SqueakyChu's 1010 Challenge

Hello. I'm taking a step backward in this challenge as I *know* I'd never reach close to 100 books read in a year. I'm doing the kind of challenge which has a different number of books in each category. I'm not sure how this will sort itself out, but I'm sure it will do so somehow.




Challenge completed on : December 17, 2010 (for real this time!)

There's an Animal in this Book!
1. An Eagle Named Freedom - Jeff Guidry

Short Stories
1. Follow Me - grinerpaul::Paul Griner
2. The Tiki Palaces of Detroit - Michael Zadoorian

Books About Food - Yum!
1. Diet for a Hot Planet - Anna Lappé
2. Eating Animals - foerjonathansafraned::Jonathan Safran Foer
3. Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat - costatemra::Temra Costa

Early Reviewer Books
1. Apparition & Late Fictions - Thomas Lynch
2. The Spare Room - Helen Garner
3. Eaarth - Bill McKibben
4. Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self - Danielle Evans

Biographies or Memoirs
1. Yarn: Remembering the Way Home - Kyoko Mori
2. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
3. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
4. Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
5. A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

Take It or Leave It Challenge (TIOLI) Books
1. Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre - TIOLI: debut book
2. The Leisure Seeker - Michael Zadoorian - TIOLI: red-spined book
3. Tomcat in Love - Tim O'Brien - TIOLI: "Love" in the title
4. The World to Come - Dara Horn - TIOLI: an LT author
5. A Good Place for the Night - Savyon Liebrecht - TIOLI: a book of short stories
6. The Trouble With Poetry - Billy Collins - TIOLI: Read-A-Living-Poet

New-To-Me Authors
1. Brooklyn - Colm Toibin
2. The Mermaids Singing - Lisa Carey
3. Vocare - Ron Ames
4. RubyFruit Jungle - Rita Mae Brown
5. Dracula - Bram Stoker
6. River of Glass - Deborah Bergman
7. Reef - Romesh Gunesekera

Of Jewish Interest
1. The Extraordinary Nature of Ordinary Things - Steven Z. Leder - (Spirituality)
2. A Pigeon and a Boy - Meir Shalev - (Israeli author)
3. Husband and Wife - Zeruya Shalev - (Israeli author)
4. Mother Said: Poems - Hal Sirowitz - (Jewish author)
5. Laundry - adamsuzane::Suzane Adam - (Israeli author)
6. Outwitting History - Aaron Lansky - (Yiddish books)
7. Sanchez Across the Street and Other Stories - Barbara Mujica - (Some Jewish characters)
8. My Jesus Year - Benyamin Cohen - (Author is a rabbi's son)

Books in Translation
1. The Angel's Game - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Translated from Spanish
2. NP - Banana Yoshimoto - Translated from Japanese
3. Hell - Yasutaka Tsutsui - Translated from Japanese
4. Homo Faber - Max Frisch - Translated from German
5. Chi's Sweet Home - Kanata Konami - Translated from Japanese
6. House of the Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories - Yasunari Kawabata - Translated from Japanese
7. Fragments: Memories of a Wartime Childhood - Binjamin Wikomirski - Translated from German
8. David Golder - Irene Nemirovsky - Translated from French
9. Gotz and Meyer - David Albahari - Translated from Serbian

Anything Goes
1. Skipping Christmas - John Grisham - (topic: Christmas non-observance)
2. Father Said: Poems - Hal Sirowitz - (topic: sayings from dad)
3. As She Climbed Across the Table - Jonathan Lethem - (topic: love with a hole)
4. Man Walks Into a Room - Nicole Krauss - (topic: memory loss)
5. South of Broad - Pat Conroy - (topic: friendship)
6. Still Alice - Lisa Genova (topic: - early onset Alzheimer's)
7. A Working Girl Can't Win and Other Poems - Deborah Garrison - (topic: poetry)
8. Being Dead - Jim Crace - (topic: decomposing)
9. The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle - (topic: spirituality)
10. Dr. Haggard's Disease - Patrick McGrath - (topic: mental decline)

Cool format!

Thanks! Can't wait to start filling it in.

I've already changed around the title locations because I know I'll do more in one category than another. I actually think this idea was brilliant and am sorry that more of the other "1010 challengers" are not doing it.

They'll show up as the year draws to a close. It's hard to think up new categories when you're still deep in the 999. I'm thinking about your format, but want to wait until I get a clear idea of how many books I'll have read this year--the 8-9-10 format would let me tackle more daunting books, but the idea of trying to read 100 books is also attractive.

I've got a list of 10 x 10 books chosen but I may well actually do my reading using the 1- 2- 3 - ... format as I would have a real prayer of completing the challenge at that rate. I just suffer from the "so little time, so many ..." problem. I am looking forward to seeing you fill out your list because the category names are so intriguing.

