morninggray's 888

I made my list today, I hope that doesn't matter. Also, I have exams until february, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to start and I'm also not sure when I'll finish. I have filled in my list with everything I could think of putting on there at the moment. I will strike throught the ones I have read.

8 children/adolescent books
1. Peter Pan - Barrie
2. Alice in Wonderland - Carroll
3. Princess in Pink - Meg Cabot 8/02
4. Princess in Training - Meg Cabot 10/02
5. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Ann Brashares 1/03
6.
7.
8.
8 classics
1. Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
2. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
3. The Europeans - Henry James 8/05
4. Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
5. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
6. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 27/05
7.
8.
8 non-fiction books that aren't prescribed by my study
1. Jane Austen: A life - Claire Tomalin 13/03
2. Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination - Peter Ackroyd
3. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
4. Beatrix Potter: a journal - Beatrix Potter 13/03
5. What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew - Daniel Pool 7/05
6. Shakespeare - Bill Bryson
7. On Beauty - Umberto Eco
8.
8 books from the 501 must-read books book
1. Peter Pan - Barrie (overlap)
2. Alice in Wonderland - Carroll (overlap)
3. The Happy Prince and Other Tales - Wilde 5/06
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
8 books prescribed by religious studies
1. Islam en het Dagelijks Leven - Marjo Buitelaar
2. The Rise of Christianity - Stark 20/03
3. Ramadan: sultan van alle maanden - Marjo Buitelaar 28/03
4. Het trieste der tropen -Claude Levi-Strauss 12/03
5. De Veelvormigheid van het vroegste christendom - G.P. Luttikhuizen 12/05
6. Islam: norm, ideaal en werkelijkheid - Jacques Waardenburg 20/05
7.
8.
8 books on history
1. Introduction to Historical Thought - B.A. Haddock 15/01
2. The Making of the Magdalen - Katherine Ludwig Jansen 7/02
3. The European Union since 1945 - Alasdair Blair 21/02
4. Denken over geschiedenis - F.R. Ankersmit 21/05
5.
6.
7.
8.
1001 books to read before you die
1. Atonement - Ian McEwan
2. Bunner Sisters - Edith Wharton 3/05
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
8 other books to pass the time with and relax
1. The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke 1/02
2. Shopaholic Ties the Knot - Sophie Kinsella 12/04
3. The Wonder Spot - Melissa Bank 27/03
4. Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Melissa Pessl
5. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
6.
7.
8.

The great thing about this challenge is that the lists are your own so if you find that something isn't working then you can always change/expand the category. =)

I know, I'm sure I wouldn't have included the Dutch authors thing otherwise. I like the fact that I can actually try to plan some of my reading out. I have never done that before, but it happens often that I'm thinking: whatever should I read next? while I have so many books I have yet to read at home, but just don't think of them. And I also like that you have to put in several categories, because I often end up reading a lot of books in the same genre, while at the same time wanting to read other things as well, but then just don't ever pick those books up.

I'm looking forward to seeing those Dutch authors - I recently read a Cees Nooteboom for the first time and picked up a Harry Mulisch that I'm looking forward to reading. Hadn't ready ANY before last year.

Okay, I decided to change one category around. I know I'll never be able to make it if I don't add a category that has to do with the books I need to read for my study. They take up so much time, that I can't leave them out. I won't add just any book I have to read for it though, these are usually books I read for essays and are thus normally of interest to me, since I get to pick most of the subjects for my essays.
If I seem to be able to make it in the end without this category I will think of something else.

Is there somewhere that I can find the 501 must-reads books list on the internet? I'm interested to see what's in it.

I know I found it somewhere, though I'm not sure where. I'll look for it.

Ah, here it is: http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.31668/Books

The list isn't organised like the 1001 book list, it is organised on genre, from children, to classics, modern fiction, history, etc. I got the 501 book for my birthday last year, so I've decided to stick with this one for now and not buy the 1001 books-book, though I'm not sure if I can keep myself from buying it anyway.

Can you tell me what book 352 is supposed to be? It's missing from the listology.com page.

352 would be the start of the science fiction chapter and the book that belongs to that number is: the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy - Douglas Adams.
Funny, I didn't notice that there was a number missing on that list before, this actually means I have read one more book from the list.

Thanks for posting that link! I hadn't seen that list before, and I like it much more than the 1001 list.

#7, thank you so very much!

Looks to be an interesting list.

Today I finally got to finish The ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. I couldn't help but feeling at first that maybe I should've read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell before reading this book. This one was much easier to pick up however, as it is 200 pages instead of 800. I got to read a story each time I felt like doing something other than studying. The first stories I was still figuring out what strange world this really was that was described, I liked the book better towards the end. I don't know how to judge it all in all however. I liked the writing style, I liked the later stories. Maybe this is one to be re-read when I've finished Susanna Clarke's book. It is definitely not below 3.5-4 stars, however.

A little message to update my challenge. I am currently reading Jane Austen: a life and Princess in Pink. Soon I will have to start on Claude Levi-Strauss and some books on the European Union and Philosophy, which is why I am currently very much enjoying my princess diaries book, because it isn't hard to follow and doesn't require too much thinking.

Also, I finished the Making of the Magdalen today, which is one more book I can cross of my list, I'm really not going fast enough with this thing, am I?

I'm really not going fast enough with this thing, am I?

I'm taking this challenge one book at a time and not limiting it to one year. I like to read books at my own pace.

