Wow, what a challenge! It seems like it went on all year, and in a way it did, and yet I'm not even letting go completely, as I'm using many, many books on this list as my TBR for next year.
Recap: Way back in April, Lisa at Breaking the Fourth Wall conceived the idea of a challenge, whereby participants would nominate 5 books to represent themselves, giving the reasons why. Then in order to get to know each other better, we would make our own reading list and read other people's books.
My list of books representing me included:
1. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson NF
2. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth NF
3. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman F
4. Evening Class by Maeve Binchy F
5. LM Montgomery: Anne of Windy Poplars F (or any other LM Montgomery book you want)
You can find my reasons why for each selection here.
Luckily Lisa didn't begin the reading part until August, which in April seemed so far off, and then, as more and more people signed up, and the great books got added, August seemed like the right idea. So many wonderful people (59, if I counted right, including Nattie, who sadly passed away after joining) and books joined in at the blog.
I got so excited by some of the books, I started reading some even before the challenge officially started:
A Man Without a Country (kookiejar) - see review
So Many Books, So Little Time (sally, a.book.in.the.life,vasilly,) - see review
The Echo Maker (3M) - see review
Uglies (faith) - dystopian challenge see review
Then August finally arrived and I started on this challenge with a vengeance, because I couldn't wait. Now, as December is coming to an end, I have the books finished I said I would, plus a few extra. My final list looks like this:
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (Kathrin)
I Am the Messenger - Markus Zasuk (jill mrsteme)
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card (Becky, karlene)
Inkheart - Cornelia Funkle (becky shereads)
Number the Stars - Lois Lowry (booklogged)
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (dewey)
The Thirteenth Tale - Dianne Setterfield (kristin)
Tale of Despereaux - Kate diCamillo (booklogged)
Lolita - Vladimir Nobokov (heather)
One of these books even made my top ten reads of the year. Do you remember which one I raved about the most?
I still have many I want to read, and picked More Something About Me as a category for the 888 challenge, including some of the following I still really want to read:
Booked to Die - John Dunning (bonnie) [Themed Reading Challenge]
The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde (heidijane, valentina)
The Awakening - Kate Chopin (patti)
The Historian - Elizabeth Kostova (maryanne)
Twilight - Stephanie Myers (suey) [Young Adult Challenge]
Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons - Lorna Landvic (tiny librarian)
The Remains of the Day - Ishiguro (lucca) [Booker Challenge]
The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd (ennavic, Karlene) [What's in a Name?]
Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf (trish)84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff (Historia) [Themed Reading Challenge]
Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson (heatherbird) [Young Adult Challenge]
This was the challenge I had the most fun participating in, because I felt like I got to know some other bloggers much better than could be expected. Getting to hear the reasons why people chose their books was as much fun as picking my books. The books I read will be forever associated with the bloggers who nominated them. All in all, a wonderful time. Thank you to Lisa who organized it all, and to the many readers I've met along the way.
Whew, what a challenge.
This was a really cool challenge, wasn't it?? I just finished reading Booked to Die by John Dunning. I thought it was a really good mystery!! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteAwesome that you completed all the books you said you were going to read. I always end up with a different list at the end of a challenge than the one I make up at the beginning. Good thing so many are lenient with their rules. :) Congrats on completion.
ReplyDeletestephanie - I'm going to read Booked to Die next year, for sure. I've only read rave reviews of it.
ReplyDeletekookiejar - I find it hard to read what I said, and even if I didn't read Lolita, I read lots for this challenge. But I wanted to get through it this year, so I put a real effort into it. I'm glad I read them all.
I agree...this was a really great challenge! I'm feeling bad though, because I listed WAY too many for my official list, and there's no way I can finish them. But, like you, I plan on continuing with them even after the challenge is officially over. Wow, what a bunch of fun books we learned about, huh?! Anyway, next time if I join a challenge where I pick the amount to read... it will be much shorter and more doable. I guess I was feeling very optimistic way back in the summer!
ReplyDeleteIt was a super challenge indeed. And I see Lisa's already talking about SAM 2008! I'd better get thinking about some new representing-me books!
ReplyDeleteYay, I'm chuffed to see my Angry Housewives on your to-do list! :) And that was a great idea, to make it one of your 888 categories. I can't believe it'll be time to start that one (and many other challenges) in one day!