I noticed that at least one person has finished their first 999 Challenge. I thought it would be nice to have a place for those who finish the Challenge to post "Hey! I'm done! Woohoo!". I also thought it would be interesting to see how many people are finishing and when. So when you finished, post here and post a link to your thread, in case anyone wants to read it.

I used the number of members of the group, even though I know some will complete more than one challenge. It's a starting point.

Message edited by its author, Aug 2, 2009, 1:47am.

Completed 999 Challenges

1. cmbohn thread 3 May
2. InfoQuest thread 23 May
3. bucketyell thread 31 May
4. pamelad thread 15 June
5. MarthaJeanne thread 12 July
6. lindapanzo thread 1 Aug
7. Zanix thread 12 Aug
8. englishrose thread 13 Aug
9. bucketyell's 2nd 999 thread 14 Aug
10. cmbohn's 2nd 999 thread 18 Aug
11. bell7 thread 20 Aug
12. librarianlost thread 25 Aug
13. HannahJo thread 28 Aug
14. DevourerOfBooks thread 30 Aug
15. VictoriaPL thread 31 Aug
16. sjmccreary thread 1 Sept
17. cyderry thread 1 Sept
18. onyx95 thread 2 Sept
19. nannybebette thread 3 Sept
20. ivyd thread 4 Sept
21. zanix 2nd 999 thread 4 Sept
22. tututhefirst thread 7 Sept
23. bonniebooks thread 11 Sept
24. CatyM thread 14 Sept
25. soffitta1 thread 23 Sept
26. laura_88 thread 26 Sept
27. MusicMom41 thread 29 Sept
28. RidgewayGirl thread 2 Oct
29. sanddancer thread 19 Oct
30. MarthaJeanne's 2nd thread 22 Oct
31. bucketyell's 3rd thread 1 Nov
32. blondierocket thread 5 Nov
33. AHS-Wolfy thread 11 Nov
34. InfoQuest 2nd thread 12 Nov
35. zanix 3rd 999 thread 14 Nov
36. tututhefirst 2nd 999 thread 28 Nov
37. sarams thread 2 Dec
38. zanix 4th 999 thread 4 Dec
39. avatiakh thread 8 Dec

999 Challenges Completed by Month

May - 3
June - 1
July - 1
Aug - 10
Sept - 12
Oct - 3
Nov - 6
Dec - ?

Message edited by its author, Dec 8, 2009, 7:42pm.

I think it's a great idea to have a thread where people can acknowledge that they succeeded. I can only hope that I'll be on this thread by the end of the year! 51 more to go...

You will be, Taiko! I have 57 more to go. 46 if I overlapped. We can do it.

This would make a good general encouragement thread too.

Okay, I think I started this thread preemptively. I think I saw about a half a dozen 999 x 2 threads and thought those people had already completed one 999 Challenge. lol My bad.

Bravo to all those doing TWO 999 Challenges though. That is impressive. Actually, keeping track of two is impressive.

This is still a good idea, I suspect that some people will be finished fairly quickly given some of the threads that I've read.

Not me though, I am exactly where I hoped to be at this point at 42, but can I stay focused and keep myself from picking up reading non-challenge books? I must do a better job of planning for next time.

chrine: It is a good idea to have a place for 999 finishers to come and announce their success.

I finished challenge book #51 tonight so it'll still be awhile til I finish my first 999 challenge but it's good to have this spot to come back to.

For me, doing a second 999 challenge is a way to help organize my non-challenge reading. I'm not too confident that I will finish a second one.

Thanks guys. I was hoping it wouldn't seem... pushy? to anyone. Just a nice place to be updated on how everyone is doing.

Jonesli ~~ Do you have set books in your categories? I could not do that. I purposefully made my categories very broad. Even though, set books would make me read the books I have and be very useful.

Lindapanzo ~~ I am especially enjoying keeping my challenge threads (999 & 50) and Club Read thread this year cause I find I am more organized about my reading and I'm finding reviewing books is starting to come easier.

I finished challenge book #25 tonight, Thursday Next in First Among Sequels.

Message edited by its author, May 7, 2009, 4:45pm.

Thanks for starting this thread! I have completed my challenge! Here's a link to my thread:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/46595

Way to go cmbohn! You've started out finished challenges ticker's climb. I had thought I'd seen a finished challenge before I posted this thread. I had just mixed you up with cyderry. I see you've already read five books towards your second 999. I look forward to logging that one in in no short time. Perhaps you'll do one a quarter. Again, congrats!

It's so cool to see the ticker move! Thanks!

Cindy,
I knew you would be the first! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Glad you are doing a double too!

So are some people really doing two 999 challenges? I thought folks were just carrying over their challenge to a new thread when the old one got too long.

I joked about how I should have picked all vampire/werewolf categories so I would be finished by now . . . maybe I should track those for my second 999 challenge.

Yes, Lizard, some of us are insane!
We have 9 new categories (some duplicates because we had more than 9 books to begin with) and are going to try to do 2 - 999 X 2!

Join us!

You should do it BookLizard. You know you want to!

LOL! OK, I started a second "fanged" challenge, but I'm surprised I don't have more titles on it! What have I been reading this year?

I've read 75 books so far plus a few are in process. :)
But I'm an awful cheat, as I decided to log everything I read...
Joking with friends that mine is going to be 20x09... ^__^

Ritulia....that's how I ended up with 999x2--I kept reading books that didn't fit the first challenge, and I was adding 'bonus categories'. so I realized i could just make 9 more categories and do a second challege. Perhaps you should join the rest of us who are crazy enough to do two! At any rate, enjoy what ever you decide to read.

Congrats, cmbohn!

I'm not doing so well on my 999 Challenge because I find myself reading all sorts of books that are not on it. I did make a change so I could have a "library book" catagory which is now all done (it's the only one I've finished).

Just in case anyone is interested there is a Paranormal 999 Challenge group on LT as well:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/paran...

The fangs catagory made me think of it and I didn't know if anyone would be interested.

Well, I did manage it and was so absurdly pleased with myself that I felt compelled to announce it. Though, of course, I still have to make my monthly update . . . Perhaps I'll do another one and attempt to update more often. In any event, this feeling of accomplishment is quite enjoyable.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/53434

Message edited by its author, May 23, 2009, 7:03pm.

Congratulations Rachel...that's quite an accomplishment. You have inspired me to get cracking and settle down to some serious reading this holiday weekend.

I'm a third of the way through my "fanged" challenge. Yay!

I haven't finished any categories yet, so my next goal is to make sure I have at least one book finished for each category. I have some catching up to do in my original 999 challenge.

81 books read. Time to (finally) get to the challenge 999.
*bangs head on the keyboard*

Congratulations Ritulia!!

Wow! Congrats to those who have finished already - very impressive! =)

I have 78 books done but 1/3 is in one 999 challenge and the rest in the first 999 challenge - too bad the number alone doesn't count..... but I'll get there!

Nice job, Ritulia!

Just finished the first 999 challenge and starting the second.

Way to go!

Two more peeps have finished the challenge while I was out sick. Woohoo! Awesome, InfoQuest and pamelad! Go luck on your second 999's!

Thank you chrine. Hope you are well now.

Woohoo! Well done, folks!

I'm awfully close, but would need to combine my cookbook and craft categories to be finished right now. We're going on a holiday on Tuesday. When I get back I'll probably be done, but guess it won't be before.

Congratulations to you all--I'm about half-done now with 40 books on my list counted. But, sadly, I keep getting sidetracked by other books as well through the other groups I'm participating in or lurking through. Of course, maybe that's not sadly at all--just another set of books, hmmmmmmmmm.

#34, We seem to be suffering from the same diversions. I am at about 98 books for the year, but I think only 48 of them are 999 ! To make it more interesting, some of the books I have left are chunksters i.e. East of Eden Anna Karenina and The Tea Rose. It will really be a challenge if I get everything read!

I have about 20 books left for my 2nd challenge. I am reading Cyrano De Bergerac via Daily Lit, just got Three Tickets to Peoria from the library, and need to scrounge around downstairs for my Joseph Conrad books. Maybe if I spent less time on LT, I would finish even sooner!

LOL! I have real "chunksters" left as well--Woman in White, Hard Times, and I'm only one-third through Cryptonomicon's pages. Yet, I'm over 200 in my book count with nearly 50,000 pages thus far, and I'm still only half-way through this challenge. Oh well, this next month....

Another LOL - the seven I have left are 'chunksters' but I'm looking forward to them. If I can just stop blogging and LTing, then I can get them read. Keep going everyone...we'll make yet.

I'm now down to ten books til I finish my first challenge. Lots of long ones though.

None of mine are very long now, but I did one that was 800 pages. I haven't kept track of the total pages read. Maybe I will do that next year, just for fun.

Just finished my 9th category! Should be able to do another 9 by the end of the year.

