eaucourante goes for 52 in 2009

In 2006 I read 11 books, in 2007 I read 15. At the beginning of this year I figured I needed to read a lot more. I love reading, I just don't always make enough time for it. So, in 2008 I joined the 50 Book Challenge. I started a thread here, but failed to keep it updated (I think it's gone already). Anyways, I just finished my 51st book this year (also, my last book this year as I won't be reading today and tomorrow). Quite a difference compared to the number of books I read in 2006 and 2007!

Books read in 2008:
1. Notes on a scandal by Zoe Heller
2. Buitenstaanders by Renate Dorrestein
3. Close-up by Esther Verhoef
4. Bruidsvlucht by Marieke van der Pol
5. Sonny boy by Annejet van der Zijl
6. Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
7. De pianoman by Bernlef
8. De engelenmaker by Stefan Brijs
9. Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland
10. My sister's keeper by Jodi Picoult
11. Shopgirl by Steve Martin
12. On Chesil beach by Ian McEwan
13. Harry Potter and the goblet of fire by J.K. Rowling
14. Kattengeheimen by Vicky Halls
15. Fotografiegids compositie by John Freeman
16. The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
17. 50 Kattenspelletjes by Jackie Strachan
18. Mijn moeder by Georges Bataille
19. 1984 by George Orwell
20. Pages for you by Sylvia Brownrigg
21. My summer of love by Helen Cross
22. Onbegrepen by Karin Slaughter
23. Never say never by Linda Hill
24. Girl, interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
25. Nachdienst by Malin Lindroth
26. Blauw water by Simone van der Vlugt
27. Getting things done: the art of stress-free productivity by David Allen
28. The dark fields by Alan Glynn
29. Curious wine by Katherine V. Forrest
30. House rules by Heather Lewis
31. Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
32. Digitale fotografie: het complete naslagwerk by Chris George
33. Fight club by Chuck Palahniuk
34. Notice by Heather Lewis
35. Twee vrouwen by Harry Mulisch
36. De elementen by Harry Mulisch
37. De pupil by Harry Mulisch
38. Brass by Helen Walsh
39. Transgressions by Sarah Dunant
40. Lied van Mod by Pauline J. van Munster
41. A midsummer night's dream by William Shakespeare
42. Affinity by Sarah Waters
43. You are not a stranger here by Adam Haslett
44. Hersenschimmen by J. Bernlef
45. The cement garden by Ian McEwan
46. Identiteit by Milan Kundera
47. After dark by Haruki Murakami
48. Als het leven een spel is, dan zijn dit de regels by Chérie Carter-Scott
49. Bridget Jones's diary by Helen Fielding
50. Vernon God Little by D.B.C. Pierre
51. The various haunts of men by Susan Hill

I enjoyed the challenge so much that I've decided to play again in 2009. The goal: at least 52 book (1 book per week). And this time I will keep this thread updated.

I've already made a reading list (I love lists) for 2009. It contains like 150 books. At least 52 of those will be read in 2009 :-) First book I'll be reading: High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Congrats to you for upping the ante with your reading! You've got some great reads up there, and many that I'm not familiar with that I look forward to hearing your opinion about. I love Nick Hornby - I hope you enjoy High Fidelity! He has a few more that I want to read, but I'm rationing them for myself.....

Cheers,
Corrina

Congratulations eaucourante! I hope the 50 book challenge does for me what it did for you. I'd like to find more time for reading and move up from the 5 or 6 books a year category.

@callen610: Thanks. I won't be reviewing the books read in 2008 though (the ones listed in my first post). I will however try to give an opinion on everything I read in 2009 :-)

@ wi_jessamine: Thanks. I hope it works for you too. At times I had to force myself to read. But the thing is, I play to win... so I just HAD TO read those 50 books :-) Good luck!

@both: I just checked your libraries and saw that we have a few of the same books. I will be checking your libraries again soon to see if there's something there that you've given a high rating and I haven't read. Some might be added to my reading list :-)

BTW, reading tips are always welcome!

"but failed to keep it updated (I think it's gone already)"

Under "Talk", and to your left, if you click on "Your posts" it'll find any thread that you've posted to. So you can find your threads really easily. And even though you fail to update, it doesn't go away.

