amckie's 999 challenge

1. Biographies / Memoirs COMPLETED
1.1. Benazir Bhutto – Daughter of Destiny***
1.2 Janet Wallach – Desert Queen****
1.3. Cleveland Amory - The Cat who came for Christmas*.*
1.4. Cleveland Amory - The Cat and the Curmudgeon*
1.5. Adam Hochschild - Half the Way Home***
1.6. Toni Maguire - Don't Tell Mummy***
1.7. Toni Maguire - When Daddy Comes Home***
1.8. Frances Mayes– Under the Tuscan Sun**
1.9. Joe Jackson - The Thief at the end of the World***

2. 'Global' Fiction COMPLETED
2.1. Ian Holding - Unfeeling (Zimbabwe)***.*
2.2. Dorothy Gilman - Mrs. Polifax Unveiled (Syria)*
2.3. V.S. Naipaul – A Bend in the River (Congo)***
2.4. Alan Paton - Cry, The Beloved Country (South Africa)*****
2.5. Chinua Achebe - Things Fall Apart (Nigeria)****
2.6. Tahar Ben Jelloun - Silent Day in Tangier (Morocco)**
2.7. Oonya Kempadoo - Buxton Spice (Guyana)***
2.8. Oonya Kempadoo - Tide Running (Trinidad and Tobago)***
2.9. Antonio Skarmeta - The Postman (Chile)****.*

3. Women’s Studies COMPLETED
3.1. Joan Jacobs Brumberg – Fasting Girls***
3.2. Katie Roiphe - Last Night in Paradise*****
3.3. Brian Vallee - The War on Women***
3.4. Liz Funk - Supergirls Speak Out *****
3.5. Rachel Simmons - Odd Girl Out ****
3.6. Katie Roiphe – The Morning After *****
3.7. Rachel Kauder Nalebuff - My Little Red Book (Biography / Memoir)*****
3.8. Sally Armstrong – Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots*****
3.9. Jessica Valenti - The Purity Myth*****

4. Children / YA COMPLETED
4.1. Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island (childrens)**
4.2. Mary Stewart - The Crystal Cave (re-read)**
4.3. Mary Stewart - The Hollow Hills (re-read)**
4.4. Mary Stewart - The Last Enchantment (re-read)**
4.5. Mary Stewart - The Wicked Day *
4.6. Mary Stewart - The Prince and the Pilgrim*
4.7. Melissa Marr - Wicked Lovely****
4.8. Melissa Marr - Ink Exchange****
4.9. Melissa Marr - Fragile Eternity****

5. Development / Poverty / Religion COMPLETED
5.1. Benazir Bhutto - Reconciliation *****
5.2. Paul Farmer – Pathologies of Power*****
5.3. Barack Obama – The Audacity of Hope***
5.4. Muhammad Yunus – Banker to the Poor****
5.5. William P. Young - The Shack (Christian Beliefs) **
5.6. Paul Boyer - Salem Possessed (Witchcraft)***.*
5.7. James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy (Other Beliefs)**.*
5.8. Paul Middleton – Israel Vs Palestine (Judaism, Islam)***.*
5.9. Immaculee Ilibagiza - Left to Tell****

6. Random Fiction COMPLETED
6.1. Keith Donahue - The Stolen Child ****
6.2. Kate Jacobs – Friday Night Knitting Club**.*
6.3. Amy Bloom - Away***.*
6.4. Elsa Osorio - My Name is Light(Argentina)****
6.5. Yasmina Khadra - The Attack****
6.6. Jennifer McMahon – The Island of Lost Girls**
6.7. D. T. Niane - Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali***
6.8. Dominic Smith - The Beautiful Miscellaneous****
6.9. Marie Phillips - Gods Behaving Badly***.*

7. Odd Non-Fiction COMPLETED
7.1. Rebecca Godfrey - Under the Bridge****
7.2. Steve Simpson - Postcard from Nicaragua**
7.3. Dan Hurley - Natural Causes***.*
7.4. Julian Burnside - Word Watching****.*
7.5. Azar Nafisi - Things I've Been Silent About****
7.6. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - The Communist Manifesto***
7.7. Ehrenhalt - The Lost City: The Forgotten Virtues of Community in America ***
7.8. Margaret Atwood – Payback****.*
7.9. Michael Ignatieff – The Rights Revolution*****

