Really Old Classics Challenge [ends 28/02/10]. 4/1 (4 for classicist “certification”) + 1/1 (extra credit retelling)
I host this challenge because I love reading the old classics, although sometimes I need motivation to do so myself! An asterisk below indicates I also counted a read for another challenge.
- Aucassin et Nicolette
- Medea by Euripides
- The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon*
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Moses, Man of the Mountain by Zora Neale Hurston
The Japanese Literature Challenge [ends 30/01/10]. 2/1. Finished on time.
I joined this challenge because I know very little about the Japanese culture and literary tradition. An asterisk below indicates I also counted a read for another challenge.
- The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon*
- The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Everything Austen Challenge (until 31 December 2009). 5/6
- Clueless (movie) thoughts in this post
- Becoming Jane (movie) thoughts in this post
- Jane Austen: A Life by Carol Shields
- Jane Austen’s Little Advice Books
- A History of England
- Bridget Jones’ Diary (movie)
Dewey Decimal Challenge (1 book from each “century” in 2009, not necessarily in order) 10/10 FINISHED ON TIME
- 000 – Generalities. The Book that Changed My Life; A History of Reading by Alberto Manguel; Rereadings by Anne Fadiman; The Well-Educated Mind by S. Wise Bauer; The New Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman; The Library at Night by Alberto Manguel; Book by Book by Michael Dirda
- 100 – Philosophy and Psychology. Plato and Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart; Consolation of Philosophy by Alain de Botton; Sophie’s World (a novel; doesn’t count for the challenge) by Jostein Gaarder
- 200 – Religion. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis; God: A Biography by Jack Miles
- 300 – Social Sciences. The Words We Live By by Linda Monk; Naked Economics by Charles Weehlan; Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond; The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made by Walter Isaacson;
- 400 – Language. Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey; Alpha Beta by John Man;
- 500 – Natural Sciences + Math. The Great Equations by Robert P. Crease; Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea by Charles Seife;
- 600 – Technology. Better by Atun Gawande; Proust and the Squid: The Story of Science and the Reading Brain by Maryanne Wolf; What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained by Robert L. Wolke
- 700 – The Arts. Fundamentals of Photography by Tom Ang; Examples : the making of 40 photographs by Ansel Adams; The Digital Photography Handbook by Doug Harman;
- 800 – Literature and Rhetoric. The Art of Reading Poetry by Harold Bloom; How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch; How Does a Poem Mean? by John Ciardi; How Novels Work by John Mullan; Children’s Literature by Seth Lerer
- 900 – Geography and History. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts; Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin;
BiblioShakespeare Challenge (6 works by or about the Bard in 2009) 4/6 QUIT (GOAL will be 4 next year)
- Will in the World (a biography) by Stephen Greenblatt
- Poetry for Young Poeple: William Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar
- Macbeth
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
2009 Science-Book Challenge (3 works) 0/3
- Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer
- Complications by Atun Gawande
- Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
World Citizen Challenge (7 works, one in each category, 2009) 5/7 QUIT EARLY. INTEND TO FINISH LATE.
- Politics: The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington
- Economics: Naked Economics by Charles Weehlan; The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs
- History: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond; The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith; The Muslim Discovery of Europe by Bernard Lewis; U.S. Diplomacy Since 1900;
- Culture or Anthropology/Sociology: Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel; Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization by Arjun Appadurai
- Worldwide Issues: What the World Eats by Peter Menzel; World Hunger: 12 myths by Frances Moore Lappe; Hunger: an unnatural history by Sharman Apt Russell; Planet of Slums by Mike Davis; The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
- Memoirs/Autobiographies: Daughter of the East by Benazir Bhutto; Memoirs of WWII (the abridged version) by Winston Churchill;
Spice of Life Challenge: “A Feast” (July 2009 – December 2009) Read 8 books in three categories 8/8 FINISHED ON TIME!
See my pool of books here.
