Non-Fiction Challenge - Complete!

Yay! I've completed another challenge, Trish's Non-Fiction Challenge. Ok...sort of. It ended in September so I'm a tad bit late...but who's counting. Not me!

The books are definitely not the ones I thought I was going to read. It's funny because these were all sort of humorous memoir type of books. Totally a new subject area for me.

Here's the list:

1. When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris (Finished May 19, 2009)
2. The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel (Finished May 07, 2009)
3. Julie & Julia - Julie Powell (Finished August 25, 2009)
4. A Man Without a Country - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished December 28, 2009)
5. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris (Finished December 30, 2009)


**Apparently I'm also reluctant to review these, although I will. Maybe because I find it hard to critically review someone else's personal life. Hmm...

What I Read in November

I am so proud of myself this month. I read 13 Books!! That is the MOST I've ever read in a month. I've read a total of 87 books this years so just 13 more and I'll read my goal of 100 books this year. Think I can do it?

Here's the recap:

November

75. Gourmet Rhapsody - Muriel Barbery
76. Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman

77. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger

78. Only Milo - Barry Smith
79. Now & Then - Jacqueline Sheehan
80. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
81. Giv: The Story of a Dog and America - Boston Teran

82. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Anne Shaffer & Annie Barrows
83. The Creed of Violence - Boston Teran

84. The Sandman Vol 1.: Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman

85. Arch Enemy - Frank Beddor
86. The Information Officer - Mark Mills
87. Hunter - Campbell Jefferys


Don't worry, my reviews will be coming ASAP.

**What all did you read this month? Did you have a favorite?

100+ Challenge Update - October

October has been, by far, my best reading month ever. I've been trying real hard to get in some books so I can complete the 100+ Challenge. I've read 75 books this year so do you all think I can read 25 books in the next two months?? Eek!

October
63. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl
64. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
65. Sacred Hearts - Sarah Dunant
66. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
67. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens
68. The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
69. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys
70. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
71. Real Murders - Charlaine Harris
72. Seeing Redd - Frank Beddor
73. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
74. Sunflowers - Sheramy Bundrick

R.I.P. IV Challenge - Completed

I finished Carl's R.I.P. IV Challenge. For all you who haven't heard of Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings, go check him out. You can also check out what I read last year for the R.I.P. III Challenge.

I chose Peril the First: Read Four books from any sub-genre of scary stories that you choose.

Here's my completed list:

1. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens (Finished October 20, 2009)

2. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl (Finished October 04, 2009)

3. Dark Star - Alan Furst (Finished September 05, 2009)

4. The Harrowing - Alexandra Sokoloff (Finished September 01, 2009)

5. The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan (Finished October 21, 2009)

6. Real Murders - Charlaine Harris (Finished October 26, 2009)

You can see what everyone else read over at The Review Site.

Man Booker Prize

The winner for the 2009 Man Booker prize for fiction is Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. The book sounds so interesting since I love historical fiction.

I love the Man Booker prize since so many books and authors I like or want to read are on the list. I'm not going to make this a "challenge" par say but more of a reading list for future TBR books.

I loved The Last Orders, really liked Blind Assassin, appreciated The English Patient, and did NOT like Life of Pi.

Have you read any Man Booker prize winners and did you like it?

*** Update: S. Krishna's Book blog also has a great post on the Man Booker Award as part of her Booker Challenge. Her list includes the winners as well as the ones that were shortlisted from 2009-1990 as well as the Best of the Booker. Go check it out!


Here's the Winner's list:

2009 Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
2008 The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
2007 The Gathering - Anne Enright
2006 The Inheritance of Loss - Kiran Desai
2005 The Sea - John Banville
2004 The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst
2003 Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
2002 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
2001 The History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey
2000 The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
1999 Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
1998 Amsterdam - Ian McEwan
1997 The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
1996 Last Orders - Graham Swift
1995 The Ghost Road - Pat Barker
1994 How Late It Was, How Late - James Kelman
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle
1992 The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
1991 The Famished Road - Ben Okri
1990 Possession - A.S. Byatt
1989 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
1988 Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey
1987 Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
1986 The Old Devils - Kingsley Amis
1985 The Bone People - Keri Hulme
1984 Hotel du Lac - Anita Brookner
1983 The Life & Times of Michael K - J.M. Coetzee
1982 Schindler's Ark - Thomas Keneally
1981 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
1980 Rites of Passage - William Golding
1979 Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald
1978 The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
1977 Staying On - Paul Scott
1976 Saville - David Storey
1975 Heat and Dust - Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
1974 The Conservationist - Nadine Gordimer
1974 Holiday - Stanley Middleton
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur - J.G. Farrell
1972 G - John Berger
1971 In a Free State - V.S. Naipaul
1970 The Elected Member - Bernice Rubens
1969 Something to Answer for - P.H. Newby

R.I.P. IV Challenge

Woohoo! It's time for Carl's R.I.P. IV Challenge. For all you who haven't heard of Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings, go check him out. You can also check out what I read last year for the R.I.P. III Challenge. It was a blast.

