Burgesk's 75 Books Challenge for 2010

This should be a nice challenge. Last year I read a total of 51 books and thought I would challenge myself and go for 75 this year.

I'm will be reading a mixture of classics (from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die List), science fiction, fantasy, history, and baseball related biographies.



January Reads:
1. orwellgeorg::George Orwell: 1477::Animal Farm
2. rrtolkienj::J.R.R. Tolkien: 3203356::The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King
3. conandoylesirarthurc::Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: 19007::The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
4. Terry Pratchett: 1044440::The Color of Magic
5. E.M. Firster: 896743::The Machine Stops
6. Robert Jordon: The Eye of the World
7. Robert Louis Stevenson: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

February Reads:
8: Terry Pratchett: Light Fantastic
9. stumpal::Al Stump: Cobb
10. Lloyd Alexander: The Book of Three
11. Stephen King: Insomnia
12. Lloyd Alexander: Black Cauldron
13. Arthur C. Clarke: 2001: A Space Odyssey
14. John Julius Norwich: Byzantium - Early Centuries
15. Rick Riordon: The Lightning Thief
16. Terry Pratchett: Sourcery

March Reads:
17. Arthur C. Clarke: 7132::2010: Odyssey Two
18. Arthur C. Clarke: 18486::2061: Odyssey Three
19. Arthur C. Clarke: 3001: The Final Odyssey
20. Stephen King: 13428::Hearts in Atlantis
21. douglasadam::Douglas Adams: 5321435::Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
22. Charles Dickens: 2215::Oliver Twist
23. Lloyd Alexander: 5949::The Castle of Llyr
24. Agatha Christie: 3011::The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

April Reads:
25. Stephen King: Black House
26. Lloyd Alexander: Taran Wanderer
27. Stephen King: Song of Susannah

May Reads:
28. Lloyd Alexander: The High King
29. Stephen King: The Dark Tower
30. Stephen King: 1168877::Rose Madder
31. Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

June Reads:
32. Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel
33. Herman Melville: Moby Dick

July Reads:
34. Nathaniel Philbrick: Mayflower
35. Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey

August Reads:
36. Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers
37. Terry Pratchett: Eric
38. Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express
39. Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda
40. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None
41. Lucy Maud Montgomery: 3253::Anne of Green Gables
42. Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Avonlea
43. Terry Pratchett: Interesting Times

September Reads:
44. Anthony Hope: Rupert of Hentzau
45. Terrence Dickinson: The Backyard Astronomer's Guide
46. Lucy Maud Montgomery: 3254::Anne of the Island
47. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: 12418::The Sign of the Four
48. Stephen E. Ambrose: Nothing Like It in the World
49. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 4912::Tarzan of the Apes

October Reads:
50. Leonard Susskind: 5493634::The Black Hole War
51. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 165691::The Return of Tarzan
52. Stephen King: 2903022::Duma Key
53. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 165668::The Beasts of Tarzan
54. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 165695::The Son of Tarzan
55. andrenorton::Andre Norton: 56525::Galactic Derelict
56. irvingwashington::Washington Irving: 2770483::The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
57. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 165664::Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar

November Reads:
58. Andre Norton: 200821::The Defiant Agents
59. Edgar Rice Burroughs: 183747::Jungle Tales of Tarzan
60. maktwain::Mark Twain: 5658::A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur's Court
61. Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities
62. H. Rider Haggard: 55090::King Solomon's Mines
63. blackwoodalgernon::Algernon Blackwood: 564913::The Damned and Other Stories
64. shelleymaryshelley::Mary Shelley: 8294::Frankenstein
65. Orson Scott Card: 825739::Ender's Game
66. Orson Scott Card: 825707::Speaker For The Dead
67. Orson Scott Card: 825709::Xenocide

December Reads:
68. Orson Scott Card: 8639896::Children o the Mind
69. H. Rider Haggard: 2174646::Allan Quartermain
70. Orson Scott Card: 825708::Ender's Shadow
71. abbottjacob::Jacob Abbott: Alexander the Great
72. Orson Scott Card: 825740::Shadow of the Hegemon
73. Orson Scott Card: 825765::Shadow Puppets
74. Edgar Wallace: The Angel of Terror
75. Charles Dickens: 1549::A Christmas Carol
76. Orson Scott Card: Ender In Exile
77. Orson Scott Card: Shadow of the Giant

Welcome!

Welcome to the group!

I will be interested in seeing what you think about the Norwich book.

I finished The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King last night. So, I've finished the trilogy and am now anxious to start on the related works: The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, maybe the History of Middle Earth books depending on how the other two go.