Congratulations MarthaJeanne!

Yea MarthaJeanne!

That's great! Way to go, MarthaJeanne!

Great job MarthaJeanne!

Congratulations to all who have completed their challenge. I think it will take me a while to finish mine. Enjoying the challenge - gives one a focus.

You guys are amazing!! I'm exactly on track to finish my challenge a few hours before I head out to celebrate New Year's Eve :)) Congratulations to you all!

#47 That's funny - I hope nothing comes up between now and then to make you late for the party!

>48 hoo, me too!!! A 4-day road trip last weekend -- me driving; no audio book -- didn't help!
:)

Congrats MarthaJeanne! Good luck on your second 999!

I just finished my first 999 challenge!!!

I think I'm 12 books into 999 x 2. Three of the same categories and 6 new ones there.

WooHoo! Congratulations! And you did finish with a great book. :)

Nice job, Linda! That's so great!

Thanks. I really enjoyed doing the challenge, though, for the past few weeks, it was getting tough because my choices were limited.

Now, with 999 x 2, my choices are limitless, once again.

Congrats Linda! Good luck on your second 999.

Congratulations Linda.

Well done! Linda.

Congratulations Linda!

Thanks. Up til this year, my reading was pretty haphazard (i.e., whatever I felt like reading next). Much more organized this year, thanks to the 999 challenge.

Congratulations. And I agree with your comment in #59 - more organized this year, and more satisfying, too, without the steady diet of fluff reads.

For me, it really has been a challenge because last year I read 57 romances, so far this year 3, I never read history, this year 18. SO the challenge has broadened my selections and I am truly glad. Can't wait to finish at least one of my challenges.

I finished the first challenge and am about 4 books away from the second.

Quick question... do you fill in spots beforehand or do you prefer to fill things in as you read them? I tried filling in before but found that I never seemed to read the ones I planned to (Pilgrim by Timothy Findley is STILL on the list).

And now that I am near the end, it's weird to be picking books just because they fit into a category! I did try to make my second set of categories a little more broader than the first 'cus man, it can get hard near the end to find stuff that I want to read at that point.

Maybe for the third time round my categories could be ones 'books with pages' or 'books with characters'. :)

Message edited by its author, Aug 14, 2009, 8:16pm.

I gave myself about 20 "suggestions" per category. As I heard about new ones, I'd add those to the list, too.

This gave me something concrete while offering some flexibility.

My second one has categories that are a lot broader than my first.

Hola Bucketyell. Could you post a link to your finished first challenge thread? I couldn't find it. Congrats on finishing!

Here I am!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/66827

I like that idea Lindapanzo. You know, it never actually occurred to me to give myself options. Not too rigid in my thinking am I? Good grief.

I know next time I will add more classics to the list. I always say I should read more of them but never seem to get around to it. Maybe this time I will finish Middlemarch...

I started out with a list of books, but as my challenge went on, I changed a lot of them. Sometimes the library didn't have the book I wanted, sometimes I found another one I wanted to read more. I have some picked out for next year already, but I won't mind if I wind up reading a totally different list next year.

I know the 999 challenge is 9 books in 9 categories (due to recently joining the bookclub and adding audio books the number of my categories have swelled unfortunately ...) but is the last 9 for 2009 or 9th month ... was finishing the challenge by september a further challenge to the 999 challenge.
could be done by December but going to struggle by september! :)

Yeah, the original challenge is for the year. The month is just for the bonus point ;)

For an added challenge, try completing your books by 9/9/09!

THe above is a c&p from the group description.

Message edited by its author, Aug 6, 2009, 10:16am.

damn ... going to miss out on the bonus point then ... unless I get some serious reading in over the next couple of weeks! :)
thanks djay666

Hola Bucketyell. Thanks for the link to your thread. I've put you on the list. Let us know when you've finished your second and I'll count you again! Congrats!

I am finished the second challenge as of today and since I just went on a book-buying spree in Chicago, I guess I will start in again for the third time as I have a ton of stuff to read. Now to think up new categories :)

That's awesome! You've got me beat. I still have 2 books left for the challenge, one is on hold at the library and one is somewhere in my daughter's room!

Hey, two books away is awesome too. Congrats on your pending finish!

I just bought the book Book Lust by Nancy Pearl so I think I might use that for inspiration for a category. It's really interesting to see what she recommends in each genre.

You are making me sick!

I'm 8 books away from finishing the first challenge and 46 away from the second which means I'm 54 books behind! UGH!