Here's what Carl says:

Readers Imbibing Peril, that is what it is all about. I hope you’ll consider joining us on this more eerie road less traveled.

Walk this way.

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The desire for the thrill that comes with this kind of reading drifts in on the autumn winds. You breathe it in and it takes hold of you, tempting you to late nights, book-in-hand, turning pages and starting at every unknown noise. Something wicked this way comes…

I'm choosing Peril the First: Read Four books from any sub-genre of scary stories that you choose.

Since I'm on a self-imposed no buying no borrowing kick (to make some room on my shelves), I'm only reading books that I own but haven't read. Here's my list:

The Meaning of Night: A Confession - Michael Cox

Drood - Dan Simmons

The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens (Finished October 20, 2009)

The Monsters of Florence - Douglas Preston, Mario Spezi

The Black Tower - Louis Bayard

The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl (Finished October 04, 2009)

Dark Star - Alan Furst (Finished September 05, 2009)

Bridge of Sighs - Olen Steinhauer

Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

Voyage of the Narwhal - Andrea Barrett

Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg

The Monsters of Templeton - Lauren Groff

**Found two more:

The Harrowing - Alexandra Sokoloff (Finished September 01, 2009)

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
**Borrowed from Library
The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan (Finished October 21, 2009)
Real Murders - Charlaine Harris (Finished October 26, 2009)

You can see what everyone else is reading over at The Review Site.

National Book Awards Challenge

This challenge is in honor of the National Book Foundation's 60th Anniversary of the National Book Award.

The Foundation will be celebrating the month of July with a blog (will link soon) paying tribute to the past award winners. The blog's tributes will be written by a select group of commentators composed of past Winners, Finalists, judges, and other prominent writers, editors, bloggers, librarians, booksellers, and critics.

Rachel from A Bohemian's Book Reviews and I are co-hosting this challenge.

Please head over to our National Book Awards Challenge site and sign up! You can also post a link to your reviews here.

Option 1: Bronze Medal
Read one book from the list between June 15th and December 31st.
Option 2: Silver Medal
Read three books from the list between June 15th and December 31st.
Option 3: Gold Medal
Read five books from the list between June 15th and December 31st.

Amanda's National Book Awards List
**Going for the Gold**
1. Europe Central - William T. Vollmann
2. Charming Billy - Alice McDermott (Finished June 23, 2009)
3. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (Finished July 3, 2009)
4. Three Junes - Julia Glass (Finished August 11, 2009)
5. Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann (Finished May 25, 2009)


National Book Awards List
1950 The Man With the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren
1951 The Collected Stories of William Faulkner
1952 From Here to Eternity - James Jones
1953 Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
1954 The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
1955 A Fable - William Faulkner