>13 SqueakyChu:, I'm just amazed that so many people are already planning their reading for 2010! I'm still focused on this year - I am always impressed by how people in the challenge groups can be so organized with their reading. I am always flitting from one thing to another and am never able to stick with any of the challenges. I think I have dropped out of both the 888 challenge and the 999 challenge, despite my best intentions.

Don't even begin that because I have an active fantasy reading life - and therefore a lot of lists - that I am charging through my 999 Challenge like greased lightning. More like a middle aged lady chugging up a steep hill. Slow and steady, with the occasional breathing break.

>17 NeverStopTrying:: Love your imagery!

>16 fannyprice:: Being a totally disorganized person, I make a lot of lists trying to impose organization on my life. I usually don't follow through on them. The thing with books is that there are so many lovely books just waiting to be read, I just can't help thinking about them and wanting to read them... what I actually read doesn't seem to have a whole lot to do with the planning, which is why I try to keep most of my categories very general so that I can fit what I end up reading into them.

--> 15

Actually, take a look at my 999 Challenge. They're many of the same categories precisely because they've worked well so far.

--> 18

I'm with you 100%. I never want to preplan what I have to read. That takes all the fun out of it.

--> 16

Maybe it's just that the titles of the categories you've chosen in the past were not broad enough. Make some categories into which you can slip most any book. Then read whatever you want whenever you want. It's much easier that way.

Looking forward to seeing what will end up in your Books in Translation category.

Yes, me too for it's a category that we share.

Love the original ideas you have squeaky!

--> 24

Hehe! I'm not even original this year. The categorization numbers (i.e. 1, 2, 3, etc. to each category) was from biblioholic13. The individual category names I stole from last year because they worked out so well for me. I pretty much have them tweaked the way I want them. Of course, the fun of it is that I can change them at any time. I make up the rules for myself as I go along. :)

Good luck, everyone, with next year's challenge!

Hey, Madeline! Can't believe I'm already starring threads for next year! I love the 1-2-3..10 idea. I wasn't even going to do a challenge for next year, but you-all are getting me jazzed up for it again. Your method leaves room for totally reading what I want half the time, so will probably sign up in December. Love everyone's clever titles and categories, but, like you, I'm going to think about what will really work for me based on this year's challenge.

I'm not going to do a 75 books challenge next year. I'll stick with the 1010-1,2,3, etc. It seems like more fun for me.

You can read whatever you want - all the time. Just change the category names to suit what you read. It should be super easy!!

You're not going to do the 75? ;-(( I was counting on you being there if/when I switched over!

Okay. If you switch over, I'll be there (although I doubt I'll hit 75 either this year *or* next! :)

Oh, goodie. We got that in writing, folks! You're my witnesses! :-)

lol Thanks Bonnie! I don't know what I'd do if I made the jump to the 75 on my own and SqueakyChu wasn't there anymore.

LOL! You are both so funny!!

I'm actually now at the beach enjoying the strange stories in McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories edited by Michael Chabon. It's great!

How many books am I trying to read at the same time? I've lost count. :(

So glad you liked the 1-2-3 idea!! I haven't decided which one I'm doing yet, but if I do a 101010, the categories will have to be very broad and I prefer more narrow ones. We'll see... Love that a bunch of people are already planning what they'll read next year - it is only August after all! :)

That was a great idea. I would have otherwise opted out of the 101010 challenge. That would have been way too many books for me.

Well, I definitely wanted you to be in it, so I'm doubly happy!!!

Yeah, I thought it sounded like a lot of people would be bailing and that's no fun. Plus, I think the stepladder is more sustainable as we get into 2011, 2012, etc.

I think the stepladder is more sustainable as we get into 2011, 2012, etc.

That's a good point. Thanks for thinking ahead. And thanks to you both for suggesting and/or talking up a good alternative.

I'm glad we could make room in the challenge for almost everyone!

Hey Squeak;
Glad you are here. 2010 is going to be a great year for challenges. I too like how you have yours set up. I spent the day setting mine up; gathering the books from my bookcases; clearing 2 pantry shelves off so that I can put my 10/10/10 books there and ta da-----------it's done. The only category I haven't filled in is my LT recx category and that is simply due to the fact that a rec that suits me today may not appeal to me in January.
I'm also moving to the 75 book gig come January, so it appears that there will be a mass exodus from the 50 book gig. But there will be more coming behind us to fill the gaps.
See you on the threads girl.
belva

Hey Belva,

Yay! Comin' to the big 75 group, are you? It'll be fun havin' you here, although you've already been hangin around here quite a bit! :)

