kristenn's 101010 attempt

Hi! This is my first LT challenge. It sounds like a great way to get through some of my massive owned-but-unread backlog. I love making categories.

I think I can manage a full 100, although it will be very close. I'm building in maximum flexibility with my categories, which should help. Again, some of these will sound a bit odd because I'm divvying up what I (mostly) already own.

1. Indiespensable
2. Historical fiction (pre-1900)
3. First Edition Library
4. Social studies
5. Memoir
6. Graphic novels
7. Poetry
8. Published in 2009
9. Published in 2010
10. Back for more

Indiespensable

Received from Powell's monthly book club of the same name. Disgracefully, I already own 14 -- and growing -- and have read zero.

1. Stitches: A Memoir by David Small; 02/15, 4.5 stars
2. Tinkers by Paul Harding; 06/16, 4 stars
3. The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Towes; 08/29

Historical fiction (pre-1900)

Had to change this category.

1. Purity of Blood by Arturo Perez-Reverte; 01/15, 3 stars
2. Masha by Mara Kay; 01/30, 4 stars
3. The Youngest Lady in Waiting by Mara Kay; 02/28, 4 stars
4. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy; 07/17, 4 stars
5. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin; 08/11, 4 stars

First Edition Library

Sensing a pattern? This was a collection of classic American literature packaged to look like first editions. I've actually read some of them already (but not any of the candidates listed here).

- Absalom, Absalom!
- The Age of Innocence
- All the King's Men
- As I Lay Dying
- Catch-22
- East of Eden
- A Farewell to Arms
- The Fountainhead (yeah, right)
- Go Tell it on the Mountain
- Invisible Man
- Look Homeward, Angel
- Native Son
- The Red Badge of Courage
- The Sound and the Fury
- This Side of Paradise

Social studies

Non-fiction works on 'how we live' in some sense or other.

1. When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins; 01/20, 4 stars
2. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely; 03/11, 3.5 stars
3. Stuff White People Like by Christian Lander; 05/15, 4 stars
4. Shoptimism: Why The American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What by Lee Eisenberg; 07/11, 3.5 stars
5. I Married My Mother-in-Law by Ilena Silverman (ed.); 08/15, 3 stars
6. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell; 09/06, 3.5 stars

Memoir

Another category I had to change based on the number of candidates. Personal essay collections included. May end up expanded to include biography.

1. Eating: A Memoir by Jason Epstein; 01/04, 3.5 stars
2. Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House by Meghan Daum; 07/24, 4 stars
3. Forget Sorrow: An Ancestral Tale by Belle Yang; 08/14, 3 stars
4. My Formerly Hot Life: Dispatches from Just the Other Side of Young by Stephanie Dolgoff; 08/28, 3.5 stars
5. Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin; 09/05, 5 stars

Graphic novels

May be a self-contained extended work. Maybe be a collection of stories previously published as single issues. But will be long enough for an ISBN regardless.

1. Two-Fisted Tales Volume 1 by Harvey Kurtzman, et al.; 01/09, 3 stars
2. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli; 01/09, 5 stars
3. The Rocketeer: The Complete Collection by Dave Stevens; 01/14, 3.5 stars
4. The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons from 1913-1940, edited by Trina Robbins; 01/30, 3.5 stars
5. All Over Coffee by Paul Madonna; 02/03, 3.5 stars
6. Bookhunter by Jason Shiga; 03/10, 4 stars
7. Never Learn Anything from History by Kate Beaton; 06/24, 5 stars
8. Thor Visionaries by Walt Simonson; 07/01, 3 stars
9. Moving Pictures by Kathryn and Stuart Immonen; 07/03, 4 stars
10. When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs; 08/04, 4 stars

Overflow
- Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs; 08/17

Poetry

Yep.

1. The Unreasonable Slug by Matt Cook; 06/30, 3.5 stars
2. Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty by Tony Hoagland; 08/02, 3.5 stars

Published in 2009

To help stave off future backlogs.