1956 Ten North Frederick - John O'Hara

1957 The Field of Vision - Wright Morris

1958 The Wapshot Chronicle - John Cheever

1959 The Magic Barrel - Bernard Malamud

1960 Goodbye Columbus - Philip Roth

1961 The Waters of Kronos - Conrad Richter

1962 The Moviegoer - Walker Percy

1963 Morte D'Urban - J.F. Powers

1964 The Centaur - John Updike

1965 Herzog - Saul Bellow

1966 The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter - Katherine Anne Porter

1967 The Fixer - Bernard Malamud

1968 The Eigth Day - Thornton Wilder

1969 Steps - Jerzy Kosinski

1970 Them - Joyce Carol Oates

1971 Mr. Sammler's Planet - Saul Bellow

1972 The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor - Flannery O'Connor

1973 Chimera - John Barth

1973 Augustus - John Williams

1974 Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

1974 A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories - Isaac Bashevis Singer

1975 Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone

1975 The Hair of Harold Roux - Thomas Williams

1976 JR - William Gaddis

1977 The Spectator Bird - Wallace Stegner

1978 Blood Tie - Mary Lee Settle

1979 Going After Cacciato - Tim O'Brien

1980 Stained Glass - William F. Buckley, Jr.

1980 The World According to Garp - John Irving

1980 Bendigo Shafter - Louis L'Amour

1980 The Green Ripper - John D.Mac Donald

1980 Jem - Frederick Pohl

1980 Sophie's Choice - William Styron

1980 The Book of Dun Cow - Walter Wangerin, Jr.

1981 Birdy - William Wharton

1981 Sister Wolf - Ann Arensberg

1981 The Stories of John Cheever - John Cheever

1981 Plains Song - Wright Morris

1982 Dew Dales Loves Sophie to Death - Robb Forman

1982 So Long, See You Tomorrow - William Maxwell

1982 Rabbit is Rich - John Updike

1983 The Women of Brewster Place - Gloria Naylor

1983 The Color Purple - Alice Walker

1983 The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty - Eudora Welty

1984 Stones for Ibarra - Harriet Doerr

1984 Victory Over Japan - Ellen Gilchrist

1985 White Noise - Don DeLillo

1985 Easy in the Islands - Bob Shacochis

1986 World's Fair - E.L. Doctorow

1987 Paco's Story - Larry Heinemann

1988 Paris Trout - Pete Dexter

1989 Spartina - John Casey

1990 Middle Passage - Charles Johnson

1991 Mating - Norman Rush

1992 All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy

1993 The Shipping News - Annie Proulx

1994 A Frolic of His Own - William Gaddis

1995 Sabbath's Theater - Philip Roth

1996 Ship Fever and Other Stories - Andrea Barrett Ship

1997 Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier

1998 Charming Billy - Alice McDermott

1999 Waiting - Ha Jin2000 In America - Susan Sontag

2001 The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

2002 Three Junes - Julia Glass

2003 The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard

2004 The News from Paraguay - Lily Tuck

2005 Europe Central - William T. Vollmann

2006 The Echo Maker - Richard Powers

2007 Tree of Smoke - Denis Johnson

2008 Shadow Country - Peter Matthiessen
2009 Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann

National Book Awards Challenge

While I was at BEA a while back I met a couple of lovely people from the National Book Foundation. They brought to my attention the fact that this is the 60th Anniversary of the National Book Awards. They will be celebrating this all of July with various people commenting on past winners. (I will post a link as soon as their blog is up.) I was looking over the list of past winners and thought it would be a great idea to do a National Book Awards Challenge. I can't believe I've only read one of these (The Color Purple). I do own three others though.

If you'd like to participate, here are some options for you:

Option 1: Bronze Medal
Read one book from the list between June 15th and July 31st.

Option 2: Silver Medal
Read three books from the list between June 15th and July 31st.

Option 3: Gold Medal
Read five books from the list between June 15th and July 31st.


National Book Awards List

1950 The Man with the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren
1951 The Collected Stories of William Faulkner - William Faulkner
1952 From Here to Eternity - James Jones
1953 Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
1954 The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
1955 A Fable - William Faulkner
1956 Ten North Frederick - John O'Hara
1957 The Field of Vision - Wright Morris
1958 The Wapshot Chronicle - John Cheever
1959 The Magic Barrel - Bernard Malamud
1960 Goodbye Columbus - Philip Roth
1961 The Waters of Kronos - Conrad Richter
1962 The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
1963 Morte D'Urban - J.F. Powers
1964 The Centaur - John Updike
1965 Herzog - Saul Bellow Herzog
1966 The Collected Stories - Katherine Anne Porter
1967 The Fixer - Bernard Malamud
1968 The Eighth Day - Thornton Wilder
1969 Jerzy Kosinski - Steps
1970 Them - Joyce Carol Oates
1971 Mr. Sammler's Planet - Saul Bellow
1972 The Complete Storie - Flannery O'Connor
1973 Chimera - John Barth
1973 Augustus - John Williams
1974 Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
1974 Crown of Feathers and Other Stories - Isaac Bashevis Singer
1975 Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
1975 The Hair of Harold Roux - Thomas Williams
1976 JR - William Gaddis
1977 The Spectator Bird - Wallace Stegner
1977 Master Tung's Western Chamber Romance - Li Li Chen
1978 Blood Tie - Mary Lee Settle
1979 Going After Cacciato - Tim O'Brien
1980 The World According to Garp - John Irving
1980 Sophie's Choice - William Styron
1981 Plains Song - Wright Morris Plains Song
1982 Rabbit is Rich - John Updike
1983 The Women of Brewster Place - Gloria Naylor
1983 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
1984 Victory Over Japan - Ellen Gilchrist
1985 White Noise - Don DeLillo
1986 World's Fair - E.L. Doctorow
1986 Arctic Dreams - Barry Lopez
1987 Paco's Story - Larry Heinemann
1988 Paris Trout - Pete Dexter
1989 Spartina - John Casey
1990 Middle Passage - Charles Johnson
1991 Mating - Norman Rush
1992 All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy
1993 The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx
1994 A Frolic of His Own - William Gaddis
1995 Sabbath's Theater - Philip Roth Sabbath's
1996 Ship Fever and Other Stories - Andrea Barrett
1997 Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
1998 Charming Billy - Alice McDermott
1999 Waiting - Ha Jin
2000 In America - Susan Sontag
2001 The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
2002 Three Junes - Julia Glass
2003 The Great Fire - Shirley Hazzard
2004 The News From Paraguay - Lily Tuck
2005 Europe Central - William T. Vollmann
2006 The Echo Maker - Richard Powers
2007 Tree of Smoke - Denis Johnson
2008 Shadow Country - Peter Matthiessen

100+ Challenge Update

I was reminded by the Urban Bachelorette's post that I need to post an update on my 100+ Reading Challenge progress.

So far this year I've read FORTY books. Woo hoo! Sadly I am WAY behind in posting reviews. That's ok...I will get around to doing it. I've read some awesome books.

Here's my list for May:

Photographing Fairies - Steve Szilagyi
The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel
The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen

The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson

When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris

Daphne: A Novel - Justine Picardie

Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman

Night Music - Harrison Gradwell Slater

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Non-Fiction Challenge

Yes, I'm joining another challenge. This time it's the Non-Fiction Challenge hosted by Trish's Reading Nook. The challenge runs from May to September and with a minimum of five non-fiction books. I have a bachelors in history so during my college years I read A LOT of non-fiction books. And I love them. But I've been taking a bit of a break recently. I have a number of non-fiction books laying around at home I've been meaning to read so this is a great chance.

So far here's what I've got:

1. When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris (Finished May 19, 2009)
2. The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel (Finished May 07, 2009)
3. Julie & Julia - Julie Powell (Finished August 25, 2009)
4. A Man Without a Country - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished December 28, 2009)
5. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris (Finished December 30, 2009)

**Woo hoo! Finished...just a few months a little late. Apparently I went for a bit of humor and memoir-ishy (making up words is fun) types of books.

Once Upon a Time III

Last time Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings hosted the Once Upon a Time Challenge, I missed it. So this time I'm definitely participating. The challenge runs from March 21st to June 2oth. Please head over to Carl's post for the Once Upon a Time III challenge to sign up. Please post your reviews here or just check them out!

For those of you who haven't heard of it, the challenge is to read books on fantasy, folklore, fairy tale, and mythology.

There are many different Quests you can choose but I'm choosing Quest the First - read 5 books that fit somewhere within those genres.

I'm excited because while I love these genres, I haven't read too much of them. So this will give me a chance to read some books I wouldn't normally get around to reading. Here are some of my ideas:

1. The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor (Finished April 6, 2009)
2. Godmother - Carolyn Turgeon (Finished April 9, 2009)
3. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman (Finished April 22, 2009)
4. The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar (Finished April 24, 2009)
5. Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen (Finished April 29, 2009)
6. Photographing Fairies - Steve Szilagyi (Finished May 04, 2009)
7. A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin (Finished June 18, 2009)

The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton
Seeing Redd - Frank Beddor
Enchantment - Orson Scott Card

Too Many...Again

Sigh...

I've done it again. I'm in the middle of too many books. Last time I did this, I ALMOST got through them all. Anna Karenina has become the bane of my existence. OK. Maybe not THAT dramatic.

Here's my new list:

1. The Likeness - Tana French (Finished March 20, 2009)

2. If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino (Finished March 25, 2009)

3. 1984 - George Orwell (Finished April 15, 2009)

4. The Five-Forty-Five to Cannes - Tess Uriza Holthe

5. Foundation - Isaac Asimov

6. The Yacoubian Building - Alaa Al Aswany

7. Humboldt's Gift - Saul Bellow

8. The Dracula Dossier - James Reese

9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy


Since I'm half-way through pretty much all of these...I think I can finish pretty soon. What do you think?

Dystopian Novel Challange

I'm currently reading Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake and am definitely loving it. It's sort of for Carl's Sci-Fi Challenge even though it's not full Sci-Fi. Which brings me to the difference between Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and dystopian novels. Do you think dystopian novels count as Sci-Fi books? Hmmm..