I still need to do the pictures for these categories. Have you seen the pictures I put on my 999 Challenge? I want to do similar ones for my 101010. It was a great idea taken from bfertig. I'm not going to start the101010 now, though, as I'm already way behind in my reading. I'm now addicted to Twitter and spend more time with that than anything else. *Sigh*

Good morning Squeak;
I am not starting the 10/10/10 until January 1st. But I did want to get it set up and ready to go and I am glad I did because it took me nearly all day yesterday. I had the house to myself so I really took advantage of that as I was running back and forth between bookshelves, the computer and the pantry and back again. But it was fun and it is done and ready to go. Whoo Hoo!~!~!
I see that we have some very similar categories. Seeing the books you choose for those will be of great interest to me.
You enjoy your day. It is a beautiful one here and I hope there as well.
hugs,
belva

I'm so glad I found this thread (via the Kitchen Sink thread). This sounds perfect for me. I don't want to read 100 books in a year!

(Thanks for the tip; I've set up my own thread for my 10 categories -- although this time I absolutely could NOT get one of the touchstones to come up right!)

Hi Megi53!

Did you mean to set up your own thread? If you do it here, others will be able to find it more easily.

I saw The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill as a movie. I didn't know it had been based on a book.

I love Vonnegut books. I've read many, but none of the ones you mentioned! I never got into Vonnegut back in "those days" but am immensely enjoying his writing - even as an "older woman". :)

I discovered teen books (or YA) books last year. I very much enjoyed The Outsiders, The Book Thief, and Feed. Good
writing!

You know, with the stepladder thing I might stand a chance over here! Maybe I'll join up for this challenge... though I won't work out my reading too much yet because January's still such a long way away reading-wise. I might end up sabotaging myself before the new year's begun!

Hi SqueakyChu - however you fill in your categories, I will be looking forward to your amusing answers and questions on the "Silly Book Game". I am really excited for the new year and starting on this 1010 Challenge.

That silly book game was my best invention of recent note! :)

Good luck on your challenge for 2010. I'm already way behind on my 999 and 75 book challenges. There are just so many more things I have to do than just read...

*she says, as she goes to check that silly book game*

What "silly book game" are you talking about, Madeline? I wanna play! ;-)

This game has been going on a long time. It's already on its twelfth thread, and each thread is about 300 posts long!

Without further ado, here's the (Ta! Da!)....silly book game.

#47 I remember that game - I played it some about a year ago - very fun - quite addicting!

Addicting is right. I created it, left it, and am now back at playing it again. :)

That is the first time I have ever seen the silly book game. I will have to keep an eye on it now. I am slowly working on my 101010 categories. I still don't know how I am setting it up. I may do the step ladder or just try to read 10 books in a few of the categories. First I need to figure out my categories then worry about the number of books I am going to read. I am not even close to reaching my goals this year.

I decided to do both the 999 and to 101010 at the same time (using the same books). Get it? My 999 will have no time limit. My 101010 will start 01/01/10. In that way, I'll complete all my challenges, although tsome books will overlap. Perhaps I should call my 101010 challenge "My 12345678910 Challenge" instead, as I'm doing the "stepped" challenge. :)

I hate the pressure of reading what I don't want to read, but I love filling in the blanks for the various challenges. For me, that's a win-win situation.

Exactly! Filling in the blanks is the best part!

Although, setting yourself certain goals DOES seem to make actually reading those books a little easier, since starting is half the problem. I've picked up some of my oldest unread books on my ABC challenge so far, and wondered why on earth I kept putting them off! Kinda like how you always seem to read library books before everything else because you know they have a deadline...

That does sound interesting to do both the 999 and the 101010 challenge at the same time. Since this past year was the first time I ever tried to read a certain number of books in a year I just wanted to see how I would do more then anything. If I can make it to 50 books I will be extremely happy. I will try to work on my categories today and post them soon. I just need to figure out the types of books I own and also to start going to the library again. I hate the summer because the library has shorter hours and I don't get there that often. Now I am off to work out and work on my categories.

--> 52

Kinda like how you always seem to read library books before everything else because you know they have a deadline...

I don't. I take them out because they sound great, and then I read my own books because they don't have due date! :)

--> 53

I just need to figure out the types of books I own

Don't obsess too much on the categories. You can always change them later, if necessary (my rule!). :)

You can always change them later, if necessary

Absolutely! Just today I was considering a category change for my 999.

Done adding my pics!

>57 SqueakyChu: They're great, Squeaky!

Thanks! Finding the pictures (I found these on wikipedia) is a fun part of doing this challenge, I think.

Great pictures!

Thanks! The idea for doing them came from bfertig.

Great pics!! I especially like the Early Reviewer one!! :) I added mine too thanks to bfertig's idea - it was so much fun finding the pics!!

