Kittybee's 2009 Challenge!

I decided to go for 75 books this year since I reached my goal quite easily last year. So far I have read...
1. The Tales of Beedle the Bard
2. The Hawk and the Jewel
3. The Hunger Games
4. This is Your Brain on Music
5. The Warrior Heir
6. The Wizard Heir
7. The Thief
I have been on quite the YA kick recently, so I'm off to a good start :) but I have a huge variety of books in my TBR pile so there's no telling what'll be next.

You are off to a great start! Good luck with your challenge!
--BJ

kittybee - you've read 7 books already this year? Wowie zowie!!! You go!!

I've had a lot of time for reading recently, but I'm sure I'll slow down soon enough :) However, I have finished a few more books.
8. The Dragon Heir
9. The Queen of Attolia
10. On Fortune's Wheel

11. The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy.

12. Unbridaled
13. Beat the Reaper

14. The Sweet Far Thing

15. The King of Attolia.

16. The Shadow Within

17. Ransom My Heart

Hi, Kittybee!
Which one do you like the best so far?
--BJ

Hey BJ,
The books I liked the most this year are The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. This is a great YA series and I'm shocked I hadn't found it sooner because they are great.

I checked out some of the reviews and they look great. I will have to check the books out. My amazon order is now to big to order! :D But this looks like a series that both my daughter and I would like to read. (She turned 18 today on Friday, the 13th!) Thanks for the recommendation.
--BJ

18. Compromised
19. The Red Siren

20. The Snow Queen

21. Gobbolino the Witch's Cat

22. The Three Musketeers

So, what did you think of The Three Musketeers? That one has been on my tbr for a while. I am hoping to read it this year.
--BJ

BJ, It had been in my TBR pile for a while too, I have to say I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. I loved The Count of Monte Cristo, so I had very high hopes for this but found it a little disappointing. That said, I did enjoy it, it just took me a while longer than usual to really get into the story. Also I found some of the characters quite irritating at times, but other than that no complaints. As slow as the beginning was, the ending was fast and exciting.

I also have The Count of Monte Cristo on my tbr, so I guess I will go with that one first. Thanks!
--BJ

You've read several of the books on my wishlist! How did you like Ransom My Heart? (Also, where did you get a copy? I thought it's not out yet...?)

I got Ransom My Heart in the book department at Target and enjoyed it very much. If you've read the Princess Diaries books its even better, because its fun to read something that Mia "wrote." It made a very good bubble bath book :)

23. The Dante Club
24. The Princess and the Hound
25. Goose Chase
26. Just Ella

27. Crown Duel

28. Tam Lin

What did you think about The Dante Club? I read that about a year ago. finished Matthew Pearl's new one, The Poe Shadow, and thought it was well worth the read. It's neat to see well known works of literature and authors used in such a way.

I really enjoyed The Dante Club. It really made the time and characters come alive for me. I remember reading about Longfellow, Holmes, etc. in American literature in high school and felt that Matthew Pearl did a good job of making them real to the reader. The book made me want to read not only other works by the author, but also revisit Dante and the American poets mentioned in the story.

29. Crushed

30. Equal Rites

31. Mort

32. Sourcery

You've got the first three Pratchett books (from three of the four main branches) finished. Which did you like best?

Hmm. They were all rereads, but of these three I'd have to say Mort though Equal Rites was a close second. Death and Granny Weatherwax are two of my favorite characters, so its kind of hard for me to choose. I did find that Sourcery wasn't one of my favs. It wasn't as fun the second time through as the others were.

Mort was my favorite also. I liked Equal Rites but I have been disappointed that the Wizard Girl hasn't shown up in any of the other books I've read so far.

33. City of the Beasts

34. Darwin Slept Here
35. The Thief
36. The Queen of Attolia
37. The King of Attolia

Yes, I know I already read books 35-37 this year. I just liked them that much :)

38. The Dark Is Rising
I have reached my half way point! I think I might be increasing my goal...

39. Jesus for President
40. Imitation of Christ

Hi, Kittybee!
How did you like Imitation of Christ? I have that one on my tbr. Thanks! :)
--BJ

I enjoyed it a lot. It is a quiet, contemplative little book, and much of it is still as relevant today as it was when written. I bought it as part of a series that is called The Foundations of Faith. The entire series consists of...

Thomas à Kempis
The Imitation of Christ

John Wesley
A Plain Account of Christian Perfection

Saint Augustine
Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love

Charles Spurgeon
Selections from the Spurgeon Sermon Archive

G.K. Chesterton
Orthodoxy

Blaise Pascal
Foundations of the Christian Religion

41. The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love

42. Tuck

What did you think about The Dashwood Sisters' Secrets of Love? I tried to read it a while ago, but couldn't get into it.

I must warn you that I'm predisposed to like anything Jane Austen related unless it is absolutely terrible. That said, I enjoyed the book though I did find the first few chapters slow going. With the exception of a few changes (mainly to believably bring the story into a modern setting), I thought it stuck pretty close to the spirit of Sense and Sensibility. I would give it a 3 out of 5.

43. I am the Messenger
44. Falling Sideways

45. Silent on the Moor

46. Ever

47. An Earthly Knight
48. Wizard's Daughter
49. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
50. The Risk of Darkness

51. Among the Mad

Congrats on reaching 50 and being 2/3 of the way to 75! Have a great day!
--BJ

Thanks BJ! I'm thinking maybe I should have aimed higher :)

52. Sorcery and Cecilia

53. The Graveyard Book

54. The Grand Tour

55. Grave Goods

56. Coraline
57. Churched

58. The Dark Lord of Derkholm
59. Wildwood Dancing
60. Elske
61. Greenwitch

62. Runemarks

63. False Colours
64. Never After
65. Miracle Wimp

66. Terminal Freeze

67. Instead of Three Wishes
68. Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits

69. Cemetery Dance
70. Dealing with Dragons

Oooh Dealing with Dragons is on my TBR list. How did you like it? Should I pick it up really soon or can I wait a bit?

I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as Sorcery and Cecelia which I read earlier this year. Dealing with Dragons is written for a younger audience and has slightly less character development than I wanted. I do plan on reading the sequels eventually, but not in any particular hurry. I'd say unless you REALLY want to read it now, there is no hurry to bump it to the top of your TBR list. I hope this is somewhat helpful :)

It is, thanks. :) And I loved Sorcery and Cecelia. Hopefully I will get to start on the sequels soon? :)

71. Nation Arrrg! I can't get the right touchstone to work, but it is supposed to be the book by Terry Pratchett.

72. The Mislaid Magician

73. Cybele's Secret

74. Little Brother

75. These Old Shades

76. Take A Thief

77. The Grey King

78. Beauty Sleep
79. The Storyteller's Daughter

80. First Comes Marriage
81. A Song For Arbonne
82. Captain Wentworth's Diary

83. Princess Mia
84. Then Comes Seduction
85. Things Not Seen
86. A Countess Below Stairs
87. The Year of Living Biblically
88. The Smart One and the Pretty One

Somewhere along the line I stopped keeping up with this thread but I regularly update my thread on the 75 book challange. Come on over and visit me there!
http://www.librarything.com/topic/54470 Here's the link!