Just Dipping My Toes--It's Scary Here

After some internal debate, and hemming and hawing, I thought I'd give this a try. If I succeed, how marvelous! If I don't: well, at least I'll have had some sort of plan for this year's reading instead of the formless mishmash I usually have.

I've chosen categories in a mix of those I really like and those I haven't read much in.

I. Victorian Literature
1. Middlemarch April
2. Bleak House May
3. Dr. Thorne August
4. The Small House at Allington
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

II. Memoirs/Letters
1. Testament of Youth January
2. Homage to Catalonia October
3. Habit of Being December
4. My Name Escapes Me January
5. The Lobster Chronicles February
6. The Egg and I August
7. This Boy's Life August
8. Weekends at Bellevue August
9. Dry Storeroom No. One September
10. Garlic and Sapphires December

III. Medieval Nonfiction
1. Medieval Reader
2. Life in a Medieval Castle February
3. Mysteries of the Middle Ages February
4. Life in a Medieval Village March
5. A Distant Mirror December
6.
7.
8.
9.

IV. Biographies
1. John Adams April 2009
2. Zelda June
3. Queen Victoria February 2009
4. Cicero
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

V. Science Fiction/Fantasy
1. The Hobbit February
2. Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone January
3. Ender's Game January
4. The Wee Free Men May
5. Tarzan of the Apes March
6. Watership Down August
7. Matilda March
8. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets May
9. The Book of Three October
10. The Wizard of Oz November
11. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe November

VI. Humor
1. Lake Wobegon Days December
2. Three Men in a Boat February
3. Most of P.G. Wodehouse
4. The Complete Saki
5. Barrel Fever March
6. The Wee Free Men May
7. The Egg and I August
8.
9.

VII. Spy vs. Spy
1. The Secret Pilgrim January
2. The Constant Gardener November
3. The Eye of the Needle April
4. Our Game June
5. Confessional June
6.
7.
8.
9.

VIII. Classical Studies in Translation, or It's All Greek to Me
1. Sophocles' The Oedipus Plays
2. The Iliad
3. Livy: Early History of Ancient Rome
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Poetry
1. Ariel
2. ee cummings
3. World War One British Poets December
4. Sonnets from the Portugese February 2009
5. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats February
6. Macbeth March
7.
8.
9.

Bonus Category: Exploring the Mines of TBR
Anna Karenina
A Room with a View
Palace Walk

If I only get a couple from each category, it will be an improvement. Wish me luck!

Good luck -- and lots of good reading.

You've got some good books listed there.
Wishing you good luck and lots of enjoyment.

See, don't you feel the water warming already? :)

I like your humor category (I have one too) and the Medieval (Mysteries of the Middle Ages is in my 999 Challenge). I look forward to reading your comments here.

I'm working pretty well on Testament of Youth. It's amazing how much one can read if one can stay off LT.

Does anyone have any recommendations for espionage/spy novels or for shortish (i.e., not "The Complete Works of....") poetry tomes?

Good luck, bohemima! It's a fun challenge, and I hope you will find that you read some great things you wouldn't have read otherwise.

I only read 55 out of 64 books in the 888 challenge and don't feel bad about it at all... read some wonderful books and had fun planning categories and finding books. I look at the 999 challenge the same way - if I finish it great, if I don't, it will still have been a positive experience.

Medieval Nonfiction sounds terribly interesting - you might want to consider a book on the Black Death (I have and have read The Black Death by Robert S. Gottfried and really enjoyed reading about the political and economic impact of the Black Death.)

Hi, bohemima!
I had a Spy category for my 888 challenge. I read both fiction and nonfiction books for it. My favorite book was Tamar by Mal Peet, and it was the last one that I read. It is both a spy story and a mystery spanning different generations. This is a young adult book and terrific. I also liked the Graham Greene that I read, Our Man in Havana and The Quiet American. Good luck with your challenge.
--BJ

Edited to try to fix touchstones.

Thanks to you both for the recs. I'm going to at least try The Black Death, and Tamar. I had completely forgotten about the Greene books, neither of which I've read. However, I've loved several of his other works, and look forward to these two.

>5 Matke:

I don't read a great deal of poetry these days, but my favorites are e.e. cummings and T.S. Eliot. I've had a copy of cummings' 100 Selected Poems since I was 16, and it contains some of his best. Various of Eliot's poems have been published in small editions, notably The Wasteland, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock (my favorite), and Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (the basis for Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Katz).

For your Memoirs/Letters and/or Biographies categories, you might consider Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser (Antonia's daughter). It's exceedingly well-documented from letters and papers by, to and about the princesses. It took me a while to get through it, since I'm not a particulary fast reader, especially of non-fiction, but I found it fascinating.

And I also found The Black Death very interesting.