1. The New Frugality: How to Consume Less, Save More, and Live Better by Chris Farrell ; 01/03, 3 stars
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley; 01/05, 3 stars
3. Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats with a Sublime Kiss of Salt by Christie Matheson; 01/09, 4 stars
4. Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby; 01/18, 4.5 stars
5. The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips; 01/23, 3 stars
6. Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown; 01/29, 3 stars
7. Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook by Sarah Schmelling; 05/10, 4 stars
8. Stop Acting Rich: ...And Start Living Like a Real Millionaire by Thomas J. Stanley; 06/27, 3 stars
9. Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger; 08/15, 3 stars

Published in 2010

Because I won't be able to help it.

1. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers by Thomas Mullen; 04/11, 4 stars
2. The Imperfectionists: A Novel by Tom Rachman; 05/24, 3 stars
3. The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove by Cathy Erway; 06/12, 3.5 stars
4. Cook This, Not That!: Kitchen Survival Guide by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding; 07/18, 4 stars
5. 2017 by Olga Slavnikova; 07/20, 2.5 stars
6. Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl, 07/24, 4 stars
7. Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley, 07/26, 3.5 stars
8. Beasts of Burden by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, 08/02, 4.5 stars
9. Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by Chris Roberson; 08/11, 3 stars
10. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenegger; 08/30, 4 stars

Back for more

Owned books by authors I've already read and enjoyed. I have a weird tendency to buy their next work (not necessarily a series) and then avoid actually reading it. Some random fear it's not as good, I suppose. (Edit: Which is then borne out by my first pick, oddly.)

1. Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle; 03/18, 2 stars
2. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby; 03/18, 4 stars
3. Heartburn by Nora Ephron; 05/28, 4 stars

Welcome! Is your swashbuckler category for pirates or does it include landlubbers too? The 1010 is doing a group read of The Three Musketeers in March or April. We'd love to have you along if you're interested.

I do a similar thing with authors I've read and enjoyed--I often rush out to buy another book, and actually read the first 10 or 20 pages immediately, only to be disappointed that it's not the same book I had liked so much. It then joins the rest of the books in the TBR pile.

Love your categories, especially "fiction with swords"! :) I'm doing a boats & pirates category, so maybe we'll have some overlap!

I have several books from the QPBC. I miss it, but have staved off bankruptcy as a result. Still, the books are so nicely bound.

Reading you elaborating on your categories made my laugh out loud.. I relate to the point of blushing. I'm also seeing this challenge partly as a way of actually denting my TBR mountain range (several hundreds. Probably five to ten years worth of books. Admittedly, a fair bit of it is my wife's too).

What I've already seen as an effect is that it's somewhat slowed down my buying of new books. Having my reading for next year more or less set already, and my TBR list for the rest of this year crammed, new books would get read 2011 at the earliest. A slightly sobering thought in my case (even if most of my books end up waiting to be read longer than that anyway, a fact I turn my blindest of blind eyes to usually).

>12 VictoriaPL: Is your swashbuckler category for pirates or does it include landlubbers too? The 1010 is doing a group read of The Three Musketeers in March or April. We'd love to have you along if you're interested.

Piffle. My swashbuckler category is pretty much only landlubbers at this point, actually, but I've just re-read that in 2006 and I don't currently own it anyway.

But I'll hit a lot of used bookstores between now and then.

Upon further examination, I have to change two categories. I don't have enough swashbucklers (forgot how many I recently read) and it's not as easy to identify the QPBC's as I thought it would be.

I'm pretty sure one replacement category will be biography/memoir/personal essays.

For the other, struggling to decide between fiction set prior to 1900 or fiction set (and mostly written) 1900-1940. It sort of comes down to deciding between Mistress of the Art of Death and The Pursuit of Love.

I haven't read The Pursuit of Love, but found Mistress of the Art of Death disappointing. Also, there was only one review for The Pursuit of Love, consisting of a short sentence. It's a book in need of a review.