I'm going to go read in a few minutes.

congrats bucketyell!

Hola Bucketyell. A 3rd 999?! Crazy or a ravenous reader or both?! Congrats on finishing your 2nd challenge and good luck on your 3rd. I do think you should do a Book Lust category. I've added you to the list and counted you on the ticker again.

Go Cmbohn go!

Go cyderry go!

I expect to see you both back here finished soon!!

Only seven challenges have been completed? I had thought there might be more than that with us nearing Sept. I don't read everybody's threads in the group so if you notice someone who finished and isn't on the list, post it here and a link back to their thread. I expect the number will start to go up as the month's end nears.

I completed my challenge. Here is link:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/47293

Congrats!!

So that makes 8. Next completer gets to be the 9th for the 999. Not a snowball in hell's chance that it's gonna be me though. Congrats to all that have so far though.

Congrats Englishrose!! On to contemplating your 1010..

Who will be luck number 9 of the 999??

Thanks chrine. My 1010 choice of books is coming along nicely.

I am done! I finished my second set of 999 today! I am so excited to be done. And just in time, as school starts tomorrow and I start a new job on Monday. I imagine that things will get very busy around here, with high school and jr. high and all that stuff. So I'm very glad to beat the 9/9/09 'deadline.'

Congrats again, lucky number 9!! Good luck at your new job too!

Congratulations! Good luck in your new job too!

Many many congratulations! I think it's especially fitting that the one who took the trouble to set this whole thing up in the first place is the lucky #9. Good luck w/school and job, but please check in here every once in a while and let us know how it's going.

congratulations!

Thanks! I will definitely keep checking in, because I keep finding so many good books in here!

cmbohn, congrats, once again.

Good luck on the new job.

Congrats! It feels good doesn't it?

Congratulations to everyone!

I completed my 1st challenge last night. My thread is here - http://www.librarything.com/topic/48022

Congrats to those of you who have finished your 2nd challenge! Wow! I'll be lucky if I get close.

Congratulations!

Well done Bell.

Congrats Bell! I take it from your post that you already have a second challenge going.

I'm thinking we're going to see quite a few challenges coming in in the next three weeks.

I changed the ticker. I was getting tired of the other one. Books and whatnot for back to school. I had a pen the marker but it didn't show up well. It has to be something large and more solid colored hence the white rabbit. I might change it again for Oct, Nov, and Dec.

Message edited by its author, Aug 20, 2009, 3:16pm.

thanks all!

Chrine - yes, I still had about 13 books left and felt a little too hemmed in with my reading, so I started a second challenge early. :-)

I just finished my challenge this morning. Here's my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/53132

This project definitely made me read outside of my comfort zone and helped me realize that I can't make generalizations about certain genres. There are great books out there I wouldn't normally consider and probably wouldn't have found if it weren't for this challenge. Not all non-fiction is dry and stuffy and unlikely to hold my attention- I found several great non-fiction books that read like fiction- full of suspense and mystery and developed characters. The 999 also pointed out for me how much I love to read recently published titles, especially when it became difficult to fulfill some of my categories. I had to curb the temptation to read a brand new book with good reviews and instead find one that fit in my categories. Sometimes I managed to do both ;o)

I did it! Now I've got 8 books with 2009 pubdates begging for my attention, so I'm outta here.

Congrats to everybody who has made it, is almost there, or is not even close- it's definitely a challenge and we all kick butt for sticking with it!

congratulations!!

congrats!

Congratulations!

Way to go!

Congrats Librarianlost!! Enjoy your newly published reads.

Chiming in late with a big congrats! Are you gonna go for a second?

Great Job!

I started my 999 challenge on 09/09/08 and finished today with 13 days left in my year! My list:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/47437

I had a lot of fun with my categories, and found that the challenge helped me be a better reader. I planned my books better instead of just picking random books from a shelf.

I tried to pick great books for each section, so while I still don't think I'll ever be a science fiction fanatic, I enjoyed picking a lot of sci-fi classics. I also enjoyed my notable books and ocean adventures categories.

Looking forward to a 10/10/10 challenge and keeping up with reviews a little better.

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

congratultions!

All 81 books done! Whoo Hoo!
I can hardly keep my eyes open, so I'm off to bed...

Congrats!!! To all the finishers!

Nice job, Victoria! Happy dreams!

Congratulations Victoria.

I just finished my last book this morning! Off to post comments on my thread.

8 days early!

Nice job, sjmccreary!

congratulations!

sjmccreary, Congratulations.

