This is my first time doing a challenge of any sort, but I'm extremely excited about it. I would have done the 999 but I think I'm a bit too late to start in on that, haha, so I figured I'd go ahead and figure out my categories. I'm going to be doing ten categories (with the addition of my bonus) and ten books in each category. I am hoping that 100 books in a year isn't that big of a stretch for me! This list is subject to change, but I'm fairly certain that I will not be changing any of the actual categories. If you have any suggestions, feel free to throw them my way! I love recommendations. (: An asterisk (*) in any of the following lists denotes that it is a book that I currently own.

Historical Fiction
Non-fiction (particularly historical)
Science-fiction
Books Turned Into Movies, Show, Miniseries, And Etcetera
Award Winners
Asian Authors (or books set in Asia)
Transgressive Fiction
Anything Related to Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, And Etcetera
Books With The Word 'Owl' In The Title
Modern Library's Top 100 (editor's version)
Anything Goes (bonus category)

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 7:43am.

Historical Fiction
1. Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
2. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
3. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
4. Maurice by E. M. Forster
5. The Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley
6. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
7. The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal
8. The Master: A Novel by Colm Tóibín
9. The King Must Die by Mary Renault
10. The Seance by John Harwood

Message edited by its author, Nov 24, 2009, 6:33am.

Non-fiction (mainly, but not limited to, historical)
1. Persian Fire by Tom Holland
2. Rubicon by Tom Holland
3. Stiff by Mary Roach
4. Henry VIII: the King and His Court by Alison Weir
5. Every Book Its Reader by Nicholas A. Basbanes
6. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
7. Hiroshima by John Hersey
8. Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
9. Warriors of God by James Reston Jr.
10. The Orientalist by Tom Reiss

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 7:11pm.

Science-fiction
1. The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling
2. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
3. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
4. Dune by Frank Herbert
5. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
6. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
7. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
8. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
9. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
10. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:54pm.

Book Turned Into A Movie, Show, Miniseries, and Etcetera
1. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
2. Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries) by Charlaine Harris
3. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
4. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
5. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
6. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden*
7. Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Luke Davies
8. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.
9. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:43pm.

Award Winners
1. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
3. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
5. Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann
6. The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
7. Atonement by Ian McEwan
8. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
9. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
10. The Fixer by Bernard Malamud

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 7:15pm.

Asian Authors (and books set in Asia)
1. Lili: A Novel by Annie Wang*
2. Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka
3. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
4. Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami
5. Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era by Eiji Yoshikawa
6. Out: A Novel by Natsu Kirino
7. Quicksand by Junichiro Tanazaki
8. The Devil's Whisper by Miyuki Miyabe
9. Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
10. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:54pm.

Transgressive Fiction
1. The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey
2. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
3. Trainspotting by Irving Welsh
4. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
5. Crash by J. G. Ballard
6. Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby, Jr.
7. Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk
8. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
9. Ulysses by James Joyce
10. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:55pm.

Anything Related to Myths, Legends, Fairy Tales, and Etcetera
1. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
2. Wicked by Gregory Maguire
3. Beast by Donna Jo Napoli
4. The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
5. Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
6. The Green Man by Ellen Datlow
7. The Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales by Ellen Datlow
8. The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
9. The Tenth Kingdom by Kathryn Wesley
10. Breath by Donna Jo Napoli

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:52pm.

Books With The Word 'Owl' In The Title
1. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
2. Owl by William Service
3. Owlflight by Mercedes Lackey
4. The Owl and Moon Cafe by Jo-Ann Mapson
5. I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven
6. Fortress of Owls by C. J. Cherryh
7. The Owl Service by Alan Garner
8. The Blind Owl by Ṣādiq Hidāyat
9. The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland
10. Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame

This list is subject to change. I've only gone through books on my library's website so far and I may find that they aren't books that I'm going to be interested in.

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 4:49pm.

Modern Library's Top 100
1. Anthem by Ayn Rand
2. Naked Lunch by William S. Burrough's
3. The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein
4. On the Beach by Nevil Shute
5. Greenmantle by Charles de Lint
6. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
7. It by Stephen King
8. Appointment in Samarra by John O'Hara
9. From Here to Eternity by James Jones
10. Watership Down by Richard Adams

Message edited by its author, Aug 31, 2009, 1:51pm.

Anything Goes (bonus category because I know I will be reading other things)

You've picked some very good categories for your challenge. I think we'll be sharing a few books so I'll definitely be keeping an eye on how you do. Good luck!

I'm curious to see how you're going to fill up books with "owl" in the title - it seems hard, do you have a plan?

Several of us are planning to do a group read of Three Musketeers in February or March, if you're interested in reading along with us.

I checked "Owl" in the Amazon store and there are thousands, with many adult titles. Who'd have thunk?

There is also a group read of Foucault's Pendulum tentatively planned for the middle of the year or late spring. BTW - I had to look up "transgressive". There are some powerful (and revolting) and respected options out there, judging by the Wikipedia article, a number of which show up on your list. I am not brave enough for some of what is listed in the article, although I will be reading a fair amount of J.G. Ballard over time. I will be interested to see what you think of what you read.

@13
Thanks, you, too! I'll definitely be checking out your list. (:

@14
Not particularly. I saw that other people were doing books centered around words and thought that it was a great idea. Looking at my TBR list, I spotted Downtown Owl, which I only checked out because it had the word 'owl' in the title. They're my favorite animal and I really love anything to do with them, so it made sense for me. I'm probably just going to do a title search at my library for books with the word 'owl' in them. If I need more, I'll check Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

I will definitely check out the group read.

@15
Yeah, owls are a very strangely popular motif.

@16
I'll check that out.

I was introduced to the genre when I was watching a writers conference hosted by Chuck Palahniuk. He is one of my biggest influences and I really adore his style (though it is graphic), so I thought I'd get out there and see what influenced him and such. However, most sites don't have a 'transgressive fiction' tag, so I had to sort of wing it and most of the books I'm planning to read came from that article, haha. But, yeah, I'm definitely not planning on delving into all of the subjects that transgressive fiction is known to contain.

I think we are also hoping to do a group read of Briar Rose, if you would like to join in on that. Welcome!

I'll look into that, too. I've always wanted to try a group reading! Thanks!

Hello. You've got some interesting stuff here.

I wasn't entirely sure what transgressive literature was either but you've listed some books I love or have always wanted to read - I just didn't know there was a name for them! I would have probably called most of it cult fiction. Trainspotting is fantastic, one of my favourite books and I love the film version too although it is very different.

I like the Owl category. I did an Animal titles category for the 999 challenge which included Downtown Owl. I think it was probably my favourite category because the books were all so different that it was never boring. I'm thinking about doing something similar again next year.

Have you read The Owl Service by Alan Garner? It's on my TBR, so I'll be reading it at some point.

A lot of very interesting titles and categories here! A lot of the books in your Asain category I'll surely check out, and your crash course in transgressive literature seems very interesting. Pretty intriguing seeing Dostojevskij, Ballard and Palahniuk side by side like that. I second #20 in saying Trainspotting is one great book, and how I envy you for still not having read the fantastic Perdido Street Station, and all those other New Weird books it could lead you on to. Star on this thread!

Great categories! Are there any specific historical eras you're interested in for the nonfiction category?

@20
I think I am most excited for the books that I'm reading in the Transgressive Fiction category. They've been on my TBR list for a while but I am the sort of person who is constantly rereading her favorite books or finding new ones at the used bookstore and so I never really get to those. I'm trying to make more of an effort to do that!

Did you enjoy Downtown Owl?

@21
No, I haven't. I was checking only adult fiction, for the most part, but I added it to my list so I won't forget about it. Thanks so much for the recommendation!

@22
One of the reasons I decided to do this challenge was to expand my horizons with genres that I don't usually read like SF, so I actually got the majority of those books by reading a list of books that all SF readers should have read, haha. Thanks!

@23
Thanks! I'm actually extremely flexible on that. I'm planning on just going to my library and perusing the history section because I'm sure I'll find at least ten books that intrigue me. I probably won't read a lot of American History and focus more on Europe and Asia.

I did enjoy Downtown Owl. I like Klosterman's non-fiction writing and it was similar to that. It hasn't received the best reviews, but I still liked. It hasn't changed my life nor is it one of the best books I've ever read, but it was an interesting diversion.

You choose some great books! I wanted to say that two of your "Books Turned into a Movie" categories are some of my favorites.

8. Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.
9. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

If you end up enjoying both of these books, these authors have also written some other great novels. Jeffrey Eugenides in particular wrote a pretty twisted book called 'Middlesex'.

@25
Well, that's good. I hope that I enjoy it! I will look into Klosterman's non-fiction work, as well.

@26
Thanks! Most of the books that I've chosen have been on my TBR list for forever.

Middlesex is actually on my "Award Winners" list already, and I'm rather excited about reading it because I love twisted books. It's good to hear that someone else enjoyed it; it makes me even more eager for 2010. (:

Message edited by its author, Sep 2, 2009, 6:45pm.

Hi, wow you have some cool books on there, quite a few are on my TBR so I can't wait to see what you think!

I now also fancy a reread of Exquisite Corpse, I haven't read that in a very long time.

Thanks! I just discovered Poppy Z. Brite a few weeks ago and I've only read Drawing Blood but I'm really excited to read the rest of her work.

Wow! You have some amazing books and categories. I've read at least one in each of your categories (except owls...I may need to remedy that) so I look forward to seeing what you think of those. I have a feeling some of your books are going to end up in my wishlist. *sigh*

I'll be following you :D I love your non-fiction category, Tom Holland and Mary Roach are two favorites. Also your SF category is interesting as I am trying to get more into SF, some good options there! @#16, also good to know there will be a group read for Foucault's Pendulum. I tried that book once but couldn't get through, maybe the group can help me!

If there's a group read for Foucault's Pendulum I might add it to my "Lost in Translation" category. I started it about 2 years ago and never picked it up again. It probably still has a bookmark in it about 30 pages in.

@30
Thanks! I'll be posting descriptions and reviews when I start reading them in January.

@31
I'm really excited about my non-fiction reads. There were so many more that I wanted to add, but they've just ended up on my wishlist instead. So much for trying to downsize my TBR books. I've actually read very little SF so I went mostly for books that I should have already read but haven't.

I'm actually really excited about Foucault's Pendulum. I'm planning to pick up The Name of the Rose the next time I'm at the library; I hope it doesn't intimidate me too much, haha.

I like the trangressive category picks. Good stuff.

Coin Locker Babies sounded familiar. I looked on my shelves and I do have a copy. I have no idea when or where I picked it up. Probably at a FOL sale.

The Key to the Name of the Rose: Including Translations of all Non-English Passages by Adele J. Haft is a good companion to The Name of the Rose if your Latin is a bit rusty. Mine is beyond rusty.

Looks like you have a great reading year coming up.

@34
Thanks. That's one of my favorite categories.

I think Coin Locker Babies is probably the one book that I am most compelled to read right now; I'm sort of on a Ryu Murakami kick. I'm reading his other books in the meantime and hoping that I will be able to resist the temptation.

I will check it out. I'm sure I'll need it. (:

#34/35 You know I didn't realise Murakami had so many of his books translated into English. I have only read In the Miso Soup so far so I definitely want to check out some more (especially see how different Audition is from the film).

I didn't realise there was a companion to Name of the Rose either, I really could of done with one to Foucault's Pendulum!

Loving your categories/book choices - does Wesley the Owl appeal for your owly reads? I'm playing around with a cinema category too, for books that have been adapted AND biographies of screen icons, since I have a couple of James Dean/Marilyn bios on my shelves. I think we might overlap in a few places, actually...

I'm starring you and looking forward to Jan 1!

@36
I couldn't finish the film! I was watching it by myself, in the dark, though, and I got toward the end and couldn't stand it anymore. I'll probably rewatch it after I read the book, haha.

I just finished Piercing and it wasn't as heavy as In the Miso Soup, but there was a passage that nearly made me cry because I'm very fond of rabbits. ):

@37
Yes, it does. If I find that I'm not interested in one of the books on the current list, I will definitely be replacing it with Wesley the owl. Thanks so much for the recommendation!

*waves* starring your thread as well! I'm so glad to see you've got The Book of Lost Things on your list -- one of my faves from this year. I also hope you like Dead Until Dark -- I've found that series thoroughly addictive.