50 Book Challenge - AdmiralJ

This 50 Book Challenge thing sounds great. I need an intellectual challenge! It should be interesting to see if I can do this. In the next 12 months I am also getting married and buying/moving into a new house. My "year" is starting today, September 1, 2008 and I'll go through September 1, 2009.

My list is wildly varied. I feel that in elementary and high school, I was not really exposed to the classics, so you'll see some of that here. I have a habit of buying books and then getting distracted and moving on to others, so I'm trying to "clean off" my bookshelf with this, which is another reason for the variety.

I'm listing 35 books here, because I want to leave 15 spots open for books that may come available during the coming year.

I'll check in after I've finished each book with a short commentary.

1. The Corrections, By Jonathan Franzen
2. Catch-22, By Joseph Heller
3. The Blind Assassin, By Margaret Atwood
4. The Jungle, By Upton Sinclair
5. Notes From a Small Island, By Bill Bryson
6. In a Sunburned Country, By Bill Bryson
7. Rapture, By Susan Minot
8. A Million Little Pieces, By James Frey
9. The Notebook, By Nicholas Sparks
10. The Sexual Life of Catherine M., By Catherine Millet

11. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, By Milan Kundera
12. Girls in Trucks, By Katie Crouch
13. The Yiddish Policemen's Union, By Michael Chabon
14. The Bean Trees, By Barbara Kingsolver
15. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, By Mohsin Hamid
16. The Geography of Bliss, By Eric Weiner
17. The Feminine Mystique, By Betty Friedan
18. The Feminine Mistake, By Leslie Bennetts
19. The Logic of Life, By Tim Harford
20. Microtrends, By Penn / Zalesne

21. King Leopold's Ghost, By Adam Hochschild
22. Amy & Isabelle, By Elizabeth Strout
23. Love the One You're With, By Emily Giffin
24. Something Blue, By Emily Giffin
25. Unaccustomed Earth, By Jhumpa Lahiri
26. The Pearl, By John Steinbeck
27. Same Kind of Different As Me, By Hall / Moore
28. Blindness, By Jose Saramago
29. March, By Geraldine Brooks
30. The Ten-Year Nap, By Meg Wolitzer

31. Maybe Baby, By Lori Leibovich
32. Fire in The Blood, By Irene Nemirovsky
33. The Red Pony, By John Steinbeck
34. A Confederacy of Dunces, By John Kennedy Toole
35. I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell, By Tucker Max

Hi, AdmiralJ!
You have a lot of interesting books on your list! I can't wait to hear what you think of them. Good luck with all the exciting changes in your life this year.
--BJ

This week I finished books numbered 10 and 33 on my list.

The first one I finished was The Sexual Life of Catherine M. by Catherine Millet. I could have lived without ever having read this book. It was okay, but very wordy and I'm not sure what the point was. There was also some graphic sexual text which I suppose I should have expected. I'm no prude, but wow - this woman leads some life.

The second one was Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky (don't know how to make accents with my keyboard - ha!). I throughly enjoyed this one. I really loved Suite Francaise by her, and her ability to create real and likable characters shines again in this one. I definitely recommend this book. I am now curious to read her other works that have recently been translated into English.

I am now reading books # 16 and 6.

I finished In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson this past week, which was #6 on my list. It is the first book by Bill Bryson I have read and enjoyed it. As a person who loves to travel but does not have much money and time for it, it was good to be an "armchair traveller" to Australia by reading this book.

I also finished I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max, which is my #35. Wow. The New York Times says this book is "highly entertaining and thoroughly reprehensible" and I couldn't say it better myself. I can't believe the things this guy did / does. I read this on the suggestion of my brother. It is definitely a guy's book.

I'm still reading # 16 - just about finished with that one. Now will start with #11.

Today I finished The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. I thought it was good, not great. I enjoyed the insight into the cultures presented in the book. I thought this sentence in the epilogue summed up his findings nicely:

"Money matters, but less that we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude."

I am reading two books at a time, and already working on #11 as posted earlier. I think I'll begin #1 on my list - I've heard a lot of good things about this book.

Today I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I don't have much to say about it. I think I need some guidance on the literature. It would also help if my history knowledge was a little better concerning Russia, Communism, etc. I'm glad I have finally read it, though. It's been on my shelf for years!

This was my "train" book - the one I have on hand to read for my one-hour-each-way commute on the train. (The other book I read at the same time I call my "night" book - what I read before going to sleep.) Not sure which one to pick for my train book next. Any suggestions are welcome!

Yesterday I finished The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. It was sweet, I can see why so many people liked it. I haven't seen the movie, but it might be worth a rental. I had read only one other book by him in the past, I think it's called A Walk To Remember which I found to be so sickly-sweet blah.

Now it is on to #13 for my train book.

Been away for a bit as we closed on the house and moved in. Still have some lingering boxes but feel great in the new home.

I've finished Maybe Baby, 28 Writers Tell the Truth about Skepticism... edited by Lori Leibovich. Loved it. I really enjoyed reading their personal essays. It makes me feel like the feelings / thoughts I have about kids are not so out of the ordinary! I read this book very quickly.

I also finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. His writing is amazing. Two threads running through the story was Judaism and the game of chess, both of which I know minimally. So I think that hindered my understanding the book more deeply. But I enjoyed it. It took me awhile to get into it - around page 30 I was thinking of giving it up. Glad I didn't though.

I'm now reading #17 on the train and still #1 at night.

Finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates last week. I really enjoyed it. Had read in Time magazine that it was an excellent book that was not really appreciated when it first was printed. It is a little depressing - I'll warn you of that.

Just realized that I've only read 11 books so far. Got to get on it in 2009 and finish the other 39 before September 1!

This week I finished The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I enjoyed it. I especially liked the way it was told as if he was explaining his life to a visitor from the US. I found the ending to be a bit scary - one doesn't know if the final gesture is one of friendship or hate. I'm sure that was on purpose to reiterate the danger of assumptions and generalizations, a theme which ran through the book.

Some of the references to 9/11 made me a tad uncomfortable - I wonder if this is why the book did not do very well?

Don't know what I'll finish next, but I've started #21 on my list.

Finished King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild recently. It took me a while to get through this one, though I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ever since I read The Poisonwood Bible I've been really interested in African history, particularly in the Congo.

Oh, the atrocities outlined in this book. It is tragic. But something that needed to be brought to light.

Now I'm reading a book that is not on my list. It's great so far!

Hi, AdmiralJ!
What are you reading now? I am in the middle of a really long book, The Brothers Karamazov. I hope that I finish it this month, but I don't think that I will. I read The Poisonwook Bible last year and really liked it. Have a great day!
--BJ

As you can see I've been out of touch for awhile. I got married and have been working on the new house. Also working on thank-you notes which seems to take up so much time! I have been reading during my absence, however. Here we go:

1. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't what I expected. It was all about family dysfunction, and I appreciated the honesty.

2. Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
This book was really sad and touching. It is evangelical / christian writing, which is not really my thing. But the story was amazing.

3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Wow, amazing. I learned so much about the Dominican Republic!

4. Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
Kind of a beach read, which is exactly what I bought it for. Nothing too deep, but interesting nonetheless.

5. Nudge by Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
I love this kind of writing about economics. They were pretty funny also. I definitely recommend this if you liked The Tipping Point and others in that same stream....

6. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Excellent! I loved it. It really makes you think about loneliness, growing old, and losing the ones you love.

7. The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
SO GOOD. I laughed and cried. She is about my age, too, so I could relate.

Still readin'! Hope you are too!