LoisB's 2014 Catgory Challenge

1. Being a Bookworm (book club selections) (5)
2. Lucky Me (giveaways) (11)
3. On the List (books I've been meaning to read) (2)
4. Do it again, Lois (rereading some favorites) (4)
5. Classical Gas (classics) (9)
6. Florida Fauna (local authors or locations) (6)
7. D Day (something about the battle of Normandy, London & Paris for my trip) (7)
8. Thriller (books for MysteryCAT and more) (9)
9. Around the World (books for GeoCAT & more) (9)
10. More! (books from authors I've enjoyed in the past) (6)
11. Second Chance (books I've tried to read but never finished) (2)
12. Crossing that Bridge (books about my favorite pastime) (4)
13. El Cheapo (books that cost under $1) (7)
14. First -timers(books by new author or new-to-me authors) (8)

Extra Category:
15. Reading Bingo
16. Books that don't fit anywhere else see msg #71

DONE*** 1. Being a Bookworm (book club selections)



Planned:
Catcher in the Rye DNF

Completed:
1. Tell the Wolves I'm Home**** 01/2014
2. Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks **** 02/2014
3. The Language of Flowers: A Novel **** 03/2014
4. Secret Daughter **** 03/2014
5. A White Wind Blew **** 04/2014
6. New York: The Novel ***.5 09/2014
7. Change of Heart ***.5 11/2014

DONE*** 2. Lucky Me (giveaways)


Planned:
O, Africa!: A Novel DNF!

Completed:
1. Cleft Heart 01/2014
2. Killer Boobs, a memoir of how my breasts tried to kill me... 01/2014
3. Madam: A Novel of New Orleans 01/2014
4. Little Failure: A Memoir 01/2014
5. Dawn at Last 01/2014
6. Why I Married A Murderer: And How I Survived the Divorce 02/2014
7. Home from the Ocean 04/2014
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. My Accidental Jihad 05/2014
9. Go Away Home **** 05/2014
10. Diver Down (Mercy Watts Mysteries) *** 05/2014
11. Behind Dark Doors **** 05/2014
12. Lucky Us *** 06/2014
13. Virgin: A Novel *** 07/2014
14. Victura: The Kennedys, A Sailboat And The Sea **** 07/2014
15. Out of Dublin *** 07/2014
16. I'll Give You Something to Cry About: A novella **.5 07/2014
17. Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips **** 07/2014
18. Killer Ambition *** 07/2014
19. Fives and Twenty-Fives ** 07/2014
20. Memoirs of an Exorcist: My Life Fighting Satan **** 07/2014
21. Reckless *** 08/2014
22. Three Story House: A Novel **** 09/2014
23. Her *** 09/2014
24. Fractured Angel ***** 10/2014

DONE*** 3. On the List (books I've been meaning to read)


Planned:
Girl in Translation
Montana 1948 December AA
Beloved Toni Morrison April AA

Completed:

1. Home Toni Morrison 04/2014
2. Behind the Beautiful Forevers 05/2014
3. Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel 07/2014
4. The Light in the Ruins 08/2014
5. An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War That Came Between Us **** 08/2014
6. I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban **** 09/2014
7. Abandoned Ship: An intimate account of the Costa Concordia shipwreck *** 11/2014

DONE*** 4.Do it again, Lois (rereading some favorites)


Planned:
The Cider House Rules (October GastroCAT) DNF

Completed:
1. Fer-de-Lance 01/2014
2. Three Doors To Death 01/2014
3. The Secret Adversary 04/2014
4. The Nine Tailors 05/2014
5. The Thirteen Problems 06/2014
6. To Kill A Mockingbird 07/2014
7. The A.B.C. Murders 08/2014
************************************
8. A Study in Scarlet o8/2014

DONE*** 5.Classical Gas (classics or likely-to-be classics, or written by a "classic" author)


Completed:
1. My Antonia 01/2014
2. Selected Short Stories by William Faulkner 02/2014
3. Anne of Green Gables 02/2014
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray 02/2014
5. Wide Sargasso Sea 03/2014
6. Cakes & Ale 03/2014
7. The Song of the Lark
-----------------------------------------------------------
8. The Optimist's Daughter 05/2014
9. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings 06/2014
10. The Secret Garden 06/2014
11. Innocents Abroad 07/2014
12. My Man Jeeves 07/2014
13. Tales of the Jazz Age **.5
14. Go Tell It On The Mountain ** 09/2014
15. Ethan Frome *** 10/2014
16. The Witches of Eastwick **.5 11/2014

