Chrine's 999 Challenge

My 999 Challenge Categories:

1. Someday I'll Read Book Club COMPLETED
2. The Happy Booker's Club COMPLETED
3. MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge 2/9
4. All the News That's Fit to Print 0/9
5. Little Black Dress 2/9
6. Any Time but the Present 3/9
7. Something is Amiss 5/9
8. Eve & Roarke 2/9
9. Just Hanging Around COMPLETED

Books read: 41/81
Categories completed: 3/9

My 999 Challenge Guidelines:

This is my first reading challenge.

I only read 29 books in 2008 (life gets in the way of reading). So I decided I will count the books I've read since the sign up for the challenge was opened (September 26, 2008) and most likely be completing the challenge after the deadline.

I plan on overlapping 9 books.

The books enclosed in asterisks haven't been read yet but I'm planning on reading.

I'm going to put which other categories the book could go in, in case I have to move them around, after the book.

I will list my star rating after each book. (I rate my books based on how the book compares to other books of the same type. So a good junky romance/suspense novel isn't on the same level as a good literary fiction, it's just good compared to other junky romance/suspense novels.) This is my star rating scale:

5 = Loved it! Unputdownable!
4.5 = Excellent!
4 = Very Good
3.5 = Good
3 = Above Average
2.5 = Average
2 or less = Nah

I will be tagging my books 999 Challenge as well as C1, C2, C3, etc. for the categories.

Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections COMPLETED

1. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving -- 4 Stars (could also be C5 or maybe C6)
2. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger -- 4.5 Stars (could also be C9 or maybe C6)
3. The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans -- 3.5 Stars
4. Oystercatchers by Susan Fletcher -- 4 Stars
5. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky SR -- 3.5 Stars
6. Runaway by Alice Munro
7. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck SR (C5, C6)
8. Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith
9. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Possible Inclusions:
The Pearl -- from C5
Katherine -- moved to C6
All the Pretty Horses SR -- moved to C5

This category includes the monthly Someday I'll Read selection and any side reads done by that group.

Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections COMPLETED

1. The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman -- 3 Stars (could also be C7)
2. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent -- 3.5 Stars (could also be C6)
3. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler -- 2.5 Stars
4. The Christmas Train by David Baldacci -- 3 Stars
5. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs -- 2.5 Stars
6. The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain -- 4 Stars
7. Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult -- 4 Stars
8. A Separate Peace by John Knowles -- 2.5 Stars (could also be a C5 or C6)
9. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (C5, C6, C9)

This category includes the monthly Happy Booker's Club selection.

Category 3: MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge

1. Empire Falls by Richard Russo (C5)
2. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (C5, C6)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

MaryZorro, a Someday I'll Read member, is reading the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction award winners with anyone in the group who wants to join her. This categories includes Pulitzer Prize for Fiction award winners that I read with that group or any that I read on my own.

Category 4: All the News That's Fit to Print

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

This category includes books from the New York Time's 10 Best Books of 2008 and 100 Notable Books of 2008 lists. I usually read only the fiction selections and I try to read all the novels/short stories on the 10 Best Books list each year. So this category should end up including those selections and then be filled out by fiction selections from the 100 Notable Books List.

Novels/Short Stories from the 2008 10 Best Books list:

*Dangerous Laughter by Steven Millhauser*
*A Mercy by Toni Morrison*
*Netherland by Joseph O'Neill*
*2666 by Roberto Bolano*
*Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri*

Category 5: Little Black Dress

1. The Pearl by John Steinbeck RGG SR (C1, C6)
2. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy RGG SR (Moved from C1. Maybe C6)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Possible Inclusions:
A Prayer for Owen Meany -- from C1
A Separate Peace -- from C2
Peace Breaks Out -- from C6
Empire Falls -- from C3
The Red Pony -- from C1
The Magnificent Ambersons -- from C3

This category includes classics and modern classics and books by classic authors and modern classic authors.

Category 6: Any Time but the Present

1. Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles -- 2.5 stars (could also be C5)
2. Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory (C9)
3. Katherine by Anya Seton (Moved from C1. Also C9)
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Possible Inclusions:
A Prayer for Owen Meany maybe -- from C1
The Time Traveler's Wife maybe -- from C1
The Heretic's Daughter --from C2
Any In Death book
The Eyre Affair -- from C9
All the Pretty Horses maybe -- from C1
A Separate Peace -- from C2
Thursday Next in First Among Sequels -- from C9
The Red Pony -- from C1
The Seduction of an Unknown Lady -- from C9
The Pearl -- from C5
The Seduction of an English Scoundrel -- from C9
The Magnificent Ambersons -- from C3

This category includes historical fiction and fiction set in the future.

Category 7: Something is Amiss

1. The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde -- 4 Stars (could also be C9)
2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer -- 3 Stars
3. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer -- 3 Stars
4. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
5. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
6.
7.
8.
9.

Possible Inclusions:
The Lake of Dead Languages -- from C2
Any In Death book
The Eyre Affair -- from C9
Thursday Next in First Among Sequels -- from C9
The Seduction of an Unknown Lady -- from C9

This category includes mysteries, detective novels, suspense, thrillers, horror novels, and anything in a like genre.