I'm also thinking of starting Proust (and taking my time with it), but am unsure which translation to use. I already have the Scott Moncrief translation for my Sony Reader, so may just go with that one.

I should probably finish the books that I've already begun first though ; )

Last night I finished The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Now I will be reading The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster as part of a group read on MobileRead and should also be able to finish Byzantium - Early Centuries soon (this week?).

A teen friend of mine recommended The Color of Magic and I am enjoying it. I also just finished Pratchett's book, Nation which was terrific.

I have The Colour of Magic home from the library now to read. This is the first Pratchett I have read.

I read The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster last night. It was a quick read, but an interesting story.

Yes, it was an enjoyable book. I'm using the following link as a guide to reading Pratchett's Discworld series: http://www.lspace.org/books/reading-order-guides/the-discworld-reading-order-gui....

alcottacre, I will let you know what I think of Norwich's book when I'm finished. This is only the first of 3 books in the set though. It will take me a while to finish the set, so I will be commenting on the first book only. I also have the Civil War by Shelby Foote that I would like to make it through before I go on vacation with the family in late June. We'll be in the DC area and I would like to visit some of the sites near there and it would be nice to know a bit of the history beforehand.

Now the big question is how I will find the time to do all this reading! I am a coach as well as a board member for our local little league, so things are now getting busy outside of work.

Love Terry Pratchett! It will be fun to see what else you read this year.

I read the one volume abridged version of Norwich's work and I loved it. It gets more and more interesting as it goes along. Good luck reading all three!

We were in Vegas this weekend, didn't want to spend the whole time gambling so read a bit instead. Finished 2 books, The Eye of the World and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Next up: Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett and to finish listening to Insomnia.

Really like your Jan list - some v v excellent boks on there! Are you going to carry on with the Robert Jordan? If you enjoyed it, beware - it becomes exceptionally addictive :) I've just finished the most recent one (No. 12!) and am now chaffing at the bit for the next one. Sigh.

Are these your first Pratchett's? Hope you're enjoying them - they do get much better after the first two. I adore Mort (4th book). Actually I think all the Death books are my favourites (Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music).

Anyway, I'll stop waffling up your thread now and go do some reading!

Finished my second Terry Pratchett book last night and started reading Cobb...need my baseball fix before the season starts!

>12 BekkaJo: - Yeah, my January reads were excellent! Hope that the rest of the year can be as good as the beginning. And yes, I do plan on reading all the Robert Jordan books. I've heard that a couple books in the middle of the series get a little bogged down, but that it picks up again after those.

Yeah, those are my first 2 Pratchett books. Enjoyed them both and am happy to hear that they are much better from there. That's very encouraging.

Will keep an eye on your thread then - see what you think :)

I'd just like to second what BekkaJo says about the Discworld getting better after the first two books. I read my first Discworld book back in the mid '90s because my mother and older brother were both firm Pratchett fans and I couldn't block out the sniggers and guffaws which would burst forth every time they opened one, no matter how hard I tried. I figured they must be really good (either that or my family were just easily amused). Anyway, I started with The Colour of Magic but just couldn't get into it. I abandoned it and tried The Light Fantastic but couldn't get into that properly either. Then, just as I was ready to accept that my sense of humour was obviously defective and give up, my brother handed me Wyrd Sisters to try and I was hooked forever. I guess every Pratchett fan has their favourite storylines. The Witches and The City Watch are my mine :)

>15 verdelambton:: I guess every Pratchett fan has their favourite storylines

Mine = anything with Susan in it! :)

>16 dk_phoenix: For me, it's Susan or Vimes--either of them make the book for me!

>15 verdelambton:: I guess every Pratchett fan has their favourite storylines

Death and Vimes are my favorites--I find the books that focus on the Wizards to generally be the least interesting.

#16 Vimes is my favourite Pratchett character so my favourites are the City Watch books, closely followed by the Tiffany Aching books (Wee Free Men)

Finished 2 more books this weekend:

Cobb: A Biography by Al Stump (this was a great book if you like baseball and it's history) and The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (this was for the group read in this group...a quick but fun read).

As far as the Disc World books are concerned, I think I will finish the Wizards books then will probably concentrate on the Death books.

#20: I will look for Cobb: A Biography because I am a huge baseball fan. Thanks for the recommendation.

Finished a couple more books the past few days: The Black Cauldron (really liking this series...must have my younger son read this when he's a little older!), Insomnia (a re-read, or in this case, a re-listen to, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

#21: If you are a baseball fan then you'll love the book.

Be sure and post your thoughts on The Black Cauldron on the group read spoiler thread!