Yeah! Congrats :)

Way to go Sandy and VictoriaPL. Great job!!

Congrats for all you completers...I've got a ways to go but I'm still on the right track.

I'm done too!. I just finished the last one for my first 999, now to finish the second half of the second one. Whew!

I'll post my review and then my recap of the best and the worst.

THIS IS THE LINK TO My Thread FOR THE 999 CHALLENGE

congratulations!
Wow - it's been a busy day here!

#120 Yes, it has. Yay for all of us!

Congratulations cyderry

#119, way to go Cheli.

It has been a busy day.

Congrats HannahJo, Victoria, Sandy, and Cheli!! Four people in five days!

Congrats to everyone who is done, and yeah, I can join that group now.

A link to my own completed
999 Challenge.
Bonus: it is before 9-9-09.

congrats Onyx!

Welcome to the crowd!

Onyx, Congratulations!

Congrats Onyx!

Five people in six days!

Congratulations to all of the above. This has been an awesome challenge for me and has been of tremendous help in the changing of my reading patterns. I am reading a much more varied group of books now than when I began this challenge and finding that I am enjoying nonfiction, classics, Viragos, and others that I would not have picked up before. Am really looking forward to the next one to challenge myself further.
Here is my link to my 999 challenge which I just finished this morning.
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.ph...
Wheeeeeeeeeee!~!
belva

Message edited by its author, Sep 4, 2009, 4:40pm.

Congratulations Belva. Ahem! Can't see link. Guess you were too excited.

Belva, congrats!

#130 Belva, I felt the same way about the challenge. I guess that was really my main goal - to broaden my reading. So even if we hadn't read all 81 books, I think we still would have "won", don't you?

Congratulations!

I finished my challenge last Sunday! Here's the link to my thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/47564

I also finished my challenge today!

Belva, Devourer, Ivy, WELCOME TO THE CLUB!

Feels great, doesn't it?

congratulations everyone!

Congratulations Devourer and Ivy.

Yay! Congratulations!

Belva, thanks for that.

Congrats Belva, Devourer, and Ivy!!

We have 19 completed challenges now. Who will be number 20?

Congrats to everyone, we are all doing so great.

I have to agree with nannybebette (message 130), I have also read more and different because of this challenge. Thanks to everyone for the recommendations and encouragement.

19 is an awesome number... congrats to everyone!

I third the notion that this challenge encourages us to read beyond our comfort zone. I have read stuff this year that I never thought I would be interested in.

I agree! Last year I read 48 romances, no histories/nonfiction, this year so far I have read only 6 romances and 18 histories/non-fiction. That's just one of my big changes. Thanks to everyone for their great recommendations!

I agree. 19 is an awesome number! It's the date of my birth.

I'm done....finished the last book on the plane coming home from our cruise. It was definitely a mind-bending experience and helped me not only clear out some TBRs, but find literally 100's to replace the ones I moved out. Congrats to everyone who's finished, and many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this group. It's been awesome fun.

Way to go, tutu! Very nice.

Yay! And Tina makes Twenty!

Who else will sneak in before 09/09/2009?

Congratulations Tutu!

I finished my original challenge August 12th and my extra-credit challenges on September 4th (which only has six categories but my world tour includes over 50 books/countries to date so, numbers-wise at least, I presume that counts.) On my way to a third (and final) 9*9.

My 999 Challenge

Message edited by its author, Sep 9, 2009, 8:19pm.

Very nice job, zanix!

Hola Zanix. Congrats on finishing your challenges. Can I get a link(s) to your thread(s)? Then I'll add you on. I looked for you in the thread list but I may have missed you.

Congratulations Zanix.

While we're handing out Congratulations, I want everyone to go see BFISH and send our best to her for her nomination for BEST NEW BLOG.

One of our own is reaching for the top!

Cheli

Thanks, I've added a link to my challenge in my first post.

Congratulations to all of us who finished by 999.

Thanks Zanix. I've added you into the list. Please pop back in and let us know when you've finished your 3rd 999.

OK, I'm finally done too. I got the book Shake the Devil Off as an ER/ARC the other day and thought that's what I feel about my 999-challenge. I'm really glad I did the challenge, but mostly because of getting to talk with you-all. I feel like I found some good friends, I might not otherwise have, and I was constantly entertained and inspired by your comments, both on my thread and yours. Hope to see you-all at the 10-10-10, but if not, don't worry, I'll track you down! Cheers! ;-))

Congrats Bonnie! You did it! See you next year at the 1010 Challenge.