Anyway, I mentioned to my husband that he should read it but he said he's never read a dystopian novel...not 1984, A Brave New World...nothing! So I got to thinking and I came up with:

The Dystopian Novel Challenge

1. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (Finished January 30, 2009)

2. 1984 - George Orwell (Finished April 15, 2009)

3. A Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

4. The Road - Cormac McCarthy

5. Neuromancer - William Gibson

6. We - Yevgeny Zamyatin

7. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished February 06, 2009)

8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Philip K. Dick

9. Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer (Finished February 5, 2009)

10. World War Z - Max Brooks (Finished February 18, 2009)

11. The Unit - Ninni Holmqvist (Finished July 6, 2009)

12. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (Finished October 24, 2009)

Already reviewed:

The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood


Do you have any suggestions or must-reads for the list? I'm re-reading A Brave New World and finally reading all of 1984. I've already read Fahernheit 451 and probably won't re-read that one.

Should Have Read (But Didn't) Challenge

After seeing so many great challenges floating around the blog-o-sphere, I've decided to make my own challenge. A personal challenge. Keeping myself honest. Here it goes:

This challenge is to read all those books I was supposed to have read back in high school (or whenever) that I should have read but didn't. One I pretended to read (Lord Jim) while others I never finished. (I know you are shocked!! I hope my old English teacher isn't reading this.) I have all 2009 to finish this challenge.

So without much ado, the list:

1. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

2. The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane

3. 1984 - George Orwell (Finished April 15, 2009)

4. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad

5. The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper

6. Tender is the Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Bonus:

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (Finished but hated so I should re-read.) (Finished February 17, 2010 and loved it!)

8. The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemingway (Never required but why wasn't it?)

9. Anna Karneina - Leo Tolstoy (Because I'm halfway through and need to freakin' finish it.)


***Did you ever pretend to read a book you didn't?
***Excuse the picture...the Paint program only takes you so far.

The Dream King Challenge

I've realized that I love challenges. They make me read more and they make me narrow down what to read from my huge list of TBR books. So I've decided to sign up for The Dream King Challenge which is to read Neil Gaiman books. Woohoo! The challenge lasts all year and there are different levels and categories.

I've already read and loved Neverwhere, Stardust, Coraline, and Anansi Boys. And I've watched the movie Stardust and the mini-series Neverwhere.

Here are the levels:

Neophyte: Read one work and watch one movie
Acolyte: Read three works (from three different categories) and watch one movie
Devotee: Read six works (from six different categories) and watch one movie
Zealot: Read twelve works (from at least six different categories) and watch one movie.

Amanda's Completed Devotee List:

1. Neil Recommended: The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar (Finished April 24, 2009)
2. Movie: Coraline - Beautiful and creepy! (Watched September 22nd, 2009)
3. Short Stories: Smoke and Mirrors (Finished November 3, 2009)
4. Young Adult: The Graveyard Book (Finished November 12, 2009)
5. Novels: American Gods
6. Comics/Graphic Novels: The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (Finished November 20, 2009)

Amanda's Neil Gaiman Devotee List Choices:

AudioBook
1. Neil Gaiman Audio Collection (read by Neil Gaiman)
2. InterWorld (not read by Neil)

Short Stories
3. Fragile Things (audio read by Neil Gaiman)
4. Smoke and Mirrors

Novels
5. American Gods
6. Good Omens (w/ Terry Prachett)

Comics/Graphic Novels
7. The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes

Young Adult
8. M is for Magic (audio read by Neil Gaiman)
9. The Graveyard Book

Neil Recommended
10. The Good Fairies of New York

Movie
Coraline
Stardust (I own it so this is easy)

***For any Neil Gaiman fan, what book/comic/etc. is your favorite or what would you recommend??

***Thanks Fyrefly for recommending getting audio books read by Neil himself. I'm looking forward to it...my commute to work will go by a lot faster :)

2008 Books Read List

I've decided to keep a list of all the books I've read each year. In 2008 I read 73 books. I think that's quite good! Obviously I didn't start out the year intending to read so much and blog about them all. But after reading some great book blogs and joining up in a few challenges, I ended up reading quite a few books. My goals for 2009 are to read at least 100 books and the Bible.

Challenges Completed:
1% Well-Read Challenge
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
Classics Challenge
R.I.P. III Challenge

Challenges Almost Completed:
Amanda's-in-the-middle-of-too-many-books-challenge (shy of just one!)


January
1. The Queen's Bastard - Robin Maxwell
2. The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

February
3. Atonement - Ian McEwan
4. My Dream of You - Nuala O'Faolain
5. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
6. The Purpose Driven Life - Rick Warren

March
7. Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
8. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella
9. People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
10. Chasing Windmills - Catherine Ryan Hyde

April
11. The River King - Alice Hoffman
12. The Book of Air and Shadows - Michael Gruber
13. The Last Boleyn - Karen Harper
14. I Just Want My Pants Back - David Rosen
15. The Color of a Dog Running Away - Richard Gwyn
16. Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
17. Norweigan Wood - Haruki Murakami

May
18. The Rossetti Letter - Christi Phillips
19. Full House - Janet Evanovich
20. One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
21. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
22. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

June
23. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
24. The Light of Day - Graham Swift
25. The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
26. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
27. Galileo's Daughter - Dava Sobel
28. The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean
29. The Colour - Rose Tremain
30. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant
31. New Moon - Stephenie Meyer

July
32. Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
33. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
34. The Blood of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani
35. Sexing the Cherry - Jeanette Winterson
36. Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
37. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
38. The Last Summer (of You and Me) - Ann Brashares
39. The Lace Reader - Brunonia Barry
40. Summer - Edith Wharton

August
41. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
42. These Old Shades - Georgette Heyer
43. The Penelopiad - Margaret Atwood
44. The Spanish Bow - Andromeda Romano-Lax
45. The Richest Season - Maryann McFadden
46. The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje

September
47. The Steppe and Other Stories - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
48. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
49. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

October
50. The Terror - Dan Simmons
51. The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
52. The Best Place to Be - Lesley Dormen
53. The Manikin - Joanna Scott
54. In the Woods - Tana French
55. Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
56. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See
57. The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

November
58. The Ice Queen - Alice Hoffman
59. Away - Amy Bloom
60. Run - Ann Patchett
61. The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe
62. The Septembers of Shiraz - Dalia Sofer
63. Chez Moi - Agnes Desarthe
64. National Geographic Traveler: Egypt - Andrew Humphreys
65. When We Were Gods - Colin Falconer

December
66. Scot on the Rocks - Brenda Janowitz
67. Jack with a Twist - Brenda Janowitz
68. The Green Beauty Guide - Julie Gabriel
69. Who by Fire - Diana Spechler
70. The Sunday Philosophy Club - Alexander McCall Smith
71. The Cloud Atlas - Liam Callanan
72. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - Laurie Viera Rigler
73. The City of Ember - Jeanne Duprau

Dewey's Books Reading Challenge

When I returned from our trip to Egypt I was saddened to hear that a fellow book blogger, Dewey, had passed away. Her blog, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, was/is very popular. She was such a huge member of this community.

So when I heard about the Dewey's Books Reading Challenge for reading some books Dewey had read and reviewed, I thought this would be a great way to remember her.

Here's the link for posting the Challenge Reviews.

So I am going to read six books, one from each year she posted.

Amanda's Dewey Books

2003: Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer

2004: The Inner Circle - T.C. Boyle

2005: Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood

2006: Outlander (Book 1) - Diana Gabaldon

2007: Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman (Finished May 23, 2009)

2008: The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes - Neil Gaiman (Finished Nov 20, 2009)

Sci Fi Experience

If you haven't checked out Carl's blog, Stainless Steel Droppings before, you should now. He's got some great posts and great challenges. Remember the R.I.P. III one?

Well his new one, the Sci Fi Experience for 2009 is one I'm going to join as well. The experience runs from January 1st through February 28th, 2009. There is really no rules except to enjoy the genre of sci fi. But if you want to read some sci fi books, you can join up the Sci Fi Experience Book Review site.

I personally love sci fi. My dad always had a ton of books lying around that I'd grab and read. And I always loved watching sci fi movies and shows. Some of my favorites?

So here's a list of books I will try and read:

Dune - Frank Herbert
Paul of Dune - Brian Herbert
Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert
Children of Dune - Frank Herbert
The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson
A Man Rides Through - Stephen R. Donaldson
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
Foundation - Isaac Asimov
Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert A. Heinlein

Books Read:

1. A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs (Finished January 28, 2009)

2. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (Finished January 30, 2009)

3. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished February 06, 2009)

4. Life As We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer (Finished February 05, 2009)

5. The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 19, 2009)

6. A Man Rides Through - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 28, 2009)

7. Dune - Frank Herbert (Finished February 9, 2009)

8. Paul of Dune - Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Finished February 16, 2009)

9. World War Z - Max Brooks (Finished February 18, 2009)

10. The Host - Stephenie Meyer (Finished February 22, 2009)

Art History Reading Challenge

As I am wrapping up 2008 and preparing for 2009, I've been finding some fun reading challenges around the blog-o-sphere. This one especially stood out for me since I LOVE art history and have a few un-read books at home that would fit this challenge. All you have to do is read six books that has art history as a topic. (As you can see I have way too many books I want to read.) You can join along at this website:

Amanda's Picks

1. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling - Ross King

2. Lust for Life - Irving Stone

3. Luncheon of the Boating Party - Susan Vreeland

4. The Painting - Nina Schuyler

5. With Violets - Elizabeth Robards

6. Van Gogh's Bad Cafe - Frederic Tuten (Finished February 20, 2009)

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7. Blindspot - Jane Kamensky (not sure how much art is in this one)

8. The Art Thief - Noah Charney

9. The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century - Edward Dolnick

10. Old Masters, New World: America's Raid on Europe's Great Pictures - Cynthia Saltzman

11. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte

12. The Painter of Battles - Arturo Perez-Reverte

13. Cezanne's Quarry - Barbara Pope

14. Leonardo's Swans - Karen Essex (Finished July 12, 2009)

15. Stealing Athena - Karen Essex

16. Painter from Shanghai - Jennifer Epstein

17. The Forgery of Venus - Michael Gruber

18. The Passion of Artemisia - Susan Vreeland

19. The Girl in Hyacinth Blue - Susan Vreeland

20. The Sidewalk Artist - Gina Buonaguro

21. Portrait of an Unknown Woman - Vanora Bennett

22. Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper - Harriet Scott Chessman

23. The Illuminator - Brenda Rickman Vantrease

24. A Rare and Curious Gift - Pauline Holdstock

25. Sunflowers - Sheramy Bundrick (Finished October 31, 2009)


Past Art History Book Reviews:

1. The Blood of Flowers - Anita Amirrezvani

2. The Birth of Venus - Sarah Dunant

3. The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean

100+ Reading Challenge for 2009

So far I've read 69 books this year. I should be finishing up a few more before the year ends, which led me to join the 100+ Reading Challenge for 2009 hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

I figured if I push myself a bit next year I can get that accomplished. If you're interested in this challenge, head on over and sign up. My goal is to read 8+ books a month. Yikes!

Amanda's 100+ Reading Challenge for 2009
Number of Books Read: 100

January: 7 books
February: 8 books

March: 6 books
April: 9 books
May: 9 books

June: 6 books
July: 6 books

August: 5 books
September: 6 books
October: 12 books
November: 13 books
December: 13 books

1. The Shack - William P. Young (Finished January 05, 2009)
2. The Scent of Sake - Joyce Lebra (Finished January 12, 2009)
3. After Dark - Haruki Murakami (Finished January 15, 2009)
4. The Mirror of Her Dreams - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 19, 2009)
5. A Man Rides Through - Stephen R. Donaldson (Finished January 28, 2009)
6. A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs (Finished January 28, 2009)
7. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood (Finished January 30, 2009)
8. Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer (Finished February 5, 2009)
9. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (Finished February 6, 2009)
10. Dune - Frank Herbert (Finished February 9, 2009)
11. Paul of Dune - Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Finished February 16, 2009)
12. World War Z - Max Brooks (Finished February 18, 2009)

13.Van Gogh's Bad Cafe: A Love Story - Frederic Tuten (Finished February 20, 2009)

14. The Host - Stephenie Meyer (Finished February 22, 2009)

15. Time and Again - Jack Finney (Finished February 27, 2009)

16. Belong to Me - Marisa de los Santos (Finished March 4, 2009)

17. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote (Finished March 4, 2009)

18. Coventry: A Novel - Helen Humphreys (Finished March 6, 2009)
19. Rabbit, Run - John Updike (Finished March 12, 2009)
20. The Likeness - Tana French (Finished March 20, 2009)
21. If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino (Finished March 25, 2009)
22. I See You Everywhere - Julia Glass (Finished April 2, 2009)
23. The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor (Finished April 6, 2009)

24. Godmother - Carolyn Turgeon (April 9, 2009)

25. Rain Village - Carolyn Turgeon (Finished April 13, 2009)
26. 1984 - George Orwell (Finished April 15, 2009)
27. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman (Finished April 22, 2009)
28. The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar (Finished April 24, 2009)

29. The Little Book - Selden Edwards (Finished April 28, 2009)

30. Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen (Finished April 29, 2009)
31. Photographing Fairies - Steve Szilagyi (Finished May 04, 2009)
32. The Red Leather Diary - Lily Koppel (Finished May 07, 2009)
33. The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen (Finished May 12, 2009)

34. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson (Finished May 16, 2009)

35. When You are Engulfed in Flames - David Sedaris (Finished May 19, 2009)

36. Daphne: A Novel - Justine Picardie (Finished May 23, 2009)

37. Einstein's Dreams - Alan Lightman (Finished May 23, 2009)

38. Night Music - Harrison Gradwell Slater (Finished May 26, 2009)

39. Heart of Darkness/The Secret Sharer - Joseph Conrad (Finished May 30, 2009)

40. Shoot the Moon - Billie Letts (Finished June 01, 2009)

41. Made in the U.S.A. - Billie Letts (Finished June 03, 2009)
42. The Given Day - Dennis Lehane (Finished June 07, 2009)
43. The House at Riverton - Kate Morton (Finished June 11, 2009)

44. A Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin (Finished June 18, 2009)
45. Charming Billy - Alice McDermott (Finished June 23, 2009)
46. Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier (Finished July 3, 2009)
47. Off Season - Anne Rivers Siddons (Finished July 5, 2009)
48. The Unit - Ninni Holmqvist (Finished July 6, 2009)

49. Leonardo's Swans - Karen Essex (Finished July 12, 2009)

50. Interred With Their Bones - Jennifer Lee Carrell (Finished July 25, 2009)

51. Margherita Dolce Vita - Stefano Benni (Finished July 31, 2009)

52. The Girl on the Via Flaminia - Alfred Hayes (Finished August 3, 2009)

53. Three Junes - Julia Glass (Finished August 11, 2009)

54. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (Finished August 14, 2009)
55. Julie and Julia - Julie Powell (Finished August 25, 2009)
56. The Coral Thief - Rebecca Stott (Finished August 31, 2009)
57. The Harrowing - Alexandra Sokoloff (Finished September 01, 2009)
58. Dark Star - Alan Furst (Finished September 05, 2009)
59. The Seamstress - Frances de Pontes Peebles (Finished September 11, 2009)
60. The Romanov Bride - Robert Alexander (Finished September 15, 2009)
61. Gone Tomorrow - Lee Child (Finished September 21, 2009)
62. The Return - Victoria Hislop (Finished September 27, 2009)
63. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl (Finished October 04, 2009)
64. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery (Finished October 11, 2009)

65. Sacred Hearts - Sarah Dunant (Finished October 12, 2009)
66. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery (Finished October 15, 2009)
67. The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens (Finished October 20, 2009)

68. The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan (Finished October 21, 2009)
69. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (Finished October 23, 2009)
70. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (Finished October 24, 2009)
71. Real Murders - Charlaine Harris (Finished October 26, 2009)
72. Seeing Redd - Frank Beddor (Finished October 30, 2009)

73. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (Finished October 30, 2009)

74. Sunflowers - Sheramy Bundrick (Finished October 31, 2009)

75. Gourmet Rhapsody - Muriel Barbery (Finished November 1, 2009)
76. Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman (Finished November 3, 2009)

77. Her Fearful Symmetry - Audrey Niffenegger (Finished November 5, 2009)

78. Only Milo - Barry Smith (Finished November 5, 2009)
79. Now & Then - Jacqueline Sheehan (Finished November 11, 2009)
80. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (Finished November 12, 2009)
81. Giv: The Story of a Dog and America - Boston Teran (Finished November 13, 2009)

82. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (Finished November 16, 2009)

83. The Creed of Violence - Boston Teran (Finished November 19, 2009)

84. The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes (Finished November 20, 2009)

85. Arch Enemy - Frank Beddor (Finished November 22, 2009)
86. The Information Officer - Mark Mills (Finished November 24, 2009)
87. Hunter - Campbell Jefferys (Finished November 30, 2009)
88. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (Finished December 3, 2009)
89. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (Finished December 4, 2009)
90. The Jewel Trader of Pegu - Jeffrey Hantover (Finished December 9, 2009)
91. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (Finished December 10, 2009)
92. Life After Yes - Aidan Donnelley Rowley (Finished December 11, 2009)
93. The Duty of Love - Ronald Neal Green (Finished December 14, 2009)
94. The Good Plain Cook - Bethan Roberts (Finished December 17, 2009)
95. Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll (Finished December 22, 2009)
96. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (Finished December 23, 2009)
97. A Man Without a Country - Kurt Vonnegut (Finished December 28, 2009)
98. Persuasion - Jane Austen (Finished December 28, 2009)
99. Holidays on Ice - David Sedaris (Finished December 30, 2009)
100. Eugenie Grandet - Honore de Balzac (Finished December 31, 2009)