Finally finished Byzantium - Early Centuries! Also read The Lightning Thief and another Discworld book Sourcery.

I'm currently reading 2010: Odyssey Two, Hearts in Atlantis, and have finally started Proust's Swann's Way. For the Proust book, I figure that I will read a few pages each day...don't want to rush through it at all.

I haven't exactly been keeping this list up to date lately. I just added the March, April, May, and June reads. I'm a little behind the pace needed to complete this challenge, but that's ok. March-June are pretty busy months for me as I coach my oldest sons little league team as well as being a board member for that league, so I don't have a whole lot of time during those months. Also, I just got back from a 2 week vacation in NYC, DC, Salt Lake City, Idaho, Yellowstone...so busy on vacation I didn't have time to read!

I'm currently reading Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick , The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel, and Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

#25: Some great books in there with your current reads list. I hope you are enjoying them!

Finished reading The Three Musketeers last night. This was a really fun book to read. I must read the other books in the series! Oh yeah, I finished Mayflower a couple weeks ago.

#27: I will have to read The Three Musketeers one of these days - maybe after I finish The Count of Monte Cristo.

#28. I really enjoyed The Count of Monte Christo (I read it last year). The book was way different/better than the movie from a couple years ago. FYI, the books in the d'Artangon Romances series are The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later which itself is broken up into 4 novels...The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Ten Years Later, Louise de la Vallière, and The Man in the Iron Mask. Also, according to the Wikipedia entry for the d'Artagnan Romances, there are two further sequels: The Son of Porthos and D'Artagnan Kingmaker which were written after Dumas' death. Wow, I just realized how long it's going to take me to finish off this series!

Sounds like it!

I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't know The Three Musketeers was part of a series!

31. Yeah, I didn't realize it myself until I actually began to read The Three Musketeers.

Just finished reading another Discworld book, Eric.

I need to figure out why the touchstones in my first post aren't showing up correctly anymore. Hmmmm.

Finished two more books this weekend while camping at the beach. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie and The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope.

Those are two oldies but goldies! Isn't The Prisoner of Zenda fun?

I have never read The Prisoner of Zenda. I must remedy that!

35. It was a lot of fun!
36. Yes, you must remedy that!

I finished a couple more books this past week. First was And Then There Were None by Agatha Christieand then Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery...what a wonderful book. I had never read this book before, not sure how that happened?!?! Now I want to read the rest of the books.

I'm currently reading some technology related books for work...pretty boring.

If you really liked The Prisoner of Zenda, there are three others you might try: the sequel to it Rupert of Hentzau, Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon and The Mad King by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

38. TadAD, I just started the sequel Rupert of Hentzau yesterday. I was aware of the this one, but not of the others. Thanks!

I finished two more books this week. The first was Anne of Avonlea which is the second book in the Anne of Green Gables set. The second was another Discworld book, Interesting Times. Still loving that series!

You're reading squarely in my comfort zone--I like all three of those!

Lucky you to be discovering the Anne books for the first time

Finished a couple more books. Rupert of Hentzau, another great book by Anthony Hope and The Backyard Astronomers Guide.

So,The Backyard Astronomers Guide...my oldest son (11 years old) decided that he wanted a telescope for his birthday. I thought that this book would fit perfectly with the telescope we bought him (and also it seemed really interesting to me). Since I used to dabble in astronomy (mainly with binoculars) and have been interested since I was about his age, I figured I would read the book. I just ordered him another couple eyepieces to go with his new scope...I think he's dragging me in with him!

As far as the Anne books are concerned, I should finish the third book, Anne of the Island by tonight.

Finished Anne of the Island yesterday...looking forward to the next Anne book.

I am in the middle of a couple other books right now. Nothing Like It in the World by Stephen Ambrose which is the story of the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Also about halfway through Byzantium The Apogee and about halfway through The Sign of the Four a Sherlock Holmes book.

I think I might read another Discworld book this month too!

I have not read Nothing Like It in the World. I will have to see if my local library has that one. Thanks for the mention!

44. If you have any interest in American history then I'd highly recommend this book. Another good book by the same author is Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

Ok, so I finished a couple books the past week or so. First off was The Sign of the Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The second book was Nothing Like It in the World by Stephen E. Ambrose which was about the building of the transcontinental railroad. If you're into American history I would strongly recommend this book.

I'm still slowly making my was through Byzantium The Apogee. I'm really enjoying it, but tend to only read it when I'm outside at night relaxing with a glass of scotch next to me, so not that often. I'm also reading Tarzan of the Apes and The Black Hole War which is the story of Leonard Susskinds "battle" with Stephen Hawking over the true nature of black holes and whether or not information is lost when it disappears into a black hole.