I have to admit I'm laughing both with you and at you, but gotta stop to go join Powell's Book of the Month Club! ;-)

Sensible categories, just what you need to read the books that have been hanging around for a while. On the other hand, it is good to give yourself an out with your last 2 categories, I also can't resist buying books ;)

BTW - The Crow Road is one of my favourite books, one I read and reread and reread....

Just checked in to see your populated lists. A lot of really interesting titles here, and more fun (just the little "yeah right" by The fountainhead made my night). I'm starring this thread!

@21 I love Banks (with or without his M), but am only about half way through his pretty vast back catalogue. Crow road is one of the ones I have left. Good to hear it's a favourite. Sometimes I feel I happened to read his most interesting works first, and have been waiting for another Wasp factory or Player of games ever since...

#20/21 Crow Road is one of my favs too (the UK TV show was good too), although I did read it a long long time ago.

I think I prefer his earlier work to his later stuff, I still have Matter on my TBR and I just cannot bring myself to wade through it.

I feel so guilty. I started a book last night (Mark Bittman's Food Matters) that qualifies for one of my categories. Instead of waiting until January. And I have zillions of books that wouldn't qualify; it was just calling to me.

This is a no-guilt challenge. Just put that guilt away....

I've just added a bunch of candidates, as well as completely changing two categories.

I did read and review The Pursuit of Love.

Swashbucklers is officially dumped, but the fewer-than-expected candidates all fit into something else except for The Princess Bride.

Trying to decide between The Song is You by Arthur Phillips and Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

It occurred to me last night that the two novels are just similar enough that I'd like to put a lot of space between reading them. Unfortunately, the ratings are pretty similar too so I'm having trouble deciding which.

Any opinions/votes?

I vote for Juliet, Naked but only because it is on my TBR list so I am interested in what you think about it. :)

@28 :: Haha, same here!

That's a totally valid reason for me.

But then after all that I had to start The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie instead. The sequel is in the latest Early Review batch so I figure I'd better find out whether I want it.

I really loved Flavia de Luce. What a character!

I got about 150 pages in last night. She's irritating but very realistic.

Three different challenges makes it difficult to remember where to update.

Sadly, the only thing I've read so far that I absolutely love is proving impossible to say anything about -- Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. I'll probably re-read it before attempting a review. Just reading the online reviews (which I never do in advance because I hate spoilers) pointed out all kinds of things that I missed.

Juliet, Naked will be coming on the plane with me this Friday. It's a very nice size for that.

In terms of other things I've logged above, Eating: A Memoir by Jason Epstein was nicely done but too short for me to recommend spending money on. Check a local library. It covers a mix of book publishing (his career) and food. About 1/3 of the text is recipes, mostly lobster-related.

Salty Sweets: Delectable Desserts and Tempting Treats with a Sublime Kiss of Salt was an incredibly yummy read but I haven't tried anything yet.

Hi Kristenn, thanks for the message and good luck with your own challenge.

I finished The Book of Illusions today... and would rate it 3/5. I much preferred his wife's What I Loved which touched on a lot of the same subjects I think.

The Salty Sweets cookbook sounds interesting. On holiday last year we bought some dark chocolate which had salt in which was ...different :>
"Lindt fleur de sel"

I haven't read anything by Siri Hustvedt yet but I've heard good things. Ironically, one of my favorite authors is Auster's EX-wife, Lydia Davis.

I just got back from Boston last night and will not get reviews up right away, but I did read Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked and it was a blast. It did get into Richard Curtis territory a few times, and the internet messageboard and Wikipedia elements of the plot (like Karen Joy Fowler's Wit's End) may completely lose some readers, but it was right up my alley. And I'm sure it's even better if you're a big music fan (of any kind). Very fun.

I also read the second Captain Alatriste book, Purity of Blood, and got halfway through The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips (Prague, The Egyptologist).

For my social studies category, I just finished the recently-published When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins.

