Kylie's Literary Adventures in 2008

[Kylie]

Kylie's Reading List

 

Books that have been read have a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

 

The below list will be updated as the year progresses. I'll add books as I'm reading them.

 

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake 9/10

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park 9/10

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey9/10

Jane Austen: Persuasion 10/10

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility 9/10

John Banville: The Book of Evidence 10/10

Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes 7/10

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre 10/10

Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There 9/10

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 9/10

Albert Camus: The Outsider 8/10

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's 10/10

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood 10/10

GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday 7/10

Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama 8/10

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 6/10

Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox 6/10

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings 10/10

Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter 7/10

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life 9/10

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair 8/10

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere 7/10

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie 7/10

Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol 9/10

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book 5/10

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time 8/10

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 8/10

CS Lewis: Prince Caspian 8/10

Lois Lowry: The Giver 8/10

John Marsden: So Much to Tell You 8/10

Yann Martel: Life of Pi 7/10

Richard Matheson: I am Legend (ebook) 9/10

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin 9/10

Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife 7/10

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah 7/10

Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 7/10

George Orwell: Animal Farm 10/10

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow 8/10

Edgar Allen Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum 9/10

Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic 7/10

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea 5/10

JK Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard 8/10

Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 8/10

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus 10/10

Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion 8/10

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces 9/10

Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake 6/10

Charles Webb: The Graduate 8/10

Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust 7/10

EB White: Charlotte's Web and Other Stories 8/10

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray 9/10

Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey 6/10

Tim Winton: Breath 7/10

PG Wodehouse: Cocktail Time 8/10

PG Wodehouse: The Gem Collector 8/10

PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves 9/10

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids 8/10

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief 10/10

Edited January 3, 2009 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Books that have been read have a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

 

CL: Classics Challenge (20/25)

1K: 1001 Books Challenge (13/20)

RD: Reading through the Decades Challenge (10/11)

BF: Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (6/10)

YA: Young Adults Challenge (9/10)

SF: Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (10/8) COMPLETE!

AU: Australian Literature Challenge (5/6)

DY: Dystopian Challenge (5/5) COMPLETE!

BB: Banned Books Challenge (5/5) COMPLETE!

 

January

Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (RD, SF) 7/10

Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion (RD) 8/10

Richard Matheson: I am Legend (CL, DY, RD, SF) (ebook) 9/10

Yann Martel: Life of Pi (1K, BF) 7/10

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (1K, CL, BF) 9/10

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (AU, CL, RD, YA) 7/10

Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust (CL, RD) 7/10

 

February

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1K, CL, RD) 10/10

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah (DY, RD, SF, YA) 7/10

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (BF, RD, SF) 7/10

George Orwell: Animal Farm (1K, BB, CL, DY, RD) 10/10

 

March

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre (1K, CL) 10/10

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (SF) 8/10

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea (1K, CL) 5/10

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life (AU) 9/10

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time (BB, CL, DY, SF, YA) 8/10

 

April

John Banville: The Book of Evidence (1K) 10/10

Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol (1K, CL) 9/10

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake (DY, SF) 9/10

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray (1K, CL, RD) 9/10

Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama (SF) 8/10

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (BB, CL, SF, YA) 8/10

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (AU, YA) 8/10

Tim Winton: Breath (AU) 7/10

 

May

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (1K, BF, CL) 9/10

Frances Hodgon Burnett: The Secret Garden (CL, YA) 9/10

Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey (CL, RD) 6/10

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1K, BB, BF, CL, SF) 10/10

 

June

Charles Webb: The Graduate (1K, CL) 8/10

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1K, CL) 10/10

CS Lewis: Prince Caspian (CL, YA) 8/10

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief (AU, YA) 10/10

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book (BF, CL, YA) 5/10

Edited September 26, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Books that have been read have a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

 

CL: Classics Challenge (26/25) COMPLETE!

1K: 1001 Books Challenge (20/20) COMPLETE!

RD: Reading through the Decades Challenge (11/11) COMPLETE!

BF: Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (10/10) COMPLETE!

YA: Young Adults Challenge (10/10) COMPLETE!

SF: Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (10/8) COMPLETE!

AU: Australian Literature Challenge (6/6) COMPLETE!

DY: Dystopian Challenge (5/5) COMPLETE!

BB: Banned Books Challenge (5/5) COMPLETE!

 

July

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (YA) 6/10

Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 8/10

Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake 6/10

EB White: Charlotte's Web and Other Stories 8/10

 

August

PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves (1K, CL) 9/10

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin (1K, CL) 9/10

Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter (BF) 7/10

PG Wodehouse: The Gem Collector (CL, RD) (ebook) 8/10

 

September

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1K) 9/10

Jane Austen: Persuasion (1K, BF, CL) 10/10

Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox (YA) 6/10

Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife (BF) 7/10

 

October

Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There 9/10

GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (CL) 7/10

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids 8/10

Albert Camus: The Outsider (1K, CL) 8/10

Edgar Allen Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum (1K, CL) 9/10

 

November

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey (1K, BF, CL) 9/10

Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (BF) 7/10

PG Wodehouse: Cocktail Time 8/10

John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (AU) 8/10

 

December

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Writings 10/10

JK Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard 8/10

Lois Lowry: The Giver 8/10

Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes 7/10

Edited January 3, 2009 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Welcome to my reading list for 2008! Last year I read 53 books (25 of which were counted towards my Classics Challenge), and this year I've decided to up the ante just a little to 55 books.

 

I've also decided to undertake some extra reading challenges this year. All the books I read for the challenges will be from my TBR pile, which is nearing the 300 mark, so I'll have a wide selection to choose from and won't need to buy more books in order to complete the challenges.

 

I'm trying not to stretch myself too much (even though it's a challenge, I'd like to keep my goals within the realms of possibility!) and quite a few of my books will suit several different challenges at once. For example, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs will tick a box in the Classics Challenge, Young Adults Challenge, Reading through the Decades Challenge and Australian Literature Challenge (see below for more details of challenges).

 

What's with all the challenges, I hear you ask? Well, I've been reading a fair few book blogs recently, and it seems like signing yourself up for a stack of reading challenges is quite a popular thing to do. It becomes addictive and it's very difficult to stop joining more challenges. I think it appeals to the list-maker in me: I love making lists and I love ticking things off. It gives me a great sense of achievement.

 

The challenges are as follows:

 

Classics Challenge (CL) - My definition of 'Classic' literature is books that were written prior to 1900; I define books written from 1900 to around the mid 1960s as 'Modern Classic'. Both types of books qualify for this challenge. As already mentioned, I read 25 books for the CL last year. This year my goal is the same: 25 books.

 

1001 Books Challenge (1K) - Books listed in '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' by Peter Boxall. I currently have around 60 of these books on my TBR pile, and a few dozen more as ebooks. Last year I read 22 books and this year my goal is 20 books.

 

Reading through the Decades Challenge (RD) - Entails reading a book from every decade for the past 100 years. My goal is to read 11 books which cover the 1900s to the 2000s inclusive. If I have time I'll start working backwards from the 1890s. I have so many books on my TBR pile that I'll have at least several choices from each of these decades!

 

Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (BF) - Last year I read 8 books for various BCF reading circles. With the Jane Austen Reading Circle starting up this month, at least 4 of her books should count towards the challenge (if I don't elect to re-read the other 2). I will also count any books that were chosen for past reading circles (such as Life of Pi by Yann Martel). This year I'm going to aim for 10 books.

 

Young Adults Challenge (YA) - Books aimed at younger readers. My goal is to read 10 books, which shouldn't be a problem because they're generally easy reads and I have plenty of them on my TBR pile!

 

Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (SF) - The Sci Fi/Fantasy section of my TBR pile has been growing quite quickly in the last year, but my reading is lagging far behind. I'm going to try to remedy that this year by knocking 8 books off the list.

 

Australian Literature Challenge (AU) - I have been sadly neglecting Australian literature lately but I'm hoping to turn that around this year because I have plenty of great Australian classics on my shelves. My goal is to read 6 books.

 

Dystopian Challenge (DY) - Books set in dystopian societies (from Wikipedia: 'usually characterised by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government'). This is my favourite genre (sub-genre?) to read so I'm really looking forward to this one. I read 5 books last year and this year my goal is the same: 5 books.

 

Banned Books Challenge (BB) - Books that have been banned at one time or another (book censorship is an issue close to my heart). I've based my choices on a list I found at a Canadian public library's website. I'm setting myself a goal of 5 books for the year.

 

More details and updates on the challenges can be found in posts #11-#19.

[Kylie]

The following list, over 3 posts, represents the bulk of my TBR pile. I haven't included reference books or books on the supernatural and The Beatles, of which I have quite a few.

 

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

 

Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

#Richard Adams: Watership Down

#Isaac Asimov: I, Robot

Isaac Asmiov: Pebble in the Sky

Margaret Atwood: Alias Grace

#Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake 9/10

Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear

Jean M Auel: The Mammoth Hunters

Jean M Auel: The Valley of Horses

#Jane Austen: Mansfield Park 9/10

#Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey 9/10

#Jane Austen: Persuasion 10/10

#Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility 9/10

*John Banville: The Book of Evidence 10/10

#Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar

Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the 20th Century

#Graeme Blundell: King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy

Enid Blyton: The Magic Faraway Tree

Pierre Boulle: Planet of the Apes

Ray Bradbury: Dandelion Wine

Ray Bradbury: The Golden Apples of the Sun

Ray Bradbury: I Sing the Body Electric!

Ray Bradbury: Long After Midnight

Ray Bradbury: S is for Space

#Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes 7/10

Anne Bronte: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

#Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre 10/10

Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights

Dan Brown: Digital Fortress

Bill Bryson: Made in America

#Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There 9/10

#Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 9/10

Simon Callow: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles biography, Vol 1)

Simon Callow: Hello Americans (Orson Welles biography, Vol 2)

*Albert Camus: The Outsider 7/10

*Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's 10/10

#Truman Capote: In Cold Blood 10/10

Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn

Angela Carter: The Bl@@dy Chamber and Other Stories

Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Michael Chabon (ed): McSweeney's Echanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories

Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep and Other Stories

GK Chesterton: The Complete Father Brown Stories

*GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday 7/10

Agatha Christie: The Secret Adversary

Arthur C Clarke: Against the Fall of Night

Arthur C Clarke: The Deep Range

Arthur C Clarke: Expedition to Earth

#Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama 8/10

Arthur C Clarke: Imperial Earth

Arthur C Clarke: Of Time and Stars

Arthur C Clarke: Rama Revealed

Colette: The Claudine Novels

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl 2: The Arctic Incident

Tom Collins: Such is Life

Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone

#Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

#Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 6/10

#Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox 6/10

Iris Rainer Dart: Beaches

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings 10/10

Charles Dickens: Bleak House

Charles Dickens: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

#Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop

Jack Drake: The Cattle Dog's Revenge

Daphne du Maurier: The Birds and Other Stories

Daphne du Maurier: My Cousin Rachel

#Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

#Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter 7/10

George Eliot: Middlemarch

#Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man

Edited January 3, 2009 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

 

Michel Faber: The Crimson Petal and the White

#AB Facey: A Fortunate Life 9/10

Jasper Fforde: The Big Over Easy

#Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair 8/10

Jasper Fforde: The Fourth Bear

Jasper Fforde: Lost in a Good Book

Jasper Fforde: Something Rotten

Jasper Fforde: The Well of Lost Plots

#Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones's Diary

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned

Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy

#Ian Fleming: Casino Royale

Ian Fleming: Diamonds are Forever

Ian Fleming: Goldfinger

Ian Fleming: Moonraker

Ian Fleming: You Only Live Twice

Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank

Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career

*Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere 8/10

Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South

Stella Gibbons: Cold Comfort Farm

#May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie 7/10

Nikolai Gogal: Dead Souls

Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows

Julia Gray: Fire Music

Julia Gray: Ice Mage

Julia Gray: Isle of the Dead

#Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon

Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #2: The Jasper Forest

Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #3: The Crystal Desert

Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #4: The Red Glacier

Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #5: Alyssa's Ring

*Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol 9/10

Alice M Hadfield: King Arthur and the Round Table

Helene Hanff: 84 Charing Cross Road

#Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Thomas Hardy: The Woodlanders

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

Brian Herbert: The Butlerian Jihad

#Frank Herbert: Dune

Frank Herbert: Messiah

Frank Herbert: Children of Dune

Hermann Hesse: Steppenwolf

#Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game

#Anne Holm: I am David

Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore

Aldous Huxley: Crome Yellow

Aldous Huxley: The Grey Eminence

Aldous Huxley: Those Barren Leaves

James Jones: From Here to Eternity

#James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Carolyn Keene: Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Dancing Puppet

#Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various)

Jack Kerouac: The Dharma Bums

Stephen King: IT

#Stephen King: The Stand

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book 6/10

Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)

#Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins: Left Behind Series #7-#11

DH Lawrence: Sons and Lovers

John Le Carre: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Donovan Leitch: The Hurdy Gurdy Man

#Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time 8/10

#CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 8/10

CS Lewis: Prince Caspian 8/10

Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock

*Lois Lowry: The Giver 8/10

John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)8/10

#Yann Martel: Life of Pi 7/10

Steve Martin: The Attorney

#Richard Matheson: I am Legend (ebook) 9/10

#Ian McEwan: Enduring Love

Henry Miller: The Tropic of Cancer

Henry Miller: The Tropic of Capricorn

Elyne Mitchell: The Man from Snowy River

Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind

Sally Morgan: My Place

Kate Mosse: Labyrinth

Edited December 23, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

 

Vladimir Nabokov: Pale Fire

#Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin 9/10

#Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife 7/10

Robert O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (re-read)

#Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah 7/10

Maggie O'Farrell: After You'd Gone

#Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 7/10

George Orwell: Animal Farm 10/10

#Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (re-read) 8/10

Boris Pasternak: Doctor Zhivago

Gilbert Pearlman: Young Frankenstein

#Jodi Piccoult: Vanishing Acts

Edgar Allen Poe: The Complete Tales and Poems

#Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) 7/10

Terry Pratchett: Equal Rites (Discworld #2)

Terry Pratchett: The Light Fantastic (Discworld #3)

Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent (Discworld #22)

Terry Pratchett: Thief of Time (Discworld #26)

Terry Pratchett: Going Postal (Discworld #33)

Terry Pratchett: Thud! (Discworld #34)

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: Good Omens

Mario Puzo: The Godfather

Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged

*Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea 6/10

*JK Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard 8/10

WC Sellar: 1066 and All That

Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 8/10

#Mary Shelley: Frankenstein 10/10

Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice

Betty Smith: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Nicholas Sparks: A Walk to Remember

Steven Spielberg: Clouse Encounters of the Third Kind

John Steinbeck: East of Eden

#John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck: The Winter of Our Discontent

Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels

Michael Swift: Mapping the World

Donna Tartt: The Little Friend

#Donna Tartt: The Secret History

William Makepeace Thackeray: Barry Lyndon

#William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair

Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

#Hunter S Thompson: The Rum Diary

Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion 8/10

JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (re-read)

JRR Tolkien: The Silmarillion

#John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces 9/10

Sue Townsend: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

Nancy Turner: These is My Words (re-read)

Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn

Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Jules Verne: Journey to the Centre of the Earth

#Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake 6/10

Lew Wallace: Ben-Hur

#Charles Webb: The Graduate 7/10

HG Wells: The Cone

#Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust 6/10

Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth

EB White: Charlotte's Web and Other Stories 8/10

*Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray 9/10

*Thornton Wilder: The Bridge on San Luis Rey 7/10

Michael Wilding and David Myers: Best Stories Under the Sun

Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays

*Tim Winton: Breath 7/10

#Tim Winton: Cloudstreet

*PG Wodehouse: Cocktail Time 8/10

*PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves 9/10

Working Dog: Phaic Tan

Working Dog: San Sombrero

Jonathan Wylie: Across the Flame

#Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #1: The Last Augury

Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #2: Dark Fire

Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #3: Echoes of Flame

Jonathan Wylie: Other Lands

Jonathan Wylie: Shadow Maze

#John Wyndham: The Chrysalids 8/10

John Wyndham: The Kraken Wakes

John Wyndham: Stowaway to Mars

#Carlos Ruiz Zafon: The Shadow of the Wind

Emile Zola: Nana

*Markus Zusak: The Book Thief 10/10

Edited December 12, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

The following books are a small selection of the total number of books on my TBR pile. These are my 'top priority' books: the books that I would most like to read this year. I won't get through them all (I expect I'll be buying others and reading them, or jumping to others on my TBR pile if they come up for reading circles), but I certainly hope to put a big dent in this lot by the end of the year!