I like yours too, Eva. I *had* to sneak over and take a peek at them. I especially like the pics you chose for "whatevers", "books with no reviews on LT", and "Israeli writers".

The hunt for pics was fun! I came across the "Whatevers" picture accidentally and immediately thougth that it would be perfect for that category!

That one's an especially cool and interesting pic!

The pictures are fabulous.

Thanks, arubabookwoman. It was fun picking them.

Love the pictures. I know I can change the categories but I am not as well versed in all the different ideas I have seen in these threads or the 999 challenge. I just go with the basic genres more then anything. I am sure that some of my books could be placed in different categories if I really thought about it. I need to go to my room with all my books and just kick the person out that is using the computer so that I can work on my categories. I will have to do that tomorrow.
Night all!!
Monica

G'night, Monica!

I agree! Get that "computer hog" off your computer so you can get to work on your categories. :)

Madeline - You've sold me on the pictures--I'm going to do the same for my thread. What method did you use to bring them into your posts?

I used {A HREF="___"}{IMG SRC="___"}{/A>, filling in the blanks with the proper information and substituting pointed brackets for the curly brackets. I grabbed the pics from wikipedia so there would be no copyright infringement.

good on ya!

That sounds easier than going the photobucket route. Thanks!

You're welcome!

I'm also doing the stepped challenge for the 1010...maybe I will overlap the 999 too- I had pretty much just given up on it. I like this challenge because I can try out some new categories, and maybe even finally read Gone with the Wind. :-) Good luck!

Gone with the Wind was my favorite book when I was in high school --- a very, very long time ago. :)

I, too, loved Gone with the Wind as a youth -- also long ago!

I read Gone with the Wind during the Reagan administration. Really enjoyed it, although I never warmed to Scarlett.

>78 kristenn:

OK, that's interesting. What about GWTW and the Reagan administration made you remember the time connection?

#79 That is an interesting connection. I don't know who was president at the time, but I remember reading GWTW in junior high school. The school librarian seemed very put out that I had to keep re-checking the book because it was taking more than a week to finish. But no one else wanted it, so she finally let me keep it until I was done.

Nixon, I think - or maybe Ford.

Nixon was president when I first read it, I think. I remember doing a book report on it in 8th grade, and that would have been Spring, 1974. Let's see, that would have been during the heat of the Watergate fallout. Pretty soon, his presidency was Gone With the Wind!

Interesting conversation . . . I read Gone With the Wind one summer when I was sick in bed with the chicken pox. Being in Canada, I wouldn't have cared less who the president was, but let's see . . . late 70s. Carter, maybe?

#82 But do you remember who your prime minister was?

#83-Hmmmm, no, but chances are it was Pierre Trudeau. Until I was an adult, it was almost always Pierre Trudeau! I can't remember exactly what year I had the chicken pox, so it could have been during Joe Clark's very brief period as PM. But I'm guessing Trudeau . . . it was around the time I read that he was the sexiest man in Canada and I threw up in my shoe.

I have never read GWTW. Should I?

I haven't read it either. I do need to check a book out of the library again. I may just see if they have a copy of it.

#85 Probably, if only to better understand all the cultural references.

I think it's worth reading at least once.

I almost hate to read it again because I loved it as a teenager, but I think I will. Maybe there should be a GWTW group re-read?

I read it as a teenager (after seeing the film) but I've got it down as a possible for my 1010 and if enough people are interested - I love Group Reads;)

I've not read it at all yet - but it's hovering on the edge of my 1010 ideas too. I'd have it in my Silver Screen category, then I'd have the perfect excuse to spend one of my days off watching it after I'd finished reading!

I may just have to join in reading it too. I have wanted to read it but it was never important or top priority to read. I guess I first need to either buy the book or borrow from the library.

I nearly read it when the BBC were doing their Big Read, with all the publicity around the books again and TV sections with people discussing them - but it's not really a book you could just jump into, is it? It's a commitment book!

#93 Oh, I don't know. It's a thick book, but I read it in about a month when I was what - 14? Surely as an adult, it would be much easier going now. I certainly wouldn't put it on a level with War and Peace. Maybe someone who has read it lately will chime in here.

Oh no, I certainly wasn't implying that it was akin to one of the Great Tomes of Literature. I guess what I meant is, it's certainly not a quick read, and as such it requires a bit of time investment. Not the best book to fit in in bite-size chunks while knackered after work, for example... Maybe I'll start it over Christmas, or on a day off to have a good run at it, really get absorbed in the story!

well, yay! Even more motivation to actually read it if you all are reading it as well :-)

Summer! We should do a group read of GWTW during summer 2010. It makes a great beach read. It's one of my favorite books and I reread it every few summers.