It's a really even-handed, thorough account of the movement. Not a fast read. Lots of interviews with regular women who lived through various upheavals, and frequently with contrasting conversations with their daughters or mothers. And rather than just throwing all this chronology at you, there are sections on various subtopics like employment and marriage and the Civil Rights movement.

Bizarrely, she quotes both a 4th grade classmate of mine and my undergraduate advisor, even though both are about as far from New York city (the author's base) as you can get and still be in the U.S.

Wow! What a strange coincidence Kristen. I like how and what Gail Collins writes for the New York Times, and she's basically writing about the majority of my life, so I think I will like this book.

Finished another in my Published in 2009 category -- The Song Is You by Arthur Phillips.

The downside to authors actively participating in online discussions of their work is that I have a lot of trouble articulating when I end up not enjoying the book. It's not a fear of them jumping in and arguing with me. It's just feeling bad because they put that extra effort in. Anyway.

I wouldn't say it was poorly written at all (although it gets pretty florid in spots). It just wasn't my thing. Sounded like it would be, but wasn't.

I was assuming yesterday's book didn't count for this challenge, but it came out in 2009.

A meta sort of coffee table book -- Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown.

Lots of photos of lovely book-filled rooms. Some entertainingly opinionated text on the proper way to arrange such rooms. But sadly, that's only about half the book. The rest is random photos of generic rooms with a single standard bookcase or two, and usually tucked away in a corner to boot. Which really seems to defeat the promise of the book. Fortunately, it came from the library rather than being an impulse buy.

>40 kristenn: Sounds like the second half of the book should be called Books Do Accessorize a Room

>41 thornton37814: Ha! Totally.

Got through quite a bit of light reading yesterday. One for the Graphic Novels category and one for Historical Fiction.

The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley's Cartoons from 1913-1940. (The touchstone only works without the subtitle.)
The roaring 20s version of the Gibson Girl. Ran in Hearst newspapers as a sort of single-panel (but very large panel) comic strip. Almost like if Norman Rockwell's covers had captions expanding on their story. The WWI-era stories depict women having feisty heroic adventures behind enemy lines, while the 1920s characters just go to tea parties and drive their boyfriends crazy with their shallowness. Most of the focus is on the hair and clothing, which is quite lovely. Fashionable clothes looked so comfortable then. The overall style is strikingly similar to manga. There's an essay in the front giving context to the whole thing and describing Brinkley's career.

Masha by Mara Kay
Something recently inspired me to re-read this. Probably the group read of Anna Karenina. This was one of my favorite books as a kid but has been out of print for ages, which made me curious to see whether it still holds up. It's a boarding school story in Russia in 1815-1824. I think the heroine is 7 when it starts. Her father has been killed fighting Napoleon and she and her mother are living in poverty in a country estate. Her father's war death qualifies her for a full scholarship to an elite girls boarding school in St Petersburg (year-round, with no visits home) and she is shipped off. The usual stuff. The rich city girls make fun of her rustic ways. This was published in 1968 and they maybe didn't go in as much for thrilling adventures back then -- there aren't any. Just the sorts of things you would expect to happen in real life. Which would get dull eventually but it's a short book. She doesn't cover all nine years. The author was originally from Russia and the school -- and some characters -- are real. You get some nice historical and cultural context, although there aren't any in-depth side lectures. One thing that really struck me was how they're in the middle of fighting Napolen (Waterloo happens about halfway through) but the aristocracy still insists on speaking French instead of Russian and only hires French tailors and cooks and teachers. That is never remarked on. There is a sequel, which I also read repeatedly, so I'm ILL-ing that next.

Summary for January

14 books read from 5 categories

Definitely sticking to the easier reads so far. Picking up qualified impulse reads from the library rather than diving into the backlog. Will use up the 'Published in 2009' category pretty quickly at this rate.

Well, I'm reading but I'm not managing much for the challenge. The last six books didn't qualify in any category. Four of those were just home decorating books.

