Wednesday, December 23, 2009

100+ Reading Challenge

100_Reading_Challenge
The crowning jewel of reading challenges.  The mother of all challenges….read 100 books in a year!
Back in 2007 my friend Susan read 100 books! While that didn’t inspire me to immediately jump in an attempt to read 100 myself, it did inspire me to at least keep track of how many books I read each year.  I’d never set a goal, but 100 was kinda the unspoken goal.   Good Reads definitely helped because I could make a shelf just for my 2008 books and easily keep track!  In 2008 I read 74 books.  Not too shabby, but 24 away from the unspoken goal.  My goal for 2009 was simple – to read more than I’d read in 2008.  This year I have read 66 books with plans to finish off 2 more before the end of the year so 68 total.  Again, a pretty high number, but falling short of both goals.  So, I would LOVE to make it to 100, but if I don’t, no big deal.  
I figured it up and in order to reach the goal of 100 you have to average at least 2 books a week.  My starting out strategy is to bulk up at the beginning of the year – try and it get 10-12 books for January and February and be ahead of the game in case reading time gets away from me later in the year. 
I’m sure that all the other challenges will help me, if I complete them then I’ll be well on my way to the elusive 100! :-)
1. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen - by Susan Gregg Gilmore
2. Angels – Marian Keyes
3. Leave the Grave Green – Deborah Crombie
4. The Double Bind – Chris Bohjalian
5. Last Chance Saloon – Marian Keyes
6. Blind Courage – Bill Irwin
7. Family Tree – Barbara Delinsky
8. The Tooth of Time – Sue Henry
9. Blessings – Anna Quindlen
10.  Hey Ranger!: True Tales of Humor & Misadventure from America’s National Parks – Jim Burnett
11. A Northern Light – Jennifer Donnelly
12. Time Bandit: Two Brothers, The Bering Sea, & The World’s Deadliest Job – Andy & Jonathan Hillstrand
13. Viola in Reel Life – Adriana Trigiani
14.  The Girl Who Played with Fire – Stieg Larsson
15.  The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder – Rebecca Wells
16.  Encore, Valentine – Adriani Trigiani
17.  Secrets of Eden – Chris Bohjalian
18.  Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess – Jerramy Fine
19. Murder on the Iditarod Trail – Sue Henry
20.  The Friday Night Knitting Club – Kate Jacobs
21.  The Moving Finger – Agatha Christie
22.  Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States – Pete Jordan
23. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner – Bich Minh Nugyen
24. Green Witch – Alice Hoffman
25.  Flush – Carl Hiaasen
26.  How Reading Changed My Life – Anna Quindlen
27.  Death on the Nile – Agatha Christie
28.  The Queen’s Fool – Philippa Gregory
29. The Nanny Diaries – Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
30.  Sushi for Beginners – Marian Keyes
31. Shanghai Girls – Lisa See
32.  Somewhere off the Coast of Maine – Ann Hood
33.  North by Northwestern – Capitan Sig Hansen
34.  Sleeping Lady – Sue Henry
35. Those Who Save Us – Jenna Blum
36.  Miss Julia Renews Her Vows – Ann B. Ross
37.  Knit Two – Kate Jacobs
38.  In Beauty May She Walk – Leslie Mass
39.  Mourn Not Your Dead – Debbie Crombie
40.  The Girl Who Stopped Swimming – Joshilyn Jackson
41.  Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man – Fannie Flagg
42.  The Dive From Clausen’s Pier – Ann Packer
43. Valley of the Dolls – Jacqueline Susann
44.  A Year in the Maine Woods – Bernd Heinrich
45.  Solving Thorny Behavior Problems – Caltha Crowe
46.  Termination Dust – Sue Henry
47.  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 
48.   Hooked on Murder – Betty Hechtman
49. Death Takes Passage – Sue Henry 
50. Sizzling Sixteen – Janet Evanovich
51.  Hey Ranger 2 – Jim Burnett
52. The Painter from Shangai – Jennifer Cody Epstein 
53. Dead Men Don’t Crochet – Betty Hechtman
54. Tall Pine Polka – Lorna Landvik
55. A Stitch in Crime – Betty Hechtman
56.  Patty Jane’s House of Curl – Lorna Landvik
57. Parents & Teachers Working Together – Carol David & Alice Yang
58.  Moloka’i – Alan Brennert
59.  The Sugar Queen – Sarah Addison Allen
60.   Park Ranger - Nancy Eileen Muleady-Mecham
61.  The Knitting Circle – Ann Hood
62.  Fire & Ice – Dana Stabenow
63.  My Most Excellent Year – Steve Kluger
64.  Burn – Nevada Barr
65. Garden Spells – Sarah Addison Allen
66. The Ornithologist's Guide to Life – Ann Hood 
67.  The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake – Aimee Bender
68. Rise and Shine – Anna Quindlen
69. Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work – Tim Gunn
70. Black and Blue – Anna Quindlen
71.  The Opposite of Me – Sarah Pekkanen
72. Comfort Food – Kate Jacobs
73.  Knit the Season – Kate Jacobs
74.  Deadfall – Sue Henry
75.  By Hook or By Crook – Betty Hechtman
76. The Flying Carpet of Small Miracles: A Woman’s Fight to Save Two Orphans – Hala Jaber
77. You Better Knot Die – Betty Hechtman
78. Christmas Eve in Friday Harbor – Lisa Kleypas
79. You Better Not Cry – Augusten Burroughs
80.  Wishin’ and Hopin’ – Wally Lamb
81. Journey North: One Woman’s Story of Hiking The Appalachian Trail – Adrienne Hall
82.  RV There Yet? – Julia Roberts
83.  Sick Puppy – Carl Hiaasen
84.  Holidays on Ice – David Sedaris
85.  Smoky Mountain Magic – Horace Kephart
86.  The Mighty Queens of Freeville – Amy Dickerson
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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the 100+ Reading Challenge. I am so glad you have decided to join us in the fun. 2010 is going to be a great year in reading. I can just feel it!

Lesley said...

It was Susan who first got me to try to read 100 books, too, although I've yet to meet that goal. In 2009 I actually read fewer books than in any other year since I started keeping track, but I'm hoping that with having so much planned reading from all the challenges, I'll at least have a very full reading year.

Good luck!