 

I've listed which challenges each book is eligible for in brackets, except for the RD challenge, because they're all eligible for that one! Books that have been read are in bold, with a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

 

CL: Classics Challenge

1K: 1001 Books Challenge

RD: Reading through the Decades Challenge

BF: Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge

YA: Young Adults Challenge

SF: Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge

AU: Australian Literature Challenge

DY: Dystopian Challenge

BB: Banned Books Challenge

 

Richard Adams: Watership Down (CL, YA)

Isaac Asimov: I, Robot (1K, CL, SF)

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake (DY, SF) 9/10

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (1K, BF, CL) 8/10

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey (1K, BF, CL)9/10

Jane Austen: Persuasion (1K, BF, CL) 10/10

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (1K, BF, CL) 9/10

Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar (AU, YA)

Graeme Blundell: King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy (AU)

Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes (SF) 7/10

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre (1K, CL) 10/10

Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There 9/10

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden (CL, YA) 9/10

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1K, CL, RD) 10/10

Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama (SF) 8/10

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1K, CL)

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (YA) 6/10

Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox (YA) 7/10

Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop (CL)

Daphne Du Maurier: Rebecca (1K, CL)

Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter (BF) 8/10

Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man (1K, BB, CL)

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life (AU) 9/10

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (SF) 8/10

Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones' Diary

Ian Fleming: Casino Royale (1K, CL)

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (AU, CL, RD, YA) 7/10

Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon (SF)

Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd (1K, CL)

Frank Herbert: Dune (CL, SF)

Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1K, CL)

Anne Holm: I Am David (YA)

James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1K, CL)

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various) (YA)

Stephen King: The Stand (BF, SF)

Tim LaHaye: Left Behind #7 (SF)

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time (BB, CL, DY, SF, YA) 8/10

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (BB, CL, SF, YA) 8/10

Yann Martel: Life of Pi (1K, BF) 7/10

Richard Matheson: I am Legend (CL, DY, RD, SF) (ebook) 9/10

Ian McEwan: Enduring Love (1K)

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin (1K, CL) 9/10

Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife (BF) 7/10

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah (DY, RD, SF, YA) 7/10

Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (BF) 7/10

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (AU, YA) 8/10

Jodi Piccoult: Vanishing Acts

Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (RD, SF) 7/10

Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 8/10

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1K, BB, BF, CL, SF) 10/10

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath (1K, BB, CL)

Donna Tartt: The Secret History (1K)

William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair (1K, CL)

Hunter S Thompson: The Rum Diary

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1K) 9/10

Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake 6/10

Charles Webb: The Graduate (1K, CL) 7/10

Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust (CL, RD) 7/10

Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth (1K, CL)

Tim Winton: Cloudstreet (AU)

Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #1: The Last Augury (SF)

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids (CL, SF) 7/10

Carlos Ruiz Zafon: The Shadow of the Wind

 

Summary: 63 books listed, of which: 1K = 24; AU = 5; BF = 9; CL = 34; DY = 3; RD = 62; SF = 16; YA = 12.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Below is a list of the books I have bought since the post-Christmas book sales in December 2007. After buying close to 200 books last year, I've pledged to restrict myself to buying less than 100 books this year.

 

December 2007:

Enid Blyton: The Magic Faraway Tree

Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There

Simon Callow: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles biography Volume 1)

Simon Callow: Hello Americans (Orson Welles biography Volume 2)

Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep and Other Stories

Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop

Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy

Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South

Stella Gibbons: Cold Comfort Farm

Jack Kerouac: The Dharma Bums

Stephen King: IT

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72

Sue Townsend: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

 

January 2008:

ER Braithwaite: To Sir, With Love

Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita

Anthony Burgess: 1985

Vladimir Nabokov: Nabokov's Dozen

Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

February 2008:

Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart

Frank Beddor: The Looking Glass Wars

Frank Beddor: Seeing Redd

Bill Bryson: The Lost Continent

Albert Camus: The Outsider

Albert Camus: The Plague

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings

Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Antique Doll (#36)

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Pet Show Mystery (#37)

Matthew Pearl: The Poe Shadow

Marisha Pessl: Special Topics in Calamity Physics

John Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

Alexander McCall Smith: The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom

Patrick Suskind: Perfume

Peter Temple: The Broken Shore

Hunter S Thompson: Hell's Angels

Lynne Truss: The Lynne Truss Treasury (With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, Tennyson's Gift, Going Loco, Making the Cat Laugh)

 

March 2008:

John Banville: The Sea

Clive Barker: Weaveworld

Roald Dahl: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six Others

HV Evatt: Rum Rebellion

Alex Garland: The Beach

Graham Greene: The Third Man and The Fallen Idol

George Grossmith: The Diary of a Nobody

Henry James: What Maisie Knew

Banjo Paterson: The Man from Snowy River

John Steinbeck: The Red Pony

Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited

Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

 

April 2008:

Margaret Atwood: Cat's Eye

John Banville: Athena

John Banville: Doctor Copernicus

John Banville: Kepler

John Banville: Mephisto

Susanna Clarke: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories

David Mitchell: Black Swan Green

 

May 2008:

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World Revisited

Gregory Maguire: Wicked

 

June 2008:

Raven Hart: The Vampire's Kiss

Raven Hart: The Vampire's Secret

 

July 2008:

Daphne du Maurier: Julius

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #19: The Secret of the Unseen Treasure

Stephen King: Night Shift

PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves

 

August 2008:

Clive Barker: Abarat

William S Burroughs: Naked Lunch

GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday

Arthur C Clarke: The Other Side of the Sky

Arthur C Clarke: The Space Trilogy (Islands in the Sky, Earthlight, The Sands of Mars)

John Connolly: The Book of Lost Things

Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist

Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

Henry Fielding: Tom Jones

Aldous Huxley: After Many a Summer

Aldous Huxley: The Devils of Loudun

William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair

 

September 2008:

52 books from a bookfest

Clive Barker: The Thief of Always

John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar

Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End

Jack Kerouac: On the Road: The Original Scroll

Lois Lowry: The Giver

China Mieville: Perdido Street Station

William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair

Melina Marchetta: On the Jellicoe Road

Melina Marchetta: Saving Francesca

John Marsden: The Journey

John Marsden: Letters from the Inside

John Marsden: Out of Time

Walter Miller Jr: A Canticle for Leibowitz

Vladimir Nabokov: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

Sue Townsend: The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole

John Updike: Rabbit, Run

Dorothy Wall: Blinky Bill

PG Wodehouse: Aunts Aren't Gentlement

PG Wodehouse: Blandings Castle

PG Wodehouse: The Code of the Woosters

PG Wodehouse: Full Moon

PG Wodehouse: The Heart of a Goof

PG Wodehouse: The Inimitable Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Jeeves in the Offing

PG Wodehouse: Leave it to Psmith

PG Wodehouse: The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories

PG Wodehouse: Much Obliged, Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Piccadilly Jim

PG Wodehouse: Ring for Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Service with a Smile

PG Wodehouse: Summer Lightning

PG Wodehouse: Sunset at Blandings

PG Wodehouse: Ukridge

PG Wodehouse: Uneasy Money

PG Wodehouse: Very Good, Jeeves!

Markus Zusak: The Messenger

 

October 2008:

Jane Austen: Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon

JG Ballard: Empire of the Sun

Peter Biskind: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls

Kyril Bonfiglioli: The Mortdecai Trilogy

William S Burroughs: Junky

Pearl S Buck: The Good Earth

Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake and Other Stories

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl

Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Return of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Valley of Fear

Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Sign of Four

Arthur Conan Doyle: His Last Bow

Arthur Conan Doyle: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Alexandre Dumas: The Last Cavalier

Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary

Nikolai Gogal: The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, and Selected Stories

Gregory Maguire: Mirror, Mirror

Vladimir Nabokov: Speak, Memory

Otto Penzler: Pulp Fiction: The Villains

Robert Louis Stevenson: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories

David Webb: Beckwood Brae

Scott Westerfeld: Specials

PG Wodehouse: A Pelican at Blandings

PG Wodehouse: Carry On, Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Cocktail Time

PG Wodehouse: Meet Mr Mulliner

PG Wodehouse: Money for Nothing

PG Wodehouse: Mr Mulliner Speaking

PG Wodehouse: Mulliner Nights

PG Wodehouse: Right Ho, Jeeves

PG Wodehouse: Something Fresh

PG Wodehouse: Uncle Dynamite

 

December 2008:

Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front

JK Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Scott Westerfeld: Pretties

Scott Westerfeld: Uglies

Edited December 12, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

The below list consists of the books on my wish list. I'll no doubt be adding more as the year goes on and I get more recommendations from the BCF!

 

I don't intend buying all of these books this year, especially as some of them will be difficult to track down. Items will be moved to my 'Books Bought in 2007-2008' post (above) as I track them down.

 

Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy

Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour

Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the World

Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

Charlotte Bronte: Shirley

John Brunner: The Jagged Orbit

John Brunner: The Shockwave Rider

Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed

Patrick Califia: Doc and Fluff

Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park

Jared Diamond: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel

Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers

Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum

Umberto Eco: The Island of the Day Before

Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose

Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides

Jasper Fforde: First Among Sequels

Neil Gaiman: American Gods

Neil Gaiman: Anansi Boys

Neil Gaiman: Stardust

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Harry Harrison: Make Room! Make Room!

Raven Hart: The Vampire's Seduction

Homer: The Iliad

Homer: The Odyssey

Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

Aldous Huxley: The Doors of Perception

James Joyce: Ulysses

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #35, #37, #38, #39

Andrew Keogh: Twentytwelve

Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City

Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress

Stanislaw Lem: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub

Ira Levin: This Perfect Day

Lois Lowry: Number the Stars

David Malouf: Remember Babylon

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Herman Melville: Moby Dick

John Milton: Paradise Lost

Vladimir Nabokov: Bend Sinister

Baroness Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Ovid: Metamorphoses

Dorothy Parker: The Portable Dorothy Parker

Jodi Piccoult: My Sister's Keeper

Thomas Pynchon: Vineland

Christopher Reid (ed): Letters of Ted Hughes

Philip Roth: The Plot Against America

David Sedaris: Naked

Shel Silverstein: The Light in the Attic

Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Jacqueline Susann: The Valley of the Dolls

Adrian Tinniswood: By Permission of Heaven - The True Story of the Great Fire of London

Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina

Nancy Turner: Sarah's Quilt

Nancy Turner: The Star Garden

Kurt Vonnegut: Welcome to the Monkey House (short story)

Alan Weisman: The World Without Us

Gene Wilder: My French 'lady of the night'

Tom Wolfe: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

Jack Womack: Elvissey

John Wyndham: Chocky

Malcolm X: Autobiography of Malcolm X

Edited December 29, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Classics Challenge

 

Although I'm hoping to focus a bit more on modern literature this year, I can't pass up doing the Classics Challenge (CL) again, especially after successfully reading 25 classics in 2007. In 2008 I'll be aiming to read 25 books again.