Category 8: Eve & Roarke

1. Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb -- 3.5 Stars
2. Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb -- 3.5 Stars
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

This category includes the next nine books of J. D. Robb's In Death series. I have completed the first six books. (Any surplus books in this category could also be C6, C7, or maybe C9.)

Category 9: Just Hanging Around COMPLETED

1. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007 -- 3 Stars
2. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde -- 3 Stars (could also be C6 or C7)
3. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002 by Dave Eggers - 3.5 Stars
4. Thursday Next in First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde -- 4 Stars (C6, C7)
5. Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
6. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
7. Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak
8. The Seduction of an Unknown Lady by Samantha James (C6, maybe C7)
9. The Seduction of an English Scoundrel by Jillian Hunter (C6)

Possible Inclusions:
The Time Traveler's Wife -- from C1
The Fourth Bear -- from C7
Any In Death book maybe
Katherine -- from C1
Earthly Joys -- from C6

This category includes books I own in TBR piles (actually more like bookcases) around my home.

Books that I've read since the sign up for the challenge opened:

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Vengeance in Death by J. D. Robb
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007
The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler
The Last Promise by Richard Paul Evans
The Christmas Train by David Baldacci
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde

That will be 11 books so far.

I am currently reading All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy.

Hi, chrine!
I have heard that All the Pretty Horses is a really good book. What did you think of A Prayer for Owen Meany? I have been thinking about reading that one.
--BJ

Hola BJ

I am liking All the Pretty Horses but it has been slow reading for me. The language and writing is very pretty but the story isn't holding my interest. It's picking up as I near the middle so I'm reserving my opinion until I'm finished with it.

I did enjoy A Prayer for Owen Meany. It's not something I'd have picked up myself subject matter wise. I read it with a group and I was pleasantly surprised. I recommend you try it if you've been thinking about it.

I'm embarrassed to be admitting this. I finished Twilight by Stephanie Meyer today. This is my 12th book completed for the challenge.

Are you embarrased because you read Twilight? Or because you've read 12 books?

Hola LA

That I read Twilight. LOL I've read 12 books since Sept. 26, 2008. I knew I'd have a hard time reading 72-81 books in 2009 so I gave myself a jump start and included all the books I'd finished since the 999 Challenge signup opened.

Good idea. Starting early I mean. Both of my daughter-in-laws have been trying to get me to read Twilight. Hoping to hold out a little longer. *hehe*

LOL That's kind of how I ended up reading it.

It was very fast reading and I'll probably end up reading the rest of them, but I wouldn't rave about them the way some people are.

I haven't been tempted by Twilight yet. I don't find vampires very appealing nowadays. Although as a teen I read Bram Stoker's Dracula and loved it.

I finally had to see what all the fuss was about, too, and read Twilight a couple of months ago. I thought it was a pretty good book, but not really to my taste, either, although I do see how it might appeal to teenagers. I also loved Dracula as a teenager, and read several Anne Rice books a few years ago, but didn't finish the series. I doubt that I'll read any more of the Twilight books, either.

16 > I read A Prayer for Owen Meany a couple of years ago myself. I hesitated to do so, since when I tried to read The World According to Garp I thought it was insane and quit after the car-crash-in-the-driveway scene. But a couple of people I worked with at the bookstore loved APfOM, and I enjoyed it enough to make it a staff recommendation.

APfOM is a roller coaster ride. When I read it, I was sick with something bronchial -- and reading the book didn't help. If I wasn't crying over part of the book, making me more congested, I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to hyperventilate (or cough up my lungs).

A scene in that book is the funniest thing I've ever read. And that includes Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiaasen, whose work I like, and Christopher Moore, whose work I don't care for.

Hola Englishrose & Ivyd

I read Dracula too when I was younger and enjoyed it a lot more than Twilight. I also read most of the Anne Rice vampire books and liked those more too. My taste in reading has changed a lot in the last 10 years. I used to also read a lot of horror novels and scifi/fantasy novels. I still read some but I couldn't read a steady diet of them the way I once did.

Hola ReneeMarie

I have to know which scene that was? Was it the one with the beetle?

It was the church pageant for the nativity, when Owen Meany, due to his small size, plays baby jesus. I was in HYSTERICS. Seriously funny.

A prompt for one of my writing group sessions was "There was a camel outside my window....", and having read Owen Meany inspired me to write my own live-nativity-scene-gone-wrong story. Not as funny as Irving's, but my fellow group members keep telling me I should try to get it published. :-D

Dracula is one of my challenge books. I read a few vampire books but am not really a fan, thought it was time to give Dracula a go.

13. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

I finished All the Pretty Horses today. It's going in Category 1 as a Someday Book Club side read. I think it could also be a (modern) classic (C5).

This book was slow reading for me but the story grew on me as I neared the end. The language and writing is beautiful.

14. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

New Moon is going in Category 7 -- Something is Amiss.

New Moon was another fast read like Twilight. I liked it better than Twilight because I prefer Bella with Jacob.

15. A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs

A Wolf at the Table is going in Category 2 -- The Happy Booker's Club selections. This book was the club's January selection.

I didn't like the book. It was odd, creepy, and didn't ring entirely true. I had a hard time believing that the things in it happened as they did.

Up Next:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb

16. Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Holiday in Death is going in Category 8 -- Eve and Roarke. I am reading the In Death series as part of a book chain with some of the members of my main book club.

This was a good In Death book and, as typical for the series, an easy fun read. Enjoyed seeing the main characters in the series deal with the holiday in their personal lives.

Up Next:
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer

The January Recap

Books read: 5/81 = 6.172%
Pages read: 1,909

The breakdown by categories:

Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - ###1/2

Category 2 -- The Happy Booker's Club selections
A Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs - ##1/2

Category 7 -- Something is Amiss
Twilight by Stephanie Meyers - ###
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer - ###

Category 8 -- Eve and Roarke
Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb - ###1/2

17. The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections
Rating: 4 stars

I read this book for The Happy Booker's Club's February selection. THBC had a live chat online with Diane Chamberlain several months ago. I'd never read anything by her but after the chat I was looking forward to picking one of her books up at some point. So I was glad when this book was the February selection. I am even more excited that THBC is having another live chat online with Diane Chamberlain at the end of the month.

It's a bit cliche to say this book was a page turner, but I read it in three days and I'm not normally a fast reader. When I wasn't reading I found myself thinking about what had happened in the book, what was going to happen next in the book, and even when I was pretty sure I knew what was coming next, how it was going to unfold.

Up Next:
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

18. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2002 by Dave Eggers
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating: 3.5 stars

This is a book that I left in the bathroom and read while I had baths (something I wouldn't be upset if I dropped it in the tub) and did other things in there - you know which things. I got it off of the husband's to be given away, donated, or thrown out pile.

An interesting read. Some good pieces, some boring ones. Better than two of the latter ones that I read I believe (2006 and 2007). But it's been awhile since I read them.

Books read: 18/81 = 22.222%

Up next:
Inferno by Dante Alighieri - DailyLit
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald - DailyLit
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

"something I wouldn't be upset if I dropped it in the tub"

HaHa! Or worse--in the toilet! (I've done that!) I normally like The Best American Nonrequired Reading short story collections but I just can't make myself read short story collections this year. They just don't provide the satisfying escape that a novel, or even a great non-fiction story, brings me.

I have never actually dropped one in the tub yet. I know the day I take a book in there that I might get upset about getting soaked will be the day I drop a book in the tub. I've dropped the newspaper in the tub before though.

I've never dropped a book in the toilet either. We do have to keep the toilet lids down because the cats like to play in them. So there is little chance of an uncover toilet in our house.

Back in the day when my family got their first cordless phone, my sister dropped it in the toilet while she was putting on makeup at the mirror/counter next to the open toilet just a few months after we got it. It was quite expensive and my dad was mad. Luckily, he took the back cover off and it dried out and worked just fine.

Oh yes! Phones, watches, glasses, hairdryers...toothbrushes! :-) So, are you still tackling Brothers Karamozov? I gave myself permission to quit on that book when February's group read ended. It was a reread for me anyway. I'm sitting here looking at a couple of dozen books and decided I'm going to read the first page of each and decide from there. See you later!

I like the category names!

Hola bonniebooks

The Brothers Karamazov got edged out by a busy February and never really got picked back up. I hope to restart it in the near future and read slowly until finished - this year. I'm currently reading Katherine and The Stone Diaries. What did you decide to read?

Hola cmbohn

Thanks!

Hope you're enjoying Katherine - I read it for the challenge too!

I am loving Katherine so far and nearing the end of the book.

>41 chrine:, Read Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. It reminded me of an Adrian Mole book, only better, but then the last third diverged into a different kind of a book. Haven't posted my thoughts yet, so will stop!

bonniebooks, I love David Mitchell. I've read all of his but that one. Can't wait to read your review.

>37 bonniebooks:, 38
While I have never dropped a book in the tub (and I bring in anything at all, whatever I happen to be reading), I lent a book to a friend last year and she dropped it in the tub. Luckily it dried out well and still looks ok / isn't falling apart / etc! She has been added to me 'warn before you lend' category of friends though ;)

19. Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections
Rating: 4 stars

Willow is born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a disease that causes bones to break very easily. Her life is filled with pain but her family loves her and she is happy. Willow's mother, Charlotte, files a lawsuit saying her ob/gyn should have detected Willow's condition and hopes for a big payout from the medical malpractice insurance to help take care of Willow's expenses. Charlotte's ob/gyn is also her best friend, Piper. The book follows the emotions and actions of the people involved as the lawsuit unfolds.

This book was the March selection for The Happy Bookers Club.

I liked the book. It was a very fast read. But I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. I'm leaning towards disliking the ending. But I just finished the book today and might need to see how I feel about it after I think about it for awhile. I also wondered about the inclusion of Charlotte's lawyer's, Marin, personal story. I get that it was included necessarily to present a certain point of view and aspect of the dilemma. But it did not feel like it was a part of the main story like the rest of the book. I did like the inclusion of recipes and baking terms which illustrated the character's state in the sections which followed (Charlotte is a pastry chef). I also liked that a different font was used for each character's chapters making it easy to know who we were reading.