8. Miscellany / Other COMPLETED
8.1. Paul Hawken - The Ecology of Commerce (non-fiction)****.*
8.2. Hillary Clinton – It Takes a Village (non-fiction)**.*
8.3. Anne Frank – Diary of a Young Girl (Biography / Memoir)***
8.4. Eric Schlosser – Fast Food Nation ***
8.5. Ben Okri - Flowers and Shadow (global fiction - Nigeria)***
8.6. Emmanual Jal - War Child: A Child Soldier's Story (Biography / Memoir) *****
8.7. Miriam Toews - The Flying Troutmans (fiction)****
8.8. Moshin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist (global fiction -Pakistan) ***.*
8.9. Edwidge Danticat - Breath, Eyes, Memory (global fiction - Haiti)***

9. Miscellany / Other Part 2 COMPLETED
9.1. D. E. Boone - Legs Talk (Fiction)***
9.2. Lois Lowry - Number the Stars (Children / YA)***
9.3. Cornelia Funke – The Theif Lord (Children / YA)**
9.4. Stephen Chbosky - The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Children / YA)**.*
9.5. Peter Hoeg - Smilla's Sense of Snow (Global Fiction – Greenland / Denmark)****
9.6. Naruba Fiorato - The Glassblower of Murano (Global Fiction – Italy)**.*
9.7. Abraham Verghese – Cutting for Stone (Global Fiction – Ethiopia)*****
9.8. Padma Viswanathan – Toss of a Lemon (Global Fiction – India)****.*
9.9. Márai, Sándor – Embers (Global Fiction – Hungary) **

Great categories. I may add The World Without Us and The Geography of Hope to my climate change category as well. I have at least four rereads there now that I will probably never get to.

I'm hoping you'll post reviews of these as well as your poverty/development books. I read Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken and Deep Economy by Bill McKibben last year as well as Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. I am looking for more titles to help me better understand how international development efforts can be repaired.

I must say that I am terrible at reviewing and posting them, but perhaps I should try to do more (any!) of it this year :) The three books you mention are all on my Bookmooch wishlist, they all look very good! You have quite a few listed in your challenge that are tempting me to go wishlist them as well.

So I have compiled a list mostly from my tbr pile for now. I have already changed it a few times to fit in other books that I read instead of the ones I had listed, I have a feeling it might happen quite often!

So far am really enjoying the challenge :)

Now to figure out how to show the books as crossed off...

You've got some great books in there, but some really dense ones. I'll be interested to see what you think.

To show the books as marked off, use a

Thank you for the info! I used to know some html, but obviously I've forgotten all of it :)

So let's see if I can catch up with summaries :) The first few books I read during my vacation in the sun, and I will list them first. (And yes, the family did make fun of my choices for some 'light reading' in Mexico!)

Sally Armstrong - Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots *****
I really enjoyed this book. I am very interested in the Middle East and South Asia as an area, and also very interested in Islam and the treatment of women in Islam. This book dealt with both topics very well. I enjoyed reading about the women in Afghanistan and how they are working to better their lives, and the lives of all Afghans. It was especially interesting when thinking of the current strategies being employed by Canada and NATO, and contrasting with the themes and findings in the book. I think that we could learn a lot by listening to these voices.

Benazir Bhutto - Reconciliation *****
Very good book. In the first section she uses the Koran to show how democracy, fair treatment of women, and religious tolerance are at the heart of Islam, and also explains what has happened that has allowed fundamentalism and intolerance to grow. In the following sections she discusses the histories of a variety of countries, showing how the actions of the west has helped fundamentalism grow. The section dealing with Islam and the future of Islam was my favorite part of the book. She has some great ideas and her points come across very well. It is unfortunate that she was not given more of a chance to put her plans into action. I did find in some areas that the book was not well written - I am assuming that perhaps this was not the final draft, but was published anyway?

Paul Farmer - Pathologies of Power*****
Amazing book. Paul Farmer is an amazing person who has done much in his life to diminish the suffering of the sick and poor. He talks about the systems of violence that make the poor die so much more often - and by preventable causes. While he was very convincing, and I agreed wholeheartedly with his ideas and suggestions, I did find myself wondering how (and if ever) his ideas would be put into place. I would highly recommend this book, and anything by - or about - Paul Farmer.

