CoversGirl's List




I didn’t originally intend to sign up for this challenge, as I never know in advance what books I’ll get to read each year; it all depends on the availability at the BookFest and the library. But then it occurred to me that I could put my own spin on it: instead of a list of books I must read, I could compose a list of books I will read if at all possible and let serendipity take care of the rest. If I can track them down, great; if I can’t, it doesn’t matter. A pressure-free challenge with the added fun of testing fate!


1. The Collections

Books composed of short stories


Cat o’ Nine Tales - Jeffrey Archer

The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke

Ghost Stories - Charles Dickens

In a Glass Darkly - J. Sheridan le Fanu

Life’s Little Ironies - Thomas Hardy

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman

Smoke and Mirrors - Neil Gaiman

Waifs and Strays - Charles de Lint




2. Eighteen Hundred and Something

Books that have withstood the test of time


Shirley - Charlotte Brontë

The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

She - H. Rider Haggard

Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy

The Aspern Papers - Henry James

Indiana - George Sand

The Way We Live Now - Anthony Trollope




3. A Little Light Reading

Books that are fun to read


Welcome to Temptation - Jennifer Crusie

The Big Over-Easy - Jasper Fforde

Lola Carlyle Reveals All - Rachel Gibson

Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy

Austenland - Shannon Hale

Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K. Jerome

The Man with Two Left Feet - P. G. Wodehouse

The Trials of Tiffany Trott - Isabel Wolff




4. Next, Please

Books that are next in a series or sequence


So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams

Seeing Redd - Frank Beddor

The Angel of Darkness - Caleb Carr

Venus in Copper- Lindsay Davis

Cat in a Midnight Choir - Carole Nelson Douglas

Voyager - Diana Gabaldon

Rosa and the Veil of Gold - Kim Wilkins

To Say Nothing of the Dog - Connie Willis




5. The Rest of the World

Books set in the past of a country outside Britain


Shogun - James Clavell (1600s Japan)

Cocaine Blues - Kerry Greenwood (1900s Australia)

Imperium - Robert Harris (100s BC Rome)

Jerusalem - Cecelia Holland (1100s and guess where?)

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (1800s America)

The Honest Courtesan - Margaret Rosenthal (1500s Italy)

Perfume - Patrick Süskind (1700s France)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (WW2 Germany)





6. Screen First, Page Second

Books I've seen an adaptation of


Bleak House - Charles Dickens

A Room with a View - E. M. Forster

The Quiet American - Graham Greene

Runaway Jury - John Grisham

Seabiscuit - Laura Hillenbrand

Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman

The Cider House Rules - John Irving

Fingersmith - Sarah Waters




7. Things that Go Bump in the Night

Books that are mysterious, spooky, or just plain weird


Every Dead Thing - John Connolly

Neuromancer - William Gibson

The Woman in Black - Susan Hill

The Boys from Brazil - Ira Levin

Titus Groan - Mervyn Peake

Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake

Titus Alone - Mervyn Peake

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield




8. We Meet at Last

Books I've been wanting to read for ages


Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Euginedes

The Crimson Petal and the White- Michel Faber

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

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

Northern Lights (a.k.a The Golden Compass) - Philip Pullman

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon


Posted by Amat Libris at 4/19/2008 12:12:00 AM

2 comments:

Anonymous said... January 13, 2008 at 3:56 PM  

I have been wanting to read Crimson Petal and the white for a while. Be prepared to read for a while. it is meaty. Good list. Good luck

alisonwonderland said... February 1, 2008 at 12:41 PM  

you've got some great categories! happy reading!

Post a Comment

Blogger Template by Blogcrowds

Background image by Vlad Studio