Maaike's 999 challenge

I chose these categories for the 999 Challenge. I'll read most of these books in Dutch.

Human Interest (i.e. Personal development)
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Thrillers
Young Adult Fiction
Libraries, information, media, society
Dutch Literature
Female writers
Classic Fiction (Written before 1950)
Animals

I changed the categories, otherwise I'm sure I will not make it. I hate reading non-fiction. So here it is:

Nonfiction (NLP, Human development, Library & Information, new media)
Fantasy & Science Fiction
Thrillers
Young Adult Fiction
Romance
Dutch Literature
Female writers Next in the series
Classic Fiction (Written before 1950)
Animals

First book:

1/81 - Tuinen van de maan (Spel der Goden;1) / Gardens of the moon - Steven Erikson. Categorie Fantasy & SF

2/81 - Woud der verwachting / Hella S. Haasse

I made a ticker to keep track of my "score". So far I just read one:

Tuinen van de maan (Spel der Goden;1) = Gardens of the moon (Tales from the Malazan book of the fallen;1) by Steven Erikson.




The books I'm reading now don't fit the challenge (otherwise my Fantasy category would be full in no time).

Nice to see you here as well, Maaike! I'm interested in the books you're going to read for your 'animals' category. Any ideas yet?

I'll be watching your "animals" category as well. Best of luck with the 999 Challenge!

For the 'animals' category I was thinking about a few classics like Watership down (reread) and Black Beauty (never read). Unfortunately, I read Jim Grogan's 'Marley & I ' last december, so I can't put it on the list. I'll read the book about Dewey the library cat, if I can get my hand's on it. Oh and maybe 'Bambi', or 'White Fang'. The rest is still open...

I love "Het woud der verwachting/In a dark wood wandering". It's lovely prose and easy reading at the same time.

For your animals books, I'd like to suggest any of the James Herriott books. Although they are a bit older, they are warm and wonderful reads about a country vet in England. Read them in order if you can.

Another book that is great (if you like cats), is The Cat Who Came for Christmas by the late Cleveland Amory. I think it's the funniest book (and spot on with cat psychology) book about a cat I've ever read.

By the way, I loved John Grogan's book, Marley & Me, that you also read. It was so well written and had me both laughing and crying before the story ended.

#7 Maaike, I am going to read Watership down too. It's a Bookcrossing-book. Maybe we can read together.

#9 SqueakyChu. I am absolutely going to read The cat who came for christmas. It sounds wonderful,and being a cat person myself, I think I'll love it.

#10 Carolien, that's a good idea. However, at the moment I am quite overwhelmed with "books to read". I am even considering to bring back some librarybooks before I have read them. When would you like to start?

I also have a huge TBR pile, so there's no hurry. Let's say... somewhere before Januari 2010? :-)

Maybe we're gonna make it ;-).

By the way, I have planned my first book in the romance category (nothing chosen yet) Lord of scoundrels by Loretta Chase. It got a good review at SBTB: http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/sbit-patrick-re...

Maybe I'll get to it somewhere in july or so...sigh.

14> Seconding the recommendation of Loretta Chase. So far I haven't read a romance of hers I didn't like. Which reminds me that I should add her to my favorite authors list on my profile page....

So far I have not made any plans of must reads in every category, so maybe I should make lists:

Category Nonfiction:
1. Unlimited power: the new science of personal achievement / Anthony Robbins (work in progress)
2. Hoe werkt mijn kat? / David Brunner
3. Handboek voor de moderne vrouw / Aaf Brandt Corstius & Machteld van Gelder
4. Vrouw met PIT / Suzanne Unck
5. Crisis checklist / Marieke Henselmans
6. Everything is miscellaneous / David Weinberger
7. What colour is your parachute/ Richard N. Bolles
8. PC troubleshooting for dummies / Dan Gookin
9. Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding / Paulien Cornelisse

Category: Fantasy & SF

1.Gardens of the moon (Tales from the Malazan book of the fallen;1) / Steven Erikson
2. The way of shadows / Brent Weeks
3. Cloven hooves / Megan Lindholm
4. Rumo: and his miracolous adventures / Walter Moers
5. Keeping it real / Justine Robson
6. Red Gloves / Beth Vaughan
7. Stormbreker / Peter Schaap
8. Wolf Moon / Charles De Lint
9. The Dragon Keeper / Robin Hobb

