jennyifer24's 888 list

I'm hoping that choosing topics will help me stay on track to read more books this year. I'm just throwing topics out now, they may change later.

1. Books by C.S. Lewis
2. Books that have been made into a movie
3. Books I've tagged as "unread"
4. Unread books by authors I've read
5. Books from my h.s. AP list
6. Travel
7. Historical fiction
8. Nonfiction

I couldn't resist the ticker!

1. Books by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Jan.
Prince Caspian Jan.
The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader" Jan.
The Silver Chair Feb.
The Horse and His Boy Feb.
The Magician's Nephew Mar.
The Last Battle Apr.
The Screwtape Letters

2. Books that have been made into a movie.

The Prestige by Christopher Priest Feb.
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Marquez
P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern Jan.
Atonement by Ian McEwan Apr.
Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum
What was she thinking? Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo May
Theatre (Being Julia) by W. Somerset Maugham
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
* The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Rob Hansen June
* The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan July
* Dances with Wolves by Michael Blake October
* Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich Nov.

http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/readers/movies/

This is a great website for finding books that have been made into movies

3. Books I've tagged as "unread"

Robber Bridegroom by Eudora Welty
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Small Town Odds by Jason Headley May
Apocalypse Watch by Robert Ludlum
The Awakening and Selected Stories by Kate Chopin
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh Jan.
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells Dec.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

4. Unread books by authors I've read

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Marion Zimmerman Bradley
Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks July
Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire Mar.
Sophie Kinsella
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Patrick Hamilton
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster Aug.
* On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan Mar.
* The Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashares Mar.
* Open House by Elizabeth Berg

*I keep reading books that aren't on my 888 list, so I'm adding some so if I don't get them all read, I've at least completed the list :-)

5. Books/plays from the AP English Lit. list

Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Mar.
The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov Jan.
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Frankestein by Mary Shelley
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Our Town by Thornton Wilder July
* The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Dec.

6. Travel
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson Feb.
Honeymoon with my Brother by Franz Wisner April
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Sept.
Postcards from France by Megan McNeill Libby September

*this used to be historical fiction, but I think I have enough other categories that can encompass historical fiction.
I'm going to switch this category to new authors, since I spend so much time browsing at the library. When I find new authors, I tend to read everything I can find by them, so some new authors may appear in other places. These are the first books I read by that author.

7. New Authors

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan Jan.
If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern Jan.
The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa May
Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg May
The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean May
What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck June
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James July
Passing by Nella Larsen August

8. Nonfiction

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen May
It's Okay to Miss the Bed on the First Jump by John O'Hurley June
Googling God by Mike Hayes June
The Secret Life of Cowboys by Tom Groneberg July
Memoirs of a Book Snake by David Meyer July
Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris September
My Life with the Saints by James Martin Nov.

I keep reading books that don't fit into a category, or aren't listed in one of my categories. I'll list them here, with where they could go (or potential other categories), just in case I get too far behind in my list during the year.

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (new author)

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern (new author)

Rosie Dunne by Cecelia Ahern (new book by author I've read)

Saturday by Ian McEwan (new book by author I've read)

What did you think of Amsterdam? It was one of the first books I read this year, and I thought it wasn't his best (in spite of the fact that it won the Booker Prize).

I've only read Amsterdam and Saturday so I really don't have much to compare. I enjoyed Amsterdam because of the way it drew me in even though I wasn't terribly impressed with the book's beginning. The ending really caught me off guard, especially going back and thinking about how McEwan really kind of laid it all out there. I felt like I should have figured it out, but didn't because I was in the moment of the story.

I liked Saturday in the same kind of way. The beginning went a little slowly, but by the end I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. I would like to keep reading more of his books. I'm waiting for Atonement, which has a big wait list at the library. Which ones did you prefer?

Atonement was my first McEwan, and so far, it's been my favorite. I've only read that, Amsterdam, Enduring Love and On Chesil Beach. Enduring Love unsettled me, but kind of in a good way, if that makes sense. I thought On Chesil Beach was very good as well; there were a few things about the epilogue that frustrated me, but McEwan addressed the issue in the author interview on the audiobook format of the novel.

Of course, when I say Amsterdam wasn't McEwan's best, it's still better than a lot of other books out there.

Okay, about halfway through the year, and exactly halfway through the challenge. I think next year I will start with category headers, but will not try to map out too many books beforehand. I'm definitely a library browser, so that's changed a few books on my list (* means it's a book that wasn't originally on my list). Not bad though, I think I'm further along than what I anticipated.

I finished my first category today- new authors. This was probably the easiest category for me, since I'm a browser at the library. I'm surprised at how few travel books I've read, I really enjoy them. I need to get moving on that and my unread book list.

40 done, 24 to go...
I think I've learned for next year that I should not choose books ahead of time. I should also check out the library's selection before I choose. They are pretty slim in travel books. Although, I did get a card for the neighboring town's library, so now I can catch up hopefully.
I also think I need to choose a few more "easy" categories for next time- the beginning of the school year is rough for anything but light reading :-)

proposed for next year (I know it's early, but if I put them here, I won't forget!!)

spiritual reading group books
ya fiction
biographies/memoirs
new authors
unread books by authors I've read
nonfiction
holidays
reading the world/states

Well, I'm trying to get through Frankenstein before the end of the year, but either way I'm not going to complete the challenge. I still feel positive about the outcome though, because I definitely read outside of my normal genres. I've never really read plays, but I had some good ones this year. I enjoyed discovering Ian McEwan and Cecelia Ahern. It's also kept me reading more.

I'm excited to try the 999 challenge, and get some of those I missed this year. I think I'll try for some books that double count in two categories to help myself out a little more ;-)

Congrats on reading so many books, jennyifer24 and I'll see you at the 999! :)
--BJ