888

Wendy's Pick and Categories
Friday, December 26, 2008

December 26, 2008: UPDATE on Challenge

It is evident I will not complete this challenge - BUT, I am happy with how I did. Out of the 8 categories I chose to read from, I completed half of them (Books Around the World, Books on my TBR shelf for more than a Year, Non Fiction Books and Notables). For the other categories, I completed the following: 2 out of 8 Pulitzers, 5 out of 8 Bookers, 4 out of 8 Banned Books, and 5 out of 8 Classics. Next year I will be focusing more on the award winning books on my shelf. Many thanks to Michelle for hosting this complex, and rewarding challenge!

Here are my current categories and picks for 2008 (overlaps are in red):

8 Pulitzers

1. The Known World, by Edward P. Jones
2. The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington
3. So Big, by Edna Ferber (COMPLETED January 17, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
4. Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler
5. Angle of Repose, by Wallace Stegner (COMPLETED April 17, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
6. —
7. —
8. —

8 Bookers

1. The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker (COMPLETED December 25, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
   
2. Hotel Du Lac, by Anita Brookner (COMPLETED July 22, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
3. G, by John Berger
4. Oscar and Lucinda, by Peter Carey
5. Sacred Hunger, by Barry Unsworth
6. The Gathering, by Anne Enright (COMPLETED March 9, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
7. Life and Times of Michael K, by J.M. Coetzee (COMPLETED February 17, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
8. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel (COMPLETED June 23, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)

8 Books Around the World

1. Independent People, by Halldor Laxness (COMPLETED May 5, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
2. The White Mary, by Kira Salak (COMPLETED July 16, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
3. Atonement, by Ian McEwan (COMPLETED June 17, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
4. The Colour, by Rose Tremain (COMPLETED August 25, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
5. People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks (COMPLETED July 4, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
6. The Translator, by Daoud Hari (COMPLETED February 15, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
7. Alentejo Blue, by Monica Ali (COMPLETED February 22, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
8. Laughing Without An Accent, by Firoozeh Dumas (COMPLETED May 17, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)

8 Books that have Sat on my TBR Shelf for More than a Year

1. The World Below, by Sue Miller (COMPLETED April 26, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)
2. Regeneration, by Pat Barker (COMPLETED December 14, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
3. Lost and Found, by Jacqueline Sheehan (COMPLETED April 21, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
4. The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink (COMPLETED August 15, 2008; rated 1.5/5; read my review)
5. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver (COMPLETED July 12, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
6. The Eye in the Door, by Pat Barker (COMPLETED December 21, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)
7. Before You Know Kindness, by Chris Bohjalian (COMPLETED May 31, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
8. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (COMPLETED November 7, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)

8 Non Fiction Books

1. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, by Elizabeth McCracken (Completed October 24, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
2. Black Wave, by John and Jean Silverwood (Completed November 11, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)
3. The Zookeeper’s Wife, by Diane Ackerman (COMPLETED May 12, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
4. Laughing Without An Accent, by Firoozeh Dumas (COMPLETED May 18, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
5. Gifts From The Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (Completed October 28, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
6. Have You Found Her: A Memoir, by Janice Erlbaum (COMPLETED January 14, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
7. Ships Without A Shore, by Anne R. Pierce PhD (COMPLETED September 16, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
8. Alpine Americas, by Olaf Soot and Don Mellor (COMPLETED November 2, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
   

8 Banned Books

1. The Women of Rome, by Alberto Moravia
2. The Toilers of the Sea, by Victor Hugo
3. Moll Flanders, by Daniel Defoe
4. The Giver, by Lois Lowry (COMPLETED January 1, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
5. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (COMPLETED February 25, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini (COMPLETED June 13, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
7. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (COMPLETED March 21, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
8. —

8 Notables From This Site

1. The Secret River, by Kate Grenville (Completed October 13, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
2. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Moshin Hamid (Completed January 11, 2008, rated 4/5; read my review)
3. The Gathering, by Anne Enright (COMPLETED March 9, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
4. After Dark, by Haruki Murakami (from NYT Most Notable - 2007) - Completed October 28, 2008; rated 2/5; read my review.
5. Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name, by Vendela Vida (COMPLETED September 30, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
6. Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo (COMPLETED June 7, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
7. On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan (from NYT Most Notable - 2007) - Completed August 11, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
8. The View From Castle Rock, by Alice Munro (from NYT Most Notable - 2007) - Completed September 28, 2008; rated 4/5; read my review.

8 Classics

1. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (Completed January 25, 2008; rated 3.5/5; read my review)
2. Home of the Gentry, by Ivan Turgenev (Completed June 19, 2008; rated 3/5; read my review)
3. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier (COMPLETED November 7, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)
4. The Ghost Road, by Pat Barker (COMPLETED December 25, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
5. Emma, by Jane Austen
6. Wuthering Heights, by Emil Bronte
7. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens
8. Gifts From The Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh (Completed October 28, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)

Posted by Wendy at 12/26/2008 11:00:00 AM  

Labels: Around the World, Banned Books, Bookers, Classics, Non-fiction, Notables, Pulitzers, TBR stacks, Wendy

2 comments:

Juliette said... October 14, 2007 at 3:43 PM  

Hi Wendy, Having just posted my 888 it has been pointed out to me (very nicely :) that just4thehelluvit can't be cross challenged .... mmmm.. what do you think?
I think I may change mine to something like ...
8 that catch my eye!

Wendy said... November 3, 2007 at 10:34 PM  

Hi Juliette,

I changed mine to classics - I have a ton of classics on my TBR pile :)

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