 

 

CL reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park

Jane Austen: Persuasion

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Richard Matheson: I am Legend

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin

George Orwell: Animal Farm

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

Charles Webb: The Graduate

Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

PG Wodehouse: The Gem Collector

PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the CL challenge (max 25 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop

Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life

Ian Fleming: Casino Royale

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Frank Herbert: Dune

James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

Robert Louis Stevenson: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair

Charles Webb: The Graduate

Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids

 

 

Other CL books I'd like to own and read (max 10 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita

William S Burroughs: Junky

Cervantes: Don Quixote

Graham Greene: The Third Man

James Joyce: Ulysses

John Milton: Paradise Lost

Baroness Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead

Alice Walker: The Color Purple

Malcolm X: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

 

 

CL books read in 2007:

Jane Austen: Emma

JM Barrie: Peter Pan

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

George Grossmith: Diary of a Nobody

Jack Kerouac: The Town and the City

Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla

DH Lawrence: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables

Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar

Ayn Rand: Anthem

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty

John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men

Bram Stoker: Dracula

Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five

HG Wells: The Time Machine

John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos

 

 

CL books read in 2006:

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

William Golding: The Lord of the Flies

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

Franz Kafka: Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka: The Trial

HG Wells: The Invisible Man

John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids

Edited September 16, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

1001 Books Challenge

 

Another challenge I've decided to take up is the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge (1K). This incorporates books that are listed in the abovementioned book by Peter Boxall. After reading 22 books last year, my goal this year will be to read 20 books. A lot of these will probably overlap with the Classics Challenge and also the Reading through the Decades Challenge.

 

 

1K reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park

Jane Austen: Persuasion

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility

John Banville: The Book of Evidence

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol

Yann Martel: Life of Pi

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin

George Orwell: Animal Farm

Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces

Charles Webb: The Graduate

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

PG Wodehouse: Thank You, Jeeves

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the 1K challenge (max 25 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen: Persuasion

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

Charles Dickens: Bleak House

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca

George Eliot: Middlemarch

Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man

Ian Fleming: Casino Royale

Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables

Herman Hesse: The Glass Bead Game

James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Yann Martel: Life of Pi

Ian McEwan: Enduring Love

Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin

Edgar Allen Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair

John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces

Charles Webb: The Graduate

 

 

Other 1K books I'd like to own and read (max 10 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's

Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote

Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides

Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary

Graham Greene: The Third Man

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Herman Melville: Moby Dick

Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina

Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

John Wyndham: Chocky

 

 

CL books read in 2007:

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

Jane Austen: Emma

John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking Glass

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens: Great Expectations

Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

George Grossmith: Diary of a Nobody

Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

DH Lawrence: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Ian McEwan: Atonement

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

Vladimir Nabokob: Lolita

Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar

John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men

Bram Stoker: Dracula

Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five

HG Wells: The Time Machine

John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos

 

 

CL books read in 2007:

Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

William Golding: The Lord of the Flies

Joseph Heller: Catch-22

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

Franz Kafka: The Trial

Jack Kerouac: On the Road

JD Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye

HG Wells: The Invisible Man

John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids

Edited September 16, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Reading through the Decades Challenge COMPLETE!

 

Another challenge I've decided to take up is the Reading through the Decades Challenge (RD). The challenge is to read 1 book from every decade, beginning with the 1900s and ending with the 2000s. This is 11 books in total and if I have time I may start working backwards from the 1890s!

 

 

RD reading in 2008: (currently reading)

1890s Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

1900s PG Wodehouse: The Gem Collector

1910s May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

1920s Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

1930s Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust

1940s George Orwell: Animal Farm

1950s Richard Matheson: I am Legend

1960s Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

1970s Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

1980s Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic

1990s Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

2000s Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the RD challenge (2 listed per decade):

1900s Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career (1901)

1900s Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows (1908)

1910s Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden (1911)

1910s James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)

1920s Agatha Christie: The Secret Adversary (1922)

1920s F Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned (1922)

1930s Daphen du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)

1930s Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust (1939)

1940s Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank (1947)

1940s Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1946)

1950s Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man (1952)

1950s CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia) (1950)

1960s Ann Holm: I am David (1965)

1960s Charles Webb: The Graduate (1963)

1970s Richard Adams: Watership Down (1972)

1970s Robert C O'Brien: Z for Zachariah (1975)

1980s Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (1980)

1980s John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)

1990s Ian McEwan: Enduring Love (1997)

1990s Tim Winton: Cloudstreet (1991)

2000s Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (2001)

2000s Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2006)

 

 

Other RD books I'd like to own and read:

None. I have enough choice as it is!

 

 

RD books read in 2007 (1 book listed for each decade):

I almost succeeded in 2007, without even trying!

