Friday, December 26, 2008

2008 Challenges (UNFINISHED)

What's in a Name Challenge

COLOR - Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ANIMAL - All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
FIRST NAME - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
PLACE - Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier

WEATHER - The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1) by Patrick Rothfuss
PLANT - Moonlight and Vines by Charles de Lint

ONCE UPON A TIME II CHALLENGE

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
White as Snow by Tanith Lee
Tithe: A Modern Day Faerie Tale by Holly Black

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint
Trader by Charles de Lint
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Fool Moon: The Dresden Files Book 2 by Jim Butcher
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

END OF THE WORLD CHALLEGE


Life as We Knew It by Sarah Beth Pfeffer
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller, Jr.
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Pretties, Specials, Extras)
The Host by Stephenie Meyer

2008 TBR CHALLENGE

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Lisey's Story by Stephen King
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
High Five by Janet Evanovich

Alternatives:
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
The Skewed Throne by Joshua Palmatier
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

NON-FICTION FIVE CHALLENGE
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson
The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx (this has a FANTASTIC soundtrack that goes with the book!)
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed the World by Erik Larson
Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich
Hope's Boy: A Memoir by Andrew Bridge
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Alternatives:
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez
Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
Bush At War by Bob Woodward (Book 1 of a Three Part Series)
Infidel by Ayaan Hirisi Ali
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through his Son's Meth Addiction by David Sheff
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

SOUTHERN READING CHALLENGE 2008
The Secret History by Donna Tart
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

Dead Sleep by Greg Iles

LOST BOOKS CHALLENGE

The Invention of Morel by Aldofo Bioy Casares
Bad Twin by Gary Troup
Valis by Phillip K. Dick
Through the Looking Glass (and Alice in Wonderland) by Lewis Carrol
The Survivors of the Chancellor by Jules Verne
EXTRA: Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein)
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

CHICK LIT CHALLENGE

The Pact by Jennifer Sturman
Tall Poppies by Louise Bagshawe
The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner

SPRING READING THING 2008

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
School's Out by Christophe Dufosse
Psyche in a Dress by Francesca Lia Block
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher
Better Than Running at Night by Hillary Frank
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
Divorcing Dwayne by J. L. Miles

GRAPHICS NOVEL CHALLENGE

The Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman
Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman
Watchmen by Alan Moore
From Hell by Alan Moore
Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1 by Warren Ellis

MYTHOPOEIC AWARD CHALLENGE

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
The Song of Rhiannon by Evangeline Walton
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

YOUNG ADULT READING CHALLENGE (CHALLENGE COMPLETED....NOT ALL FROM ORIGINAL LIST)

Chosen: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast and Kristin Cast
Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause
Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Magyk by Angie Sage
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Untamed: A House of Night Novel by PC Cast and Kristin Cast
Memories of a Teenage Amnesiac by Gabrielle Zevin
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Twisted by Lauris Halse Anderson

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Tithe by Holly Black
Glass Houses by Rachel Caine

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

NY TIMES NOTABLE 2008

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta
The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa
Bearing the Body by Ehud Havazelet
Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
Falling Man by Don DeLillo
House Lights by Leah Hager Cohen
Knots by Nuruddin Farah
Later, at the Bar: A Novel in Stories by Rebecca Barry
Matrimony by Joshua Henkin
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
Throw like a Girl: Stories by Jean Thompson
Winterton Blue by Trezza Azzopardi
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
NONFICTION:
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love and Betrayal by Ben Macintrye
The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics by Matt Bai
Easter Everywhere: A Memoir by Darcey Steinke
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece by Joan Breton Connelly
Service Included: Four-star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter by Phoebe Damrosch

YEAR OF READING DANGEROUSLY 2008

January: Bleak House, by Charles Dickens
February: The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (African American)
March: Cat's Eye, by Margaret Atwood (Atwood for Atwood's sake)
April: Transformations, by Anne Sexton (Poetry)
May: Other Voices, Other Rooms, by Truman Capote (Southern)
June: Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (Russian)
July: The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (adolescent)
August: Maus I and II, by Art Spiegelman (Graphic Novel, Pulitzer winner)
September: The Secret Lives of People in Love, by Simon Van Booy (Independent)
October: The Human Stain, by Philip Roth Contemporary/Jewish)
November: A Month of Classic Short Stories, Various - watch for a list
December: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (Dusty)

READING THROUGH THE DECADES 2008

1830's - The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
1840's - Agnes Gray by Anne Bronte
1850's - Bleak House by Charles Dickens
1860's - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
1870's - Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
1880's - A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
1890's - Jude the Obsure by Thomas Hardy
1990's - Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
1910's - Something Fresh by P. D. Wodehouse
1920's - Oil by Upton Sinclair
1930's - The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
1940's - The Diary of Anne Frank
1950's - The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein
1960's - The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison
1970's - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
1980's - Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
1990's - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

BOOK AWARDS CHALLENGE

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1921 - Pulitzer)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (2001 Pulitzer)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2007 Pulitzer)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin (1969 Nebula and 1970 Hugo
Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold (2004 Hugo)
Johnathon Strange & Mr. Norrell by Suzannah Clarke (2005 Hugo)
Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt (1990 Booker)
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000 Booker)
The March by E.L. Doctorow (2006 Pen/Faulkner)
Boy's Life by Robert McCammon (1991 Bram Stoker)
Lisey's Story by Stephen King (2006 Bram Stoker)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (1995 Giller)
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (1996 Giller)
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas Cook (1997 Edgar)
Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson (2004 Arthur C. Clarke)
ALTERNATES:
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (1919 Pulitzer)
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (1981 Pulitzer)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1962 Hugo)
Life of Pi by Yann (2002 Booker)
Runaway by Alice Munroe (2004 Giller)

CELEBRATE THE AUTHOR 2008

January - Anne Bronte - Agnes Gray
February - John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden
March - Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
April - Terry Pratchett - The Colour of Magic
May - Jodi Picoult - Change of Heart
June - Thomas Hardy - Far From the Maddening Crowd
July - Robert Heinlein - The Puppet Masters
August - H. P. Lovecraft - At The Mountains of Madness
September - Stephen King - ??
October - Ursula Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness
November - Neil Gaiman - ??
December - Charles de Lint

2008 RUSSIAN READING CHALLENGE

The Fiery Angel by Valery Bryusov
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Overcoat and Other Tales of Good and Evil by Nicolai Gogol
Lady Macbeth of the Mtensk District by Nikolai Leskov
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabakov
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko