Here's my list for the 999 Challenge! I'm hoping that sticking to this list exactly will help me broaden my reading and finally get to some books that I've been meaning to read forever. Wish me luck!

42 Books Finished!

I. Daphne Du Maurier 5/9
1. The House on the Strand
2. Jamaica Inn
3. My Cousin Rachel
4. Frenchman's Creek
5. The King's General
6. Mary Anne
7. The Scapegoat
8. The Glass-Blowers
9. Don't Look Now

II. Non-Fiction 3/9
1. Taking Things Seriously by Joshua Glenn
2. Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang
3. Where Am I Wearing by Kelsey Timmerman
4. Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander
5. Deer Hunting With Jesus by Joe Bageant
6. A Venetian Affair by Andrea Di Robilant
7. The Samaritan's Dilemma by Deborah Stone
8. Sway by Ori Brafman
9. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

III. Food Books 4/9
1. Chocolat by Joanne Harris
2. Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant by Jenni Ferrari-Adler
3. Endless Feasts by Gourmet Magazine Editors
4. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
5. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn
6. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
7. Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl
8. Julie and Julia by Julie Powell
9. The Wedding Officer by Anthony Capella

IV. Classics 6/9
1. Beloved by Toni Morrison
2. Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy
3. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
4. Pnin by Vladmir Nabokov
5. The Female Quixote by Charlotte Lennox
6. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
7. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
8. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
9. Howard's End by E.M. Forster

V. Humor 5/9
1. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
2. A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer
3. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
4. Earth, Inc. by Mike Bollen
5. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford
6. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs
7. The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse by Robert Rankin
8. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
9. When You are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

VI. Historical Fiction 6/9
1. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2. As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann
3. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber
4. The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones
5. The Book of Splendor by Frances Sherwood
6. Abundance by Sena Jeter Naslund
7. The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland
8. Through a Glass Darkly by Karleen Koen
9. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

VII. Books in Translation 4/9
1. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
2. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
3. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
4. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
5. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
6. The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
7. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
8. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho

VIII. Books About Books 3/9
1. A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel
2. A Pound of Paper by John Baxter
3. Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf
4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
5. Ex Libris by Anne Fadiman
6. A Gentle Madness by Nicholas A. Basbanes
7. A Passion for Books by Harold Rabinowitz
8. Used and Rare by Lawrence Goldstone
9. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

IX. Novels about Art 5/9
1. The Miniaturist by Kunal Basu
2. Portrait of an Unknown Woman by Vanora Bennett
3. The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier
4. The Painted Kiss by Elizabeth Hickey
5. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
6. Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman
7. Life Mask by Emma Donoghue
8. As Above, So Below by Rudy Rucker
9. Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland

Message edited by its author, Nov 4, 2009, 6:47pm.

Hi Sarahbird:

I am very intrigued by your Daphne du Maurier category. I read Jamaica Inn and I was toying with reading My Cousin Rachel but I did not know about these other books. I think you are also going to really like The Crimson Petal and the White

Hi Sarahbird:

I can relate to "finally get to some books that I've been meaning to read forever".

You have some very interesting books in your lists. Will be interested to see what you like and recommend for others.

What a fantastic list! I want to read every one of them! I will be quite eager to see what you have to say about them. Welcome to the challenge. Tina

You have a bunch of books here that I've read or want to read! I'll definitely be checking back to see what you think of them.

I'm joining in too - what a great list, some I've read and some are on my challenge list. One title caught my eye - deer hunting with Jesus - I had to google the title to appease my curiosity!

I'm going to be keeping an eye on your Food Books. Have fun with the challenge.

Great choices on the food books. I've read six of the nine and they were all excellent. I'm going to try and find Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant for my food category. I don't cook alone very often -- mostly I eat leftovers and junk -- maybe the essays will inspire me to take advantage of flying solo in the kitchen.

I also love your Novels About Art category. I read The Painted Kiss before a trip to Vienna and it really enriched the whole experience. I loved knowing something about the ladies behind the paintings. I never realized My Name is Red was bout art. I just assumed for some reason it was about war. I will have to look for it. One of the best books in this genre in my opinion is The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland. If you are at all interested in early feminism, native cultures or the Pacific Northwest it's fascinating.

Looking forward to your reviews to pick up some other good titles.

Oooh - I like your food books!

I did read both Garlic and Sapphires and Julie and Julia one right after the other. I will say that Julie & Julia actually got me cooking again - I've been away from it for a bit (well, not entirely - but not actually enthused for it for a while). Her story about the bone marrow sauce was great - and ended up tracking down my own femur bone to make it based on her description (totally worth it!).

Ruth Reichl is always a treat and a fantastic story-teller. She makes the restaurant review business sound more like James Bond than just making sure you're giving a fair accounting. While some of it isn't so suprising (the restaurant tries to identify reviewers to give them superior service), there are other parts that will have you scratching your head (she was really the first one to explore and rate authentic ethnic restaurants - FOR THE NY TIMES!).

Ooooh! I envy the neatness and certainty of your reading life, not to mention some great categories and books within. :-) I dived into this challenge before I knew what I was doing and my 999 challenge is a big, hot mess! Guess good things come to those who wait!? :-)

Great choices! You and I have quite a few of the same books for this challenge, and I've read some others (I love both The Eyre Affair and Ex Libris). It's wonderful to see an entire Du Maurier category; I only ever read Rebecca in high school and don't know her other works.

Happy reading!

I am currently reading Rebecca and are really enjoying it. Will definitely be using your Daphne Du Maurier list and comments to read some more from her. Look forward to your recommendations and comments.

Great categories, and loads of your books appeal to me so may be stealing ideas.

Really like Daphne Du Maurier category - didn't know there were so many. I have never read any and will be keen to see your comments. I've seen the film of Don't Look Now and loved it.

Also noticed you have a David Sedaris. Am keen to read him. Have you read Me Talk Pretty One Day. Was thinking of starting with that one.

>13, you didn't ask me (smile!) but I would say read Naked first. There were parts that were rather raunchy but so LOL material!

#14 Hi bonniebooks.
So that one is going on my list for sure. LOL is what I was going for (I don't mind raunchy either ha ha ha!).