Books read: 19/81 = 23.457%

Up next:
Katherine by Anya Seton
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

#37,38 & 46 I accidentally put a book through an entire cycle in the washing machine. I just picked up a bunch of washing and didn't realise there was a book amidst the pile. The worst part was that it was a book borrowed from my daughter's teacher. It came out of the washing machine shredded. I purchased a new copy for her and never owned up.

Oh no! That would be terrible, good that you were able to find another copy though :)

I'm starting Handle With Care this weekend. I purposefully didn't read your comments about it - I'll come back later and review them and let you know what I thought about it.

Ha! That sounds like something I would do, having already washed my cell phone out of existence.

Yes, I always place each item of clothing in the washing maching very carefully now. I had to search many bookstores before I found a copy of that book.

20. Katherine by Anya Seton
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections Category 6: Any Time but the Present
Rating: 4.5 stars

A historical fiction about Katheine de Roet who marries a knight, Hugh Swynford, which leads to her great romance with John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.

This book was the March selection for the Someday I'll Read Book Club.

It's been awhile since I've read a well-written historical fiction. The book was richly detailed as to the time period and locations as well as descriptions of the beautiful countryside and told a compelling and unlikely love story. Although at times, the characters behavior seemed too modern for the time. The story slowed down for me around Ch 25 but I think that's because to veered into the history of the country at the time and away from the personal stories. I slowed down my reading speed and my enjoyment picked up again. The ending seemed unlikely given the times, which made it all the better that is was based on real history.

Books read: 20/81 = 24.691%

Up next:
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
A House for Mr. Biswas by V.S. Naipaul

Katherine is one of my all-time favorite historical novels. I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

21. Oystercatchers by Susan Fletcher
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
Rating: 4 stars

The story is told within the framework of Moira filling in Amy, her sister, on her life while Amy is in a coma. Amy has been in a coma for over four years. For most of the book, one isn't sure how her fall on to the rocks occurred but I leaned towards thinking it was intentional instead of accidental. We're never really told exactly what happens or how it happens. When we get up to the time in Moira's telling of the fall, the fall seemed decidedly accidental to me then. Reading the book, I didn't keep waiting for Amy to wake from her coma because the story is more in Moira's reflecting on her life than the story of what happened to Amy.

So why is Moira telling Amy, who is her sister, the story of her life? Amy was born when Moira was 11 years old and Moira views Amy as a betrayal of her already completed family unit. Moira goes away to boarding school, which changes the course of her life, and rarely writes, talks to, or sees her family. She cannot stand her sister. The coma brings about change.

Moira sees herself as so different, in a bad way, a wrong way, from the others. She is shocked at someone falling in love with her. In the end, she finds she can answer to herself how someone could love her as she is.

The writing is detail worded and picture-able. I think I read somewhere that the author was still in her 20s when she wrote this, which increased my view of the book in some ways. A major theme is water and it's imagery. And water and light. Also, imagery of nature and the country side.

I did not expect to like this book but I did. There was one flaw for me. Something occurred in the last part of the book which I didn't like. But thinking about it as I moved on in the book, I could see it was in character of Moira and it furthered her. Fletcher wrote one other book before this one and I plan on reading it.

Books read: 21/81 = 25.925%

What I'm reading next:
A Separate Peace by John Knowles - The Happy Booker's Club's April selection

I remember liking A Separate Piece when I read it, but it's been at least 15 years.

Never put a book through the washing machine, but I did drop a book in the bathtub before. It was a library book, naturally.

That is exactly why I never take library books into the bathtub with me, cmbohn. No matter how much I want to read them. I just know the day I do will be the first time I drop a book in the bath.

22. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections
Rating: 2.5 stars

"One of the most starkly moving parables ever written of the dark forces that brood over the tortured world of adolescence" states the copy on the back copy of the book. I get each of the boys is a different type of personality with a different world view and view of the war. But I don't think I'd call this book one of the most anything. I didn't particularly like any of the characters. They seemed flat and a bit false. I didn't dislike the book, it just didn't hold my interest.

Books read: 22/81 = 27.160%

What I'm reading next:
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky - a group read on RGG

I think this is similar to the writings of Jodi Picoult and Diane Chamberlain. It should make for a quick read after this one's dragging.

23. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections - RGG side read
Rating: 3.5 stars

Dana and Hugh Clarke's, a Caucasian couple, new baby has African American physical traits. Hugh is from a prominent New England family who can trace their roots back to the Mayflower. Dana doesn't know who her father is, other than a photo of a Caucasian-looking man and a name. How the family deals with this turn of events is the subject of this book.

Delinsky crafts a range of characters to display the different views people might have of the situation. For the most part, these characters are more realistic as individual people than they are stereotypes of different viewpoints. The biggest qualm I had with a character's actions was Hugh's maintaining that he was 100% certain that he was the father of the baby, Lizzie, and he wanted a paternity test only to prove to his family what he already knew while also making statements to his family, friends, and Dena that it could indeed be possible that she had cheated. I understand why he could have doubts, but later in the book he maintains that he never did despite his remarks previously.

The twist in the story was an evident possibility from the beginning, even if the characters didn't see it coming. The book continues another 100 pages from the reveal of the source of the baby's ancestry to show how the characters deal with the information. This was unexpected as usually books end shortly after the central story is resolved and I liked that Delinsky choose to extend the story.

I saw that the side story of Hugh's case against a powerful senator who fathered an illegitimate child now in need of medical case was included to show Hugh that he was still the same man, good and capable, but it also seemed added on and distracted from the main story. Similar points were made from Hugh's musing on past cases and his past, which felt natural to the story.

I also enjoyed that knitting and yarn were incorporated in the story.

Books read: 23/81 = 28.395%

What I'm Reading Next:
Empire Falls by Richard Russo - MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge

chrine,
Did Family Tree remind you of Desiree's Baby?

Hola VictoriaPL

I haven't read Desiree's Baby. But from it's wiki, the storyline sounds similar. I wonder if Delinsky's read it?

The April Recap

Books read: 4/81 = 4.938%
Pages read: 1,374

The breakdown by categories:

Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
Katherine by Anya Seton - ####1/2
Oystercatchers by Susan Fletcher - ####
Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky - ###1/2

Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections
A Separate Peace by John Knowles - ##1/2

Favorite book read: Oystercatchers, closely followed by Katherine
Least favorite book read: A Separate Peace

24. Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles
Category 6: Any Time but the Present
Rating: 2.5 stars

After World War II, Pete Hallam returns to his alma mater, the Devon School, to teach American History and Physical Education. The story follows his reintroduction into civilian life after the war and the lives of several boys in their senior year at the Devon School, including two boys at odd with each other and most of the school, Wexford and Hochschwender.

The book was slightly less flat than A Separate Peace, perhaps, because there seemed to be a bit more depth to the characters and story but not by much. The exposition contained more details but there was overall too much exposition. I felt like I was being told what to think.

It seemed that several of the boys at the Devon School felt left out and guilty for missing war. They talking and thought about the war as some grand adventure and a way to make their marks. Pete Hallam offered the counter balance as to the realities of war. I wonder with less media available at the time and only certain people telling the stories, if the war was idealized to the youth at home in the US.

I also wonder about the purpose of Pete Hallam's ex-wife and chapter about Wexford's weekend in Boston. They seemed like out of the main story inclusions used just to make a point about the characters.

Books read: 24/81 = 29.630%

Currently reading:
Empire Falls by Richard Russo

25. Thursday Next in First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating: 4 stars

Thursday Next and crew saves the bookworld and the outland once again.

The same usually Thursday Next stuff happens in this book and while I still liked the concept and enjoyed the read, I enjoyed it somewhat less than the previous four books. All are different in plot but the style of the book remains the same. What was novel and interesting in the first book is not quite as novel and interesting as it was the first time. That said, I still liked the book and will continue to read all the Jasper Fforde puts out. The husband really likes the quirkiness and humor so they make good gifts for him and good reads for me while taking a bath.

Books read: 25/81 = 30.864%

Currently reading:
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Peony in Love by Lisa See - I'm about to start this one for book club.

>64 chrine: I agree about First Among Sequels. I liked it, but not as much as the original four. I felt like Something Rotten really tied the series together, and I almost wish he'd ended it there! Only almost, though. :)

Hola ladyc

One of Our Thursdays is Missing, book 6 in the series, is due out August 2010.

26. Empire Falls by Richard Russo
Category 3: MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge
Rating:

The story of Miles Roby and his daughter, Tick, the Whiting family, and the decline of the town of Empire Falls.

After finishing the book, I thought it would make an excellent book for a compare and contrast paper for school. Nearly any two people in the book could be taken together and compared or contrasted or both on their points of view, personalities, and themes in the book. Another paper could be written on the power each character has and how it affects their positions relative to one another. One could also write about the town of Empire Falls, which is almost a character itself in the book. The descriptions decline of the structures and characters during their slowly detailed lives were immersive. I felted like I could stand in Empire Falls as much the same as any abandoned mill town on a river in New England.

Books read: 26/81 = 32.099%

27. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Category 7: Something is Amiss
Rating:

Bella LOVES Edward. Bella's best friend, Jacob, loves her. The serial killings in Seattle maybe the work of newborn vampires.

What to say about the third book of the Twilight Saga? Bella is still obsessed with Edward. The writing is still poor. There is a plot throughout the book other than Bella's love for Edward.

Books read: 27/81 = 33.333%

28. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
Category 7: Something is Amiss
Rating:

Bella LOVES Edward. Does Bella marry Edward? Does Bella FINALLY become a vampire? Oh, and the Volturi are coming.

This book was not what I expected after reading the first three books. I read this one even faster.

