com/short-stories
+ tor.com
^ feedbooks.com
" kelleyarmstrong.com

1. Waiting for a Resolution - Fernando Sorrentino*
2. The Bully - Roger Dean Kiser*
3. Starving Makes it Fat - Kay Sexton*
4. Eros, Philia, Agape - Rachel Swirsky+
5. The Lottery - Shirley Jackson*
6. Catch 'Em in the Act - Terry Bisson+
7. Time Again - Tim Maly*
8. The Big Deal - Jamie Brindle*
9. Printcrime - Cory Doctorow^
10. The Things That Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away - Cory Doctorow+
11. After the Coup - John Scalzi+
12. Demonology - Kelley Armstrong"
13. Wakefield - E.L. Doctorow*
14. Escape to Other Worlds With Science Fiction - Jo Walton+
15. Death By Scrabble - Charlie Fish*
16. Doctor Moreau Did It - Fernando Sorrentino*
17. She - Charles Kaufmann*
18. Bargain - Kelley Armstrong"
19. Birthright - Kelley Armstrong"
20. Staring Me in the Face - Glynis Gertsch*
21. The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman^
22. The Wicked Woman - Jack London*
23. The Lightning-Rod Man - Herman Melville*
24. Fear No More - George Anthony*
25. Shade - Steven Gould+
26. Paris, at Night - Sung J. Woo*
27. The $30,000 Bequest - Mark Twain*
28. Adventurer - Kelley Armstrong"
29. One of Twins - Ambrose Bierce*
30. John Sadness - Jeffrey Thomas*

hey...does anyone have any recommendations for the empty slots in my author/title/decade/genre challenges?

I hope these help:

Sky Burian by Xinran (I think I might have recommended this to you last year. Check out my review. I really liked this book. I chose it because it was an "X" author and was happily surprised to find that I loved it.")


We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (This is like 1984, if you've read that. This was written first, and it's even suspected that Orwell got his idea from this. I loved this. )


I hope these help. Good luck! :)

Thanks Kathy,

Yup....I read Sky Burial last year (it's a lovely little book)

I'll definitely check out We.

April

57. Magic Bites - Ilona Andrews (260 pages - 4 stars)
58. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury (304 pages - 3 stars)
59. The Crown Conspiracy - Michael J. Sullivan (310 pages - 5 stars)
60. I Robot - Isaac Asimov (240 pages - 5 stars)
61. Delta of Venus - Anais Nin (271 pages - 3 stars)
62. The Stupidest Angel - Christopher Moore (audio - 2 stars)
63. What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson (288 pages - 4 stars)
64. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (576 pages - 5 stars)
65. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff (97 pages - 3 stars)
66. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse (160 pages - 4 stars)
67. Four and Twenty Blackbirds - Cherie Priest (288 pages - 4 stars)
68. Vengeance in Death - JD Robb (audio - 3 stars)
69. Three Plays: The Father Easter and Miss Julia - August Strindberg (176 pages - 3 stars)
70. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - trans. Simon Armitage (audio - 5 stars)
71. The Carousel - Richard Paul Evans (333 pages - 2 stars)
72. The Secret History - Donna Tartt (576 pages - 4 stars)
73. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman (351 pages - 4 stars)
74. Morrigan's Cross: - Nora Roberts (audio - 2 stars)
75. Short Friday and Other Stories - Issac Bashevis Singer (208 pages - 5 stars)
76. The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye - A.S. Byatt (274 pages - 5 stars)
77. Crystal Rain - Tobias Buckell (352 pages - 4 stars)
78. Five Children and It - Edith Nesbit (256 pages - 3 stars)
79. The Battle of the Books and Other Short Pieces - Jonathan Swift (132 pages - 3 stars)

books read this month: 23
pages read this month: 5452
pages read YTD: 19,488

May

80. Edward VI: The Lost King of England - Chris Skidmore (289 pages - 2 stars)
81. Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier (audio - 4 stars)
82. When God Was a Woman - Merlin Stone (241 pages - 4 stars)
83. Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather - Gao Xingjian (127 pages - 4 stars)
84. To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis (493 pages - 5 stars)
85. Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri (audio - 5 stars)
86. Abduction - Robin Cook (audio - 2 stars)
87. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin (256 pages - 4 stars)
88. The Red Pony - John Steinbeck (128 pages - 3 stars)
89. Magic For Beginners - Kelly Link (320 pages - 2 stars)
90. The Goose Girl - Shannon Hale (audio - 5 stars)

books read this month: 11
pages read this month: 1,854
pages read to date: 21,342

More Short Stories

where I found them:
* eastoftheweb.com/short-stories
+ tor.com
^ feedbooks.com
" kelleyarmstrong.com

31. The Seven Cream Jugs - Saki*
32. Expectations - Kelley Armstrong"
33. Hangover - Ian Phillips*
34. The Enchanted Bluff - Willa Cather*
35. A Kidnapped Santa - L. Frank Baum*
36. David's Haircut - Ken Elkes*
37. Three Letters - Nels Schifano*
38. The Lesson - Fernando Sorrentino*
39. It's Just the Sun Rising - James Ross*
40. Escape - Kelley Armstrong"
41. Ghosts - Kelley Armstrong"
42. Rebirth - Kelley Armstrong"
43. Territorial - Kelley Armstrong"
44. Down on the Farm - Charles Stross+
45. The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles - Kij Johnson+
46. Errata - Jeff VanderMeer+
47. Wedding Bell Hell - Kelley Armstrong"
48. The Nostalgist - Daniel H Wilson+
49. TVA baby - Terry Bisson+
50. The City Quiet as Death - Steven Utley and Michael Bishop+
51. Silver Linings - Tim Pratt+
52. The Film-makers of Mars - Geoff Ryman+
53. The Day The Earth Stood Still - Harry Bates
54. A Memory of Wind - Rachel Swirsky+
55. A Water Matter - Jay Lake+
56. Framed - Kelley Armstrong"

June

91. The Rose Labyrinth - Titania Hardie (390 pages - 2 stars)
92. Holiday in Death - J D Robb (audio - 3 stars)
93. Tales of the Jazz Age - F Scott Fitzgerald (319 pages - 3 stars)
94. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay (673 pages - 5 stars)
95. Murder at the ABA - Isaac Asimov (269 pages - 4 stars)
96. Pearl - Mary Gordon (354 pages - 3 stars)
97. Conjure Wife - Fritz Leiber (210 pages - 5 stars)
98. Anthem - Ayn Rand (256 pages - 3 stars)
99. Decoration or Dishonor - Don Corzine (audio - 2 stars)
100. Cell - Stephen King (449 pages - 5 stars)
101. The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc - Loraine Despres (352 pages - 3 stars)
102. The Good Old Stuff: Adventure SF in the Old Tradition - ed. Gardner Dozois (434 pages - 4 stars)
103. Blood Rites - Jim Butcher (372 pages - 4 stars)
104. Starfish - Peter Watts (384 pages - 4 stars)
105. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit - Jeanette Winterson (192 pages - 5 stars)
106. Agnes and the Hitman - Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer (audio - 4 stars)
107. A High Wind in Jamaica - Richard Hughes (296 pages - 4 stars)
108. Wedding Belles - Haywood Smith (audio - 2 stars)
109. Our Lady of the Artichokes - Katherine Vaz (151 pages - 3 stars)
110. A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking (224 pages - 4 stars)
111. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (104 pages - 5 stars)
112. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (592 pages - 5 stars)
113. The Eight - Katherine Neville (608 pages - 3 stars)
114.Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie (176 pages - 2 stars)
115. The Nanny Diaries - Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krauss (306 pages - 3 stars)
116. Saffron Dreams - Shaila Abdullah (232 pages - 5 stars)

books read this month: 26
pages read this month: 7,343
pages read YTD: 28,685

July

117. Blindness - José Saramago (326 pages - 4 stars)
118. Flush - Carl Hiaason (272 pages - 4 stars)
119. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - L. Frank Baum (160 pages - 4 stars)
120. Baseball in April and Other Stories - Gary Soto (Audio - 4 stars)
121. The Yellow Sofa - Eça de Queirós (112 pages - 5 stars)
122. A Sight for Sore Eyes - Ruth Rendell (384 pages - 4 stars)
123. Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee (224 pages - 4 stars)
124. The Best Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe (116 pages - 4 stars)
125. Avempartha - Michael Sullivan (331 pages - 5 stars)
126. No Humans Involved - Kelley Armstrong (352 pages - 5 stars)
127. Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens (912 pages - 4 stars)
128. The Life and Times of Michael K - J.M. Coetzee (192 pages - 3 stars)
129. Peyton Place - Grace Metalious (372 pages - 3 stars)
130. Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer (264 pages - 3 stars)
131. On the Narrow Road A Journey into Lost Japan - Lesley Downer (272 pages - 4 stars)
132. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (768 pages - 5 stars)
133. 99 Novels: The Best in English Since 1939 - Anthony Burgess (160 pages - 4 stars)
134. Dead Beat - Jim Butcher (448 pages - 4 stars)
135. Solaris - Stanislaw Lem (204 pages - 5 stars)
136. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (226 pages - 4 stars)
137. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (192 pages - 3 stars)
138. Ape and Essence - Aldous Huxley (213 pages - 3 stars)
139. For Her Own Good 150 Years of the Experts' Advice to Women - Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English (324 pages - 4 stars)
140. A Room With a View - E M Forster (120 pages - 5 stars)
141. Undead and Unworthy - MaryJanice Davidson (285 pages - 2 stars)
142. Kiss of Midnight - Lara Adrian (402 pages - 3 stars)