Joan Jacobs Brumberg - Fasting Girls***
Very interesting book. Delivers the history of Anorexia Nervosa in an interesting way that makes the clinical history and discussion accessible to the average person. Talks about where it came from and the different forms that it has appeared in throughout the centuries, and the difficulties with treating it as well as with overcoming it.

Brian Vallee - The War on Women***
Good book with startling statistics. Many parts are taken from his previous book, Life With Billy, which I had previously read, but what was new was really good. Finishes with recommendations which are brilliant and, if put into place, would greatly decrease the occurrence of violence against women in the home.

A few more before I quit for the day...

Benazir Bhutto - Daughter of Destiny***
Very good book that outlined the story of her life, and the story of Pakistan with it. While I loved the book, I did wonder a little bit on the fact that it skips quickly over her times in Parliament, and says only good things about those times. I felt it to be the memoirs of a politician, and as such, probably glossed over quite a few problems and issues. I did really enjoy the history side of it, as well as how the west keeps supporting dictators there.

Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island**
Good book, I had never read it and thought it was about time. A light read, very well written, about pirates, booty, and adventure.

Barack Obama - The Audacity of Hope***
Well written and well thought out points. I loved reading it, especially given his new power as President in the US. I can only hope that he will be able to diminish some of the partisanship, and enact some of his ideas to lift people out of poverty, make health care more affordable, and make Americans more respected in the world.

Janet Wallach - Desert Queen****
I enjoyed this book immensely. Gertrude Bell was really a remarkable woman. She traveled through the Middle East by herself, befriending Sheiks and Bedouins. She also became the first woman political officer for the British during World War I. I found myself wishing I could make many of the same trips that she had. And more than that, planning out how and when :) Closer to the end of the book, I found myself questioning some of her ideas - like her support for the anti suffragist movement, and her continued belief in British dominance - but overall, great book. Now I am off to hunt for some of the books that she wrote, as well as perhaps another book about her, I am intrigued!

Great reviews of what sound like many, many worthwhile reads. I'm going to check my library to see if they have anything by Paul Farmer. Thanks for taking the time to post.

10> FYI that there's also a fairly popular book about Farmer by award-winning author Tracy Kidder. It's called Mountains Beyond Mountains.

If you're interested in the subject, check out a PBS documentary that aired locally a couple of years ago. Rx for Survival looked at the efforts of Farmer's group, an organization in Africa called Riders for Health, etc. Fascinating. Inspiring.

>10 tracyfox:, 11 Yes ReneeMarie, Mountains Beyond Mountains was great. I first read of Paul Farmer and his work in Moving Mountains: The Race to Treat Global AIDS which was also very interesting - though a heavy read!

I haven't seen that documentary, but will certainly check it out :)

Well, I caved and changed a category. As much as I would like to read books in French to improve my French, I ended up changing the category to fit in with my 'reading globally' challenge that I am also doing. Any French books I read should be able to fit in to an existing category anyway, right ;)

Wow, 22nd book finished! (Though I seem to be reading more fiction so far, so the end of the challenge could take quite a while!).

Rebecca Godfrey - Under the Bridge ****
A hard story to read. It tells the story of a young teenager who was murdered in Victoria by a group of other teenagers. It gives you glimpses of all of their lives, and goes through the trials. Very chilling account. Good book, very well written and researched.

I really did have good intentions of reading a non-fiction selection next - my environmental and started but never finished categories aren't getting much reading, especially. But.... Cry, The Beloved Country arrived in the mail Tuesday so I just HAD to read it! And then yesterday Things Fall Apart showed up, so am guessing I will be reading it next :)

Cry, The Beloved Country was an excellent read. It is a novel by Alan Paton, and based in / about South Africa in the 1940s. I highly recommend it to everyone and would give it 5/5 stars.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was a really good read. Based in Nigeria, it tells the story of one man, Okonkwo, and covers his story of growing up, through to his death. Very interesting account of tribal customs, and the appearance of the white missionaries in the tribes. I would give it 4/5 stars.

Dan Hurley - Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry ***.* (3.5/5)
This was a very shocking book. I was glad to read that Canada is much better and has been implementing some of the things that he recommends. I had always assumed that vitamins and supplements were tested and regulated, but it seems that they are not. And not only that, in the US they are often contaminated, mislabeled, and even quite often contain actual drugs as ingredients. Was also surprised to read of the numerous studies showing that so many of these vitamins and herbs don't actually work. Very informative, and well written.

Hillary Rodham Clinton - It Takes a Village**.* (2.5/5)
An ok book. I started it last year but put it aside as I found it a bit dry. Focuses on the US only, which is fine, but so much of what she says I kept finding myself saying "well duh!". Seemed to be a lot of commensense - day care is important, children live up to our expectations in life and education, maternity leave is important, stereotypes and racism are bad, too much TV is bad, parents need to actually watch their kids and take an active role in their lives... Again, duh! So basically, lots of good points, and shocking how bad some of it is down there (so glad to be a Canadian!), but not the greatest read. I found it slow to get through. Would probably be more interesting for someone in the US, and / or someone with kids.

I read The Cat who came for Christmas yesterday, and found it amusing and very good in parts, but terrible in other parts. The parts about the cat were great, but I wish it was all about the cat and less about him! Today I read The Cat and the Curmudgeon and found it mostly terrible, too much about him and less about the cat, I think... I would recommend the former, but the latter only if you really liked the first.

Adam Hochschild - Half the Way Home***
Interesting read about growing up with a difficult father. I really enjoyed his telling of his story of growing up in the US and the changes he went through with his father. A little dry at points, but overall a good read.

Tahar Ben Jelloun - Silent Day in Tangier**
This book was ok, but I found it quite slow to read. Probably would have given up if it hadn't been so short. It was interesting to read his musings / rantings on the younger generations, illustrates the often vast culture differences between the generations.

Oonya Kempadoo - Buxton Spice***
Good but not great. Based in Guyana, highlights racism between the blacks and indians, and government oppresion, as well as growing up and sexuality in young teenage girls.

Spent all day in airports / airplanes, so did quite a bit of reading! I can't believe I've finished a category already, poor planning on my part it would seem. Ah well!

Anne Frank - Diary of a Young Girl***
I have been reading this book for quite some time, I found the diary style hard to get in to. Heartbreaking book, because shadowing the whole read is the knowledge of what happens at the end. Very interesting piece of history.

Dominic Smith - The Beautiful Miscellaneous****
I really enjoyed this novel about growing up, genius, and our brains. Very well written, and very interesting.

Marie Phillips - Gods Behaving Badly***.*
Hilarious.

Toni Maguire - Don't Tell Mummy***
Hard to read, but it drew you in so that it was also hard to put down. A story of a young child's abuse at the hands of her father, and a mother that let it happen.

Toni Maguire - When Daddy Comes Home***
This is the sequel to Don't Tell Mummy, and it was just as hard to read and hard to put down. Continues the story.

Oonya Kempadoo - Tide Running***
Good book, but I didn't like it as much as her first novel, Buxton Spice. This novel takes place in Tobago, and tells the story of a young man. The language makes it feel more real.

Frances Meyers - Under the Tuscan Sun

I tried to read it but it just didn't pull me in. First few pages were just how she decided she was going to buy the house. After those pages, she lost me and I simply gave it back and I don't do that often.

Julia Leigh - Disquiet
I know this book is not on the list but I was just wondering if any of you have read it. I did and I was hoping there would be something at the end, something exciting or just something...if you know what I mean. When I read the last page I just could not stop asking myself why did I carry on reading it...Does anyone get what the point was?

Darn, I read the first chapter of Under the Tuscan Sun and was kind of hoping it was going to pick up! I only have a limited number of books with me on my trip, so I might just have to slog my way through it anyway.

I've never read Disquiet, looks like it could be interesting, but maybe not from your quick review. Would you suggest it?

Ben Okri- Flowers and Shadows***
A good story about a family in Nigeria, and about corruption. I really liked how it used premonitions and shadows through the book, and thought the story was well written. I did have some trouble with the pigdin, but by part way through I was figuring out how to read it.

Frances Mayes - Under the Tuscan Sun**
This book was ok, but I found it kind of slow, especially near the end. It was interesting, I liked the talk of food, but a little too much like a travel guide for some chapters, and a renovation guide for others. I have Bella Tuscany as well, and am not sure if I will read it or not. Am also debating whether to keep this one, or put it up on BookMooch. An ok read though.