*makes mental note in mental diary* - good idea!

#97 You ought to post this on the group reads thread so that everyone can see it and plan to join in if they're interested.

I meant to ask someone about that - I keep hearing about great group reads, but I never know where to find them. The only one I'm doing is People of the Book, thanks to Mark and Belva's publicity before it started... Where's the best place to go to keep up with what group reads are coming up across LT?

There's a thread for the 1010 Category Challenge located here. There's also a Group Reads - Literature group and one for Sci-Fi that I know of.

Thank you!

My reads are being transferred from my 2009 thread to this thread as I'll never finish these books before 2010 begins.

Now you're getting me all psyched to do a 2010 challenged even though I didn't finish my 9/9/9! (Unless I can finish 17 books in the next 2 days! =)

A suggestion for anyone with a "books in translation" category: I just finished Tove Jansson's "The True Deceiver" and it was a really gorgeous book. Highly reccommended!

Now you're getting me all psyched to do a 2010 challenged even though I didn't finish my 9/9/9! (Unless I can finish 17 books in the next 2 days! =)

There's more options available for the 1010 Category Challenge. Less emphasis on the number of books that you read. There's also this variant that SqueakyChu has chosen called the Stepped 1010 where you read 1 book from 1 category, 2 from the next and so on. This totals out at 55 books giving more leeway in what you want to read.

Forget about whether you "finished" the challenge, but more about whether you enjoyed the journey to its end. For anyone who didn't "finish" the 999 Challenge, I posted a consolation thread! :D

I am just glad to have attempted the challenges that I did this year. All the challenges made me try new authors and genres and meet some wonderful new people. My 1010 challenge is not defined yet. I am just trying to read as many books as I read last year ('09).

As before, "Of Jewish interest" is definitely of my interest :) Do you have some tentative titles for this year already?

I never pick books ahead of time, but, if you look in my Translated Novels category, you'll find my current read is A Pigeon and a Boy. It's by the Israeli author Meir Shalev so that book is indeed "of Jewish interest"! :)

How do you like it so far? I have two Meir Shalev novels in my TBR pile. (Blue Mountain and Four Meals) Ahh I need a category "Books I've been meaning to read since forever".

So far, I like it a lot. I've also read The Blue Mountain and Four Meals, although I think Four Meals had another title when I read it. Blue Mountain takes place in a valley in northern Israel where my own family lives. I always feel as if I could just "jump into" a Shalev novel and be back in an environment I know and love.

Please start by reading Blue Mountain which I believe is the older of the two novels and tell me what you think of it. The word "joyous" comes to mind when I think of it, although I read it long ago and don't remember many of its details. I do keep a copy of it in my permanent collection.

I wasn't sure of starting a reading challenge for 2010 but I do so enjoy working with categories to guide my reading. After seeing your idea for a graduated number of books in each category, I've decided to go for it! You've come up with a great idea for those of us who are more comfortable with the 50 books mark rather than 100, thanks! I love the picture idea as well
I must get started on my categories tomorrow... Happy New Year!

Have fun with the "stepped" challenge, Lisa. With only 55 books in this challenge, I have a much better chance of finishing it than with a 100-book challenge!

Putting the pictures on the challenge is also part of the fun. I got that idea originally from bfertig.

ETA: Happy New Year to you as well!

Looking forward to know about your reads under the category Of Jewish Interest.

Are you familiar with Andre Schwarz-Bart, a Polish Jew writer? I ask because I just got my copy of his The Last of the Just which won the Prix de Goncourt in 1959, a story based on a Hebrew legend, and would be interested to exchange notes. I read one of his (very few) works last year, A Woman Named Solitude and was very impressed with his writing.

Here's more about him http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/andre-schwarzbart-418739.html

I'm not familiar with the author or the book you read but certainly familiar with the concept of lamed vavniks, a theme which runs through that novel (as I learned from the book reviews here on LibraryThing). The book looks interesting enough for me to keep an eye out for it. Thanks for its mention.

I generally read books with Jewish themes that are more contemporary, although I will drop back to read a Holocaust book every now and then. The book you mentioned seems worthwhile.

Presently, I will move the book I'm currently reading to the "Of Jewish Interest Category". This book is the somewhat upsetting novel called A Pigeon and a Boy by one of my favorite contemporary Israeli authors, Meir Shalev. Although the book has two stores running concurrently, the one that interests me the most deal with the way in which the Palmach used carrier pigeons during the Israeli War of Independence.

I'm still shuffling my categories around. I just had to slip some TIOLI books into this challenge as well. See my category in message #7. :)

I may as well kill several birds with one stone....er, several challenges with one book, that is!

