bk04011's 100 for 2009

I am already signed up for the 999 Challenge but may not complete that challenge, not because I cannot read enough but because I read too much purely recreational stuff. Also, my 999 books are triggering "must read" impulses that I am already following up. So here's where I credit myself for the fluff and the follow-ons plus report out on them if I like. Plus I get to add to my wishlist by checking out what everybody else here is listing and commenting on. I think I will read through member threads before I start logging my reads and TBRs.

Kathryn,
Don't let the categories in 999 prevent you from reading the books you love. Just adjust your categories so that those books fit in.....
"Books I want to read"....."FLUFF"....."wishlist".....My favorite though is "Books with sentences"
Have fun with it.

Cheli

Hi there Cheli,
Thanks for dropping by. Be reassured: I cannot not read fun stuff. But I do also want to push myself through some worthwhile but less purely recreational books. For me, the Challenge is more about that effort than the total numbers. I have been working my way through The Name of the Rose and have been appreciating it. That's one kind of fun, sort of like a good workout. (Where's my towel?) But I can tell you, without LT and the Challenge, first of all, I would not have known about the TNOTR readers guide that is available and, second, I would have said "Oy" early on and reshelved it for indefinite future reference.

I just this morning came across exactly the phrase I needed on another thread: side book. I go through "side books" like I could go through oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with pecans ... if I let them in the house. I just don't want to be reading only "side books" anymore. PS: I did build some "side books" into the Challenge. See my Vampires and Georgette Heyer categories.

I hope you will drop by again when I have more stuff going on. I have your 999 thread starred and love all the pictures you include. I am not that much of a web wizard ... at least not yet.

I read TNOTR many years ago and enjoyed it. But what is this reader's guide that is available? Where?

And I'm glad you made room for the Heyer's--life is not all sturm und angst.

Ronincats - TNOTR triggered two 999 add-ons for me. One is an easily available, slim paperback that was recommended to me by MusicMom: The Key to "The Name of the Rose". In addition to translating latin and what-have-you phrases, it also includes a chapter on Eco himself, a brief, high-level overview of the Middle Ages, a glossary of Big Names and Inscrutable Terms (my description, not theirs) and a postscript to read after you finish the book. Not currently in print, there is also Postscript to The Name of the Rose by Eco himself, also for reading after I finish. I have found The Key valuable to the extent that if I read TNOTR again, I will reread The Key first. Eco's own Postscript is included in some of the newer editions of TNOTR. I got mine second hand.

PS to all: I am not going to limit myself to my 999 Challenge Heyers. I am going to do a major Heyer retrospective this year. It has been a long time and I will be earning it.

Kathryn,
I, like you, also love to read fun books (mysteries, cozy mysteries, romance novels) but I am also trying to stretch myself into other areas that's why I have classics and biographies in my 999 and I'm doing the Presidents Challenge. I'm really surprised that I'm getting into the history so I think I'll manage to muddle through. I guess the stretch is working and it's not that painful! Cheli

Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
Book 1, January 2
R&R

The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge
Book 2, January 3
999 Challenge Related

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
Book 3, January 3
999 Challenge - SF Greats

This Witch for Hire by Kim Harrison
Books 3 and 4 (SFBC Omnibus of Dead Witch Walking and The Good, the Bad and the Undead)
January 4
R&R

Healer by Peter Dickinson
Book 5
January 7
999 Challenge - Books My Sister Wants Me to Read

Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong
Book 6
January 14
R&R

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Book 7
January 21
999 Challenge - Historical Novels

Comments pending recovery. They will appear in my 999 Challege thread, here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/47562

I have never worked that hard to read a work of fiction before in my life.

The Key to the Name of the Rose by Adele J. Haft, et alia
Book 8
January 21
999 Challenge - Related

I found this book indispensable as I prepared to read and then worked my way through TNOTR. It includes a brief discussion of who Eco is, a high level overview of the Middle Ages, a glossary of terms, translated phrases from the non-English passages (as advertised) and a concluding discussion of the book. It made a world of difference. No spoilers, as you are well warned before you can head into the conclusion. I am holding on to it for the next time around.

Postscript to the Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Book 8
January 21
999 Challenge-related

This is actually a tiny collection of mini essays by Eco. It is addressed to people who pay attention to literary theory. Not me. I am afraid that I am not much interested in the differences and similarities between and among pre-modernism, modernism and post-modernism. I read fiction somewhat naively and am quite happy doing so. I was a history and social sciences major. Now I know why. The book annoyed me; the good news it was way, way short. And the man can write, as can his translator.

For a Few Demons More by Kim Harrison
Book 9
January 24
R&R

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Book 10
January 26
R&R

This almost cosy mystery is an LT recommendation. I found it perfectly pleasant but not actually gripping. I will try the first books in her other series.

Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss
Book 11
January 26
R&R

A book about manners by the woman who was so funny about grammar. Short, funny, pointed, includes the occasional profound thought. Not nearly as funny as her first. I enjoyed it but would not heartily recommend it.