But now I've managed one again and it was a doozy. Stitches: A Memoir by David Small. I'm counting it under my Indiespensable category because I will have the most difficulty completing that one. Also qualifies for Graphic Novels and for Memoir.

This is a lot like Alison Bechdel's Fun Home or (presumably) Craig Thompson's Blankets. True story of a dysfunctional childhood (a topic I generally avoid, fiction or otherwise) told in a graphic novel form. Small is a children's book illustrator, so he's well-prepared both for the basic art demands and for the younger perspective on things. Thanks to all the rave reviews and award nominations it got last year, I already knew most of the big reveals. But it's a remarkable work anyway, particularly the art. He does particularly good work with facial expressions, dream sequences, and using the weather to set a mood. Reminds me of Kevin Huizenga in those last two areas.

Mostly continuing my strange unexpected trend of reading things outside of the challenge.

But I did read another for the Historical Fiction category this weekend. The Youngest Lady in Waiting by Mara Kay. The sequel to Masha, which I also recently read.

These are YA books from the late 60s, set in early 1800s Russia. The author was originally Russian herself and almost certainly exiled aristocracy based on the stories and the positions she took.

The main plot to this one is the Decembrist rebellion of 1825. One of the lesser-known unsuccessful revolutions. If you've read/seen Les Miserables, it's very much like that one. Wealthy idealistic college students who didn't see the peasantry rise up with them after all.

It was a fun, interesting read with lots of period detail and still holds up very well.

I found one by Mara Kay In Face of Danger on bookmooch can I get those two from ILL?

>47 susiesharp: I got them both from ILL, but I did have to go out of state for them.

Ok thanks

As mentioned in my other two challenge threads, I'm too far behind to recap everything but I can at least sum up my first six months :

1. Indiespensable - 2
2. Historical fiction (pre-1900) - 3
3. First Edition Library - 0
4. Social studies - 3
5. Memoir - 1
6. Graphic novels - 9
7. Poetry - 1
8. Published in 2009 - 8
9. Published in 2010 - 3
10. Back for more - 3

Total read for challenge so far : 33
Total books read in that time : 51

Quite a bit of the non-qualified stuff was home decorating related and travel guides so getting back on track now shouldn't be an issue. We're done with our trip and although the new house isn't fully decorated by any means, I have all the ideas I can handle.

One more finished in my social studies category. A library book this time, and I can no longer remember where I came across it. Probably in more than one book review source.

Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What by Lee Eisenberg.

This is actually mellower than the title implies. Unlike with many of these consumerism books (which I love and keep hoping will improve my own habits), Eisenberg is just fine with shopping and feeling defined by your belongings. Within a reasonable budget, at least. No charge cards and no Rolexes.

He has a great sense of humor -- helped by being a journalist rather than an academic -- but the book still ran a little long. Maybe because so many other books are piled up and calling out to me. That's the downside to library books -- you can't just set them aside for a bit.

In a weird coincidence, at the very end he mentions a good friend of his who happens to be a novelist. She is featured due to her gift-buying skills rather than her writing, but I just brought home her latest, rave-reviewed book. So apparently that's a sign as to what I should read next. (The Irresistable Henry House by Lisa Grunwald.)

So apparently that's a sign as to what I should read next. (The Irresistable Henry House by Lisa Grunwald.)

Don't you love it when a book calls out to you like that? ;)

For me, the hardest part of reading is often deciding what to read next.

I'm looking forward to reading the Tommy and Tuppence mystery

#7 Like me you have no problem filling this category. I just wish I could fine books for my Autobiography/Biography category.

My auto/biography category is mostly full of books that I bought on the recommendation of others and I'm hoping this challenge will make me get around to them. I'm including personal essay collections because those are the ones I tend to enjoy the most. Rather than one continuous story. Appealing to me the most right now is Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs.

