CEP Takes the 888 Challenge

This is my first formal reading challenge! I'm excited about filling in the titles and will do it over time as I think I have quite a few crossover titles and need to sort that out. I expect to take full advantage of the flexibility offered to change titles/topics as the challenge unfolds.

Reading Globally - New Countries
1. The Dew Breaker by Edwige Danticat READ
2. Dancing to Almendra by Mayra Montero READ
3. The Translator by Leila Aboulela READ
4. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See READ
5. The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea by Yukio Mishima READ 5/27
6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera READ 5/31
7. The Dumas Club by Arturo Perez-Reverte READ 9/24
8. The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. READ 10/27

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (new translation)
2. Lord of the Flies by William Golding READ
3. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink READ 12/08
4. Amsterdam by Ian McEwan READ 12/08

Great (and other) American Fiction, Memoir
1. East of Eden by John Steinbeck desperate reread
2. Shopgirl by Steve Martin READ
3. America, America Ethan Canin READ
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou READ 9/26/08
5. Rocket Man by READ 11/08

Book Group Reads
1. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
2. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
3. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan READ 6/14
4. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro (Pulitzer) READ 9/24
5. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert RE-READ 11/08

Non-Fiction (* book group crossover)
1. The Bronx is Burning* READ
2. The Girls Who Went Away* by Ann Fessler
3. The Brooklyn Follies* by Paul Auster
4. Einstein* by Walter Isaacson READ 8/4
5. Infidel by Ayan Hirsi Ali READ 6/30?

Books Published Before 1900
1. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
2. The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy

Other Genres (The books I seldom/never read: scifi, fantasy, poetry, manga, chick lit)
1. Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich READ entered 2/11
2. The Broker by John Grisham READ entered 2/11
3. Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich READ 3/5
4. The Ladies No.1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith READ 4/13
5. whatever Shopaholic book it is that I bought to read on vacation
6. Simple Genius by David Baldacci READ 6/15
7. House of Blues by Julie Smith READ 8/31?
8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson READ 11/08

Books on My Shelf TBR
1. The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton READ
2. Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz READ entered 2/11
3. Charming Billy by Alice McDermott READ ent. 5/12
4. Blindness by Jose Saramago READ 10/12
5. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown READ 10/13

NOTE: I'm making all my edits to this first post so it will be the working list.
Post # 8 has the additional titles I am planning to read to make 88 in '08.

OMIGOD! I am a proofreading lunatic--not a professional, but just a real PITA about boo-boos. So now I will spend the year mocked by my careless typing of the thread topic as "CEP Takes The " Takes the what? Cake? Gas Pipe? A Train? No, the 888. Such is life. Sigh.

No, it wasn't your fault. Subjects that include the group name sometimes don't work properly. It looks fine from the group page.

Thanks. I am at a point where I do respect and use technology but do not really want to learn new techno-tricks. So, it was cybergremlins, not me!

I will start 2008 and the 888 with the TBR Category and The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton. It's an LT recommendation.

I finished Lord of the Flies today and credited it to the 1001 group. Two books down!

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld is a pleasant story of a young girl from Indiana attending a hoity-toity prep school in Massachusetts. It is a solid read and well-written.

The Other 26 -- to make a grand total of 88 in 2008.

1. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld READ
2. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien READ
3. The $64 Tomato by William Alexander READ 8/?
4. Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie READ 11/08
5. The Secret River by Kate Grenville READ 11/08
6. Jar City by Arnaldur Indridason READ 10/08

I'll update my list to reflect recent reads adding:
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich, and The Broker by John Grisham.

I've been traveling since Jan 18 and that has slowed my reading--but enriched me in other ways. I expect to pick up the pace some. On deck are two ER books that have been waiting for me--Sephardi Entrepreneurs in Jerusalem by Joseph B. Glass and Dancing to "Almendra" by Mayra Montero. Woo Hoo! Almendra was on my TBR list long before I had the chance to request it!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Dancing to "Almendra" and am working my way through Sephardi Entrepreneurs. It is carefully detailed and documented but for me, a slow read. It arrived three weeks before I returned home from a long trip and I'm feeling badly about the overdue review. A must-finish for this week.

Also to finish is The Bronx is Burning. Then ??? I think I'll select some quick reads to boost my numbers and to make this challenge realistic!

First attempt at posting ticker....

Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich

Brain candy. My term "popcorn read" is almost a bit heavy for the Stepanie Plum books. They sure do bring a smile or laugh.

Well, my progress is slow. I'm unable to stick to a book and let it draw me in. It's me, not the book, I believe. I'm going to reorganize my reading space.

I finally finished The Dew Breaker and must write about it for the Reading Globally March Theme Read on Haiti.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is pulling me in while Snow is partially read, but rolling around in my head. Given that my owned TBR is in the hundreds and my wanna-read-don't own is several hundred, I do have choices! Time to READ!

Charming Billy was a good read. It provided a great look into life of Irish-Americans and is well-written. It got a little fuzzy for me as it was hard to keep some of the characters straight.

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea was a powerful book. It feels somewhat like Lord of the Flies. It is sparse in prose but vivid in images. A young Japanese boy, his mother, her lover/husband come together with raw emotion. Violence and ignorance permeate.

(I do not like writing these "reviews" and expect no more than something to prod my memory about the work.)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera-- a good read that took me to Prague and its ennvirons via a love story and political upheaval.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan was excellent and has prompted me to rethink my food buying habits. I also picked up a copy of The Jungle by Upton Sinclair to scan--as for all the change and legislation in the meat processing industry, it's eerily similar to the expose offered in the 1906 (?) novel.

Simple Genius by David Baldacci was a page-turner with action and espionage. Light, speedy reading.

Shopgirl by Steve Martin is a poignant love and life story.

Oops, double post.

I think I should have made my first challenge a straight book total. I'm behind---waaah.

Blindness by Jose Saramago - I don't know what to say. I'm glad I read the book but had a rough time in places. I do want to read more of his work.

Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown a lesbian coming-of-age story that was a tightly-told story enjoyable read. Was this made into a movie?