Inge87's 999 Challenge

Here are my categories. The goal is to cut the TBR pile while also branching out and exploring new themes.

1. American Fiction/Non-Fiction
2. German Literature in German
3. Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics
4. Non-European Literature
5. Jewish Fiction/Non-Fiction
6. Under-Read Classics
7. Virago Modern Classics
8. Recent Fiction
9. Travelogues

American Fiction/Non-Fiction - Because I've passed it off as boring for too long . . .

1. Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty by J. W. De Forest
2. Names on the Land by George R. Stewart - finished 1/4
3. Miami and the Seige of Chicago by Norman Mailer - finished 1/1
4. Sam Houston's Wife: A Biography of Margaret Lea Houston by William Seale - finished 2/7
5. Defending Mexican Valor in Texas by Jose Antonio Navarro
6. Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener
7. Blue Highways by William Least-Heat Moon
8.
9.

German Literature in German -

1. Brigitta by Adalbert Stifter
2. Radetzkymarsch by Joseph Roth
3. Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
4. Abschied von Sidonie by Erich Hackl
5. Erzähler der Nacht by Rafik Schami
6.
7.
8.
9.

Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics - They sit on the shelf with their pretty pale blue/sea green spines, waiting for me to read them. This year I will.

1. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West
2. The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
3. Gunnar's Daughter by Sigrid Undset
4. To the North by Elizabeth Bowen
5. The Penguin Book of Spanish Civil War Verse
6. The Fifth Queen by Ford Madox Ford
7.
8.
9.

Non-European Literature - Basically anything that does not originate from Europe or English-speaking North America.

1. The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima (Japan) - finished 1/10
2. Knots by Nuruddin Farah (Somalia)
3. The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh (India)
4. Phoenix Fled by Attia Hosain (India)
5. Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful by Alan Paton (South Africa)
6. The Crusades through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf (Lebanon)
7.
8.
9.

Jewish Fiction / Non-Fiction

1. The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln by Glückel of Hameln
2. The Promised Land by Mary Antin
3. The Gates of the Forest by Elie Wiesel
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. Judiths Liebe by Meir Shalev
6. Die Tante Jolesch oder Der Untergang des Abendlandes in Anekdoten by Friedrich Torberg
7.
8.
9.

Under-Read Classics - classic books that people should know about but (all too frequently) don't

1. The Magic Ring by Friedrich Heinrich Karl Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué
2. The Princess and the Goblin and the Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
3. The Light Princess by George MacDonald
4. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
5. Penelope's Progress by Kate Douglas Wiggin
6. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
7. Helena by Evelyn Waugh
8.
9.

Virago Modern Classics - Green Spines and Red Apples

1. Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells - finished 1/7
2. The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim - finished 1/18
3. One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes
4. The Squire by Enid Bagnold
5. In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor
6. The Beth Book by Sarah Grand
7. Precious Bane by Mary Webb
8. Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge - finished 1/13
9. A Suppressed Cry by Victoria Glendinning - finished 1/24

Recent Fiction (Works from the past 20 years or so) - Because I don't read it.

1. The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff - finished 1/1
2. Lying Awake by Mark Salzman
3. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
4. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
5. The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
6. Atticus by Ron Hansen - finished 1/20
7.
8.
9.

Travelogues - Perfect for that cold, snowy Massachusetts day

1. Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński
2. Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger
3. A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor
4. Between the Woods and the Water by Patrick Leigh Fermor
5. The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
6. A Time to Keep Silence by Patrick Leigh Fermor - finished 1/17
7. Ibn Fadlan's Travel Report As it Concerns the Scandinavian Rûs by Ibn Fadlan
8. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan by Isabella Bird
9. The West Indies and the Spanish Main by Anthony Trollope

I'm really excited about your German literature in German category, even though I haven't read anything in German for 3 years. I recommend Im Westen Nichts Neues. I'm reading the English version for my 999 because I never finished it. I also suggest Kafka if you haven't read him (I've read Das Urteil like 3 times for class, so I'd be happy to discuss it with you). I also really liked Furcht und Elend des Dritten Reiches by Bertolt Brecht, if you like plays. As for, ummm, anti-recommendations, I guess--Thomas Mann's Der Tod in Venedig was a pain to read.

As for Jewish fiction/non-fiction, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon is one of my favorite books (if I had to pick one favorite, that one might be it). I also loved Adam Langer's Crossing California and The Washington Story, and Nicole Krauss's The History of Love.

Also, The Princess and the Goblin is a book? I had no idea! I LOVE that movie.

And, out of curiosity, where do you go to school? I noticed in your profile that you're in Western Mass, and that's where I go to school too!

