Laytonwoman3rd succumbs to the madness

I don't do reading challenges (other than the simple numbered ones). I'm too impulsive to follow a pattern. So what am I doing here? I don't know---something about it appeals to me. I will definitely allow overlapping; some titles may satisfy more than one of my categories. Since I'm not likely to read 81 books this year, and some of what I read will not fit into one of these categories, I will use one of the mathematical variants I've seen mentioned elsewhere, and make mine a "9 Times 3 Challenge", meaning if I read a total of 3 books in each category, I will consider that I met the challenge. (Because I make the rules, that's why.) You'll also note that Category 6 can be completed by reading less than an entire book per poet.

So here is my list.

1. Books set in 9 different countries. (OK, I do intend to try for all 9 in this one.)

2. Non-fiction

3. Books not already on my radar, recommended by LT’ers

4. Old favorites (re-reads)

5. Collections of short fiction

6. Sample nine new poets (new to me, that is)

7. Prize winners

8. Books made into films

9. Virago Modern Classics

Titles marked with asterisks (**) are in reading progress. I'll try to remember to remove the asterisks when I finish the book. Comments on my reading will be on My 75 Book Challenge Thread. Jump over there if you want to see what I thought; I don't think I'll reproduce them here. The exercise will be good for you.

Books set in 9 different countries.

1. Fingersmith England

2. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress China

3. Embers Austria/Hungary

4. Giraffe Czechoslovakia

5. Cry, The Beloved Country South Africa

6. People of the Book Bosnia, Spain, Israel, Italy (only counting it once!)

7. The View from Castle Rock Canada

8. Purple Hibiscus Nigeria

9. The Hero's Walk India

NON-FICTION

1. The American Journey of Barack Obama

2. The Innocent Man by John Grisham

3. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

4. Soul Songs by C.M.C.

5. My Own Country

6. Green Hills of Africa

7. Confederates in the Attic

8. Serve it Forth

9. Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg

BONUS TITLES IN THIS CATEGORY

10. The Nazi Officer's Wife

11. In Her Father's Eyes by Bela Weicherz

Books not already on my radar, recommended by LT’ers

1. Embers by Sandor Marai

2. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

3. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

4. Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan LeFanu

5. In the Fall by Jeffrey Lent (Amazing novel)

6. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

7. A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

8. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King

9. Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

OLD FAVORITES (re-reads)

1. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead by James Lee Burke

2. To Kill a Mockingbird

3. Murder is Served

4. Heaven's Prisoners

5. The Neon Rain

6. Black Cherry Blues

7. Light in August

8.

9.

Collections of short fiction

1. Tenney's Landing by Catherine Tudish

2. Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

3. ( Friend of My Youth ) by Alice Munro I have heard so much about her talent, and I'm going to see for myself. ETA: Well, I didn't get to this one in 2009, but I did read another Munro, and she is going to be one of my favorites, I think.

4. Red Stick Men:Stories by Tim Parrish Meh.

5. The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor Stunning.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Sample nine new poets (new to me, that is)

1. Muriel Spark All the Poems of Muriel Spark

2. May Sarton ditto (A Private Mythology) Picked this up at the second hand book store; haven't sampled any yet.

3. Harry Humes selections from Coalseam, including "Walking the Anthracite" and "My Mother at Evening".

4. Nancy Deisroth selections from Coalseam, including "Making Soap"

5. Jay Parini, whose fiction and biographies I know, but whose poetry I am just getting acquainted with. The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems

6. Lucille Clifton She's not entirely new to me, because I had heard of her, but never read her. Now, I have. She's wonderful. good woman: poems and a memoir 1969-1980

7.

8.

9.

AUDIO BOOKS PRIZE WINNERS
I don't know how I'll fit audio books into my routine. But I have heard such wonderful things about Sissy Spacek's reading of To Kill a Mockingbird that I bought it for myself. If I enjoy it, I will check out audio versions of other favorites from the library. I expect every entry in this category will fall into No. 5 as well. (I told you---MY rules.)

ETA: I'm changing this category to Prize Winners. I know I'm not going to make much use of audio books. And the one I am going to finish will fit this category (as well as a couple others):

1. To Kill a Mockingbird Audio book; Pulitzer Prize 1961

2. All Mortal Flesh Gumshoe Award 2007 Best Mystery

3. Property by Valerie Martin Orange Prize for Fiction 2003

4. Home by Marilynne Robinson Orange Prize for fiction 2009

5. The Road Home by Rose Tremain Orange Prize for fiction 2008

6. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt Tony Award, New York Drama Critics Circle Award (I know, these are awards for a particular production of the play, not the play itself. Still...

