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Group:  75 Books Challenge for 2009 ignore
Topic:  Starting the 2009 challenge 0 / 13 read

Feb 19, 2009, 12:37am (top)Message 1: garbison

Not sure I'll make it but I like the idea of an annual challenge.

So far this year:

#1 The Reader, Bernhard Schlink

Yes, picked it up right after seeing the movie and read through in a couple of days. After seeing the movie I expected an extensive, layered novel, but it is as spare as the film.

#2 The Good Thief, Hannah Tinti

This is just a fun little orphan on an adventure story.

#3 In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in Unknown Country, Kim Barnes

If you like memoirs, this is a nice one. Barnes grew up in Idaho in a logging family. Much of the book discusses her family's turn toward Pentecostalism coupled with their move from the wilderness to town.

I hope I'll remember what I read in January before long...

Message edited by its author, Feb 19, 2009, 12:50am.

Feb 19, 2009, 1:36am (top)Message 2: fantasia655

Welcome and good luck with your challenge this year, Garbison.

Feb 19, 2009, 1:39am (top)Message 3: alcottacre

Welcome to the group, Garbison.

I already have the Tinti book on Continent TBR, but I am going to add the Barnes book as well. Thanks for the recommendation!

Feb 19, 2009, 8:36am (top)Message 4: drneutron

Welcome to our little group! Prepare to be inundated with stuff you want to read...8^}

Apr 29, 2009, 10:44am (top)Message 5: garbison

4) Rule of the Bone

Coming of age homeless teenager story. Fast read and there might be hope for Bone.

5) I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison

Follow up to Couldn't Keep It To Myself Great read.

6) Come On, People, Bill Cosby

I'm a librarian at a close custody men's correctional facility, so sometimes that influences what I read. Cosby donated thousands of copies of this book to facilities throughout the US and we're trying to figure out ways to present the book to an audience who views him as old school and lacking credibility.

7) The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Memoir on growing up in Baltimore in the midst of the crack crisis and how his 70s, Black Power dad guided his kids through the chaos. This is a book I thought of pairing with Cosby's for a group discussion.

We got a free subscription to the New Yorker, so I think there's no way I'm going to meet this challenge. So much to read in every issue!

Apr 30, 2009, 4:48pm (top)Message 6: alcottacre

#5: The Beautiful Struggle looks like a very good book. I will add it to the Continent. Thanks for the recommendation!

Do not worry to much about making the 75 books - a lot of us just like to read each others threads and add to our TBR lists. 75 is just a number.

Message edited by its author, Apr 30, 2009, 4:48pm.

Jun 4, 2009, 1:46am (top)Message 7: garbison

8) Arthur and George by Julian Barnes

Historical fiction about Conan Doyle's life, interests, and accidental relationship with an Indian man falsely accused of a crime.

9) Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Love pretty much everything he writes. I think this is his first YA novel.

10) The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

Coming of age story/mystery set in a small town in the South. Can't help but love Harriet, a modern day Scout.

Jun 4, 2009, 3:50am (top)Message 8: alcottacre

Some good reading lately! I read Arthur and George last year and liked it a lot, especially when I found out it was based on a true incident.

Several others have recommended the Alexie book, so I am looking forward to reading it.

The Little Friend is a book I have had on Planet TBR for a while now. I enjoyed Tartt's The Secret History a lot, so I need to bump this book up. Thanks for the reminder!

Jun 4, 2009, 6:12am (top)Message 9: girlunderglass

I also have The Little Friend on my TBR but have heard it's very different from The Secret History and this is what has kept me away form it for so long. Glad to see you enjoyed it, it's encouraging me to give the book a try sooner than I would have. :)

Nov 11, 2009, 4:43pm (top)Message 10: garbison

11) You Don't Love Me Yet by Jonathan Lethem
12) Gun with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem
13) Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
14) Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham
15) The Hours by Michael Cunningham
16) The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton
17) Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote
18) White Teeth by Zadie Smith
19) Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O' Nan
20) Tethered by Amy Mackinnon
21) Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
22) A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
23) Dancing to the Concertina's Tune by Jan Walker

Nov 11, 2009, 9:19pm (top)Message 11: garbison

Nov 12, 2009, 7:05am (top)Message 12: clfisha

Hi, How does Gun with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem compare to his other two? I really enjoyed it but then I tried The Fortress of Solitude which just bored me.

Nov 13, 2009, 7:30pm (top)Message 13: garbison

I couldn't get through Fortress of Solitude, but I liked these other two. Girl in Landscape is another if his genre play books and I though You Don't Love me Yet was pretty funny. I also liked Motherless Brooklyn.

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Touchstone works

Touchstone authors

Sherman Alexie
Russell Banks
Julian Barnes
Kim Barnes
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Bill Cosby
Michael Cunningham
Nancy Horan
Wally Lamb
Jonathan Lethem
Amy Mackinnon
Lorrie Moore
Stewart O'Nan
Bernhard Schlink
Susan Shapiro
Zadie Smith
Shreve Stockton
Donna Tartt
Ted Kerasote
Hannah Tinti
Jan Walker
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