Books read: 28/81 = 34.567%

The May Recap

Books read: 5/81 = 6.173%
Pages read: 2,409

The breakdown by categories:

Category 3: MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge
Empire Falls by Richard Russo

Category 6: Any Time but the Present
Peace Breaks Out by John Knowles

Category 7: Something is Amiss
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Thursday Next in First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde

Favorite books read: Empire Falls and First Among Sequels
Least favorite book read: Peace Breaks Out

29. Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating:

Jane meets her childhood imaginary friend, Micheal, again as an adult.

I read this book easily in an afternoon while recuperating at my mama's. It was an enjoyable read while reading it but after I had finished, I felt dissatisfied by the ending and the story as a whole. It could have been more detailed, less stereotypical characters, and better written. It was not the enjoyable, light read that Patterson's previous two romances were.

Books read: 29/81 = 35.802%

What I'm reading next:
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

30. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
March 2009 Early Reviewer book
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating: - excellent

In May 1992 during the Siege of Sarajevo, mortar shells struck a market where people were waiting in line to buy bread. 22 people were killed. Each day for 22 days, a cellist who lives across from the market played Albinoni's Adagio at the time the mortars hit to honor the dead. This true event inspires Galloway's novel of four people struggling to come to terms with the life they lead during the Siege. Along with the cellist, there is Arrow, a university student turned sniper; Kenan, a husband and father who risks his life weekly to get the cleanest water he can for his family; and Dragan, a man whose family has escaped the city and is on his way to get a meal from the place where he works when he is waylaid at a street crossing under sniper's fire.

There were two major flaws in this book for me. One was the heavy use of street names, areas of the city, and their direction in relation to one another. This was, I suppose, to give us a layout of the city and the distances between things. For someone not familiar with Sarajevo, it is confusing. I think a map would have been highly beneficial here and enhanced the reading of the book.

Related to this, an introduction with similar but expanded information found in the afterword would have also been helpful to a reader unfamiliar with the history and politics of the region and the Siege. Who attackers were and the reason for the attack wasn't clear in the book. The book could be read as an everybook about people living in a city besieged by war but I found I wanted more information.

The second flaw is that the characters of Kenan and Dragan read very similar to me. I found myself having to look back to their last chapter (the book is written in alternating chapters for each character) to remember which was which and where they left off. Arrow is written quite distinctively and her chapters were my favorites to read.

Complaints aside, I thought this was a thoughtful and informative book about what it is like to live in a city under a long-term siege. Each character reaching the conclusion in their own way that living true to themselves, not ruled solely by fear, is the way to keep hope alive for the future of the city, the community, and themselves one day.

Also aesthetically, I liked the offset list of names with the character leading the chapter having their name in bold and that the pages separating the parts of the book were black, perhaps to show the bleakness of the city and the character's lives.

Books read: 30/81 = 37.037%

What I'm reading next:
Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak - April ER book
Methland by Nick Reding - May ER book

31. Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory
Category 6: Any Time but the Present
Rating: above average

The book follows the story of John Tradescant as he becomes a skilled gardener, marries and starts a family, and serves two lords and a king.

The best parts of the book were reading all the descriptions of the flowers, plants, gardens, and countryside. There was a craze for tulips as a commodity instead of just lovely flowers. I didn't like that John didn't seem to care for his family enough at times. I think by the end of life he realized how much he did. Also, time passes more slowly in the first part of the book and then speeds up. I needed to pay attention to when it was in the chapter headings towards the end of the book.

Books read: 31/81 = 38.272%

What I'm reading next:
Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak - April ER book
Runaway by Alice Munro - SIGTR August selection

>72 chrine:

Nice review of The Cellist of Sarajevo! I'm adding it to my World View category in the 1010 Challenge.

Thank you, Ivyd. This is the first time (that I'm aware of) that I've prompted someone to read something on LT.

32. Runaway by Alice Munro
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
Rating: average

A dreary short story collection about women in odd situations, set in Canada.

I'll confess that I didn't really enjoy this book. I didn't read more than one story per day and in between stories, I did think about them when I wasn't reading. Because they were odd? Because I couldn't related to them much? Perhaps I found the book more interesting as I read it than I did at the end as a whole.

The story I liked best was "Tricks", which features Shakespeare's plays and has a Shakespearean end, and contains superstition versus psychology on the matter of fate. The story I liked the least was "Trespasses". I felt so sad for the young girl, burdened with so much knowledge.

Books read: 32/81 = 39.506%

What I'm reading next:
Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak - April ER book
The Red Pony by Steinbeck - RGG Side Read

I am one book away from being done in two categories! There is no way I'll complete the challenge but I want to see how far I can go along it.

33. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections (Side Read)
Rating: good

Jody Tiftin is a 10 year old boy growing up on a ranch in the west many years ago. The book is four short stories featuring Jody. In "The Red Pony", Jody's father brings home a pony from town for Jody. In "The Great Mountains", an old Indian turns up on the ranch. In "The Promise", Jody cares for a mare in hopes of raising her colt. In "The Leader of the People", Jody's grandfather comes to visit and tells stories of leading a wagon train west to the sea.

The simple stories are well-written and truly give the feel of what it was like to be a 10 year old living on a ranch back then. The theme of death is present throughout. I thought the first three stories made a better whole but appreciate the compassion in Jody that the fourth story demonstrates.

