I keep reading other challenge categories posted by members and want to copy them for my own. I thought I should go ahead and post mine, or I will never finalize.

1. Dewey 000-900 (minus 500 since I have a science cat.)
2. History
3. Humor
4. Outdoor/Sports
5. Next in Favorite Series
6. Science and Natural History
7. Strange Fiction
8. Travel
9. World Literature

Changed "Poetry" to "Next in Favorite Series"

Message edited by its author, Jan 3, 2009, 4:05pm.

Dewey 000-900 (minus 500)

000 Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters by Bill Tancer
100 Brief History of the Paradox by Roy Sorensen--Finished
200 The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
300 Brown: Last Discovery of America by Richard Rodriguez
400
600 Cable: Wire that Changed the World by Gillian Cookson
700 This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
800 Omeros by Derek Walcott
900 Really the Blues by Mezz Mezzrow

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:49am.

History

1. Lost History: Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers by Michael Morgan--Finished
2. Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz
3. Fallen Giants: A History of Himalayan Mountaineering by Maurice Isserman
4. Lost civilizations: Rediscovering ancient sites through new technology by Austen Atkinson
5. Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic by Steven Johnson
6. Panorama of the Renaissance by Margaret Aston
7. Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by Simon Winchester
8.
9.

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:49am.

Humor

1. Swine Not by Jimmy Buffett
2. Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen--Finished
3.
4. Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists by Gideon Defoe
5. I Am America and So Can You by Stephen Colbert
6. Why We Suck by Dennis Leary
7. Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell
8.
9.

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:50am.

Outdoor and Sports

1. All Elevations Unknown: An Adventure in the Heart of Borneo by Sam Lightner--Finished
2. Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River by Peter Heller
3. Perfect: Inside Story of Baseball's Perfect Games by James Buckley Jr.
4. Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox
5. Into Thick Air: Biking to the Bellybutton of Six Continents by Jim Malusa
6. Tales from the Braves Mound by Leo Mazzone
7. Voices from the Mountains by Guy Carawan
8. Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game by Jim Albert
9.

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:51am.

Next in Favorite Series

1. Ottoman Cage by Barbara Nadel
2. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
3. Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
4. Sons of Heaven by Kage Baker
5. Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas
6.
7.
8.
9.

Science and Natural History

1. Napoleon's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny LeCouteur
2. Physics for Future Presidents by Richard Muller
3. Central Park in the Dark by Marie Winn
4. Built by Animals by Michael Hansell Finished
5. Present at the Future by Ira Flatow
6. Octopus and Orangutan by Eugene Linden
7. Why Beauty is Truth: A History of Symmetry by Ian Stewart
8.
9.

Message edited by its author, Jan 20, 2009, 9:39am.

Strange Fiction (Anything Beyond Realism)

1. Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis
2. As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
3. Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow
4. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
5. If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock
6. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffeneger
7. Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
8. Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman--Finished
9.

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:48am.

Travel

1. Pagan Holiday by Tony Perrottet Finished
2. Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold by Michael Benanav
3. Whatever You Do, Don't Run by Peter Allison
4. To the Ends of the Earth by Paul Theroux
5. At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig by John Gimlette
6. Adventures of Ibn Battuta: a Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century by Ross E. Dunn
7. Where the Birds Are by John Oliver Jones
8.
9.

Message edited by its author, Jan 11, 2009, 11:10am.

World Literature

1. Mr. Muo's Traveling Couch by Dai Sijie
2. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
3. Fury by Salman Rushdie
4. Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
5. Clash of civilizations over an elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous--Finished
6. Contemporary Iraqi Fiction ed. Shakir Mustafa
7. Jar City by Amaldur Indriason
8. Ice People by Rene Barjavel
9. Obscene Bird of Night by Jose Donoso

Message edited by its author, Mar 7, 2009, 9:52am.

Your Outdoor and Travel books look awesome! Are you planning on posting reviews?

You have some really interesting selections; I'll have to write them down for next year's challenge. :)

VictoriaPL, Thanks. Yes, I do plan to post reviews. I love reading other members' reviews (I can always start another TBR pile!), so it's the least I can contribute.

celiafrances, Thanks. Some of these have been on my list for a long time.

Love your selections and glad to see another nonfiction devotee. Of course anyone trying to read more than 80 books in a year likes all kinds of books ... and these days it's getting harder and harder to separate the nonfiction from fiction anyway!

tracyfox, I just zipped over and starred your list. You have some awesome titles. I can't wait to read your reviews!