I really should get back to reading some of the other series that I've started such as the Wheel of Time series. But I've got too many other books I want to read too! I have a feeling I'm not the only person with that problem though.

#45: I have already read Undaunted Courage although I appreciate the recommendation.

Finished a few more books in the past few weeks.

A few of the Tarzan books: Tarzan of the Apes, The Return of Tarzan, and The Beasts of Tarzan. Also finished The Black Hole War and Duma Key.

Currently reading Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History and The Son of Tarzan...should finish both of these sometime this weekend...hopefully! I'm almost on track to meet my goal of 75 books read in 2010.

#47: I'm almost on track to meet my goal of 75 books read in 2010.

Good going! I hope you make it.

Duma Key was one of the better King books that I've read in recent years, at least IMHO. What did you think of it?

Sorry, been kinda busy lately. Right now we're in the middle of my sons soccer season and now his basketball season is starting up. At the tail end of the basketball season the baseball season will start. Sheesh!

drneutron, Yes, I thought Duma Key was a very good book. However, I haven't read any of his later books...the last book of his I read was The Dark Tower VII. Based on a list of his books by publications year, it looks like I have some catching up to do!

Ok, so I've finished a few books since my last post and I am still on track to accomplish the challenge. I finished 2 more Tarzan books, The Son of Tarzan and Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. I've started on Tarzan's Jungle Tales. I read Galactic Derelict the other day, it's the second book in the Time Trader series. On Saturday evening I read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow since I figured that would be a good story to read on Halloween weekend.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow does sound like a good Halloween read!

Ok, haven't updated my latest reads for a while. Here we go...

Finished another book in the Time Trader series, The Defiant Agents. Also finished another book in the Tarzan series, Jungle Tales of Tarzan which tells multiple stories that happened during Tarzan's youth. Finished A Connecticutt Yankee in King Arthur's Court which is a tale of a modern (in Mark Twains time) American that ends up in 6th century Britain. Last night I finished King Solomon's Mines as well as The Damned and Other Stories by Algernon Blackwood. It took me a while to read The Damned and Other Stories as I would pick it up and read a story or two in between other books.

I'm still on target to read 75 books this year! I'm not sure if I'll be able to push myself higher than than next year though...we are expecting our 3rd child in March so I'll be pretty busy next year.

Edited to add that I also finished A Tale of Two Cities this past weekend.

Congratulations on the new baby! I would imagine with 3 you will have your hands full.

Finished a few more books this past week (I was on vacation). I would have finished more than 4, but I spent a lot of time refishing our hardwood floors.

Finished reading Frankenstein which I had actually started reading on my phone a few months ago thinking that I would be able to read it in short stints. I gave up on that and read in on my e-reader instead.

I started reading the Ender Saga series which I've wanted to read for the past couple years. So, I've now finished Ender's Game, Speaker For The Dead, and Xenocide. I will start reading Children of the Mind in a few minutes.

I'm now at 67 books read for the year, so should be able to finish 75 for the year.

Glad to hear that you will make your goal for the year!

Ok, I finished a few more since my last post.

First off, I've read a few more books in the Ender's Saga. Children of the Mind which was the final book in the original quartet. Ender's Shadow, and Shadow of the Hegemon which are the first two books in the Shadow series. I'm currently reading the third Shadow book, Shadow Puppets.

I've also read Allan Quartermain which is a sequel to King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard and Alexander the Great by Jacob Abbott.

So, 3 more books and I will have successfully completed my challenge. I should be able to finish by next weekend. In a couple years I may try for 100 books, but not until the baby is older.

I hope #75 is a dandy for you!

Finished book #s 73 and 74. Orson Scott Card Shadow Puppets and Edgar WallaceThe Angel of Terror.

I think that A Christmas Carol will be book 75 for the year. I've never read it and it should be good to finish the challenge with.

I'm off from this Thursday through the weekend after New Year's, so should be able to finish a few more books this year. Next year will definately be a challenge with the new baby.

I love A Christmas Carol. I think it is a terrific book to choose as #75. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You are joining us again next year, aren't you? The new group is already up and running: http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111

I did it! I just finished book #75. Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, very fitting for the season.

I should finish a couple more books this year and will post them as I finish them.

See you all next year!

Great book to hit #75 with too!

Congratulations on reaching the 75 book mark!! Celebration time!!

Congrats!

Thanks guys! Lets see if I can do it again this year.

I did finish one more book in 2010, Ender in Exile which was another book in the Ender's Series by Orson Scott Card.

Forgot that I also finished Shadow of the Giant at the end of December.