7. Wolf Hall Man Booker Prize 2009

8. Black Cherry BLues Edgar Award 1990

9.

BOOKS MADE INTO FILMS. I mean to see the film as well as read the book.

1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie book read, movie watched.

2. Appaloosa Movie watched--wonderful. Book read; classic Western, classic Parker.

3. Cry, The Beloved Country Book read. Movie watched.

4. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead Movie watched. Book re-read.

5. The Remains of the Day Book read. Movie watched.

6. The Haunting Movie watched.

7. The Hustler by Walter Tevis Book read. Movie watched.

8. Tipping the Velvet Book read, mini-series watched.

9. A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt reading the play; movie watched.

Virago Modern Classics
I've caught the collecting bug for these lovely editions of women authors, and I have a lot of them on my "not yet read" shelves.

1. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison

2. Jenny Wren by E. H. Young

3. Brother Jacob by George Eliot

4. The Devastating Boys by Elizabeth Taylor

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Welcome Laytonwoman3rd. Will follow your progress with interest.

I like your rules.

For poets, you might try Kay Ryan's Elephant Rocks: Poems. I really enjoyed it.

Others that I loved:
Cures Include Travel, by Susan Rich
The Ghost Trio, by Linda Bierds

And I love just about anything by Ron Padgett and Marge Piercy.

Thank you for the poetry suggestions. I am going to need help with that one. I subscribed to Poetry magazine for a year or so, and have all those issues, which I haven't read in full, so I trust I'll be able to find some new people there.

You're welcome. I'll be looking forward to see what poetry you read, and what you think of it.

Just bumping the thread up, and letting anyone who might be checking know that I've added books to some of the categories recently. Titles in parentheses are those I intend to read in the category, but have not, as yet.

Finished My Own Country by Abraham Verghese. That makes 13 distinct books in the 999 challenge so far, with 4 of them appearing in more than one category. That's a rather high percentage of doubling up. Will have to see if I can do better than that as the year progresses.

Bump. Additions to Groups 3,4,5, 7 and 9

I read Cry, the Beloved Country earlier in the year, and found it very moving and beautiful. I just watched the movie with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris...it made me cry. That's so rare for a movie, but those two masters did such a perfect job with their characters that I was overcome. One of the best screen adaptations of a novel I've ever seen.

Interesting categories, laytonwoman. I'll be following your progress with interest.

I must look up the Virago Press books; I've read quite a bit about them here--I own just a couple of them myself, but bought them incidental to them being Virago books.

One more to go in the Non-fiction category, and I'm reading it now. Shaggy Muses about the relationships of several women writers with their dogs.

OK, I haven't finished Shaggy Muses, but I have finished the non-fiction category, with Annie's Ghosts, a family "detective story", with a lot of historical background mixed in. I will continue to add to the lists even after I finish a category, since I'd like to see how my reading breaks down over the course of the year.

I've changed my "Audio Books" category to "Prize Winners". My experience with listening to the audio book of To Kill a Mockingbird tells me I'm not going to do a lot of that, and TKM fits the Prize Winner category as well. This month, I hope to read at least one Orange Prize winner.

Two categories finished, Non-fiction, and Novels set in Nine Different Countries.

ETA: Finished another category: Books recommended by other LT'ers.

*bump* Several additions above. Link to second 75 Book Challenge thread for 2009, where I post my thoughts on what I'm reading.

The threads proliferate. Here's a link to my third (and last, I'm sure) 75 Book Challenge thread for this year.

*bump* just for my own convenience.

#1 "I'm not likely to read 81 books this year". Huh. I've just hit 81. They don't fulfill all my categories here, but still...I've read 81 books. Whaddya know?

Congratulations Linda. It's not too late to change your categories.

I think I"ll keep them as they are, Pam. I'm only seriously short in two of them---short fiction, and Virago Modern Classics. AND the year isn't over yet!

Well, I think that my challenge will have to stand as it is now. I'm not likely to fill in any more slots before the end of the year. (And, in fact, I will be lucky to finish Wolf Hall before the bells chime, but I am actively reading it, so I'm counting it. IF I can get to the library tomorrow, and IF they have his work, I may add one more poet, Zbigniew Herbert, to Message 7.