Category: Thrillers

1.Four to score / Janet Evanovich
2. Sepulchre / Kate Mosse
3. Jachtmaan = Hunting moon(?) / Tisa Moon
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Stieg Larsson
5. Goodnight nobody / Jennifer Weiner
6. The lost book of Salem / Katherine Howe
7.Sorcery & Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot / Patricia Wrede and Elizabeth Steverner
8. Back to the coast / Saskia Noort
9. The visitor / Lee Child

Category: Children & Young Adult Fiction

1. Alcatraz versus the evil librarians (Alcatraz 1) - Brandon Sanderson
2. De lappenheks = The ragwitch / Garth Nix
3. Twilight / Stephenie Meyer
4. Ink Spell / Cornelia Funke
5. The Hobbit / J.R.R. Tolkien (reread)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince / J.K. Rowling
7. Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows / J.K. Rowling
8. This is all. The pillow book of Cordelia Kenn / Aidan Chambers
9. Coraline / Neil Gaiman

Category: Romance

1. De prins op het verkeerde paard = Falling for you / Jill Mansell
2. Fast Women / Jennifer Crusie
3. Mystique / Amanda Quick = Jayne A. Krentz
4. Not quite a lady / Loretta Chase
5. Lord Perfect /Loretta Chase
6. New Moon / Stephenie Meyer
7.
8.
9.

Category: Dutch Literature and translated literature

1. Het woud der verwachting (=In a dark wood wandering) / Hella S. Haasse
2. Max Havelaar / Multatuli
3. Een roos van vlees / Jan Wolkers
4. Elena's vlucht / Susan Smit
5. Het diner / Herman Koch
6. De eenzaamheid van de priemgetallen / Paolo Giordano
7. De koningin van Paramaribo / Clark Accord
8. Caesarion / Tommy Wieringa
9.

Category : Female writers Next in the series

1. Cartomancy / Michael A. Stackpole (Age of Discovery;2)
2. The path of daggers / Robert Jordan (Wheel of time; 8)
3.Kushiëls avatar / Jacqueline Carey (Kushiël 3)
4.The new world / Michael A. Stackpole (Age of discovery;3)
5.Every witch way but dead / Kim Harrison (The Hollows; 3)
6. Arrow's fall / Mercedes Lackey (Heralds of the queen;3)
7. Ill wind (Weather Wardens 1) / Rachel Caine
8. The awakened mage / Karen Miller
9. Night Huntress / Yasmine Galenorn

Category: Classic Fiction

1. Mrs. Dalloway / Virginia Woolf
2. Mansfield park / Jane Austen
3. Foodsteps of fate / Louis Couperus
4. A room with a view / E.M. Forster
5. The Secret Garden / Frances Hodgson Burnett
6.
7.
8.
9.

Category: Animals

1. Dewey, the small town library cat who touched the world / Vicky Myron, Brett Witter
2. The cat who came for christmas / Cleveland Amory
3. Watershipdown / Richard Adams
4. Black Beauty / Anna Sewell
5. Jennie / Paul Gallico
6. My life as a dog (= Mijn leven als hond) / Martin Bril
7. Pittah de grijze wolf (=White fang) Jack London
8.The bear or Kazan the Wolfdog / James Oliver Curwood
9.

I like how your tickers match your category theme - very cute.

So far I have been reading:

1/81 - Tuinen van de maan; het spel der goden 1 - Steven Erikson
2/81 - Het woud der verwachting - Hella S. Haasse
3/81 - The way of shadows - Brent Weeks
4/81 - Four to score - Janet Evanovich
5/81 - Alcatraz versus the evil librarians - Brandon Sanderson
6/81 - Je ongekende vermogens - Anthony Robbins (Work in Progress)
7/81 - Vrouw met PIT - Suzanne Unck - (reading)

I'm interested to see what you think about the children's books you read - the only one I've heard of is the Garth Nix choice. Also, I really like your animals category! A good idea for next year.

Thanks Nmhale! I liked Alcatraz versus the evil librarians, although I got irritated by his "intermezzo's" to the reader from time to time. It was ment to be fun, I know, but maybe I am just to much a grown up. I liked his world very much though! And as librarian, I like to be the bad girl for a change ;-).

The Aidan Chambers book will probably something serious (his books usually do have a serious subject. It has usually to do with teens growing up). Hodgson Burnett is waiting on my TBR pile far too long!

I would like to start in His Dark Materials by Pullman (I can read some extra fantasy here).

This weekend I finished The Ragwitch. It was nice, but I could not concentrate on the story. It took quite some to read. The story is adventurous, however. I do have trouble believing a twelve or thirteen year old girl can still get obsessed by a ragdoll. But maybe I am just speaking for the child I was myself ;-). The story is problably ment for children a little younger: maybe 8-10.