1860s Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment

1870s J Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla

1880s George Grossmith: Diary of a Nobody

1890s Bram Stoker: Dracula

1900s Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables

1910s JM Barrie: Peter Pan

1920s DH Lawrence: Lady Chatterley's Lover

1930s John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men

1940s --

1950s Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

1960s Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

1970s Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

1980s Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

1990s Tim Flannery (ed): The Birth of Sydney

2000s David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

 

 

RD books read in 2006:

1890s: HG Wells: The Invisible Man

1900s: --

1910s: Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis

1920s: F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

1930s: Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

1940s: Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot

1950s: John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids

1960s: Joseph Heller: Catch-22

1970s: --

1980s: Roald Dahl: Boy

1990s: Adrian Gilbert: The Mayan Prophecies

2000s: Gene Wilder: Kiss Me Like a Stranger

Edited September 17, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge

 

The fourth challenge I'm undertaking this year is the Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (BF). The challenge is to participate in 10 reading circles, and if I read any books from past reading circles, I'll count those as well.

 

 

BF reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility

Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book

Yann Martel: Life of Pi

Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the BF challenge (will be added to during the year):

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (May/June 2008)

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey (November/December 2008)

Jane Austen: Persuasion (September/October 2008)

Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (January/February 2008)

Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter (August 2008)

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (February 2008)

Stephen King: The Stand (December 2007)

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Books (June 2008)

Yann Martel: Life of Pi (January 2008)

Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (May 2007)

Kate Mosse: Labyrinth (February 2006)

Audrey Niffenegger: The Time-Traveller's Wife (November/December 2005)

Christopher Paolini: Eragon (August 2006)

Terry Pratchett: Hogfather (December 2006)

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (October 2006)

 

 

Other BF books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Clive Barker: The Thief of Always (June 2007)

John Boyne: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (July 2008)

Neil Gaiman: American Gods (January 2006)

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (February 2008)

Jodi Piccoult: My Sister's Keeper (February 2006)

Tom Wolfe: The Bonfire of the Vanities (June 2008)

 

 

BF books read in 2007:

Jane Austen: Emma (July 2006)

Mark Haddon: A Spot of Bother (October)

DH Lawrence: Lady Chatterley's Lover (July)

J Sheridan Le Fanu: Carmilla (July/August Classic Vampires Comparison)

Ian McEwan: Atonement (November)

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas (September)

Lucy Maud Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables (August)

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (July)

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty (April)

Bram Stoker: Dracula (July/August Classic Vampires Comparison)

Edited October 30, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Young Adults Challenge COMPLETE!

 

The fifth challenge I'm starting in 2008 is a Young Adults Challenge (YA). I had great success last year reading books that are aimed at younger readers, and so I've decided to make it more formal and give myself a goal of 10 books to read during the year. Quite a few books on the below list will also qualify for the Classics Challenge (CL).

 

 

YA reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

CS Lewis: Prince Caspian

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the YA challenge (max 15 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Enid Blyton: The Magic Faraway Tree

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden

Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy

Ann Holm: I Am David

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various)

Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies (re-read)

Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)

LM Montgomery: Anne of Avonlea (ebook)

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow

Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels

Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar

 

 

Other YA books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Graeme Base: Animalia (re-read)

Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour (re-read)

Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret

Michael Ende: The Never Ending Story

Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth

Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are

 

 

YA books read in 2007:

JM Barrie: Peter Pan

Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass

Roald Dahl: Danny the Champion of the World

Roald Dahl: Matilda

Roald Dahl: The Twits

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #10

LM Montgomery: Anne of Green Gables

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty

 

 

YA books read in 2006:

Roald Dahl: Boy

Marele Day: The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavendar

Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #1-#9

John Marsden: Tomorrow, When the War Began

John Marsden: Dead of the Night

John Marsden: Third Day, the Frost

John Marsden: Darkness, Be My Friend

John Marsden: Burning for Revenge

John Marsden: The Night is for Hunting

John Marsden: The Other Side of Dawn

John Marsden: While I Live

John Marsden: Incurable

John Marsden: Circle of Flight

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Edited July 14, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge COMPLETE!

The sixth challenge I'm beginning in 2008 is a Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (SF). I've been sadly neglecting this genre in the last couple of years and I've left myself with a lot of catching up to do. I've decided to give myself a goal of 8 books to read during the year.

 

 

SF reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake

Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

CS Lewis: Prince Caspian

Richard Matheson: I am Legend

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the SF challenge (max 15 listed):

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide

Isaac Asimov: I, Robot

Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear

Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes

Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn

Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama

Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: Good Omens

Julia Gray: Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon

Frank Herbert: Dune

Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)

Steven Spielberg: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (re-read)

Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empire #1: The Last Augury

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids

 

 

Other SF books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles

Michael Ende: The Never Ending Story

Jasper Fforde: First Among Sequels

Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress

John Wyndham: Chocky

 

 

SF books read in 2007:

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

Ayn Rand: Anthem

HG Wells: The Time Machine

Jonathan Wylie: The Lightless Kingdom (#2 in The Unbalanced Earth trilogy)

Jonathan Wylie: The Age of Chaos (#3 in The Unbalanced Earth trilogy)

 

 

SF books read in 2006:

Arthur C Clarke: Sunstorm

Arthur C Clarke: Time's Eye

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

HG Wells: The Invisible Man

Jonathan Wylie: Dreams of Stone (#1 in The Unbalanced Earth trilogy)

Jonathan Wylie: Magister

John Wyndham: The Day of the Triffids

Edited June 9, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Australian Challenge

 

The seventh challenge I'm going to undertake for 2008 is an Australian Challenge (AU). I've had a few of these books on my TBR pile for a while now and I think it's time to take the plunge! Considering Australian literature makes up a relatively small proportion of my total number of books, I've decided to set myself a target of 6 books for the year. About half of the books on the below list will also qualify for the Classics Challenge.