Congratulations Bonnie! See you on 1010 Challenge.

Congrats! I totally agree. The chats were as much fun as the actual challenge... see ya at the next one!

Congratulations Bonnie!

Great job, Bonnie!

congratulations!

I got fed up with big empty spaces, looked at what I've actually read this year, moved a few things around, added a few reads from earlier in the year - and finished the challenge!

congrats CatyM!

Congratulations CatyM!

Yeah, CatyM! Have fun reading whatever you want for the rest of the year!

Nice job, CatyM!

Congrats Caty!! I find it amusing that you are the next one to finish as I randomly used your name last night to check that the find function worked over on the 1010 Challenge Compiler. I'm off to read the end of your thread now.

Congrats to everyone who has finished their
challenge :-)!!!

Message edited by its author, Sep 15, 2009, 10:02am.

Congratulations to all of us. We are awesome!~!
Whoo Hoo!~!
belva

While we are handing out congratuations, we should give a big hand to our own, Bfish - Beth's BLog was voted the Best New Blog during Book Bloggers Appreciation Week.

Gotta link?

Here you go!
http://bfishreads.blogspot.com/

I'm done! I finished my challenge today, my final book was O velho que esperava por D. Sebastiao, a short story collection. A nice note to finish on. Next up, 1010!

Congratulations soffitta1. See you on the 1010!

soffitta1, way to go!

Congrats!!!!

Nice job, soffitta!

Doesn't it feel gooood?! Congrats!

Congratulations!!

Welcome to the club! I think we need a new clubhouse because this one is getting full. Congrats to everyone so far...

I changed one of my categories and now I´m finished with the challenge. My thread is here http://www.librarything.com/topic/54954

Congrats! :) It is a nice feeling, but sad.

Way to go Laura!

Thanks! I will start my 1010 Challenge in October so I go from one challenge to another. :)

Yeah to all who have completed this...what an interesting year it has been and we still have three months to go!

Well done Laura!

Wow! So many ppl completing the challenge now. Congrats to each.

I finished the challenge this morning. I was taking my time with the last book, but it's done now.

Congrats!

Congratulations! RidgewayGirl!

Again, congrats Ridgewaygirl!!!

Yaaaay, Alison!

Knew you could do it, Alison!

Thanks, lindapanzo for telling me about this thread!

Congratulations to all who have finished. I'm really in awe of those who have already finished two 999 challenges!

I finished my challenge reading on 9/29 (I really wanted to finish in September!) and finished my posting yesterday, October 2.

Woohoo! I'm done!

I've starred this thread so I can join the "cheerleaders." :-D

Congratulations! MusicMom!

Woohoo! Congratulations!

#199 & 200

Thanks you so much. Now I can go back and catch up on all the threads I've missed because I was so busy reading for the challenge! :-D

Congrats soffitta, Laura, Carolyn, and Kay!

12 challenges were completed in September bring the total number of challenges completed to 28.

And isn't nice to relax and read whatever you want?!

LOL! No, I'm talking after the challenge was all over, these last three months. I read lots of good books this year, but I love the freedom of not having to think about where to place a book.

I always read the books I want to - and then fit them into the challenge.

Finished my second 9 categories last night, by the way. http://www.librarything.com/topic/49196

Off to the US in less than an hour. See you in a week or so.

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

Well, that was surreal. I wonder what that web site does. Didn't have anything to do with the english text, however!

Congrats to all!

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

This message has been flagged by multiple users and is no longer displayed.

I'd like to be able to participate in delivering congratulations but unfortunately my screen is showing only kangi (or perhaps katakana?) text. It's been too long since I lived in Japan to be able to pull anything meaningful out of messages 207,208, 209, 211, 212, and 213. I thought this group was set up with English as the language, and wonder if this is a problem I'm having with my machine, or is everyone else in the dark too.

I don't want to tread on toes for members who are overseas and want to participate, but perhaps they should start a separate thread for a discussion in whatever language is popping up.

Particularly strange since both these members have just joined LT yesterday and have no books in their libraries and no info on the profile page. Think maybe we should drop a note to Abby>?

I have flagged all of these messages as abuse, and I urge others who regularly visit this thread to do the same. And yes, I think we should tell Abby. What a pain!

I finished the challenge last week too. Looking forward to the 101010 but will be reading more randomly until then.

Nice job, sanddancer!

Congrats!

I am five away from mine. And then back to reading stuff for no reason other than because I want too!

Congrats again to everyone!