>54 kristenn:, Hi- I have just finished Manhood for Amateurs. I was expecting an autobiography written in a continuous story- but didnt get it. The collected essay style of it makes it a good quick read if you do get around to it!

This looks much more fun (and more easy) than my backlogged reviews and challenge updates.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

I don't associate reading with snacking (thank goodness!) but I'll grab a bite and eat while reading rather than either/or.

What is your favorite drink while reading?

Favorite is either red wine or whiskey but I'm usually actually drinking water.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I think writing in books is a neat idea but I don't do it. I make notes on a post-it instead. If not a library book, the post-it remains inside even after I've done up my review.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?

The post-it also serves as a bookmark

Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Both?

Both. Probably two non-fiction to every fiction. I tend to need to clear my brain of one world before moving on to another.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

With non-fiction I stop at the end of the chapter whenever possible.

With fiction, I've learned to stop at a random natural pause rather than waiting for the end because the author can so often end the chapter on an impossible-to-stop note and suddenly it's 1 a.m.

Are you a person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

No tossing, but sometimes my husband is subjected to random, out-of-context rants.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

I keep my Droid at hand for that purpose. Also for quick historical context, etc.

What are you currently reading?

I just started The Irresistible Henry House, a fairly new novel about a home ec practice baby.

What is the last book you bought?

That's a little tricky because I have assorted months-old pre-release orders trickling in. But the most recent order I sent out included The City and The City, The Uncommon Reader, and The Upside of Irrationality.

Are you a person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

I prefer one at a time but I can have more than one going if they're completely different from one another. Usually with one being a collection of essays or short stories for right before bed.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
In the living room after dinner, usually continuing until bed. My husband works nights and we have neither children nor television.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?

I don't know that I have a preference, but I haven't been into genre reading for the last decade or so, so series doesn't come up.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

No. I make many recommendations, but I'm pretty particular about matching books to readers rather than to my own tastes. Not least because I'm a librarian and they really train that into you.

How do you organize your books? By genre, title, author's last name, etc?

Although (or maybe because) I spend most of my workday cataloging nonfiction according to the Library of Congress, I have a completely personal arrangement system at home. Fiction is just by author's last name, with no genre subdivisions. Nonfiction is definitely grouped by subject matter but it's a pretty personal version. Sometimes more why I bought the book than what it is objectively about. And in some categories I then sort them by height!

A couple more books read and reviewed.

I think I'll be taking a break from serious reading for a bit. I have so many other things to be doing these days and the pressure to catch up on my challenges is getting very oppressive. This seems to be a pretty normal thing, at least. And I read so much more in the fall/winter. The biggest issue is that the inlaws are coming in three weeks to see the new house and we unpacked about 3/4 of our stuff and then took an extended break from that.

Anyway, one really fun recent read was Meghan Daum's Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House. I wrote a ridiculously long review, but basically it's about the influence the right house -- or homeownership in general -- can have on some people's sense of identity. It's in the form of memoir and she's a columnist, so some bits are recycled. I didn't find it as hilarious as many reviewers did but I did really enjoy it. And relate to it.

There's was also Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, a pretty recent cookbook by a British fashion model, but a famously curvy one. Also Roald Dahl's granddaughter. But mostly it's recipes, very homey yet healthy ones. That review isn't quite as detailed of course.

I also read the final Scott Pilgrim but I passed it along to friends to read before reviewing it, so that has to wait.

Currently reading Henry House but it hasn't particularly grabbed me yet. The current female lead character isn't as sympathetic as I suspect the author intends and I wasn't expecting some of it to be told from the four year old's perspective. That's a little contrived. But we'll see.

Recently read a pretty new and excellent book that hasn't received much attention on here yet, so it seemed worth posting in all my challenge threads.

Beasts of Burden is a comic written by Evan Dorkin and drawn (and watercolored) by Jill Thompson. It's mostly horror with some humor. Basically, pet dogs (and the occasional stray cat) investigate and solve assorted supernatural mysteries in their community as if an anthropomorphic X-Files. Not for small children; there's quite a bit of death and violence. It's also creepy as all get-out, but with some nice heart to it as well.

