The Book Challenge discussion

It's a bit late in the year, but I'll have a go with 25. I made it to 20 last year and 25 the year before. Now that I'm graduated I'll have lots of free time, too. I'd also like to read 10 classics (including children's & YA literature), so I'll include those too. (Classic is defined here as being written 50 years ago.)

January - 1:
1. In the Beginning...was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson (4/5 stars)

March - 1:
2. PHP for the World Wide Web, Second Edition by Larry Ullman (4/5 stars)

April - 2:
3. Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler (3/5 stars)
4. Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (1/5 stars)

May - 4:
5. MySQL Crash Course by Ben Forta (4/5 stars)
6. The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (2/5 stars)
7. (classics 1.) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (3/5 stars)
8. (classics 2.) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (5/5 stars!)

June - 4:
9. (classics 3.) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (3/5 stars)
10. (Classic 4.) Gigi by Collete
11. (Classic 5.) Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley (5/5 stars)
12. (Classic 6.) Emma by Jane Austen (3/5 stars)

July - 6:
13. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (3/5 stars)
14. (Classic 7.) The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley (4/5 stars)
15. (Classic 8.) Persuasion by Jane Austen (3/5 stars)
16. (Classic 9.) Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (3/5 stars)
17. Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (3/5 stars)
18. The Book of Lost Books An Incomplete History of All the Great Books You'll Never Read by Stuart Kelly (3/5 stars)
19. Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart (4/5 stars)

I would definitely recommend Christopher Morley's books. The two I read are about the bookseller Roger Mifflin and his wife Helen McGill. Each is full of philosophical humor on books and the booktrade, and the second is also a cunning mystery. Very smart and a great look at early 20th century American life.

August - 6:
20. Getting Even by Woody Allen (1st) (3/5 stars)
21. The Dutch in America by Gerrit J. Tenzythoff (3rd) (3/5 stars)
22. (Classic 10.) Selected Poems from "Flowers of Evil" by Charles Baudelaire (4th) (2/5 stars)
23. Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline (24th) (3/5 stars)
24. (Classic 11.) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (27th) (3/5 stars)
25. A Place Of Safety by Caroline Graham (30th) (4/5 stars)

I managed to meet both my goals this month - 10 classics and 25 books overall. Since I'm now holed up in my house due to a recent accident, I'll hopefully be able to read up to 40 books this year. **Crossing my fingers!**

September - 5:
26. (Classic 12.) Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler (4th) (3/5 stars)
27. The Killings At Badger's Drift(Inspector Barnaby Mystery, #1) by Caroline Graham (6th) (5/5 stars)
28. (Classic 13.) Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie (9th) (4/5 stars)
29. (Classic 14.) There Is a Tide.../Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie (17th) (3/5 stars)
30. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman (30th) (3/5 stars)

October - 10 books:
31. These are so small I count them each as 1/3 of a book:
        Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (3rd) (4/5 stars)
        The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket et al (4th) (4/5 stars)
        Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss (8th) (5/5 stars)
32. (Classic 15.) L'Abbe C by Georges Bataille (8th) (3/5 stars)
33. Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children Adapted for the Theatre by Salman Rushdie et al (9th) (3/5 stars)
34. (Classic 16.) Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) by C.S. Lewis (10th) (4/5 stars)
35. (Classic 17.) Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2) by C.S. Lewis (12th) (3/5 stars)
36. (Classic 18.) My Fair Lady Musical Play in Two Acts Based on "Pygmalion" by Bernard Shaw by Alan Jay Lerner (15th) (4/5 stars)
37. (Classic 19.) The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3) by C.S. Lewis (17th) (3/5 stars)
38. Persepolis 1 The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (19th) (4/5 stars)
39. Fine Art of Literary Mayhem A Lively Account of Famous Writers and Their Feuds by Myrick Land (21st) (4/5 stars)
40. The Princess Bride by William Goldman (25th) (3/5 stars)

Now that I've made my 40 total and 10 classics goal. I think I'll just read whatever now. Time to relax.