Books read: 33/81 = 40.741%

What I'm reading next:
Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak - April ER book
The Pearl by Steinbeck - RGG Side Read

I've completed my first category!! I didn't quite expect to feel the sense of accomplishment that I do.

i agree with u that the book wasnt the best i expected more.
my favorite book was eclipse.

34. Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak
April Early Reviewers book
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating: good

A memoir. Erica falls in love with Ales (pronounced Alesh) while he is in American studying and moves to Slovenia to marry him. Life in Slovenia is very different from life in America.

I kept picking up and putting down this books in between other reads. I'm still not sure if it was the book or I just wasn't in the mood for this book at this time. I did like the book well enough. But I started reading it just before I got seriously sick and the resulting testing to try to find out what it was, which put me out of commission for about two months and had me not reading much at all. So I can't say that might not have factored in. Perhaps if I'd started the book without all that going on, I'd have read it straight through and formed a different opinion of it. All that said, it took me over a month to read the bulk of the book post-illness so it might well have been the book. I just wanted to be sure to disclaim.

More so in the beginning of the book, the chapters seem to follow the following format. Erica would begin a chapter by relating an event in her life briefly, then digress into related but unnecessary information about the topic and Slovenian life. Sometimes this was just a couple of paragraphs. Sometimes it was pages of details. Then she would return to the incident and related it in greater detail. I found the digressions a distraction from her story and sometimes hard to follow if one wasn't up-to-date on the recent past history of that geographical area. I would have much rather she just gave more depth and details about these experiences and her feelings on living in a new and very foreign country. The book was drifting there towards the end.

I feel the book could have also benefited from a map or maps of the area and maybe the area as it was in the recent past as well as a map of the city she lived in. There were often mentions of geographical details, cities, and other locations. Seeing it in map form would have made reading it clearer to me. It felt like the book would read easier to someone familiar with the area.

There was also a lot of information about the recent history of Slovenia. It was not simple explanations to increase understanding of the story. It was detailed information that seemed hard keep up with without a decent prior knowledge of recent Slovenian history. It felt unneeded.

I should add that I hated the author's use of the term poet-lover. She seemed to intend it as endearing and cute but it came off as pretentious. This purely my opinion though.

Overall, I did find the parts of the book that were just the memoir interesting and wish she had just stuck to that. I found myself wishing that she'd written in more detail about her experiences and feelings. It felt like just the surface at times. I think if she'd given the level detail on those that she did on the geographical, historical, and cultural information, it would have been a better book.

One of the parts I enjoyed was Erica's explanations of the section headings: Singular, Dual, and Plural. Taken straight forwardly, these are Erica herself, as a couple, and as a family. But she relates a story about attending langauge classes. She has been in Slovenia for a little while by this time and she was finally beginning to feel like she was getting the hang of the language at last. Then the teacher teaches her class about the words for the singular, the dual, and the plural. But the plural only applies to three to five items then the singular use is used again, implying six or more items is a single group. Erica is frustrated by the continuing complexity of the language and the culture, especially when it doesn't make much logical sense. When she is ranting on the topic to Ales that evening, he talks about the beauty of using all the words for dual in writing poetry. The language takes on an aspect of beauty to her then and the section titles take on more meaning. I wish the book had contained more of the connection, complexity, depth of emotions, and detail of experience that this incident had.

Books read: 34/81 = 41.975%

What I'm reading next:
The Pearl by Steinbeck - RGG Side Read
Methland by Nick Reding - May ER book

35. The Seduction of an Unknown Lady by Samantha James
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Rating: above average

Fionn Hawkes runs a bookshop, Every Book and Cranny, and she has two secrets. One, she is F.J. Sparrow, a popular author of erotic horror stories. Two, her mother is mad and lives in an asylum for the insane. She meets Lord Aiden McBride on one of her nightly walks after midnight.

Books read: 35/81 = 43.210%

What I'm reading next:
Forbidden Bread by Erica Johnson Debeljak - April ER book
The Pearl by Steinbeck - RGG Side Read

36. The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Category 5: Little Black Dress - Modern Classic Author
August RGG Side Read
Rating: good

I finished this mid-month and just hadn't put the review up yet.

Kino, his wife Juana, and their son Coyotito live in the poor outskirts of a town on the seaside. Kino is a pearl diver. One day he finds a large beautiful pearl, which he knows he will get much money for and better his family's life. The pearl buyer's in the town offer him little so he sets off with his family to a big city followed by people who want to steal his pearl.

I read The Red Pony right before this book. I was more interested while reading this story but I enjoyed reading The Red Pony more.

Books read: 36/81 = 44.444%

What I'm reading next:
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Dracula by Bram Stoker

37. The Seduction of an English Scoundrel by Jillian Hunter
Category 9: Just Hanging Around
Romance #2
Rating: Average

Lady Jane Welsham has been left at the altar by Sir Nigel Boscastle. Shocking! But it is part of her secret plan with him. Best friends since childhood, they are not in love. She wants to marry for love and he is in love with his governess, whom he has eloped with. The wedding was to have been held in the chapel of Grayson Boscastle, the Marguess of Sedgecroft. A recent scoundrel made head of the family by his father's unexpected death, Sedgecroft is determined to save Lady Welsham's reputation.