Most helpfully, three of the stories (the hardcover collects the first eight; more are planned) are available in full on the publisher's website : http://www.darkhorse.com/Features/eComics/1090/Beasts-of-Burden

Enjoyed seeing your answers to the reading questionnaire. Any one question/answer doesn't tell you that much about a person, but all together they do seem to represent at least some part of a person's personality, don't they?

I've started overflowing my full graphic novel reading into the Published in 2010 category but I'll probably back that out again. Bit of a cheat. Especially when the goal is a wider variety of reading.

I finally read Mistress of the Art of Death and it was actually fine. Formula but in a comfort food way. I enjoyed it more than a lot of what I've read lately.

Other recent reads were my third volume of poetry by Tony Hoagland, a mediocre Fables spin-off (comics), and a very disappointing personal finance guide -- The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to Riches. As usual, there aren't as many reviews here as on GR, but the people who disliked it did so for pretty consistent reasons.

I recently started The Passage, finally, but depending on how intense it gets, I'll probably intersperse it with some lighter nonfiction rather than plowing straight through. I don't read much horror and it tends to do a number on me when I do.

I've wondered how Mistress of Art and Death was glad to hear you liked may have to hunt it down.

I also want to read The Passage I've heard so much about it.
See you next month at NDLA!

I received and read The Night Bookmobile today, a graphic novel written and illustrated by Audrey Niffenegger. I have a backlog of reviews to write but I did this one right away because it's such a new release.

It's a fun (if slightly dark) story about bibliophilia, which many LT members can relate to. The bookmobile of the title holds everything you have ever read. That specific copy.

It's also a $20 short story, which will limit its audience somewhat. But there's always the library.

Well I've hit the halfway point. Too bad there aren't 16 months in a year!

I've actually managed 79 books for the year (also doing the 100 Books challenge and tracking them there) but so many went off-challenge. 28 of them, to be exact. That's basically one out of three.

I'm definitely improving my focus, however. 13 books read in August and *all* of them qualified for the 101010. Very encouraging. And I have two business trips in September, which is always good for even more reading than I expect. Although a week-long visit from my folks starting Tuesday will counteract some of that.

I could have sworn I posted about reading Her Fearful Symmetry two weeks ago. Must have been another thread. Anyway, it was okay but got a little too VC Andrews for me and none of the characters were particularly likeable. The writing itself was fine but not the story. I never read The Time-Traveler's Wife so I wasn't comparing them.

Also read Gentleman Jim by Raymond Briggs. This was a quick graphic novel from the 1980s. I'd also just read his When the Wind Blows based on several recent (and well-deserved) LT raves and this was the prequel. A British Walter Mitty, basically, but he actually tries to act on his dreams of being a cowboy, highwayman, etc. Much satire of the British caste system and how much more difficult it is for the under-educated to navigate bureaucracy.

After reading some positive reviews and an essay by the author over on Powell's, I picked up Stephanie Dolgoff's My Formerly Hot Life. Because it's a very new release, I kept extensive reading notes and wrote up a (ridiculously) long review. Not until after posting it did I discover that it was an ER giveaway and thus people already had all the reviews on the book they could possibly require. Oh well.

The same thing actually happened with my next choice, The Flying Troutmans, but I hadn't kept notes or written as long a review that time because it's a novel and I never have nearly as much to say about fiction. Also it's from 2008, so fewer people are seeking information. But it was another giveaway. I'd received it through my indie book club and wouldn't have picked it up otherwise because it's totally not my kind of thing (dysfunctional families, insanity, over-the-top quirkiness, weird children). But it was well-written enough (if very clichéd with the eccentric characters) that it was a genuinely pleasant read.

I actually had to set the Passage aside after just a couple chapters for no particular reason. I should continue to focus on challenge-qualified titles for a while yet anyway. And it's certainly too large to travel with.