It took to two weeks to read Sepulchre. Two weeks! Somehow it wasn't as exciting as Labyrinth, the other book by Kate Mosse!

I had trouble to relate to the main characters and somehow the story moved to fast in the end. It is oke to speed up near the climax of a thriller, but in this case the story was not "complete". It felt "hasty". (to quote Treebeard).

Next book will be Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.

For your animals category, I'd like to recommend Jennie by Paul Gallico. Hard to find (in Dutch, anyway), but absolutely worth it!

Looks cute! If I can find a copy, I am certainly going to try!

That reminds me of Jennie by Douglas Preston. I haven't read that one in awhile but it would also work for your animal category.

Today I finished Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It is a fun teenage romance (yes romance). What a pity these books weren't around when I was fifteen. ;-)

De prins op het verkeerde paard / Falling for you by Jill Mansell is really quick reading romance novell. It was my first Mansell novel, and I was not excactely thrilled. She could do a little bit more to make changes in people believable/probable, and I didn't like her style of writing very much. To be honest: it might be the translation. I will stick to Helen Fielding and Lauren Weisberger from here on.

I just finished Heksen en duivelsgebroed or Every which way but dead, a Rachel Morgan thriller. It was a fun read, with a little slow start (I was still a little tied up in Dewey: the small town library cat who changed the world ).

Rachel is still struggeling to stay out of Algaliarepts grasp. She promised to be his familiar in exchange for his testimony (is that the correct word?) against Piscary. Yvy is trying to keep Piscary out of her head. To complicate matters, Rachels boyfriend Nick keeps his distance and Kisten, Piscary's former intimus, tries to get close to Rachel. To make matters worse Jenks finds out that Rachel has kept Trent Kalamack's secret from him.

I enjoyed every minute of this book. Strictly speaking it's urban fantasy, but it's a part three in a series. So I will sneak it in my female writers category. I needed something light! Kisten is certainly one of my favorite vampires!

Oh, I love those books!
Have you read Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs and the Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong, too? (If not, you should! ;-) )

Not yet. They're on my to do list! ;)

#30> Two weeks, Maaike - I'm happy to finish a book in two weeks. :)

I've been enjoying Rachel Caine's Morganville series too. I've only read the first two, but I'm looking forward to the rest.

So, this week I ended Dewey: the small town librarycat who touched the world by Vicky Myron. It was nice although I had a little trouble finishing it. Didn't want to read about Dewey's demize I guess. *sigh*.

I just started Keeping it real by Justina Robson for my reading club. I will put it in my fantasy & sf category.

Today I finished Keeping it real by Justina Robson. It was nice for a debut, although there were a few points about her writing style I did not like very much. It also took some time to get into the "world" Robson created (a big nono in fantasy). Therefore it took some time to get into the story. 3 out of 5 stars.

I had a reading dip. Yesterday I finished Ill wind, part 1 of the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine. It was nice light break, since I'm trying to read two or three non-fiction books at the same time! I read it as a circulation book for my Fantasy & SF reading club.

I'm glad you liked my book. 8-)

Yesterday I finished Red Gloves by Beth Vaughan. Nice adventurous fantasy with several strong female characters. A little bit predictable sometimes but a really nice fast reading book. 3 stars out of 5.

So everybody will know why I will never make it - I keep reading books that don't fit my categories.

Here's one bonuscategory: Discworld books:

1. Small Gods / Terry Pratchett
2. Lords and Ladies / / Terry Pratchett
3. Men at arms / Terry Pratchett
4. Soul Music / Terry Pratchett
5. Interesting times / Terry Pratchett
6. Maskerade / Terry Pratchett
7. Feet of Clay / Terry Pratchett
8. Hogfather / Terry Pratchett
9. Jingo / Terry Pratchett

*raises one eyebrow*
Adjust your categories?

I just added one "outside category" for discworld books because I can't put them in my fantasy category... ;) How do dutch sportjournalists call it? Buitencategorie? Offcially there not my challenge.....*looks blank and innocent*

A lot of the books I read, I can't put in my categories (Discworld for instance, but also some other ones). Since I'm already reading a lot of female authors I skipped this category and changed it to Next in the series. I'll make some changes in my lists too but I'll still keep discworld out. Another option is skipping the romance category or the classic category...and change to Miscelleneaous.




Categorie: Volgende in de serie
1. Cartomancy / Michael A. Stackpole (Age of Discovery;2)
2. The path of daggers / Robert Jordan (Wheel of time; 8)
3.Kushiëls avatar / Jacqueline Carey (Kushiël 3)
4.The new world / Michael A. Stackpole (Age of discovery;3)
5.Every which way but dead / Kim Harrison (The Hollows; 3)
6. Arrow's fall / Mercedes Lackey (Heralds of the queen;3)
7. Ill wind (Weather Wardens 1) / Rachel Caine
8. The awakened mage / Karen Miller (Kingmaker, kingbreaker 2)
9. Night Huntress / Yasmine Galenorn (Otherworld series 5)

Update, last weeks I've read The awakened mage by Karen Miller. I didn't plan it originally, it didn't fit in my categories but I really wanted to know what happened after the exciting cliffhanger from The innocent mage. Unfortunately it was a little conventional. It was a nice read but nothing original. Everything neatly settled. Okay, nothing wrong with that, but... a little dissapointing after part one. Three out of five stars.

After that I read Inkspell by Cornelia Funke for my Children category. Wonderful! Exciting follow up on Inkheart. I especially liked those little things about the power of the storyteller and all the problems it causes. (Did I make you curious? That was intentional!) 5 stars.

I desperately needed something light saturday so I picked Night Huntress by Yasmine Galenorn. I like the d'Artigo girls and especially Delilah. But now at part five, wear and tear on the serie starts to get to me sometimes. I don't know exactly what it was (please stop telling me what characters wear, because I really couldn't care less) but somehow it wasn't like it used to be. 3 out of 5 stars.

Now I'm reading Rumo and his miraculous adventures by Walter Moers. I'm already having a lot of fun but my expectations are high since City of the dreaming books. For in my bag (public transport reading) I have a nice paperpack edition of A room with a view by E.M. Forster. A real classic for my Classics category.

This weekend I finished Rumo and his miraculous adventures and though I really liked it, it wasn't as good as City of the dreaming books. I had the feeling Moers took a little too much time to explain sometimes. The story was enchanting though. I really look forward to other books about Zamonia...4 out of 5 stars.

At the moment I'm reading Cloven hooves by Megan Lindholm (=Robin Hobb). It is a really sad story, and sometimes I cannot read any further. So I've started rereading The Hobbit as well.

I finally finished Cloven hooves by Megan Lindholm / Robin Hobb. A lovely but sad story. It's nothing like her Farseer trilogy or the Ki/Vandien serie. I liked it very much though. 4 out 5 stars.

PS.. I moved The Hobbit from the category Fantasy & SF to Children & Young adult books.

I finished The Hobbit last night (3 a.m. ;) ). Five chapters in an hour... I love the part where Bilbo sneaks in Smaugs dungeon. 5 stars...

Stormbreker by Peter Schaap was lovely but a slow read. It took quite some time to get in to the story but it was well worth it. An interesting protagonist and a complicated plot. It isn't a quick "in between"read though, if you read to fast you will get confused.

I am certainly going to read more by this author...

"Problem" - I wanted to check something in Harry Potter and the half-blood prince and ended up rereading it. And after that I 'accidently" reread Harry Potter and the deathly hallows ;). I'll just put them in my Children's book category *sigh*

Tuesday I finished Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie. Crusie was a tip from the Smartbitches website. I liked it very much voor a romance novel. The only thing that really irritated me was the "everyone is looking great or/and dressing perfect" thing that always bugs me in these novels....Still, not bad. Not bad at all.
3 out of 5 stars

This week I read Elena's vlucht by Susan Smit.

The story tells about a Roma (Gypsy) girl who travels with her Kumpania around Europe in the thirties. At fourteen she is married against her will to a widower who is much older. Her husband is cold and reserved towards her. From that moment on she has to comply to role of romni, married woman.

When Elena does not get pregnant a year after the wedding, people gossip she has cursed her husband and Elena decides to run away. She finds a job in a village in Limburg (i.e. Province in the south -east part of the Netherlands) and soon finds out she will never be accepted by the local people. Only Nicolaas, an intelligent boy who shares her dreams, is friendly to her. Affection between Elena and Nicolas grows, but then Elena is forced to leave again.

I liked it, but it was a bit of a slow read. Especially the first part (forced marriages are never a relaxing reading experience). The second part of the book was a much better reading experience. The writer, Susan Smit is a Dutch author who puts much weight on the spiritual level and spiritual experiences. She writes columns for a new age magazine and spirituality is important in this novel. The forces of life and death, of nature, of female empowerment are all present as un underlying motive. Spirituality is also found in catholisism, the religion Nicolaas is brought up with. An interesting reading experience. 3 out of 5 stars.