- Cookbooks: The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters; Pretend Soup by Mollie Katzen; Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom by Julia Child;
- Nonfiction: An Edge in the Kitchen by Chad Ward;
- Memoir/Essays: A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg; Too Many Cooks by Emily Franklin; My Life in France by Julia Child;
- Fiction: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin;
9 for 09 (until 27 Dec 2009) 4/9 QUIT
- The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin (long)
- The Stranger by Albert Camus (free)
- Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (used)
- Twentieth Century Pleasures by Robert Haas (dusty)
- The Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (letter “R”)
- Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden (cover)
- Inside My Heart by Robin McGraw (strange)
- Too Late the Phalathrope by Alan Paton (distance)
- The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (alive or not)
RIP (four books, until 31 October 2009)4/4 FINISHED on time!
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
- Macbeth by William Shakespeare
- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Take a Chance Challenge (until 30 November 2009) I may do just a few of these challenges. 3/10. QUIT PART WAY THROUGH.
- Random Book Selection. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- Random Word.
- Birth Year Book.
- Judge A Book By Its Cover.
- Phoning An Author.
- Public Spying.
- Random Bestseller.
- Lit Riff.
- Poetic Review. Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne
- Movie/Book Comparison. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Summer Lovin’ Challenge (until 22 September 2009). Reread 3 favorites FINISHED! (late) 3/3
- options: Wit; Beloved by Toni Morrison; The Catcher in the Rye; The Princess Bride; The Great Gatsby; The Hunt for Red October.
Beowulf on the Beach Reading Challenge (until 7 Sep 2009). Read one book from the list. FINISHED! (late) 1/1
- Beloved by Toni Morrison
Dewey’s Books Challenge (5 books in 2009) FINISHED! 5/5
- The Book That Changed My Life by R. Coady and J. Johannessen (double counted)
- Plato and Platypus Walk Into a Bar by Thomas Cathcart (double counted)
- Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
- A Caldecott Celebration by Leonard S. Marcus
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
- Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Martel-Harper Challenge (2 works each quarter) 2/2
2009 3rd qtr (2 of these):
- Book Number 59: The Door, by Margaret Atwood
- Book Number 50: Jane Austen, A Life, by Carol Shields
- Book Number 44: The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck
- Book Number 21: The Cellist of Sarajevo, by Steven Galloway
- Book Number 16: Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke
- Book Number 8: Short and Sweet: 101 very short poems, edited by Simon Armitage, published by Faber and Faber
The Really Old Classics Challenge (5 works, until July 2009) 5/5
- Hippolytus by Euripides
- The Iliad by Homer (trans. Robert Fagles)
- The Odyssey by Homer (trans. Robert Fagles)
- Utopia by Thomas More
- The Arabian Nights, trans. Husain Huddawy
- The Aeneid by Virgil (trans. Robert Fagles?)
- The Arabian Nights II, trans. Husain Huddawy
Martel-Harper Challenge (2 works each quarter)
2009 2st qtr. UNFINISHED! 1/2
Read with Kids (April 1 – June 30, 2009)
Count the time you read with your kids. Below, I will list the chapter books I finish with my young son in this quarter.
- Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
- Hello, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
- Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic by Betty MacDonald
Once Upon a Time III Challenge: The Journey (one book in one category, 2nd quarter 2009) FINISHED! 4/1.
- Fantasy: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare; The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein; The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit; Uglies by Scott Westerfield; Eragon by Christopher Paolini; Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino; The Green Knowe Chronicles by L.M. Boston; Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle Treasury by Betty MacDonald
- Fairy Tales: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi; The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tartar; Complete Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen; Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault; The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale; Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale; Zel by Napoli; Beast by Napoli; Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Macquire; Castle Waiting
- Folklore: Tale of the Genji, 1001 Arabian Nights; Beowulf
- Mythology: Mythology by Edith Hamilton; The Aeneid by Virgil
- Nonfiction: The Brothers Grimm by Jack Zipes
Global Voices Book Challenge: Read Your Way Around the World (one book from an “unfamiliar” country by April 23, 2009) FINISHED! (late) 1/1
- Daughter of the East by Benazir Bhutto
Martel-Harper Challenge (2 works each quarter)
2009 1st qtr. FINISHED! 2/2
- Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge (3 works, 1st quarter 2009)
- The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters
- The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
- The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fischer
(DIDN’T FINISH 🙁 0/3 )