Haha, I like your thinking. I just scrapped my 'poetry' category in favour of 'books that have been on my shelves too long', when I found myself counting poems and trying to work out how many I'd need to read every day to finish the five collections by the end of the year! NOT how I want my reading to go, so I'll read them in my own time instead...

I just kicked a book of short
stories out of my short story category. It's not that I won't read Sixty Stories by Donald Bethelme. It's just that these stories are more complicated and of more depth. They will take more time to read and enjoy than I would normally give a book I read simply for pleasure. Consequently, that book will become part of my permanent collection and one that I will dip into from time to time as opposed to one I will read to completion.

The fun of reading stops when one feels he "has to" read a book. One should madly want to! That's the best kind of reading...

Okay. I admit it. I'm being sidetracked away from this 1010 group by the TIOLI challenge I created for the 75 Books Challenge group. It just seems so much more exciting to me to have new challenges at all times. I'll continue to fill in this thread, but probably will not do the 2011 categories challenge next year if I continue working on TIOLI challenge.

Completed one category: Short Stories!

WTG SqueakyChu!! Good luck on the other categories.

Thanks!

P.S. Reading two books wasn't all that hard. :)

Category Six - Done! Ho hum! Surprise, surprise! Guess what category it is? :)

Congrats!! And, yes, I'm so surprised... LOL!

:)

Eva, I just finished A Good Place for the Night by Savyon Liebrecht. I see you have it in your library. Have you read it yet? The first two stories just blew me away. If you did read it, I'm absolutely sure you liked it a lot. :)

I haven't read it yet - for some reason I'm currently having a hard time reading short story collections. I am currently reading her novel A Man and a Woman and a Man, which so far seems great!

Edit: Stoopid touchstones. :(

Congrats on finishing a category!!

--> 126

I remember not being as impressed with Liebrecht's novel as much as I had been with her short stories. Can't wait until you get to A Good Place for the Night. I think I'll pass my copy on to a friend of mine here in Maryland since you already have a copy of it.

Do you already have all the outstanding Israeli contemporary fiction? It sure seems that way sometimes!!

--> 127

Thanks! It's been slow going as I get too distracted with other things.

--> 126

You know, I can't remember much about A Man and a Woman and a Man at all. I do remember it taking place in a nursing home. The book's summary does not remind me of the story either. I wonder if it was one of those books I started but then cast aside. Probably. If you end up liking it when you're done, let me know. I might give it another chance. :)

LOL! Well, I don't want to miss anything good... I do seem to accumulate faster than I read, though (reading's been slow-going so far this year for some reason). I'll let you know about A Man and... - I'm putting it aside for a few days to get through my LTER-book, but then I'll be back to it again.

I'm having one hell of a time getting through my ER book now. It's Diet for a Hot Planet which others like, but, truthfully, the dry reading is putting me to sleep. I hope I get to an exciting part soon. Ha!

In the meantime, I've read a few other books (just to keep me awake, you see...) :D

I've heard good things about it, but I'm not sure it's one to read in one "sitting." :) Mine is Sweet Dates in Basra and I have high hopes for it, but so far there are so many characters to keep track of that it's a bit messy. I'm going to try and read all at once this weekend to give it a real chance - I really want it to be great!

I may have been reading it in too many sittings! :(

I keep trying to think of others things to do than read this book. The clincher is that I won yet another LTER book for this past month called Eaarth, also about ecology, I suppose. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it suits me better than my present read. I have such a difficult time with ER books that I don't particularly like. Not with reading them, per se, but with explaining why I don't like a book that's loved by others. *Sigh*

ETA: Can't wait to hear your thoughts about Sweet Dates in Basra, which, you must know, looks interesting to me! :)

ETA 2: Did you ever read Secret Son (...which, of course, has your name associated with it!) by Laila Lalami? That was an LTER book which I thought was really pretty good...and one you'd probably like...if you haven't read it yet.

For LTER books I don't like, I try my hardest to start the review with something I did like, and then I somehow feel I have a carte blanche with saying what I didn't like. :)

I'm really hoping to like Sweet Dates in Basra - the premise is just so good!! I'll send it off to you when I'm done so you can have a shot at it too.

Yeah, Secret Son is another one of those in the bookshelf that I still need to get to... :) I need more than 24 hours in each day - who do I talk to about that?? :)

I try my hardest to start the review with something I did like

Yeah. I'm going to do that, but the truth comes out in the stars (which I feel compelled to include - for my own reference).

I'll send it off to you when I'm done so you can have a shot at it too.

Aw, you're so sweet. Let me know if you see any books I have available that you want. I check your wishlist from time to time, but haven't found anything you want recently.

who do I talk to about that??

Talk to Sonya. Since she's doing the 24 hour ReadaThon tomorrow here on LT, perhaps she can squeeze more time into 24 hours. :)

Don't worry about it - I do have an extensive TBR-pile, so that's not really a problem... :) I think my wishlist is down to such obscure stuff that it's hard to find.

Well, someone needs to do something about the 24-hour-limit!! :)

Well, it was about time I started my Biographies section. I picked a good one: Yarn: Remembering the Way Home by Kyoto Mori. I discovered it by accident and enjoyed it very much. That's the best kind of book for me.

Hey, everyone! Summer's coming! What kinds of books do you like to take to the beach?

One summer I read The Waves at the beach, which was kind of an interesting experience. Usually at the beach I don't read books that are that challenging though--any decent literary fiction is good for me, as long as it isn't too grim. No Nineteen Eighty-four or the Trial. Were you looking for specific recommendations?

We don't have a beach around here, but when I'm going to the pool, I like to take books that I'm not super attached to, in case they get wet. And no library books, for the same reason. Paperback fiction seems to work best for me.

Definitely paperbacks that I don't worry about their post-beach condition. Probably something scary too that I can't read indoors in the dark. Yes, I am a wuss. :)

My idea of a ruined vacation is running out of things to read, so I always pack several more books than could be realistically read. And a few extra, because my family, one by one, wanders over to me during the second and third days of the vacation and tell me that they've finished the book they brought with them and what do I have that they might like?

I like to read something in German, in which I read very slowly, because 1) the book lasts a long time and 2) no one makes off with it when my back is turned or 3) tries to ask me questions about it while I am reading.

Distopian books or relentlessly depressing books are great because this is the only time I can read them without feeling horrible and they remind me to let the kids stay up late and eat ice cream.

July, when the bulk of my holidays tends to be, is usually devoted to at least one really thick book. I seldom have the patience to go 700+ pages in the rest of the year. But like Ridgeway Girl, I'm also packing half a zillion books, most of which I don't open. Strangely, having picked books but not getting around to reading them tends to make them wander down the TBR lists afterwards. I have several titles that have travelled abroad two or three times without actually being opened...

When I was in Costa Rica I was hanging out at a beach and finished the Egan book on the dust bowl which was really depressing and incongruous with the gorgeous scenary I'd been enjoying... Don't think I'll be making it down there anytime soon, but will likely be brining something lighter to the beaches around Chincoteague and Assateague this summer.

--> 139

Were you looking for specific recommendations?

Not really. I was just interested in knowing what kinds of books others like to take to the beach.

--> 143

But like Ridgeway Girl, I'm also packing half a zillion books, most of which I don't open.

Me, too! I always pack way more books than I'll ever read because I never know what books I'll want to be reading (and I want to be able to change my mind any time)!

Actually, I have a library card for the library in our beach town (Emerald Isle, North Carolina). Just in case!!

I've found I really enjoy reading a story that takes place in or near the area I'm visiting, if I can find one!

But I always pack a wide variety of books, to fit whatever mood may strike me. (Then I inevitably find library sales or used bookstores and buy another ton of reading material!)

SqueakyChu - what a fun question! I have to second GingerbreadMan's comments above at #143 - for me, summer, be it poolside or beach side, has always involved picking up a huge paperweight of a book - trips down memory lane include the summer of War and Peace, Sarum, or whatever large book captured my eye in the bookstore - usually in an airport at the start of the vacation. It was summer vacations that hooked me on epics in general, but only during the summers!

Funny with you and the tomes. I like short stories for the beach. In that way, I can finish a story with each sitting.

Good question! I usually end up taking paperback fiction, often ones I've had set aside for a while as ideal summer reading. Quite often it's really popular stuff that I just haven't gotten round to reading yet. Maybe the odd sunny travel writing book too, since the holiday atmosphere's all right for it! I don't like anything too heavy because I tend to get so sleepy and fuzzy when I'm stretched out in the sun - I often end up alternating reading with doing puzzles or just dozing quietly. My stepdad, on the other hand, takes dense literary fiction and hefty popular history or science books with him - I think my brain would melt if I tried that at the beach!

As a rule I follow a lot of you guys - a decent little mix of stuff, and far too many to read in one holiday! One of my best summer reads was The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, which was VERY different to what I expected (yikes, what a story) but absolutely gripped me from start to finish. Last year I took Eating for England by Nigel Slater, The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde, Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, and about four others I think. Did I read them all? Course I didn't. Did I have a lovely time reading and eating ice cream? Yes I bloody well did!

Category 4, Early Reviewers books, finished!!

Steaming along, I see! Congrats!!

Well, not exactly steaming. Maybe puffing along. :)

You are doing great with this challenge. Congrats on finishing another category!!

Thanks, Monica!

I think I'm actually going to complete this challenge this year. Woohoo!!

You're doing very well indeed!!!!

I'm a little behind on mine, but I'm hoping my upcoming vacation will help a little. Fingers Xed!

I just found out that I'm getting the Hedaya-book from ER - hope it arrives soon!!

</i>I just found out that I'm getting the Hedaya-book from ER

Me, too, Eva!

I was thinking about you when I saw I won that book. That was the only book I picked. Do you know that I already have three (!) unread ER books here at home, yet I'm still winning them? I've got to get cracking on those unread ones as I usually don't let them pile up.

In the meantime, I've been having too much fun with TIOLI reads. Guess I've been sidetracked in the meantime. The TIOLI is making me want to read more books in a shorter period of time. (I know I spoke on the TIOLI thread about not having people speed read. It was just that I don't want people to feel pressured to read - a bad thing).

I'll try to read the Hedaya book as soon as possible after I receive it. Yeah. Yeah. Famous last words :)

Very cool - we can read them in tandem!! LOL - you should probably start with the ER books from earlier batches, though!!!

I should...but I probably won't. The one I was actually reading got boring so I quit in the middle. It was Displaced Persons. I'll have to start all over again because, for the life of me, I can't remember anything about what I've already read in the first 100 pages of that book.

That one looked so good, but then I started hearing about it from other (non-LT) people and my hope sank. :( I'll pass.

I'm hoping I'll like it better the second time around. I think what is probably interesting about the book is that it's about displaced persons, a topic of which not so much written. I'm not sure it's going to make a great read as a novel for me, but I have to give it another chance.

Oooh! Seven more. I think I can...

Getting close!

:)

Only two more to go!!

Cheering you on from the sidelines!

You're doing so well. I need to get a move on!

Only two to go?! Congrats! I was very much behind, but since my recent vacation went to a snowy country, I stayed indoors and read a lot, so now I'm caught up! :)

Wow I haven't visited this thread in a long time. Congrats on getting so many books done.

I know I will not make it to my 100 but I will pass my 50 mark.

I noticed you mentioned about being behind on your ER books. I have won a book again this month and I finally finished my October one. I too had fallen behind on them. I had one I didn't really enjoy but I drudged through it and finally finished it. I also had written a review when I had stopped because I didn't know if I would be able to finish it. I am still waiting to receive 2 other ER books.

Okay well enough about that. Keep up the great work on this challenge and I look forward to seeing you finish this one.

Have you started one for next year?

> 169

Thanks, Eva! Next year will be easier because I'll have a total of fewer books on the 11 in 11.

> 170

Hehe! I love getting ER books, Monica, until they show up at my house, that is. Then I can always think of something else I'd rather read instead. It's not that they're not appealing. It's that I'd much rather read at random. I can't help picking ER books when they're posted, though. I can't help it if I keep winning them, either! :)

I'm done! Challenge completed before year end!!

*does happy dance*

Congratulations, that's really a good feeling. I'm less than 200pgs away from finishing.

Congratulations SqueakyChu!

Congratulations!

Thanks, Kerry, Dave, and Ivy.

So... shall we party?!

> 173

Tell me when you're also officially done, Kerry.

This feels good as it seems that I can never beat the other challenges. :)

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a few more to go, but hopefully I'll finish as well!!

Oh oh! I just went back and found a book in my list that I never finished. So, it's back to the drawing board for me... :(

Eva, you just might beat me!

Now I'm finished again. I found a book that fits that I *did* finish. Guess I beat you after all, Eva! :)

ETA: I'm so slow at everything else.

*back to happy dancing*

I think I'll start my 11-11 challenge now...

Can we all dance the hora when you're done, Eva?

@182
Absolutely! December 31st at around 11:59pm PST, OK?! :)

For sure!!

Funny story...

Years ago when I was in my 20's, I was travelling through Greece. There my friend Barbara and I, who had recently left Israel, found ourselves at a wine festival near Athens. We took part in stomping grapes aka dancing in a vat of grapes (for real!). We did not know Greek dances at the time. Guess what dance we did...? :D

I always suspected you had a Lucille Ball-streak to you! :)

LOL!! ...and did I ever love watching her antics! A woman after my own heart.

Congratulations on completing your challenge, I hope you enjoy your party!

Thanks, Judy. Come and dance with us!

I''m now eligible to do a happy dance!!

Yay!!!!!

*grabs hands and bounces back and forth, then jumps up and down*

CONGRATS!

Fantastic! Congrats on finishing. I can only assume the dancing, for you anyways, has slowed down or is it a marathon!?! ;-)

Congratulations!

Thanks, Nancy, Terri, and Lori.

I haven't slowed down. In fact, I've already started my 11 in 11. I figured a head start wouldn't hurt, eh? :)