Good luck in 2009. :)

@lilisin: I know, but it's definitely not there any more. Other posts in other groups are. So I guess there's been some cleaning or something. My last post in my previous thread in this group was somewhere in February 2008 I think. It doesn't really matter. The thread was not interesting anyway as I didn't update it :-)

#1. High fidelity by Nick Hornby

What a lovely way to start the new year!
Top 5 things I like about this book:
1. well written
2. funny
3. the unexpected ending
4. the lovely characters and their quirky ways
5. oh, I can't think of a fifth... I guess I'm as good at making lists as Rob is :-)

Finished: January 4, 2009
Rating: 8/10
Pages: 245

#2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

What a wonderful book! I absolutely loved it. If only all books were like this...

Finished: January 10, 2009
Rating: 10/10
Pages: 631

**

Total books read: 2
Total pages read: 876

What did you think of De Elementen?

And hi; nice list also..

@Ianreads: I liked it a lot. Have you read it? Or are you planning to read it?

#3. Ann by Kristien Hemmerechts

Ann, 39 years old, suffers from chronic anorexia and has given up hope. She's planning to end her live, but wants her story told before she does so. She contacts author Kristien Hemmerechts to help her with this. Hemmerechts tells her story using bits and pieces of Ann's journals, e-mail messages, text messages and interviews with Ann, her family and therapists. The book doesn't just tell Ann's story, but also lets us know some of the author's thoughts and feelings.

I did not like this book. Ann's story is sad (but then, which anorexia case is not), but Hemmerechts really made a mess of this book. The book was annoying to read, the story just dragged on, I didn't particularly care about the author's thoughts and feelings, the author kept repeating herself, etc. I could go on for hours about why I did not like this book, but I feel I have already wasted enough time on it. The only reason I finished it was because by the time I realized it was crappy I had already read too much to just put it away.

Finished: January 13, 2009
Rating: 2/10
Pages: 300

**

Total books read: 3
Total pages read: 1176

#4. The night watch by Sarah Waters
Not excellent like Fingersmith and after that Affinity (also, what happened to Victorian England *pout*), but still an incredibly good read. I'm definitely a Sarah Waters fan. Onward to my next book, Tipping the velvet, the only unread Waters I still have. BTW, I heard something about a new Sarah Waters book being released this spring? Can't wait :-)

Finished: January 23, 2009
Rating: 8/10
Pages: 470

**

Total books read: 4
Total pages read: 1646

#5. Haal meer uit je dagboek by Sandy Grason
Fairly interesting book about journaling.

Finished Febuary 12, 2009
Rating: 6/10
Pages: 181

#6. Tipping the velvet by Sarah Waters
Oh my... sexy! I can't wait to get the new Sarah Waters! I'm definitely a fan!

Finished: Febuary 15, 2009
Rating: 9/10
Pages: 472

**

Total books read: 6
Total pages read: 2299

I tried to read Extremely loud & incredibly close by Jonathan Safran Foer. I gave up halfway (which is rare, cause I usually finish a book when I've already that many pages). He should've called it 'Extremely boring & incredibly annoying'. I did not enjoy this.

I'm not counting this as a read. Also not adding the pages to my total pages read.

#7. Dagboek als spiegel: een handboek vol inspiratie by Christine de Vries
Interesting book about journaling. I enjoyed reading this and got quite a few tips from it.

Finished: Febuary 27, 2009
Rating: 8/10
Pages: 151

#8. Harry Potter and the half-blood prince by J.K. Rowling
What can I say, it's Harry Potter! Just one more book to go to finish the series. Eventhough all HP-books are nice, I enjoyed this one and Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix most. And... I did not see it coming... quite a surprise...

Finished: March 12, 2009
Rating: 9/10
Pages: 607

**

Total books read: 8
Total pages read: 3057

I've been trying to read De onberekenbare geometrie van de liefde by Susana Guzner. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad book (as far as I can tell), but I'm just not in the mood for it right now. I can't get myself to read more than 2-3 pages of it per day, and that's not really a good thing (and will take me forever to finish it). So, I'm putting it back and will pick it up again some other time (maybe next winter).

Also not counting this as a read and not adding the pages to my total pages read.

Onward to the next book...

hehe OOTP and HBP are also my favorites of the series - the 4th and the 7th follow :) I must say I hated parts of the last one the first time I read it...but after a re-read I began accepting it all (...)
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it once you finish it!