Congratulations Sanddancer!

Congratulations Sanddancer.

Great job, sanddancer! And enjoy your "free reading" time--I am! :-)

#216 Congratulations! It took me a while of revelling in the "free reading time" after finishing the challenge before I started missing the structure. Looking forward to seeing you again in the 1010 challenge.

#218 Almost there - hope the last few are the best of the bunch!

Congrats MarthaJeanne & sanddancer! We now have 30 finishers!

That is great, Congratulations to everyone.

Congratulations to everybody- finishers and near-finishers alike! I took a break from posting on LT after finishing my challenge, so I'm long overdue joining in the celebration.

Wonder how many hours it took us to read all these books... that could be an interesting number for next year, eh? :o)

Congrats again!! We rock!

Well, it's a day late but I am done! My new challenge is to finish 300 books before the end of the year. I am now at 243 so I think that should be a manageable goal.

Thanks for all your support along the way--you guys rock! And I will definitely see most of you over in the 101010 challenge. I just can't resist a new challenge!

#227 Congratulations on finishing - doing 300 books by year end shouldn't be a big problem for you, either.

Congratulations bucketyell. 300 books! WOW!

Way to go, bucketyell. Great job!!

Last night I completed the challenge after finishing Double Cross by James Patterson. The last two took me quite awhile but I'm glad to focus on the 999x2 now.

Congrats, blondierocket. Way to go!!

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to all those who've finished!

Congrats blondierocket! I will have to meander on over and peruse your list for some recommendations.

Nice job, blondierocket!

blondierocket, Congratulations!

Congratulations on finishing, and good luck on 999X2!

I finished my challenge. Now I've just got to ignore my 1010 Category selections for the rest of the year.

Way to go!

Congratulations everyone!

Well, I've finished my second one, albeit with lots of category-finagling by the end. Now for a month and half of "free reading" and planning for next year, when I shall really get around to mentioning/reviewing each one and actually commenting on other people's . . . hopefully. Hurrah for idealism!

Congrats Wolfy!

Congrats Danielle, Lauren, Dave, and Rachel!! Our first four 999 Challenges completed in November!

In October, we had a total of three challenges completed. And the November turkey ticker is now up at the top of the thread.

I love the ticker!

Thanks cmbohn!

Congratulations to the other finishers!

Just completed my third challenge today; looking to get another one (or two) in before years end.

Congrats Zanix!!

Wow, zanix, that's amazing! :) I'll be lucky to finish my one challenge before the year ends!

I think I can finagle enough to get a third in.

Congratulations zanix and MarthJeanne.

My 2nd challenge is finished....WHooopeee........I'll be reading strictly outside of categories....all my challenges are done for the year. I'll post "Best of the Year" lists later next week...

And congratulations to all who have finished one, two or even three??? You've been a lot of fun to read with during the year.

Congratulations tutu!

Congratulations on finishing twice over! Will you be able to go challenge-free for an entire month?

Congrats tutu! It's a great feeling isn't it? But before you declare yourself challenge-free, just remember I too said that I would go challenge-free but that was short lived. I just completed the 250-book challenge and am secretly working on the alphabet challenge. I just can't resist a challenge!

Yay for tutu! Nice job!

Congrats,. my sister. But I thought you had a Christmas Challenge?

The Christmas Challenge is a subset of category 9 of the 2nd 999....I've finished both. I'm now trying to organize what if any challenges (other than a 75 in 2010 which dneutron is going to post shortly) I will be joining in. My main goal for 2010 is to make a dent in my President's challenge, clear out and stay caught up on my ARCs, and make another sizeable dent in my TBR pile.

Impressive goals :)

I finished my challenge! And before Christmas- yay!

Congratulations!!

Well done sarams!

Nice job, sarams! Now you can take it easy!

I decided to break down my 3x1 category to complete my 4th and final challenge on December 4th. See you guys in 2010.

I completed my challenge today with 3 weeks to spare. Very happy!!

Congrats on finishing, avatiakh. Great job!!

Fantastic! Congratulations.

That's great. Congratulations!

Congrats! Now you can relax for the holidays and think about next years... oy!

Congrats Kerry!

The next person will be #40!

Thanks everyone

Congrats to all! I'm still hanging on by my fingernails with 5 left to go and still hoping I'll finish in time.

@ 271 :: I'm in a similar fix - I have 4 left to go. We can do it! :)

>271, 272
This is so funny, it's like a countdown ourselves: I have 3 to go :)

I have two to go but they are very slow and very long and I keep getting distracted by other books.