I finished my first title too far into the year, so I need to pick up the pace. Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists follows the author Tony Perrottet as he travels the ancient Roman routes that citizens of the Empire followed as tourists. There are enough primary source documents on the subject that quite a lot is known about the routes and habits of the travelers, including maps, a guide book, and personal narratives that refer to travel adventures. First-century tourists enjoyed many of the same sights and experiences as the modern-day tourist, and even more telling, experiences some of the same frustrations. If I have anything negative to say about the book, it's that I would have liked longer sections with more time spent on a subject or place. Otherwise, I love the topic and recommend the book.

(The touchstone goes to Route 66 A.D. by the same author, and I am leaving it because the description is the same, making me wonder if the book was published under this other title.)

I started There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell by Laurie Notaro but didn't finish. It's just not for me.

I did finish and enjoyed Built by Animals by Mike Hansell. As the title describes, the book is about the homes, burrows, and traps built by insects, birds, fish, and mammals. Hansell's approach includes a description of the built thing and something of the sociology and evolution that brings the animal to build. Throughout, Hansell avoids anthropomorphizing the animals in Disney characters, but keeps a scientist's eye.

All Elevations Unknown: An Adventure in the Heart of Borneo by Sam Lightner
Category: Outdoors and Sports

The author, always looking for new places to climb, read a memoir of a British officer who parachuted into Borneo to battle Japanese invaders during WWII. In the memoir, he saw a peak that looked like a giant tor in the background of a photograph, and his search for the mountain Baru Lawi began. The rhythm of the writing is nice as Lightner switches back and forth between imagined scenes with Harrison, the British officer, and the actual search for and trek to Baru Lawi. I often find recreated dialogue and scenes too stilted, but Lightner did a good job with them. His pacing to the moment of the climb was good. The only off-putting aspect of the book was a childish dispute between the author and one of the filmers. This didn't take up much of the narrative, and overall, I loved the book.

Message edited by its author, Jan 28, 2009, 1:40pm.

Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists by Michael H. Morgan
Category: History

This is a wonderful overview of the flowering of science and culture in the Muslim world during the 8th through 12th centuries. While Europe was experiencing the Dark Ages, Muslim scholars were preserving and advancing the knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. Morgan describes the inventions, discoveries, and philosophies of individual physicians, poets, scientists, mathematicians, and leaders who contributed to this golden era. As I said, this is an overview and left me wanting to read more in-depth history and biography works on the people and topics.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Category: Strange Fiction
I didn't realize this was intended for a young adult audience until after I started reading. Even then, I found it similar to the Harry Potter books, in that adults won't find it too annoyingly young and even fun. Nobody Owens grows up in a graveyard after a crazy something kills his family. The book is peopled with weird, engaging characters, many of them denizens of the graveyard, such as the ancient Roman Caius Pompeiius and the collective character that guards the ancient mound that is the oldest grave. The plot is suspenseful enough, and each chapter presents an escapade that moves the overall story toward its climax.

Nature Girl by Carl Hiaasen
Category: Humor
This book was typical Hiassen fare, which I love. The target of his satire this time is telemarketers and rude people. The characters are all flawed in some weird way, and they occupy a landscape always on the edge of apocalypse from polluters, sprawl, and litterers.

Brief History of the Paradox by Roy Sorenson
Category: Dewey 100s
This is a survey of philosophy from ancient Greek society to the twentieth century with a focus on the paradox. Each chapter centers on a paradox and the philosopher associated with it. I found this organization made the text very readable for what can be a difficult topic. Serious philosophers may find the book too light, but I enjoyed the writing. For example, Sorensen elucidates Parmenides's Theory of the One with the Clinton-Lewinski scandal. The reader doesn't get a full picture of any philosopher, but I did find people and ideas to read more about.

Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous
Category: World Literature
The "civilizations" in the title are represented by immigrants from various countries in an apartment building in Rome. The story is told through multiple points of view as the immigrants and locals tell their take on the murder of the Gladiator, a local hood responsible for the urine smell in the elevator. Prejudices are sometimes slyly, sometimes overtly revealed in each story. The narrative reminds me of Tales of the City by Maupin.

Clash of Civilizations sounds great - I've put it on my list. Thanks for your comments.