November - 2:
41. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters (21st) (3/5 stars)
42. The Archivist A Novel by Martha Cooley (23rd) (2/5 stars)

December - 4 books:
43. (Classic 20.) The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4) by C.S. Lewis (5th) (3/5 stars)
44. (Classic 21.) Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, Illustrated Edition by T.S. Eliot (13th) (3/5 stars)
45. (Classic 22.) The Black Monk and Peasants by Anton Checkov (17th) (2/5 stars)
46.
Creepy Susie: and 13 other tragic tales for troubled children. by Angus Oblong (17th) (4/5 stars)

Total: 46 books, 22 classics, 10,048 pages

Successfully completed by 12/31/09!

A-Z Authors and Title Challenges - trying for about 18 on each and each title meeting only one of the challenges.

Authors - 18 total as of 12/31:

A - Getting Even by Woody Allen
B - Selections from 'Flowers of Evil' by Charles Baudelaire
C - Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
D - Six Great Sherlock Holmes Stories by Arthur Conan Doyle
E - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot
F - Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
G - Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez
H -
I -
J - The Phantom Planet by Norton Juster
K - The Book of Lost Books by Stuart Kelly
L - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
M - Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
N -
O - Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children by Angus Oblong
P - Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Q -
R - Midnight's Children: Adapted for the Theatre by Salman Rushdie et al.
S - Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
T - The Dutch in America by Gerrit J. Tenzythoff
U - PHP for the World Wide Web, Second Edition by Larry Ullman
V -
W - Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler
X -
Y -
Z -


Titles - 19 total as of 12/31:

A – The Archivist by Martha Cooley
B – Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline
C – The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket et al.
D – The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
E – Emma by Jane Austen
F – Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
G – Gigi by Colette
H – The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley
I – In the Beginning...was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson
J –
K – The Killings at Badger's Drift (Inspector Barnaby Mystery, #1) by Caroline Graham
L – L'Abbe C by Georges Bataille
M – MySQL Crash Course by Ben Forta
N – The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
O – Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss
P – Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2) by C.S. Lewis
Q –
R –
S – Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
T – There Is a Tide.../Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
U –
V – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3) by C.S. Lewis
W – The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
X –
Y –
Z –

Each book I read can only meet one of the following challenges:

Total: 24 out of 26 as of 12/5.

What's in a Name? Challenge:
  Name - Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
  Location - The Dutch in America by Gerrit J. Tenzythoff
  Weather - There Is a Tide.../Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
  Color - The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4) by C.S. Lewis
  Plant - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  Animal - Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler

The Five Senses Challenge:
  Sight/eyes - Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
  Hearing/ears - The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket et al.
  Taste/tongue - Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
  Smell/nose -
  Touch/skin - Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline

Variety Is the Spice of Life Challenge (I've added some and moved genre stuff to a separate challenge):
  Male author - The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
  Female author - Emma by Jane Austen
  Living author - The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham (re-read)
  Deceased author - Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
  Translation (into English) - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle (from French)
  Banned book - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
  Book made into movie - Gigi by Collete
  Author never read before - In the Beginning...was the Command Line by Neal Stephenson
  Two or more authors - The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus

Continents - Author from/book set in a country in...:
  Africa - Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
  Asia - Midnight's Children: Adapted for the Theatre by Salman Rushdie et al. (India & Pakistan)
  Australia -
  Europe - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Switzerland & England)
  Latin/South America - Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Mexico)
  North America - Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley (USA)

Genre Challenge - one challenge per title:
Total: 22 out of 24 as of 12/31

(Auto)biography -
Adventure novel - The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Chick-lit - The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Classic - There Is a Tide.../Taken at the Flood by Agatha Christie
Crime or detective fiction - The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
Fable, fairy tale, folklore -
Fantasy - The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Graphic novel - Persepolis I by Marjane Satrapi
Historical fiction - Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Horror - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Humor - Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
Nonfiction - The Book of Lost Books by Stuart Kelly
Philosophical - The Black Monk and Peasants by Anton Checkov
Play - Midnight's Children: Adapted for the Theatre by Salman Rushdie
Poetry collection, epic poem - Selections from Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
Political fiction - The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley (about WWI and Germans)
Romance novel - Persuasion by Jane Austen
(Family) Saga - Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline
Satire - Naked Pictures of Famous People by Jon Stewart
Sci-fi - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Short story collection - Getting Even by Woody Allen
Thriller - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Tragedy - L'Abbe C by Georges Bataille
Young adult - The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame