Katethegreyt's 1010 Categories

I just finished reading my last book for the 9 in 9 challenge and have been thinking about my new categories for a couple of months. :-)
I did read 81 books for the 2009 challenge, and though I have been able to read more than 100 books in a single year, I've decided to give myself the goal of reading 8 books in each category and more if possible. One of my categories is finite - the complete works of Timothy Findley - and is over 20 books, so if I manage to complete it, I'll be close to 100 books for the year.
Without further explanation - here are my categories:
1. Works by Canadian Authors
2. ALA Top 10 YA books
3. Books from my BookCrossing TBR shelf
4. For My Students (7th graders)
5. Non-Fiction
6. Authors New to Me
7. Books Published or Purchased in 2010
8. Complete Works of Timothy Findley
9. Books Older than I am :-)
10. Just Because
I'm giving myself the additional goal of posting at least once a week in 2010.
Best of luck to everyone involved in this challenge. :-) I love the incentive.
Am reordering my categories when I list them below. For each category I will list the works I've chosen to read next and will note the date I complete the reading.

I noticed your category For My Students. What do you teach and what kinds of books will be included?

Good question! I teach 7th grade ELA. I never recommend a book without reading it first; hence, I read many YA books. I decided to create a list of what I hope to read in January and will post that tomorrow. There will be two books - one that fits in Category 2 and the other just "For My Students."

I've read a number of Timothy Findley's books and I think it's fantastic you're planning to read all of them! I loved Famous Last Words and I had the pleasure of attending one of Findley's readings about 20 years ago. I really should read more of his works, and I'd be interested in seeing your comments on each after you read them.

Thanks for your message; I will try to post on all of his books. I also heard him speak in 1996. He had just sold the movie rights for Piano Man's Daughter to Whoopi Goldberg. I've often wondered if anything will ever happen with that.

I read Headhunter by Findley this past year, and loved it. I've read several of his other novels, and this one was my absolute favorite.

#3 Ahh I see, I wasn't sure if you meant books that would be assigned for class or just recommendations. It's great that you read YA--there's some really good stuff out there right now, and I think for a lot of teens there is a definite difference between what they like to read and what they're assigned for school. None of my teachers were ever knowledgeable (at least not that they told us) about what we read for fun.

I only assign a specific text for the entire class about 4 times per year. The rest of the time they may have a limited choice (choose one from these five) or may read books of their choice. I like experimenting. Right now I'm preparing a unit to tie in with social studies. They will be studying the Revolutionary War and either reading one from a group of novels (5 or 6) OR doing research on a topic of choice. We'll see how it goes! The social studies teacher was interested in trying something different.

Category 1
The Complete Works of Timothy Findley (in chronological order)
1. The Last of the Crazy People finished 2 January
2. The Butterfly Plague finished 10 January
3. Can You See Me Yet? finished 6 February
4. The Wars finished 22 February
5. Famous Last Words finished 20 August
6. Not Wanted on the Voyage finished 27 August
7. Dinner Along the Amazon finished 12 September
8. The Telling of Lies finished 30 August
9. Stones finished 5 November
10. Elizabeth Rex finished 18 November
11. Inside Memory finished 27 November
12. The Stillborn Lover finished 28 November
13. The Trials of Ezra Pound finished 3 December
14. Headhunter finished 19 December
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.

Category 2
Works by Canadian writers
1. For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again by Michel Tremblay finished 11 January
2. Play Memory by glassjoannamcclellan::Joanna McClelland Glass finished 16 February
3. The Mistress of Nothing by Kate Pullinger finished 29 May
4. Therese and Pierrette and the Little Hanging Angel by Michel Tremblay 14 July
5. Shakespeare's Will by Vern Thiessen finished 26 December
6.
7.
8.

Category 3
ALA Top 10 YA books
1. Zazoo by Richard Mosher finished 27 January
2. The Land by Mildred D. Taylor finished 15 February
3. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer finished 28 March
4. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling 12 July
5.
6.
7.
8.

Category 4
Books from my BookCrossing TBR shelf
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan finished 18 January
2. Love, Greg & Lauren by Greg Manning finished 14 March
3. No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton finished 8 July
4. Timeline by Michael Crichton finished 19 July
5. Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear finished 17 October
6. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear finished 7 November
7. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear finished 23 December
8. Not Quite Burned Out But Crisphy Around the Edges by Sharon M. Draper finished 23 December

Category 5
For my 7th grade students
1. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson finished 20 January
2. Drums at Saratoga by Lisa Banim finished 12 January
3. George Washington's Socks by Elvira Woodruff finished 14 January
4. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier & Christopher Collier finished 23 January
5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare finished 25 January
6. Notes From the Dog by garypaulsen::Gary Paulsen finished 30 January
7. Toliver's Secret by Esther Wood Brady finished 24 February
8. Bird by Angela Johnson finished 12 March
9. Resistance Book 1 by Carla Jablonski & Leland Purvis finished 26 December

Category 6
Non-Fiction
1. In the Path of War:Children of the American Revolution Tell Their Stories edited by Jeanne Winston Adler finished 10 January
2. Thinking Maps - A Language for Learning Trainer's Guide by David Hyerle and Chris Yeager finished 17 February
3. The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson finished 30 June
4. When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris finished 24 July
5. Another Turn of the Crank by Wendell Berry finished 26 December
6.
7.
8.

Category 7
Authors New to Me
1. The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman finished 26 February
2. The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman finished 19 March
3. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett 20 June
4. Losing Julia by Jonathan Hull 23 July
5. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Christopher Hampton 13 August
6. Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & Richard DiLallo finished 5 September
7. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer finished 18 September
8. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta finished 25 September

Category 8
Books Published or Purchased in 2010
1. Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier finished 28 February
2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead finished 22 March
3. The Memory Thief by Rachel Keener finished 21 April
4. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot finished 29 July
5. The Road by Cormac McCarthy finished 3 October
6. Bone Tall Tales by Jeff Smith with Tom Sniegoski finished 28 November
7. Of Thee I Sing A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama finished 4 December
8. Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech finished 19 December

Category 9
Books Older Than I am :-)
1. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories by Mark Twain finished 6 March
2. Diary of a Nobody by George & Weedon Grossmith finished 27 March
3. Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham 1 July
4. Hawthorne and His Publisher by Caroline Ticknor finished 5 August
5. The War Prayer by Mark Twain finihsed 11 December
6. How and What to Read by Sherwin Cody finished 15 December
7. Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather finished 26 December
8. Old Possum's book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot finished 26 December

Category 10
Just Because
1. Rat Life by Tedd Arnold finished 19 April
2. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen finished 29 April
3. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin finished 20 May
4. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling finished 30 July
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling finished 3 September
6.
7.
8.

Today I updated messages 9, 14, and 16. Hope to post some reviews and updates on the 75 book challenge tomorrow.

Updated message #10 this evening.

Have read 12 books in the month of January and not one was a disappointment. I've updated all 10 of my categories with reading completed and planned reading for February. I hope everyone is enjoying their reading this year as much as I am.

Now I have a ticker to track my reading:




Just finished reading Can You See Me Yet? by Timothy Findley. I want to see this play in performance. It is timeless and continues so many of the strands and ideas found in his fiction.

My categories have been updated to reflect reading completed so far this year. I've been posting messages about my reading under my 75 book challenge in 2010 in case you arrive here and are interested.

I've completed my goal for Category 5, Books for my 7th grade students. I will probably read more of them, but if any fulfill one of my other categories, I'll list them there first. 74 books to go for the challenge!

Just updated my completed reading so far. Most recent reads are Diary of a Nobody - delightful, and Twilight - a page turner.

Just updated my completed reading through today. I want to get back into the habit of posting. The second half of the school year consumed my time.

Keeping up to date regarding my reading on LibraryThing was not a strong point for me in 2010. I just updated this challenge and - if anyone is still reading my entries - I will not make the challenge this year but almost!
I have not read all of Timothy Findley. I am pleased to have read more than half and will probably finish over the next 2 or 3 months. I love his writing and will be reading some things again. When I finished reading Headhunter I decided to do lighter reading for the rest of the year.
Category 2 - Canadian Writers - I wanted this to be other than Findley but allowing myself Findley, I have made this goal.
Category 3 - ALA Top 10 YA - Very surprised that I have not made this one, but with so much to read, I focused on other books for my students.
Category 4 - Books registered on BookCrossing - made the goal plus many of the books in my other categories were BC books.
Category 5 - For My Students - no problem making this one - I actually read more books for my students that fit in other categories.
Category 6 - Again - I wanted to have each category independent of overlap. With overlap I readched 6 of my 8.
Category 7 - Authors New to Me - not a problem
Category 8 - Books Published or Purchased in 2010 - not a problem
Category 9 - Books Older Than I am - not a problem
Category 10 - Just Because - not a problem.

So...on December 27 I have read 77 books and will be reading more over the next few days. I have successfully read 8 books in 6 of my 10 categories, a 7th category is met by counting books twice, and there is a remote possibility of completing one of the other categories. However, I am not focusing on completing categories - just on reading.
I have had a successful year.
Not sure about joining the 11 in 11 Challenge because I am thinking of a different approach to my reading for 2011.

Sounds like you still made excellent progress on your 1010 challenge, even if you didn't finish. I have only recently discovered Timothy Findley - loved The Last of the Crazy People and plan on reading more Findley next year as part of my 11 in 11 Challenge.

lkernagh, thank you! Now you've got me thinking about 11 in 11 again. LOL I just don't want to limit myself by saying I have to read "x" number of books in each of 11 categories. I'll have to check out what others are doing.