Books read: 37/81 = 45.679%

Currently reading:
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers - THBC September selection
Dracula by Bram Stoker - 75 Books Challenge Halloween group read

I JUST COMPLETED MY SECOND CATEGORY!!

Yeah! Congrats!

Thank Bonnie! I won't finish the whole challenge this year but I'm so proud to have completed two categories.

Well, you've read some really good books and that's the most important thing, isn't it? I liked being part of the 999 group, but next year, I'm going to be more spontaneous.

Oh it is. I totally didn't mean the above post to be negative at all. I love the structure of the challenge, the chatting, and the book reviews/posts. I went into it knowing I wouldn't read 81 or 72 books in one year. I did make my categories board enough so that pretty much any book I decided to read could be counted. You are doing the 1010 Challenge right?

Well, I was going to; I got all excited reading everyone else's categories, but then it's been so nice these last few weeks not having any challenges hanging over me that I might just join the 75-Book group, but then still star and respond to people no matter the challenge they're in.

P.S. You sounded totally positive btw. And I was giving you "props" for that. :-)

Then I'll see you over in the 75 Book Challenge then. I plan to do a Half 75 Book Challenge next year. 37.5 book is totally doable for me in a year and that will make it the first LT challenge I complete.

I can understand the need for spontaneous reading. I have been trying to work more of that in myself.

38. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Category 2: The Happy Booker's Club selections
THBC September Selection
Rating: good

Mute John Singer lived with his mute friend, Antonapoulos, until Antonapoulos was committed to a mental institution. Once he is living alone, four other lonely people come to visit with him weekly, each imposing on the mute their own impressions of him. Mick Kelly is a poor girl whose family owns the boarding house Singer lives in and who dreams of writing music. Biff Brannon runs the New York Cafe. Jake Blount believes he is one of the people who knows the truth about things. Doctor Benedict Mady Copeland is a negro physician who wants to advance the standing of his race.

I've been thinking about this book since I've read it and thinking about what to say about it. I still don't know. But a book that sticks in my mind once I'm finished is a good thing. I liked that it is just a short slice in these characters lives, without a finite wrapped-up ending, during which they knew John Singer. Yet during that time events happen and they change, but life for them remains more of the same that they had all along. I found my reading slowed in the middle as the characters lingered more on introspection of their lives. I feel like there is more I should say about this book.

Books read: 38/81 = 46.914%

What I'm reading next:
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith (TBC November selection)

I'VE NOW COMPLETED THREE CATEGORIES!!

Nice job!

39. Elephant Song by Wilbur Smith
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
Rating: nah

Dr. Daniel Armstrong witnesses a horrible event in Africa, which leads to his own personal vendetta. Along the way, he becomes involved with two women and overthrows a government.

Blech. I have never written a bad review on LT before this. This book had too much telling and not enough showing. It had stereotypical, unrealistic characters that I could not care about. It had obvious story arches and editing mistakes. One good thing about the book is the straightforward by vivid descriptions of Africa's different landscapes. It also doesn't sugar coat the atrocities that are happening on this continent.

Books read: 39/81 = 48.148%

What I'm reading next:
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (MZ's Pulitzer Challenge)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (TBN December selection)
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (THBC Side Read)

40. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
Category 3: MaryZorro's Pulitzer Challenge
Rating: average

Georgie Amberson Minafer gets his comeuppance and learns his lesson along the way.

I think Georgie Amberson Minafer is a thoroughly unlikeable character. What Lucy Morgan, his love interest, saw in him is beyond me. She did not need his money, perhaps it was his charm and good looks. I did not enjoy this book, though it was an easy read. Around where Georgie and Lucy parted ways, it started to become blatantly obvious that the author was writing a commentary on how the old ways and new ways co-mingled using the story's characters to set forth different examples.

Books read: 40/81 = 49.383%

What I'm reading next
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
San Francisco Panorama

41. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Category 1: Someday I'll Read Book Club selections
Rating: very good

Enzo the dog is dying of old age and poor hips. He loves his master - Denny, Denny's wife - Eve, and their daughter - Zoe; and he loves racing cars.

This is not a book for shocking twists and turns of story. This is a book where the story plays out as it should. This is a book that touches the emotions where it should, like a Hallmark movie or one of Mitch Albom's stories. It is the kind of book that is what it is and is not trying to be more and it is good at what it is: touching, sentimental, and ending as it should.

I read this book quickly while being sick, which is perhaps a good time for the reading of it. It is perhaps not the best time for the writing of reviews though. I can say I teared up at the part about Denny's mother. I can compare it to Marley and Me, which I liked better but read before it was so popular that I wasn't expecting something built up to be so much more than it was. I can say that I liked that the book had a finite ending, whether it truly happened or only happened for Enzo's soul.

Enzo learned to be in the current moment, acting instinctively to do what is needed, and he learned to look ahead to future events with victory.

Books read: 41/81 = 50.617%

What I'm reading next
Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb
San Francisco Panorama