It might indeed be an idea to just take your own time for reading and not making the challenge fit one year, although I do think this kind of thing works for me. I usually don't feel too pressured to read and take my time reading, but if I'd said: 8 books I own but haven't read yet and do not make that a challenge for this year, I will end up with 50 unread but owned books by the end of the year. I kind of like these year challenges, though I am in no way as fast in reading as some are - I know I read a lot for normal standards and I don't feel too pressured.

I finished Princess in Pink today, quick read, as you can expect from this kind of YA books. I liked it though. It's nothing special anymore, it being the fifth book in the series, but I enjoy these books and I like relaxing together with these series.

Thanks for this 501 books list -- I've read 103 from it and about 180 from the 1001 list. As much as I've read in my life, it was amazing to me not only how many of these I have NOT read but how many I've never heard of. My strongest category was the children's list at the beginning.

I finished Princess in Training yesterday. I haven't finished Jane Austen: A Life yet, and am afraid it will not happen in a while either, since I am currently studying again. This means I am reading Geschiedenis van de filosofie by Hans Joachim Störig, but only parts of it. I think it's a good book to get acquinted with philosophy though, so I think I might try to read the whole of it one day. Also, I am reading Cultural Anthropology. This also means I'm going to start on the Levi-Strauss book soon, since it's the book I picked to read as an extra for the exam.

@ medievalmama: My strongest category is also the children's list. I'm nowehere near the number of books you've read from both lists, I probably get to around 30 on each. I blame being Dutch and having to read Dutch literature in school and also that I always get scared watching thriller/detective movies on TV, so I never once read a book like that. Yes, and also that I just don't read as much as most people on here do.

Another update. I am still reading the Levi-Strauss book as well as some other books assigned by my study that I haven't taken up in this list. I finished The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants yesterday. I started reading it the day before and really didn't expect to like it as the beginning. I mean, I have heard so much about it as it being a teens book and the movie that has been made of it, I think? But I couldn't enjoy it the first chapters. BUt then tonight I really got into it and it even made me cry. I still think it's a bit typical in places, a bit too 'correct' sometimes, on the other hand it's drama etc does seem to fit with the age it's meant for.
The book on European Union by Alasdair Blair that I finished in the meantime really doesn't need any comment. It pretty much says everything for itself. I didn't mind reading it, though it seemed to focus a bit too much on the UK compared to the attention other countries got.

I finished reading Lévi-Strauss yesterday. I didn't mind reading it, and I would like to read some more etnographies some day, but Lévi-Strauss sure is fond of writing very poetic about landscapes and such, a bit too much in my opinion.

I finished 2 books today: Jane Austen: a life, by Claire Tomalin. I liked reading this one, it seems to be a very thorough biography. I enjoy Austen's books a lot and I love reading them and I love reading about Jane Austen, I am no experts as some fans (I don't know how to call it otherwise?) seem to be, so to me: yes, this book was a nice and interesting read.
Also, I finished reading Beatrix Potter: a journal that I had bought a few weeks ago. I love the look of the book, it seems to get broken very soon though. Still, I liked looking through it. A very short read, but I still love the thought of owning this book.
I am now going to start on Disruptive Divas, a book I added to the list. I might write an essay on Tori Amos, so that's why I've added this book to my reading.

I decided to change my 888 challenge around a bit and added the category of the subject I hope to do my bachelor thesis on, which made me delte the 8 books I own but haven't read yet category as I have 8 books on this list already that I own and have planned to read for a while now. So that's why.

Also, due to lots of essay assignments, etc I'm reading a lot at the same time right now and have been unable to finish anything new as off yet. I was on my way with finished Islam en het dagelijks leven by Marjo Buitelaar, but it turned out to be a misprint, so I haven't read chapter 2 and 3 yet, waiting for something to work out to resolve the misprint issue.

Another change: probably no bachelor thesis for me on George Eliot, having a little problem with that.. So in this little crisis I didn't feel like picking up any 'serious' book, so instead I picked up the ultimately stupid chick-lit: shopaholic ties the knot. I did enjoy reading it and worrying along with all the weird and little problematic mistakes. So that's my new category: books I read just for fun with no literary meaning whatsoever. Or at least books that make me relax and cry and smile in the end.

I have a category called "Just for Fun and Bookclub". Unfortunately, it's getting filled up quickly!

That is unfortunate. I don't have much time to read just for fun at the moment. I have finished The Wonder Spot and apart from that I'm busy reading for my 2 studies. Since that category is getting filled up a bit too quickly, I'm thinking of maybe defiding them in History and Religious Studies, so I keep a little space and to delete the Dutch authors, since I think that's not going to happen anyway: reading 8 literature books by Dutch authors is just too much for me to keep reading fun in such a busy year as this has been for now.

Also, I finished Ramadan: Sultan van alle maanden and The Rise of Christianity, so I put a strike through those too.

3 more books finished:

Islam: norm, ideaal en werkelijkheid
Which gave a clear overview, although some chapter were much better to read than others (different authors, different styles, I guess).

Denken over Geschiedenis &

De veelvormigheid van het vroegste christendom
Very interesting read on the different forms early christianity took.

I think I'm going to stop doing this. I can't read by a list. All the spare time I have to read books I want to be able to randomly pick the book I think I'm going to like best. Maybe this is something to do when I'm out of the regular study circuit.