DONE*** 6. Florida Fauna (local authors or locations)


Planned:
Mystery of the Tempest by Sam Cameron
Finding Florida DNF
To Have and Have Not Ernest Hemingway

Completed:
1. The Devil in the Grove 01/2014
2. Their Eyes Were Watching God 02/2014
3. The Pecan Man 02/2014
4. Florida Straits 04/2014
5. The River Way Home: The Adventures of the Cowboy, the Indian, and the Amazon Queen 05/2014
6. A Land Remembered 06/2014
7. Last Train to Paradise 06/2014
*********************************************
8. Castle Cay 08/2014

DONE*** 7.D Day (something about WW II, the battle of Normandy, London, Paris & the Loire Valley for my trip)


Planned:
D Day
IBM and the Holocaust DNF
The American Homefront DNF
The Pillars of the Earth

Completed:
1. The Guns At Last Light 12/2013
2. Chocolat 01/2014
3. Notes from a Small Island 02/2014
4. D-Day: A Very Brief History
5. The Shetland Bus: A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival, and Adventure
6. The Polish Officer: A Novel 04/2014
7. The Painted Girls 05/2014

DONE*** 8.Thriller (books for the Mystery CAT and more)


Planned:
The Perfect Murder May DNF
Murder in Mykonos June
THE TRADE MISSION October
A Few Right Thinking Men November
Tears of a Giraffe December

Completed:
1. Anybody for Tea 01/2014
2. Dakota 02/2014
3. In A Small Town (A Small Town Series: Book One) 02/2014
4. Dynamite Fishermen 02/2014
5. Mystery of the Island Jewels 03/2014
6. Painkiller 03/2014
7. Five, Six, Grab your Crucifix 03/2014
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. A Pedigree To Die For 06/2014
9. Psychophilia 06/2014
10. Innocent Until Proven Guilty 06/2014
11. Eye of the Witch 06/2014
12. The Maltese Falcon 07/2014
13. Guidebook to Murder 07/2014
14. Lanai of the Tiger ***
15. Plugged Nickel **.5 08/2014
16. Murder is Binding *** 09/2014
17. Consequences **** 10/2014
18. The Trouble with Turkeys ***

DONE*** 9. Around the World (books for the Geo CAT and more)


Planned:

This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive September

Completed:
1. Seldom Come By (The Iceberg Trilogy) 01/2014
2. A River in the Sky 02/2014
3. Paris France 02/2014
4. All the Pretty Horses 03/2014
5. Moloka'i 06/2014
6. Unusual Uses for Olive Oil 08/2014
7. The Sisterhood **** 08/2014
***************************************************
8. Amelia's Story ***
9. Seven Days of Fridays ***.5
10. Saigon: an epic novel of Vietnam ****
11. The Trade Mission **.5

DONE*** 10. More! (books from authors I've enjoyed in the past)


Planned:
Fly Away by Kristin Hannah
Sycamore Row John Grisham

Completed:
1. Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah 01/2014
2. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 03/2014
3. Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood 04/2014
4. A Handful of Heaven by Kristen Hannah 04/2014
5. The Other Story by Tatiana DeRosney 05/2014
6. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood 06/2014
7. Back to the Bedroom by Janet Evanovich 06/2014
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Lucia, Lucia *** 06/2014
9. Never Knowing **** 06/2014
10. 44 Scotland Street **.5 07/2014
11. Nemesis by Philip Roth **** 08/2014
12. Bitter End *** 08/2014
13. U is for Undertow *** 08/2014

DONE*** 11. Second Chance (books I've tried to read but never finished)



Planned:
The Orphan masters Son

Completed:
1. Tinkers 12/2013
2. Mornings in Jenin 02/2014
3. Olive Kitteridge *** 07/2014
4. Shutter Island *** 08/2014
5. Jesus, My Father, The CIA, and Me: A Memoir. . . of Sorts 10/2014
6. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption ** 11/2014
7. The Boy Kings of Texas 11/2014

DONE *** 12. Crossing that Bridge (books about my favorite pastime)


Planned:
The Unkindest Cut: A Bridge Club Mystery Honor Hartman

Completed:
1. Teaching Bridge on Cruise Ships - 01/2014
2. On the Slam - 01/2014
3. Defensive Play at Bridge 03/2014
4. Cards on the Table 05/2014
5. Duplicate Death ***
6. The Lone Wolff **** 08/2014
7. Declarer Play at Bridge 11/2014

DONE*** 13.El Cheapo (books that cost under $1)


Planned:
Abandoned Ship: An Intimate Account of the Costa Concordia .99 ebook

Completed:
1. Fifteen Poems 01/2014
2. Interview with the Sphinx 01/2014
3. Trouble in Tawas** 02/2014
4. Death by Honeymoon 03/2014
5. Death by Deceit 03/2014
6. Thin Wire: A mother's journey through her daughter's heroin addiction *** 04/2014
7. Death by Proposal ** 04/2014
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. One Knee Equals Two Feet ** 06/2014

DONE *** 14.First-timers (books by new authors or new-to-me authord)


Planned:
The House Girl: A Novel (P.S.)

Completed:
1. Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 **** Stephen Puleo 02/2014
2. Jewel *** Bret Lott 02/2014
3. Tipping the Velvet: A Novel Sarah Waters *** 02/2014
4. A Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing ***.5 04/2014
5. Lowcountry Boil **.5 04/2014
6. Golden Eggs and Other Deadly Things **.5 05/2014
7. Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty **.5 05/2014
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. We Need to Talk About Kevin **** 05/2014
9. 12 Years a Slave** 06/2014
10. Imperfect Pairings *** 06/2014
11. Too Much Sun * 06/2014
12. I Murdered My Library 07/2014
13. Q Road 07/2014
14. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit 07/2014
15. Banned in Boston ** 08/2014
16. Going Organic Can Kill You **.5 08/2014
17. The silver Linings Playbook ***.5 09/2014
18. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder ***09/2014
19. You Make Me **.5 09/2014
20. Death, Lies, and Apple Pies *** 10/2014
21. Cocaine Blues ***.5 11/2014
22. Four Souls 11/2014

Welcome to the group Lois, and welcome to Librarything!

Thank you!

Can you explain how to get pictures into my messages? Cut & paste doesn't seem to work.

Lois, check out this thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/129158#3115191 Tells you everything you need to know about posting images, links and goodness only knows what. It's not as simple as cut & paste, unfortunately.

Welcome!! Hope you have a great challenge! And look out for the "bookbullets" that you'll get from the other people in the challenge - they are the recommendations that hit you right in the wishlist when you read the reviews people post. Don some kevlar! :)

Welcome to LT Lois. You did a nice job with the pics in your messages. I'm new to this group too but I'm still thinking about my categories. I'm just finishing up a Commonwealth challenge and would like to start this one soon after.

Thank you all for your welcomes and advice. I look forward to getting to know the group!

Welcome to both LT and the Category Challenge. You've got some great categories and I'll be looking forward to seeing what you choose to read.

Hurray, pictures! Welcome to the challenge. I like your El Cheapo category -- the thrill of the hunt for inexpensive books!

Nicely decorated. Just got to wait 3+ months before getting on and reading them now.

Welcome to this challenge and LibraryThing! Make yourself at home and watch out for those BBs (book bullets) that are always flying around.

Welcome fellow Floridian! Good luck with your challenge. I'll be lurking along.

Welcome! I look forward to seeing which books you choose for each category!

Great categories - looking forward to seeing how you fill your categories!

I've decided to try for 14 books in each of the 14 categories. Since it is unlikely that I will read 196 books during the year, I am going to allow a single book to be placed in more than one category.

OK - I started early, and have completed:

The Guns at Last Light - I rated this **, but I'm sure most will rate it ****, a good book if you are really interested in WW II.

Tinkers ** I started it last year and stopped after reading 38%. I had heard many good things about the book, so I gave it a second chance, starting over at the very beginning. I still fail to see anything appealing in this book!

Tinkers is a book that received an awful lot of hype - and prize accolades - for something that left me feeling rather flat about it. Lovely writing style but no stirring plot or strong memorable characters, that is for sure. Good thing it was a short book, eh? ;-)

I've been looking for Lowcountry Boil but have not located it yet. I'll be watching for your review.

It's 2.99 on Kindle.

I may have to look into it at that price.

Killer Boobs, a memoir of how my breasts tried to kill me... by Amy Valentine *****

This was a wonderful book! It may seem strange to say that about a woman's memoir of her breast cancer diagnosis an subsequent 250 days of treatment, but it was a well-written, compelling account. The author's positive attitude, her humorous and somewhat irreverent approach, and her very personal writing style make it seem like a conversation with a friend. While most of us have clinical understanding of chemotherapy side effects (nausea, fatigue), we may not know it at a personal level. I found this book to be informative and heartwarming. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand breast cancer treatment from a human perspective.

I'm adding an extra Category for the Reading Bingo challenge.

B1: A Book you chose because of the cover - Killer Ambition

B2: A book from the library - Three Doors to Death

B3: A Book that has been on your shelf for more than 5years - Home

B4: A book with more than 400 pages - Seldom Come By (The Iceberg Trilogy)

B5: A book recommended by a celebrity - Jewel

I1: ???

I2: A book that is outside your comfort zone - Behind Dark Doors

I3: A book someone recommends to you - A White Wind Blew

I4: A book of poetry - Fifteen Poems by Leonard Cohen

I5: A book by a Canadian author - Anne of Green Gables

N1: A book that will help with your career - Teaching Bridge on Cruise Ships

N2: An award-winning book - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

N3: Free

N4: ???

N5: A book you should have read in high school - My Antonia

G1: A book you saw on TV - Their Eyes Were Watching God

G2: XXX - I don't have a local bookseller

G3: A book with a great first line (paragraph) - The Penelopiad

G4: A book with pictures - Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America

G5: a book you would have picked up as a teenager - Chocolat

O1: A book with an animal on the cover - On the Slam

O2: A young adult novel - Mystery of the Island Jewels

O3: A book written by a celebrity: Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty

O4: XXX - I don't have a barista

O5: A book everybody but you has read - Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Oh, I like the book bingo. I've seen a different 'card', but I like the squares on yours more.

You have something other than the Random House Bingo card. Looks fun!

Oh dear, I'm already tacking two other bingo cards, so I am trying not to look too closely at yours, but from my quick glance, it looks like you have lots of interesting categories.

January summary: 17 books in 9 categories

Great start to the year!

wow, 17 books. way to go Lois!

Very impressive start!

That's a fantastic start - congrats!

I've changed my approach for this challenge, again. Now, I am trying for 7 books in each category (98). I will list a book only once, regardless of how many categories it may fit.

February Summary: (objective is 7+ in each category)

1. Being a Bookworm (2)
2. Lucky Me (6)
3. On the List (0)
4. Do it again, Lois (2)
5. Classical Gas (4)
6. Florida Fauna (3)
7. D Day (4)
8. Thriller (4)
9. Around the World (2)
10. More! (1)
11. Second Chance (1)
12. Crossing that Bridge (2)
13. El Cheapo (2)
14. First -timers (3)

What did you think of Notes from a Small Island? My mum has it and I keep meaning to borrow it from her.

>47 rabbitprincess:
This was not as good as "In a Sunburned Country". I know he loves Great Britain, but I found his humor to be somewhat condescending. Bits of "the Ugly American" kept showing up (and I'm American!).

In 5 days, I leave for my 3 week vacation in Europe! I have plenty of reading material on my Kindle (about 80 TBR) and I have my iPad for backup if my battery runs out. But, I figured I should have one paperback in case the airlines have strict "electronic device" policies.

I want something that isn't particularly interesting, so that I will not want to devour it in one sitting. So, I've decided to bring The Orphan Masters Son. It's a book that I started last year but abandoned, primarily because it didn't measure up to Nothing to Envy. It fits in my "Second Chance" category and may put me to sleep on the airplane (an added benefit).

Ooh where in Europe will you be going?

Nice!! Have a fantastic time!

>50 .Monkey.: OK, I'm curious too ...

Enjoy your trip. I had the same reaction to The Orphan Master's Son after reading Nothing to Envy. Finished it but still enjoyed Envy more.

>50 .Monkey.: We're going to London for 5 days, on a river cruise from Honfleur to Paris for10 days, and a tour of the Loire valley for 5 days.

Ah interesting, have you been before? Have fun!

I am very envious of your trip, but still hoping that you have a great time.

>55 .Monkey.: I have, my husband has not. We're interested in seeing a lot of theater-related things in London and the WW II sites in France. It should be fun. Now, if I can do a good job of packing . . .

>56 DeltaQueen50: Thanks!

Lois, have a great trip -- it sounds amazing!

Sounds like a fantastic trip - have a great time!

The river cruise sounds wonderful. That's my dream vacation. Also, I love London. Have a fabulous time!

March Summary: (objective is 7+ in each category)

1. Being a Bookworm (4)
2. Lucky Me (6)
3. On the List (0)
4. Do it again, Lois (2)
5. Classical Gas (7)
6. Florida Fauna (3)
7. D Day (5)
8. Thriller (7)
9. Around the World (4)
10. More! (2)
11. Second Chance (2)
12. Crossing that Bridge (2)
13. El Cheapo (5)
14. First -timers (3)

You've already completed a couple of you categories. Bravo!