Hooray for everyone who has finished!

Edited to fix really weird typo.

Message edited by its author, Dec 9, 2009, 10:23am.

I have 15 to go, so doubt I'll actually complete the challenge (will blame the extra long books for this), but I still managed to break my all-time record for amount of books read in the year. So it was worth it.

I've got 10 more to finish my second one. I just might do it as I saved a lot of the shorter mysteries for year end.

If I finish 999 x 2 and read one additional book, this would be my all-time record for most books read in a year. I've been keeping track since 1976.

#276 - that's amazing! Good for you for keeping track for so long. How I wish I had done that. It would be so fascinating to go back year by year to see how many and which books I'd read. That's what I started with LT, so I've got at least two years under my belt now.

#272-274 - we CAN do it!! :-)

Looks like we have lots of celebrating left to do!!

Congratulations to everyone -- those who are done and those almost there as well!

When I finish the book I'm currently reading (#128), I will have doubled the number of books I read in 2007 (64), and have already doubled the number from 2008 (63). I do admit that I've read a lot of short books this year (and I did read several long books in 2008), but I am also reading more. I just can't read fast enough to keep up with all the wonderful recommendations I see here on LT.

I also wish I had kept track of books I've read. I don't know why it never occurred to me to do that before I joined LT.

#279 - I never tracked before and now I seem to be somewhat obsessive about it. Strange how addictive it becomes!

My motto is to never feel 'bad' about reading short books. Sometimes an author can tell a great compelling story in 150 pages while someone else rambles on for 500 pages and just can't tell the same story. And, I have found some shorter novels to be quite challenging and take days to read while other longer ones are afternoon reads.

Message edited by its author, Dec 10, 2009, 11:53am.

I am wondering, for those of you who won't possibly complete your 999 this year, will you keep working on it until you finish it?

I am only 39 books into mine and I have this odd desire to complete it, even it it takes me another year. At the same time, I'm really excited to select my categories and start my 1010.

Just finished my second 999 challenge.

Congratulations!!

oh, long books! When I had nine to go in this challenge, five of them were in my long(ish)-books category. I was looking forward to them; long books can be really satisfying. But when I hit the wall at ~100 pages with two in a row, both by favorite authors (Nelson DeMille and Chimamanda Adichie), I got nervous. I've since finished three others, but still have those two ... or two others.

I've tallied my books since 2002 and averaged ~45, never more than 48 until last year's 888 Challenge bumped me to 83! This year I might reach 90. I've really improved my reading habits, but I'm exhausted :) and think I will settle back to ~60 next year.

#281..chrine...if you want to finish the books you had on your 999 list, one way to jump into the 1010 might be to make those 'leftovers' a couple of your categories for the coming year. That way you can keep them if they are still calling to you, and at the same time have some new ones on the list too.

>281 Chrine: As I recall, there were a few people who continued to work on their 888 Challenge in 2009, but most people (including me) played around with their categories and overlaps a bit, and then transferred unread books into their 999 Challenge.

>280 bucketyell re long books: I totally agree. Some of the best books are quite short, and sometimes a short book takes a while to read, but I love long books, too -- having the opportunity to live in some other world for a week or two. I don't care at all if a book is short or long, as long as I'm enjoying it, and it mostly just happened that I read so many shorter books this year. But it does make it more difficult to assess exactly how much more I've read this year than the last couple.

Re 281 and 286

I had some books that were originally earmarked for the 999 Challenge that I added to my 1010 Challenge as I got sidetracked by shiny new books!

Thanks to a ridiculously rainy day...I've finished! I have two more reviews to write, but now I'm all set to start the 1010! :)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/52451

Congratulations! That is one of the consolations of yucky weather, isn't it? More time to read!

THINK SNOW..it gives you lots of time to read.

Message edited by its author, Dec 12, 2009, 10:39pm.

Congratulations! See you in a couple of weeks over on the 1010 thread.

I officially gave up on mine - way too many business travels this last 3 months - I read probable even more books than I needed to finish it but they were the wrong genres (mainly because of formats and books I just pick up at airports) :)

Congratulations Bookoholic.

Thank you all!! The snow thing is not likely since I'm in SoCal (unless I go to the mountains), but the rain was crazy!! Which, is very good for getting "free" reading time... :)

Well done bookoholic!

The snow here means that I am getting LOTS of reading done.

Congrats to everyone! It will be interesting to see what the final number will be. There seems to be quite a few people of the cusp.