Finished Ender's Game yesterday. I really didn't like it very much (see review). I'm looking forward to comparing what Rowling did with what is (in O.S. Card's view) very much the same plot idea. Somehow I think hers will be better.

Still reading Testament of Youth. It seems to go on forever.

My favorite modern poet is Ted Kooser. Out of all his works, I recommend Sure Signs most. It contains my absolute favorite of his poems, "Abandoned Farmhouse."

Going along with your Testament of Youth read, why not try Wilfred Owen? He's a WWI poet who didn't have the chance to be very prolific. ee cummings and Rupert Brooke are of the same vintage.

Otherwise, along with your Victorian lit, how about Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese?

Second Wilfred Owen. Dulce Et Decorum Est is one of my favorite poems of all time.

Also second ee cummings, among which

she being brand
may i feel said he
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
the boys i mean are not refined
what if a much of a which of a wind

are among my favorites.

You've got a very good spy novel with The Constant Gardener. Years ago I tried reading Le Carre and just couldn't do it. Recently I've tried again, and I love his books. Gardener was one of my favorite books from his genre. I'll bet Le Carre could make a tense spy novel out of his grocery list! :)

Ah, excellent poetry recs, ivyd, karenmarie and ReneeMarie (any connection between the Marie's?). Somehow when I was doing/making/considering my lists, the poetry connection in my brain just went blank.

Funnily enough, I've been thinking about both Wilfred Owen and Sassoon as possibles for the Poet's Corner section of my reading for this year. Never would have thought of ee cummings on my own; I always found him somewhat offputting before...but in my "mature" (sigh) years, I'm more than willing to give him a second try.

Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone lived up to my expectations that it would be better than Ender's Game. It was better written, had much more character development, and was in general more interesting, at least to my somewhat jaded tastes. That said, it's very obviously a child's book (though I understand the later books get much darker), and could have benefitted from some judicious editing. A fun and fast read, though.

And now...on to try a go at Anna Karenina. I'm a bit intimidated, really.

Mmm...the new Anna Karenina translation is a marvel. I was drawn immediately into the book and feel quite comfortable there. It manages to be ever-so-slightly foreign, a bit antique, and yet gossipy and intimate, all at the same time. If this is how the Russian original works, no wonder it's been such a favorite for so long.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the Victorian Literature category, since I am reading Victorian History books for one of my categories.

>18 andreablythe: Blythe, I'd be most interested in your Victorian History books category. Almost all my Vic. history books are skewed toward the Empire: the James (Jan) Morris trilogy, some Lawrence James books, The Blue Nile and The White Nile by Moorehead. I have read Eminent Victorians, that snarky little number by Lytton Strachey, and What Charles Dickens Ate and Jane Austen Knew, a kind of comical but informative overview of manners and morals in that era. So I'd be happy to learn of any other titles in that general area.

I'll be curious to see your thoughts on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. I haven't looked at my copy in awhile but I remember it was interesting comparing it to my Cats CD.

Re: #19
Oooh. What Charles Ate and Jane Austen Knew looks good. I'll add that one to my list of TBR. The others look interesting, too.

I'll be updating my categories here, though I haven't got to my Victorian History books yet. I like to be able to find books as I go along.

PS. I really enjoyed reading Mysteries of the Middle Ages. I thought it was excellent.

could have benefitted from some judicious editing

Unfortunately, they only get worse in this regard.

My daughter, a big fan of fantasy and sci. fic., said the same thing re: the Potter saga.

Finished My Name Escapes Me and am struck by how secret Guinness remains, even after reading two years worth (or maybe a year and a half) of his diary jottings. It made me want to read more by and perhaps about him, because he is, that very dry, sly way, witty and funny. I particularly enjoyed a couple of anecdotes about Olivier--I had read before that he could be an absolute beast.

Awwww, I love Harry Potter! Rowling is amazingly consistent among all 7 books with regards to character development, plot consistency, and vividness of language. She's very good at throw-away lines that let you imagine a whole series of events that are not germane to where you are in the book but contribute to her world.

I'm currently re-listening to them all, after having read them all twice and listened to them all twice. (Okay, so I'm crazy, but the commute to work IS 40 minutes and I burn out on NPR occasionally. I love Jim Dale's voice. Our local library doesn't have a good collection of books on tape either...)

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew is among my favorite books since I'm enthralled with the late Georgian period and Regency period. Less so the mid-to-late Victorian period.

#14 MaddieMoZelle - loved The Constant Gardener.

I'd recommend the James Bond books by Ian Fleming - only Sean Connery and Daniel Craig come close to putting the book Bond to film. The rest are blech. The books are quite gritty and tension-filled.

Well, I'm not saying I hated the Potter book; it was pretty good, but it seemed a little unsophisticated, I guess. I'm sure I'll get to the next one sooner or later. I've heard/read such wildly mixed reviews and opinions on Bond that I'm determined to try one myself, just to make my own judgement.

I've never listened to a book on tape as I've had, unitl the past year, very short commutes...two miles or less to pretty much everything. Now that I've moved to the sticks, I have much longer trips, and so should probably try one of the audio things.

Dipping into Macbeth...trying to justify that as a poetry selection. And still with Anna Karenina...as I'm sure I will be for a loooooooooooooong time.

>Back to message 12--I've never heard of Ted Kooser...will look him up.

Casino Royale is the first book of the series - James Bond, that is.

So, would you say that Casino Royale would be a good choice? If I were going to read only one of the series, which one would you recommend?

"Anna" is coming right along. I really love it, which surprises me. I guess I thought it would be hard to understand, like Ulysses or something, but it's not--it's just a very long book. But fascinating.

I recently read Dr. No and I highly recommend it. I thought it was a wonderful Bond book. I can't say it's the best because I haven't finished reading all of them yet.

Well, I'm "suffering" from my usual problem: distractability. Completely off the track with Classics for Pleasure and a couple of others. But I'm still reading Anna Karenina, so that part is going well. I think I'll explore biography and medieval next. Oh, and I'm working on the Sake, as well. That's divided nicely into smallish bites...too much of him at once is, well, too much. And I have about 20 mysteries just calling, calling, calling to me. Sigh.

I personally like to start at a series beginning but rarely do - I usually hear noise about a book, read it, then realize that it's part of a series. When I get a chance to start at the beginning I do.

Casino Royale is the first in the James Bond series, so personally I'd start there. It's very good.

You sound frustrated - this is supposed to be fun, not a chore! Read something you absolutely want to read regardless of whether it's 999 or not. 999 is supposed to broaden your horizons but not stress you out.

Hi Karen! I love your wide variety there. I thought I'd suggest a book for your memoirs category. Persian Girls is very good. I attempted a review of it in my library. It's a fairly easy read and not too long but it was insightful. If you decide to read it, let me know what you think.

^_^
TOM

Thanks for the suggestion, TOM - I'll check it out.

Hi, bohemima!
Anna Karenina is one of my all-time favorite reads. It was my first and still best Russian novel. I am glad that you are enjoying it. :) It is on the long side, but worth it, I think. I usually like to read other shorter books along with long ones.

Your other books all look interesting, too. Have a great day!
--BJ

Thanks to all who have been nice enough to post here. We took a bit of a vacation/family trip and I really couldn't concentrate on anything in the book line. Usually I take a couple of good ones (at least they seem like good ones when I choose them), but somehow this trip I made a mistake in my choices. I did get to borrow one from my brother's vast, almost unbelievably eclectic library--Life in a Medieval Village, which funnily enough goes right along with Life in a Medieval Castle, one which I'm already reading. Also reading that *&^%*(%&* Cahill book Mysteries of the Middle Ages; if I'd realized he was the author, I might not have chosen it.

I'm not too frustrated...more like laughing at myself, as I knew any attempt to channel my insanely scattered, er, wide-ranging reading into neat categories would be odd at first.

I'm still loving Anna Karenina, although I've stopped at a good pausing place for a bit while I read some other things. VictoriaPL, thank you for the Eliot rec. I was fortunate enough to find an edition of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats illustrated by Edward Gorey at our public library. I enjoyed the book quite a bit, especially the language, which helped make up for the ta-dum, ta-dum, ta-dum, ta-DUM rhythm. Very clever and obviously by someone who knew and loved cats, as I do.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! If you liked the art, I noticed there are a few Gorey books up for grabs in the Early Reviewers this month.

Finished a few more books for this challenge but am currently sidetracked by a book from Mt. TBR. The second book in the "Life in" series, Life in a Medieval Castle, is much less fun than the first one, but is fully, and I do mean fully, footnoted. I must say that Cahill's Mysteries of the Middle Ages is a bit of a mixed bag. I'm still working on a review of it. It's better than How the Irish Saved Civilization, but it still has some pretty glaring faults. Lots of information on some limited subjects, though.

Huh, 11 out of 81 or so. Could be better, I think. But it's so much fun to drop off the list for a bit and read a mystery or some off-the-wall thing from the endless TBR pile.

Three Men in a Boat was amusing but not hysterically funny or anything. It had a sort of idyllic feel, and yet Jerome doesn't hesitate to write about some very real failings that anyone could relate to. I enjoyed it and would like to read Three Men on the Bummel if I can ever find a copy somewhere.

RE #20: I really enjoyed Eliot's book and just read somewhere on the net that he intended it for kids and close friends, so that probably explains the rather clunky rhythm. But the language is outstanding.

I'm already working on next year's categories--this whole category thing motivates me and is quite interesting (I mean sneaking peeks at others' lists is terrific) and have two so far: Books on Books, probably an easy one, and Group Biographies, maybe not so easy. I'm thinking of things like The Five of Hearts and The Mitford Sisters for that one. Also, I might try a Noir category, with things like The Maltese Falcon for a change from my usual, more "cosy" type mysteries.

Right now I'm reading the bio. of Queen Victoria and (I know, I know, everyone's sick to death of hearing it) still working on Anna Karenina. That book (A.K.) has the most complete, realistic, rounded characters I've ever come across in a novel. Marvelous.

#38 - What I tried to do this year was allow some of my 'drop off the list for a bit' books to actually fit into categories that worked for me. I have a "Just Because" category for that purpose. And, if I can backfit a book to an already existing category and bump something else I feel proud.

I also made a category of mysteries by authors I've never read before so I can have mysteries but still work towards the 81.

I love the idea of "back fitting" a book into a category. I'm worikng on that one myself. Really, I was attracted by this whole idea not to increase my amount of books read, but to urge myself to read some of the categories I find interesting but have been just too dang lazy to get to in the past. (OH really, I hear you saying: too lazy to get to HUMOR, hmmm? Suuuure.") Well, it's true for the most part. I tend to fall into ruts or to just read so randomly that there's no connections in my books at all.

I think I'm going to "backfit" Tarzan of the Apes into my fantasy/sci. fi. category. It sort of works.

Finally, finally finished John Adams. It's a worthy, but lengthy, lengthy book. The second half picks up and moves right along with plenty of insights into many of or Founding Fathers.

I'm about 100 pages into Middlemarch and absolutely love it! Don't know how I could have missed it or avoided it. What a sharp pen Eliot had!

Oh, and Barrel Fever was quite a disappointment to me. I had enjoyed Dress Your Children in Corduroy and Denim (Touchstones not working for this) and one other by him, but this one just left me cold. Too bad...I can always use a good laugh.

I'm glad to hear that Middlemarch is good. It's on my list to read. I just finished Cranford, and I thought it was very witty and a good fun read.

Well, well, finally, finally finished Middlemarch. It's a marvelous book. The characters are very real, and some show true growth and change. The plot is almost a soap opera, with mismatched lovers, unhappy marriages, plenty of guilty secrets, ups and downs of fortunes, and lots of fun, snarky comments on the whole thing by the author. It's a bit odd, though, when one considers Eliot's own life one is sort of amazed at her attitudes toward marriage as portrayed in this book. It's somewhat confusing. I'm just sorry that I waited so long to read it.

I realized yesterday that I have bought more books this year than I have read. Talk about an obsessive.

Caught your postings at just the right time. I was surprised how much I enjoyed Middlemarch when I finally sat down to really read it. I had it for years based on some writer's comment that it was her favorite book that she read every year, but when I'd pick it up and read a few pages, it just didn't call to me. Eventually, when I realized I would have to sit down and give it my full attention, I loved it! I thought it was almost as good--and very like--Pride and Prejudice. Did you see any similarities to Austen?

Well, good grief, I can't imagine reading this huge book every year; you wouldn't have time for anything else.

As of today, December 12, I've got 40 out of, er, 81. Not too bad. One thing I've discovered is that I really enjoy fantasy; I've exceeded the 9 books in that category. I was really surprised by that. Of course I've read lots of books not on the challenge list or even on the challenge topics (not too self-disciplined, eh?).

Also discovered that I'm not too crazy about being hemmed in by lists and stuff. Well, maybe that's not absolutely accurate; I liked exploring some new categories and getting some terrific tips on new books. I was kind of surprised that I couldn't push myself to read at least one book from the classics category. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Speaking of which, I've no idea what I'm going to do for a challenge next year. Must look LT over and see what's going on.

There's plenty of different options for next year's Category Challenge so you don't have to pick 10 in each category. An interesting variant is the stepped challenge where 1 category has 1 book the next has 2 and so on. This totals out at 55 books so gives more leeway in reading other things as well.

Now *that's* an interesting idea. I usually read around 80 to 90 books per year, and I really need to start weeding out some of the stacks. And..I found a discussion group that's getting set to read Herodotus, so that would be one, yes, count them, one from the Classics category that I still have lying around from this year. Thanks for the tips!

Well, at the very tail end of the year, there's good news and bad news.

Good news? I read a lot of books that I otherwise wouldn't have sought out. I discovered a new genre to explore. I met at least part of almost all my categories.

Bad news? I bought more books than I read (129 to 92). I can't get worked up on the Classics (i. e., Greece and Rome) but I'm going to try again next year.