Wow, so with those last two books, I have completed 3 categories, and my Misc Non-Fiction is getting close to completion as well. I am considering changing some of the others... maybe combining re-reads and ya/children into one, and creating a religion category, as I do have a few of those in the tbr pile... It is hard to decide!

I do want to force myself to finish the books I started, so I think I will keep that category. Also, even thouhg I haven't read any yet, I do have a lot of Environmental books to read so I want to keep that category as well.

I guess I'll think on it for a bit then come back to it :)

amckie, I started the 999 challenge primarily because I had so many socio-political books that I've bought, but haven't read, and thought this would force me to read them. Hasn't worked yet! :-)

#25, 26 I recently read Disquiet and wouldn't recommended it too much. It is a very short book - elegant but pointless. #57 on my thread here http://www.librarything.com/topic/52019

>29 bonniebooks:
Yeah, the year seems to start off very well-intentioned, it did for me anyway, and I was sure I would get so many books cleared off my tbr piles... So far I have only read 5-8 books from my tbr piles and the rest have been borrowed, bought, or acquired through BookMooch. hehe. Ah well, maybe I'll read more from the tbr pile later in the year ;)

>30 avatiakh:
Thanks for the opinion on it. I think I'll skip it, both because it hasn't been getting very good reviews from anyone who has told me about it, and because my categories are getting cramped for space! lol

2 books read over the weekend for my random non-fiction category. I am going to venture a wild guess that this will be the next category completed.

Michael Ignatieff - The Rights Revolution*****
I've had this book for quite awhile (yes, I actually read from my tbr pile!), and have been meaning to read it especially since he was chosen as head of the Liberal Party here in Canada. I found the book very interesting, and engaging. He talks about human rights and how they have come about / what they mean for Canada. Excellent read, and I would recommend it to everyone.

Margaret Atwood - Payback****.*
This book (as well as The Rights Revolution) is part of the CBC Massey Lecture Series, and I must say that I have loved all of the books in that series that I have tried. This book was no exception. She talked about the hisotry of debt, of justice, of revenge, and other concepts. Sometimes she seemed to go off on long tangents and I would forget how the chapter started, but it was hilariously engaging and fun to read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone and everyone!

Paul Hawken - The Ecology of Commerce****.*
I've finally read my first book for my environmental category! (About time, right!) I really enjoyed this book. The ideas were very well researched and explained, and made so much sense. I hope that many of the ideas he covers become fact and become embraced by the business world. As a business graduate, I felt myself wishing that I had read this book while still in school so as to incorporate the ideas into my papers for different courses such as strategy and business research!

Muhammad Yunus - Banker to the Poor****
This was a very interesting book. I've already read a few books on micro-credit, and I love the theory... and the practise! It definitely works. It was a good book to read after The Ecology of Commerce, as it sort of has some of the same themes, about how we need more socially conscious businesses and less greed driven businesses.

As a side note, this was my first book by / about Bangladesh, and it had an interesting footnote explaining how they became independent from Pakistan eventually because the army would not let them form the government - this is quite different from what is said in Daughter of Destiny in which Bhutto says (I don't have acess to the book now, but something along the lines of) that the East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) majority party refused to work together with the parties elected in West Pakistan to create a constitution, they wanted to do it by themselves, which is what caused the army to say that democracy doesn't work and refuse to let a government be formed. Interesting to hear the different sides of a story like that! Makes me wonder which is a more valid statement, I guess I will have to keep researching / reading to find out!

Non-fiction by Atwood?! That does sound interesting! And I have Banker to the Poor on my list of books to finish. So you may be getting to your TBR's, but in the process you're adding to the rest of ours! Bad girl! ;-)

Oh yes, it was very interesting! And since getting LibraryThing, and especially since joining this challenge and the BookMooch group here, my wishlist has grown from around 20 books to 400+! Glad I can do my part to keep other peoples wishlists growing too, makes me feel better about mine ;-)

I'll be interested to hear how you like Banker to the Poor, too. I'll have to keep checking your list to see if you got to it yet. haha

HaHa! Yeah, I stopped putting my TBR's on LT because I didn't want it to take over my actual library. Can't wait for the new "collections" feature so I can keep all online.

>35 bonniebooks: amckei is the tempting one! And here I was going to put off new reserves at the library until April 1...

But it does look like a quick read!