books read this month: 26
pages read this month: 7,631
pages read YTD: 36,316

August

143. Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know - Hamilton Wright Mabie (308 pages - 5 stars)
144. A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs (224 pages - 4 stars)
145. The Natural - Bernard Malamud (248 pages - 3 stars)
146. Darkfever - Karen Marie Moning (309 pages - 2 stars)
147. The Chosen - Chaim Potok (304 pages - 5 stars)
148. The Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham (256 pages - 4 stars)
149. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Seth Grahame-Smith (320 pages - 4 stars)
150. The Plague - Albert Camus (287 pages - 4 stars)
151. His Forgotten Forever - Michele Hauf (288 pages - 3 stars)
152. Kiss Me Deadly - Michele Hauf (288 pages - 3 stars)
153. Rubyfruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown (246 pages - 3 stars)
154. The Brass Bed - Jennifer Stevenson (320 pages - 3 stars)
155. Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny (304 pages - 3 stars)

books read this month: 13
pages read this month: 3702
pages read YTD: 40,018

September

156. For Love of Mother-Not - Alan Dean Foster (256 pages - 4 stars)
157. Undead and Unwelcome - Mary Janice Davidson (282 pages - 2 stars)
158. Ysabel - Guy Gavriel Kay (421 pages - 5 stars)
159. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer (629 pages - 2 stars)
160. Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer (754 pages - 3 stars)
161. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson (198 pages - 5 stars)
162. Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher (496 pages - 4 stars)

books read this month: 7
pages read this month: 3,036
pages read YTD: 43,054

October

163. Born in Fire - Nora Roberts (audio - 4 stars)
164. Born in Ice - Nora Roberts (audio - 4 stars)
165. The Song of the Kings - Barry Unsworth (342 pages - 4 stars)
166. Midnight Voices - John Saul (audio - 4 stars)
167. The Swap - Antony Moore (272 pages - 3 stars)
168. The Keeper - Sarah Langan (400 pages - 3 stars)

books read this month: 5
Pages read this month: 1014
pages read YTD: 44,068

November

168. The X-President - Philip Baruth (384 pages - 4 stars)
169. Nyphron Rising - Michael J. Sullivan (350 pages - 4 stars)
170. The After Wife - Lexi Davis (320 pages - 3 stars)
171. Magic Street - Orson Scott Card (audio - 3 stars)
172. Scarecrows - Tom Upton (370 pages - 2 stars)
173. Extras - Scott Westerfeld (417 pages - 3 stars)
174. The Dude Abides - Cathleen Falsani (224 pages - 1 star)
175. Bunnicula - Deborah Howe (128 pages - 4 stars)

Books read this month: 8
Pages read this month: 2,193
pages read YTD: 46,261

ugh...I've hit a real slump with my reading....It's so strange to see so few books per month on my list, but I'm getting other stuff done - that's what I get for picking knitting up as a new hobby :)

I'm not going to reach my goal this year.

December

176. Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin (320 pages - 5 stars)
177. A Kiss of Shadows - Laurell K Hamilton (480 pages - 4 stars)
178. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K Dick (288 pages - 3 stars)
179. White Night - Jim Butcher (416 pages - 4 stars)
180. Small Favor - Jim Butcher (416 pages - 4 stars)
181. Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong (352 pages - 4 stars)
182. The Chrysalids - John Wyndham (208 pages - 5 stars)
183. Children of Men - PD James (256 pages - 3 stars)
184. Origin - JA Konrath (3 stars)
185. The Disunited States of America - Harry Turtledove (288 pages - 3 stars)
186. Zen Mind Beginner Mind - Shunryu Suzuki (132 pages - 5 stars)
187. The Bone Collector's Son - Paul Yee (137 pages - 4 stars)
188. The Pawn - Steven James (432 pages - 3 stars)

Books read this month: 13
pages read this month: 3,725
pages read YTD: 49,986

2009 Challenge Summary

totals:
188 books (12 short of goal)
49,986 pages
56 short stories

*I completed the A-Z Author challenge (authors I have never read)

*I also completed the A-Z title challenge

*I did not complete the decade challenge (missed 1850s, 1890s, and 1920s)

* I did not finish the genre challenge (needed another biography and political fiction)

January: 18
February: 16
March: 22
April: 23
May: 11
June: 26
July: 26
August: 13
September: 7
October: 5
November: 8
December: 13