Thanks! Some of the other categories will be more difficult - particularly the Second Chance category where I will finish books that I previously started and abandoned.

There's usually a reason why we put those books down - I have a few of those that I want to get to as well so good luck with that category. And congrats on finishing a few categories already!

>6 LoisB: Thanks! Good luck getting through yours.

April Summary: (objective is 7+ in each category)

1. Being a Bookworm (5)
2. Lucky Me (7)
3. On the List (1)
4. Do it again, Lois (3)
5. Classical Gas (7)
6. Florida Fauna (4)
7. D Day (6)
8. Thriller (7)
9. Around the World (4)
10. More! (4)
11. Second Chance (2)
12. Crossing that Bridge (3)
13. El Cheapo (7)
14. First -timers (5)

Looks like you are doing well! Congrats on having 4 complete categories already!

Thanks! I'm still tackling the easiest first. For my "bookworm" category, I have to read New York which is 1000+ pages, "on the list" is the bottom of my TBR pile, and "second chance" are the books I never finished the first time around (probably because I didn't like them). I see difficult times ahead! :)

Good luck with New York! I like Rutherfurd's books but they really do require settling in for the long haul!

May YTD Summary: (objective is 7+ in each category)

1. Being a Bookworm (5)
2. Lucky Me (11)
3. On the List (2)
4. Do it again, Lois (4)
5. Classical Gas (8)
6. Florida Fauna (5)
7. D Day (7)
8. Thriller (7)
9. Around the World (4)
10. More! (5)
11. Second Chance (4)
12. Crossing that Bridge (4)
13. El Cheapo (7)
14. First -timers (8)

New Category:

# 16. Books that don't fit anywhere else

1. God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian *** 06/2014
2. Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Essay? by Joan Didion) * 07/2014

June YTD summary:

1. Being a Bookworm (5)
2. Lucky Me (12)
3. On the List (2)
4. Do it again, Lois (5)
5. Classical Gas (10)
6. Florida Fauna (7)
7. D Day (7)
8. Thriller (11)
9. Around the World (5)
10. More! (9)
11. Second Chance (2)
12. Crossing that Bridge (5)
13. El Cheapo (8)
14. First -timers (11)
*******************
15. Reading Bingo (17 - all books are recorded elsewhere)
16. Books that don't fit anywhere else (1)

July YTD summary:

1. Being a Bookworm (5)
2. Lucky Me (20)
3. On the List (3)
4. Do it again, Lois (6)
5. Classical Gas (12)
6. Florida Fauna (7)
7. D Day (7)
8. Thriller (13)
9. Around the World (5)
10. More! (10)
11. Second Chance (3)
12. Crossing that Bridge (5)
13. El Cheapo (8)
14. First -timers (14)
*******************
15. Reading Bingo (20 - all books are couned elsewhere)
16. Books that don't fit anywhere else (2)

August YTD summary:

1. Being a Bookworm (5)
2. Lucky Me (21)
3. On the List (5)
4. Do it again, Lois (8)
5. Classical Gas (13)
6. Florida Fauna (8)
7. D Day (7)
8. Thriller (15)
9. Around the World (9)
10. More! (13)
11. Second Chance (4)
12. Crossing that Bridge (6)
13. El Cheapo (8)
14. First -timers (16)
*******************
15. Reading Bingo (20 - all books are counted elsewhere)
16. Books that don't fit anywhere else (2)

October YTD summary:

1. Being a Bookworm (6)
2. Lucky Me (24)
3. On the List (6)
4. Do it again, Lois (8)
5. Classical Gas (15)
6. Florida Fauna (8)
7. D Day (7)
8. Thriller (17)
9. Around the World (11)
10. More! (13)
11. Second Chance (5)
12. Crossing that Bridge (6)
13. El Cheapo (8)
14. First -timers (20)
*******************
15. Reading Bingo (20 - all books are counted elsewhere)
16. Books that don't fit anywhere else (2)

I have finally completed this challenge!!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations! And with one month to spare for free reading, well done!

Congrats on completing your challenge!

Congratulations!

Congratulations on completing your challenge!

Woo hoo! Congratulations!

Thank you all!

Congratulations!!!

Congrats on finishing!!!

Congratulations on finishing your challenge! Do you have any specific plans for December?

I'm trying to finish the alphabet challenge, and the. CATs.

Congratulations!

I have stopped updating this thread. I f you wish to see my remaining reads for the year, they are listed here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/176877