 

 

AU reading in 2008: (currently reading)

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life

May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow

Tim Winton: Breath

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the AU challenge:

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Richard Butler: The Men that God Forgot (re-read)

Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn

Marcus Clarke: For the Term of His Natural Life (re-read)

Tom Collins: Such is Life

AB Facey: A Fortunate Life

Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career

Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore

Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)

Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock

John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)

Sally Morgan: My Place

Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (re-read)

Ruth Park: The Harp in the South (re-read)

Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice

Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar (re-read)

Tim Winton: Cloudstreet

 

 

Other AU books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

Graeme Base: Animalia

Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour

Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the World

David Malouf: Remember Babylon

Banjo Patterson: The Man from Snowy River

Tim Winton: Dirt Music

Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

 

 

AU books read in 2007:

Tim Flannery (ed): The Birth of Sydney

Tim Flannery (ed): The Explorers

 

 

AU books read in 2006:

Marele Day: The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavendar

John Marsden: Tomorrow, When the War Began

John Marsden: Dead of the Night

John Marsden: Third Day, the Frost

John Marsden: Darkness, Be My Friend

John Marsden: Burning for Revenge

John Marsden: The Night is for Hunting

John Marsden: The Other Side of Dawn

John Marsden: While I Live

John Marsden: Incurable

John Marsden: Circle of Flight

Edited June 16, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Dystopian Challenge COMPLETE!

 

The eighth challenge I'm beginning this year is the Dystopian Challenge (DY). I find books about dystopian societies absolutely fascinating. The challenge is to read 5 dystopian books by the end of the year.

 

A little background on the subject (taken from wikipedia):

A dystopia is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. It is usually characterised by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government. In other words, a Dystopia has the exact opposite of what one would expect in a Utopian society.

 

An excellent list of dystopian literature can be found here.

 

 

DY reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

Richard Matheson: I am Legend

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

George Orwell: Animal Farm

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the DY challenge:

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake

Pierre Boulle: Planet of the Apes

Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)

William S Burroughs: Naked Lunch (ebook)

Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn

Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (ebook)

Aldous Huxley: Ape and Essence (ebook)

Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go (ebook)

Stephen King: The Stand

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

Cormac McCarthy: The Road (ebook)

Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah

George Orwell: Animal Farm (re-read)

Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged

John Wyndham: The Chrysalids

Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (ebook)

 

 

Other DY books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought/downloaded.

Richard Bachman: The Long Walk

Richard Bachman: The Running Man

Anthony Burgess: 1985

Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed

Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle

Harlan Ellison: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

William Gibson: Neuromancer

Stanislaw Lem: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub

Ira Levin: This Perfect Day

Vladimir Nabokov: Bend Sinister

Philip Roth: The Plot Against America

Kurt Vonnegut: Welcome to the Monkey House

HG Wells: The Sleeper Awakes

 

 

DY books read in 2007:

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

David Mitchell: Cloud Atlas

Ayn Rand: Anthem

HG Wells: The Time Machine

 

 

DY books read in 2006:

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

William Golding: Lord of the Flies

Franz Kafka: The Trial

 

 

(Also previously read 1984 by George Orwell and Fahreheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.)

Edited July 14, 2008 by Kylie

[Kylie]

Banned Books Challenge COMPLETE!

 

The ninth and final challenge I'm going to undertake for 2008 is a Banned Books Challenge (BB). I've based my choices on lists I've found at a Canadian public library's website and on this blog. It turns out that I already have quite a few of the books on my TBR pile, and a lot of them will also count for other challenges. I'm setting myself a goal of 5 books for the year.

 

 

BB reading in 2008: (currently reading)

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

George Orwell: Animal Farm

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

 

 

TBR books that qualify for the BB challenge:

Note: Books in italics have been read.

Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles

Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter

Stephen King: IT

DH Lawrence: Sons and Lovers

Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time

CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Henry Miller: Tropic of Cancer

Boris Pasternak: Dr Zhivago

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote

Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

John Steinbeck: East of Eden

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath

Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

 

 

Other BB books I'd like to own and read:

Note: Books in italics have been bought.

VC Andrews: Flowers in the Attic

William S Burroughs: Naked Lunch

Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales

Ken Follett: Pillars of the Earth

Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner

Victor Hugo: Les Miserables

James Joyce: Ulysses

Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon

Norman Mailer: The Naked and the Dead

Katherine Paterson: Bridge to Terabithia

Jodi Piccoult: The Tenth Circle

Phillip Pullman: The Golden Compass trilogy

Annie Prioux: Brokeback Mountain

Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses

Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin

Alice Walker: The Color Purple

 

 

BB books read in 2007:

Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange

Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Stephen King: Different Seasons

DH Lawrence: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird

Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men

Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five

 

 

BB books read in 2006:

F Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby

William Golding: Lord of the Flies

Joseph Heller: Catch-22

 

(Also previously read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/James and the Giant Peach/Witches by Roald Dahl, The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by The Brothers Grimm, Animal Farm by George Orwell, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger.)

Edited June 17, 2008 by Kylie

[Kell]

Wow! That's an impressive list of very exciting-sounding challenges! Best of luck with them all.

[madcow]

Good luck with all the challenges Kylie, it looks like you'll be kept busy!

[Weave]

Good Luck Kylie x

[Liz]

Wow, there's plenty of challenges there! I hope you enjoy them, Kylie.

[The Library Nook]

Oh my goodness how organised are you! You put me to shame so much!

[Kylie]

Thanks everyone I hope I can manage it, but even if I can't, at least I'll be knocking quite a few books off my TBR pile in the process!