The cat who came for christmas by Cleveland Amory is a nice quick read. The author knows a lot of famous people which he shows by frequent name dropping. But overall a positive reading experience not in the least because Icebear is a cute and interesting cat. Since my current pet, Thatcher, is also merely a white cat (except for the slight grey 'helmet' that inspired my friends to name her after the 'iron lady') I liked it even better.

Currently I am reading This is all. The pillow book of Cordelia Kenn by Aidan Chambers. So far, I enjoy every minute.

Tonight I finally finished The Girl with the dragon tattoo. I waited ages to start, but the last days I couldn't put it down. So I read till 2 am, very unwise! I have a job interview this morning. Sigh...

Since my last post I finished Coraline (wonderful, scary) and completed my category of children's books. I also read Goodnight nobody: a novel by Jennifer Weiner, I put it in my thriller list, though it isn't quite a thriller, but is not really romance either... somewhere in between I guess. I liked it. 31/2 out of 5.

I just finished Wolf Moon by Charles de Lint and I just don't know in which category I will put it. What a lovely poetic story, and very original. 4 stars.

I will start today with The lost book of Salem by Katherine Howe.

Today I finished my first non-fiction book The cat owner's manual. Nice easy to read manual, funny sometimes. Very effective.

Hogfather was everything I expect from a Discworld Novel. Susan Sto Hilet is one of my favorite discowrld characters, and she can hardly do anything wrong. In this tale, she has a strong connection with Mary Poppins ;), Death is acting strange again, and deieties and fairies pop up like adverts on a gambling website. And where is the Hogfather exactly?

Black Beauty was a lovely read. It could have gone in the Children's book category too. However, the story is quite melodramatic and a little sentimental; I am quite sure that I would have enjoyed the story more if I had read when I was a child myself. As a horse loving girl, I probably would have cried the whole book through. Although I had to wipe away a tear or too when hearing Gingers sad, sad story. I am glad the days are over we needed horses for work. Unfortunately there are still many gingers and black beauties today... sigh! (When will people ever learn to treat animals (not only horses) like they are supposed to!)

Yesterday I finished Mijn leven als hond, before another book I was reading for my bookclub - The solitude of prime numbers by Paolo Giordano. I was not in a 'serious reading' mood I guess, and The solitude of primenumbers is sometimes raw and painful to read (at least I think so).

I have never read a book with so many characters that only see what they want to see in other people... Sometimes it's making me impatient.

Edit: I forgot to say I read PC troubleshooting for dummies. I had no choice, sigh. It is a nice one for my nonfiction list though.

In dire need for some Urban Fantasy I finished Demon Mistress by Yasmine Galenorn. A Sisters of the moon/otherworld book, part 6 to be precise. Main character was the vampire sister Menolly. There are demon summoning students and a missing elf/OIA agent. Fun to read.

For my fantasy reading club I read Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot. A sort of historic detective in an alternate version of Britain 1817. Alternate means: There is a Royal College of Wizards. The main characters, Cecy and Kate, are young ladies of "good breeding". Kate and her sister are having their grand debut in London Society (aka the marriage market) while Cecy has to stay on her father's estate on the countryside. They write each other letters. Kate is almost poisoned and this leads to a series of events...

The writing style made me think of Jane Austen. Lots of fun. 4 stars.

I completely forgot Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Wonderful! Now I am very curious about the tv-series too. I loved it. I read Neverwhere more than a month ago, I just forgot to post about it.

After Sorcery and Cecelia I finished:

- Jingo! - Terry Pratchett
- Back to the coast - Saskia Noort
- Jennie - Paul Gallico
- De koningin van Paramaribo - Clark Accord
- Mystique - Amanda Quick

Today I can finally start in: Robin Hobb's- The Dragon Keeper

And this morning (very early) I finished The Dragon Keeper. I loved it. No trouble at all to return to the world of Bingtown, the Rain Wilde River and the dragons.

I am very sad that Dragon Haven will not be published before march 2010. Very, very frustrating. sigh.

Happy New Year everybody!

My 999-challenge ended with the counter on 57. I never even got close! Luckily I chose my 1010 categories better. It will be easier to follow.

Last two books of 2009 were New Moon which was dissapointing (Bella irritated me) and Taal is zeg maar, echt mijn ding. The last one is a collection of columns about language or, to be more specific, about the way people talk. Really funny!