>37 bonniebooks: Collections would be cool, winning a huge gift certificate for a bookstore would be even greater. I'm going to keep up hope for that ;)

>38 stephmo:, if you mean the Atwood book, I would definitely recommend it as a good, quick read. Very funny, but in a different way. Hard to explain!

I seem to be in a bit of a reading trend here. Am almost done of Fast Food Nation, and in the epilogue he is talking about the need to 'curtail excessive corporate power' and to regulate big businesses. Similar ideas as were contained in my last two reads :) More to come in a bit when I actually finish it!

Eric Schlosser - Fast Food Nation***
When travelling for work I usually take a book with me and read while I eat (I'm sure you can see where this is going...), and I made the unfortunate decision to take this one to supper today. Luckily my subconscious was helping me out as I went to a great local, organic restaurant and had a vegetarian meal!

The book was great, though very disturbing in many ways. I am very interested in looking up what has happened since the book has been published, to see if any / how many changes were made. I have never eaten much fast food, but this book has me thinking I should just avoid it - and any supermarket meat that I don't know where it originated from - for good!

And, as mentioned in my previous post, another attack on big businesses operating with no morals or ethics. I might switch it up with my next book, though still trying to decide what it will be... :)

That's another book that I bought and skimmed briefly but never did it justice. I guess I just wanted to support the author at the time, but didn't want to read all the details. I do remember being amazed that McDonald's was the largest buyer of potatoes (and hamburger?) so basically controlled the market. I don't eat fast food anymore, and lately have even stopped going to restaurants for the most part. My next goal is to eat more locally, but that's going to mean eating a lot more vegetables--not my favorite food group! :-(

Yeah, I've had the book for awhile too - though I got it on BookMooch. I started it last year but just never got into it. I was amazed by a lot of that stuff as well, and generally horrified at the conditions. haha. Luckily, we have a great Farmer's Market in Charlottetown where we can get a lot of good, local meat as well, though I do love vegetables too :) Good luck with the eating more locally thing!

So have just been sitting around the hotel room reading all day today, and have finished a few more. Also, decided to definitely change my categories: YA/Children and Re-reads are being combined into Miscellany / Overflow, and I have added Religion.

Rachel Kauder Nalebuff - My Little Red Book*****
I had read a lot of good things about this book, and they are all true. It was hilarious, sad, crazy, etc depending on the story. A great collection of stories about a topic that we never really hear about. It was interesting getting the different cultural views on the first period, as well as the polarity of reactions from the girls super excited to get it, to the ones who were pissed (of which I would count myself).

Oh, and I LOVE that the proceeds are going towards charities for girls that provide toilets, toilet paper, and sanitary products. Makes me want to go buy a few more to give to family and friends :)

Miriam Toews - The Flying Troutmans****
I didn't like A Complicated Kindness, but had read some good reviews of this one so decided to give it a try - plus it was on sale at Barnes & Noble when I went through there yesterday! I loved it! It was hilarious but sad, in a kind of Little Miss Sunshine way. Great light read for an afternoon of relaxing.

Hmmm, I thought I had both of M. Toews on my "Books to Look at List" but couldn't find them there. Maybe it's because I've been trying lately to wait until I hear about a book at least three times before putting it on my list as it's getting quite looooong! Oh well, what's 2 more! :-)

haha, that is probably a good way to do it! After reading your message, I considered adopting that idea, then thought ... but what if it's a really good book and I don't see it mentioned again?? haha.

The good thing for me though is I just add books to my wishlist on BookMooch, and then forget about them for awhile. It is really just a reference list of books that I want to read at some point in the future, but I don't know when I'll get any of them... of course that is mostly because when I do end up at bookstores I buy things NOT from my list... oops ;)

So, I did it again! I stopped by Barnes & Noble today and randomly picked out two books from completely different shelves - one because it looked interesting, and then another because it had been on my wishlist. I got halfway through the second one, and it mentioned a main character from the first one! :) Uncanny....

Antonio Skarme - The Postman ****.*
This was a short, quick read, but very good. It is based in, and written by an author from, Chile. I hadn't read anything from Chile before, so that was extra nice. I felt it was kind of similar to The Old Man in the Sea (not sure why, but I kept thinking of it while reading), in some ways, but I liked it much more.

It tells the story of a young man who befriends a poet, Pablo Neruda, and the story of his life and what happens. A great book.

Mohsin Hamid - The Reluctant Fundamentalist ***.*
I found this book initially hard to get into due to the writting style. It is written as if the main character were at a cafe talking to an American tourist in Pakistan, but you only get his talking. Once I got into it though, I couldn't put it down. While I didn't like it as much as The Postman, I loved it. Very good book.

Pablo Neruda is mentioned in this book as well :)

A bit more changing around in my categories - as I had started Anne Frank last year, I moved it to my Started but Never Finished category which makes room for the extra biography that I picked up yesterday at B&N, The Thief at the End of the World. I plan on starting it after I finish Supergirls Speak Out.

Sitting around hotel rooms and eating alone makes for a lot of reading. I have been on a business trip since March 8th, and have been just motoring through books. Tomorrow I fly home so will be sitting in airports / on airplanes for 12+ hours so should get a few more read! After that things should slow down for a few weeks until my next trip though as I enjoy being home and seeing my cats (and friends, I guess!) again :)

Liz Funk - Supergirls Speak Out*****
I read that The Book Lady was planning on reading this book as one of her Women's History Month feminist selections, and was intrigued, looked it up, and added it to my wishlist. The next day at Barnes & Noble (yesterday) I saw it and thought I might as well pick it up! It was definitely a good choice.

This was an incredible book. A lot of the statistics shocked me, and being a 20-something myself, recently graduated from university, I know what Ms. Funk is talking about when she talks about the Supergirls who do too much. I am from a small town, and it wasn't as big of a thing, but in university you could definitely pick them out - and I probably fit into the mold in a few ways as well.

The book talks about the pressures put on young girls to excel and be good at everything, and, essentially, to be good. But as any girl knows, it is hard to know what 'good' really is. A few points that really stuck out for me were the point about how a girl has to be attractive to be taken seriously, most of the time, and that the media really only notices women who do bad things, not for doing good.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in feminism, youth, media, girls, or anything else. A very enjoyable, informative, and insightful read.

Edwidge Danticat - Breath, Eyes, Memory****
I had previously read Brother, I'm Dying and absolutely loved it, which was when the rest of Danticat's books got added to my wishlist. This book, while a different genre, was still just as good, as interesting, and as well written. Based in Haiti and the US, it tells of growing up Haitian, about rape, about sexual issues, and about reconciling with family.

amckie, Krik! Krak! is my favorite Danticat. An extremely moving collection of short stories.

Good to know, it is on my wishlist as well :) She is such a great author.

Rachel Simmons - Odd Girl Out****
This book was a well written book that looks at agression and bullying in girls. It talks about how girls are seen as being nice, and how having to be nice and good all the time forces girls to show anger, jealousy, and agression in different ways than boys. In this way, I found it had several similar points as Supergirls Speak Out. Very interesting book, very well written.

Well, I think I have changed my categories all that I want to, so am going to keep a separate list here of books that I have read outside the challenge, just to keep track for myself :) I will list books as I finish them, but won't be doing any reviews (if you are interested in knowing about any of them, feel free to ask!).

1. D. T. Niane - Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali***
2. Emmanual Jal - War Child: A Child Soldier's Story*****
3. Katie Roiphe - Last Night in Paradise****
4. Steve Simpson - Postcard from Nicaragua**
5. Yasmina Khadra - The Attack****
6. Julian Burnside - Word Watching****.*
7. Amy Bloom - Away***.*
8. Elsa Osorio - My Name is Light****
9. Azar Nafisi - Things I've Been Silent About****
10. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - The Communist Manifesto***
11. Lois Lowry - Number the Stars***
12. Alan Ehrenhalt - The Lost City: The Forgotten Virtues of Community in America***
13. D. E. Boone - Legs Talk***

UPDATE: I changed around categories again (surprise surprise) so these are now all listed above. I feel like I am cheating but hey, I just want to finish the challenge so that I can feel less guilty about not reading books that fill any categories!

53> I'm assuming Jal's book mentioned his music CD of the same name (missed opportunity otherwise). Have you heard his music? Do you plan to go in search of it? (IIRC, it got a pretty good review from Songlines magazine.)

It did mention his music, and even included some lyrics in the final chapters. I checked him out on YouTube and really enjoyed what I could find. Actually, just got back from the music store here where they told me that they don`t carry his stuff... but hopefully I can find it somewhere :) I highly recommend the book and the music, and am thinking that the documentary would probably be very good as well.

55> just got back from the music store here where they told me that they don`t carry his stuff... but hopefully I can find it somewhere

I did some checking around, and "WARchild" and "Ceasefire" should both be available online, if nowhere else:

* Amazon
* Amazon Canada
* Amazon UK
* Barnes & Noble
* Borders

No direct ability to link to search results at World Music Network, but may be worth checking out anyway.

I see you're in Canada, so I checked out Chapters/Indigo online, but it doesn't seem to be available there. Not familiar with other bookstores there.

I love reading the world music reviews in Songlines magazine, but there's the rub: what may be available internationally may not be available here in the US. And I don't buy online. We carry twice as many copies of each issue on our newsstand as we used to, probably because I recommended it to anyone looking for international music in our bookstore. :-)

Wow, thank you ReneeMarie for looking into that! I just bought and downloaded it on iTunes :) Songlines looks really interesting too, I'm going to have to check it out.

Thanks again!

Joe Jackson - The Thief at the End of the World***
I found this book hard to get in to, and slow to read, but very interesting. It tells the story of Henry Wickham's life, and of his thief of 70,000 rubber tree seeds from the Amazon to England. He seemed quite over the top, and I definitely felt bad for Violet!

Paul Boyer - Salem Possessed***.*
This was my first read for my Religion category. I wasn't sure if it really counted as religion or not, but as it does cover the social aspects of how and why these women were accused as witches, I am going to count it anyway.

This was my first real introduction to anything concerning Witchcraft in the US, or of the Salem trials, so while they say it is a new way to look at it, I found it seemed like the logical way to do it. Not sure how having read other accounts would have changed this view. It was really interesting to read about the village, the inhabitants, and how everything played out.

I am definitely interested in reading more about witchcraft, and about Salem.

I'm interested in this subject as well. How did you pick this particular book on witchcraft? And I'm wondering what you found out. What were the main reasons that woman were declared witches. Was it for financial gain, because they had mental health problems and no one to take care of them, or that they were practicing medicine/healthcare, or...?

I found the book through... hmm... always a good question! A library I was checking out here on LT had a bunch of books on the subject listed, and they sounded interesting so I added them to my BM inventory, and then this one came up as available, I think is how it happened.

Some of what the book talked about was the odd relationship between Salem Village and Salem Town, the unique institutional set up and flaws in it, and the problems that this created in the Village. It also talked about the factional split that existed between the inhabitants of the Village, and some of the main personalities and causes of anger and annoyance. Also discussed was the unique history of the Church there. But basically all of these factors and more worked together to create a unique mood and situation in which the witch accusations were almost a way to fight back, or to relieve pent up anger. It talked less about the victims themselves though as it did the situation as a whole.

i saw on someone else's 999 thread that you were doing a religion category as well, so i came over the check yours out.

might i suggest The Word of Islam by Williams or An Introduction to Islam by Waines? i read both of those a couple years back and found them pretty helpful (although that was for a class on Islam so they may not be what you are looking for)

Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists might be something interesting for you too, if you are wanting an introduction to Hindu religious history and myth rather than technical dogma. it's a good read.

good luck!

eta: i totally agree with you about Paul Farmer! he's wonderful. i've not read Pathologies of Power, but i just added it to my list. i'm a tad obsessed with his ideas about structural violence. it's amazing theory he's building.

I was doing so well and then had a very hectic few months with work, and never got around to posting! Bad me for sure.

I have read quite a few books in the past few months though not near as many as I should have. Now I just have to remember what all of them are and update! I am hoping that over the weekend I can get the list done up and get this thread updated before I leave again on Sunday. Yikes!

Might change categories up a bit too, haven't done that in some time so why not right?

;)

atlargeintheworld - your recommendations look great, I have added the books to my wish list! Thanks!

Yikes! It has been awhile! Looking forward to hearing what you've been reading. I say change categories--it'll make me feel better about all the changes I've made.

I have to say, I have been neglecting to put any kind of review up for the last books that I read here. At least I finally read the final book to finish the challenge! Especially being as I started doing a second one and am over half-way through it! My new challenge can be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/71377.

I am doing MUCH better the second time around (so far anyway!) at sticking to the categories that I have chosen. I have also put a lot more fiction into the second half of the year, and am being more flexible with categorizations. Am having a lot of fun though, and I hope I can do it!