>11 kurohyou: Thanks for the recommendations. I'll keep an eye out for them, although I have read History of Love and found it merely okay. I'm at Mount Holyoke, with three more semesters left before I can escape South Hadley.

On another note:

I finished The 19th Wife at something like 12:30 this morning, but it took me all day to gather my thoughts. As I wrote in my review, I really did enjoy reading it and it was clearly well thought-out, but there is something about the book that didn't sit well with me. I think it might have been something to do with the realities of the subject matter. For anyone who has an interest in the polygamy debates of the world today or its historical role in the Mormon faith, it is certainly a book worth reading. Just watch out that you don't mistake the author's fictions with facts: the book is so well written that it is actually very easy to do. I gave it three-and-a-half stars.

After a week:

Miami and the Siege of Chicago by Norman Mailer: Norman Mailer details his experiences covering the Republican and Democratic National Conventions of 1968. Worthwhile read, if you have a strong interest in the subject and don't mind dealing with Mailer's ego.

Names on the Land by George R. Stewart: Classic history of how people named the towns and landmarks of the United States. Begins with Pre-Columbian naming habits and continues to the present (1950s) day. I found it fascinating. For anyone who's ever wondered how names made it onto the map.

Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: A man's take on women's liberation in 1908. Insert eye-rolling here.

I also have a Books in German category and have Der Vorleser listed on it. When are you planning to read it? The rest of the category is filled with crime fiction, since it makes reading in a foreign language much more appealing if the books are in my favorite genre! I also have The Good Soldier Svejk and am looking forward to that one as it looks fun.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a surprisingly easy read, even as it illuminates things in a way we're not used to seeing.

And, finally, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is my favorite Bronte novel. As a student, you probably don't want to write reviews, but I'd love to know what you think of several of the books on your list. I think your comments on The 19th Wife were interesting.

I haven't decided on when I'm reading Der Vorleser yet. A lot depends on how swamped I get with my Faust seminar in the coming semester.

I have been trying (and so far succeeding) to review the books I've read for the challenge, although sometimes it takes me a while to get my thoughts in order, so they come out a few days after the book was actually finished.

Weeks 2 & 3:

The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima - Classic love story between a poor boy and a socially superior girl with a Japanese twist. I read this for the reading globally January Japan theme read. It was good, but not amazing.

Illyrian Spring by Ann Bridge - Woman dissatisfied with her home-life leaves her husband and (essentially grown up) children for the beauty of the Dalmatian coast, where she finds herself with the help of a young friend. I loved this book. It doesn't surprise me that people have used it to tour the area visited by the heroine because Bridge's descriptions are that well done.

A Time to Keep Silence by Patrick Leigh Fermor - A writer's thoughts and memories of visiting and/or staying in monasteries. The greater part of the book is dedicated to the Benedictine Abbey of St. Wandrille de Fontanelle in France, where he stayed the longest and which was clearly his favorite, but he also describes his experiences at Solesmes, Trappe, and an abandoned monastery complex in Cappadocia, Turkey. I found it an enjoyable, meditative read and it has inspired my reading to take a more spiritual bent for the time being.

The Solitary Summer by Elizabeth von Arnim - An inferior sequel to her enjoyable Elizabeth and her German Garden. Arnim's feelings on her class superiority, although typical for the time, are expressed far too often for my liking. Read it if you like Arnim, but caveat lector - reader beware.

Atticus by Ron Hansen - A quick read, published in 1996. The Atticus of the title is a Colorado rancher, who journeys to Mexico when he is told his son Cody has committed suicide. Once he arrives the discovers that things are not as they seem. Essentially a retelling of the parable of the prodigal son, Atticus is a thought-provoking read about family and love.

If you liked Atticus, I recommend another work by Hansen, Mariette in Ecstasy.

We read it for my historical fiction book group and it was one of my bookstore staff recommendations. (One book group member found it hard to follow, but she doesn't usually like any story told any way other than strictly chronological order.)

Mariette is a postulant at a convent in upper New York state in the early 20th century. Is she really experiencing stigmata?

Mariette in Ecstasy is on my list of books to watch out for. I've been slowly making my way through Hansen's works as I find them.

Sam Houston's Wife by William Seale is an interesting book about a boring and rather obnoxious woman, whose sole achievement was marrying her husband. Margaret Lea Houston is an extremely passive woman who was sheltered by her family to the point where sometimes one wonders if she understood the real world at all. Her constant codependency grew obnoxious, as did the never-ending presence of her mother (who sheltered her and continues to shelter her so much throughout her life). The highlight of the book was not what Margaret herself did (which wasn't much), but what happened around her. An interesting look at an uninteresting woman, but certainly not a book for everyone.