The Book Challenge discussion

I'm getting a head start in here, just so I can get my thoughts together as to what I want to challenge myself to do next year. I've consistently hit 45+ books the past two years, so I think I may challenge myself to hit 50 or 55. (ETA: I hit 55 books in 2010, so I'm aiming for 55-60. Wish me luck!)

But, my big challenge is the types of books I want to read. I think 2011 will be my years of series books. I want to finish the Wizard of Oz series -- with that being the case, I will need to read 12 books! I can do it. I also want to read the Girl With Series. Then I want to read The two Alice in Wonderland books. I may also be starting the Odd Thomas series and maybe the Aunt Dimity series.

I also wanted to challenge myself to read a few books off of the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list (the 2008 one is what I have my selections from, but I may check out a newer one). I was thinking 5 or so.

Let's start the list, then:


The Wizard of Oz
1. Ozma of Oz
2. Dorothy And the Wizard in Oz
3. The Road to Oz
4. The Emerald City of Oz
5. The Patchwork Girl of Oz
6. Tik-Tok of Oz
7. The Scarecrow of Oz (Books of Wonder)
8. Rinkitink in Oz
9. The Lost Princess of Oz
10. The Tin Woodman of Oz
11. The Magic of Oz
12. Glinda of Oz

The Girl . . .
13. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
14. The Girl Who Played with Fire
15. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Alice in Wonderland (these also fall in the 1001 Books category)
16. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
17. Through the Looking-Glass

1001 Books
18. The Book of Illusions
19. Little Women
20. The Count of Monte Cristo
21. Everything Is Illuminated

Just Because
The Help
I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood
Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages

I finished my first book of 2011 yesterday - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm focusing on finishing up Marley and Me now. A little over 100 pages left. Maybe I'll finish that today. Then I'm not entirely sure what I'll go for next. I think I really should get into the Wizard of Oz books, so I'll probably try to read Ozmas of Oz this weekend.

And, in case I haven't said it already, I LOVE my Kindle. I find myself more willing to read while Chris is awake and running around, because it's so much easier to read one handed and be able to put it down when he needs help or is getting into trouble.

Finished Ozma of Oz today. That was a quick one. Hopefully all of the Wizard of Oz books are. The writing is just out of my norm that I don't think I'll be able to do more than one at a time. So, I'm trying to decide if I will finish Marley and Me or start another book. I can't decide what I want to read! lol

I just downloaded a whole bunch of medical memoirs and stories for free off of Kindle. They put up a ton. I like anecdotal stories and things like that. We'll see what I get from these. Though, who knows when I will read them. I also have a bunch of sample chapters to read for books I'm considering getting on my Kindle.

I finished Marley & Me: Love and Life with the World's Worst Dog last night. Holy cow. I guess Hootie's death is just fresh enough. I cried like a baby at the end of that book. I'm not really a dog person, so I didn't expect to have the same reaction as others, but apparently I am more of a dog person than I thought. But reading Grogan's description of what happened to Marley as he aged really just made me think of how Hootie changed over the years. But, all in all, it was a very cute/fun book that brought back a lot of fun memories of Hootie. Glad I finally got around to reading it after it had been sitting on my bookshelf for over two years!

I'm heading to the gym this morning after I drop Chris off at Kim's. I'll be trying to finish up I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood. It's not a funny book, per say, as I thought it was when I put it on my TBR, but it's nice to read that I'm not alone in some of my mothering concerns -- as well as marital. I've done a lot of highlighting on my Kindle with this book.

Finished up I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood this evening. This wasn't a blow me away help book, but it was a kick you in the pants tell you to get your crap together kind of book. I did more highlighting by the time I was done. Glad I read it and will be keeping it around for the future.

Have decided to dive back into the Millenium series and have started The Girl Who Played with Fire.

I finished The Girl Who Played with Fire. I am diving right into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, as the ending of the second one leaves a lot unanswered. Not sure what I'll tackle when I'm done with this series.

I finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. That took me a lot longer than I both wanted to/expected it to. It moved slowly, then quickly, then slowly.

Now I'm taking a mystery/thriller breather and reading Dorothy And the Wizard in Oz. Then I think I'll read Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.

I finished Dorothy And the Wizard in Oz this evening. I will be turning my full focus to Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex -- I'm about a quarter of the way through this. It's an interesting read. I don't think I would have been able to read something like this, if it wasn't for Mary Roach.

I've kind of put Bonk on hold. It's a lot more scientific than I expected. But, I am hoping to finish The Hangman's Daughter this weekend. An interesting historical fiction.

I finished it this morning. And now I am on to Fat,Forty,Fired: One Man's Frank,Funny,and Inspiring Account of Losing His Job and Finding His Life. It was a free book that I threw on my list for March for a book club challenge.

I finished Fat, Forty, Fired: One Man's Frank, Funny, and Inspiring Account of Losing His Job and Finding His Life. It was a pretty good book. I ended up enjoying more than I thought I would.

I am now reading The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Seems like it will be a pretty quick read.

I finished The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood. I really enjoyed this. I thought there was going to be too much sailing focus in the beginning, but I was wrong. It was somewhat predictable, but I still really liked it. I think I needed a quick, predictable read.

I'm back and forth about whether I want to read The Road to Oz or The Last Lecture.

I finished The Last Lecture. It was a good book. Honestly, quite a bit like most self-help/inspirational books I've read, but this guy had a really interesting life and did have some good things to say. It was nice of him to write this book and give the lecture "for his kids."

I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett. What a great book. I haven't read a book that I was totally engrossed in for a long time. I spent the entire morning here at work with my face glued to my Kindle, while I finished the last 20% of the book. I grew attached to the characters, even the secondary ones (the white house women), and was really sad to see it come to an end. I really hope the movie does the book justice.

I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. It was a pretty quick read -- yeah, I realize it's been over two weeks since I posted in here. I didn't read at all over my Easter break from work, so all-in-all, it only took me three days' worth of train rides to finish it.

Now I'm reading Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell. I borrowed this from Pete in my office. He's letting me read it before him, after he saw how excited I was that it was sitting on his desk. So far, it's a bit more interesting than The Wordy Shipmates.

I had also started reading The Road to Oz before the work recess. I don't know how well the challenge of finishing those will go, as the more I read, the less I like Baum's writing and the more I dislike Dorothy. I know, children are pretty blunt, but good lord, Dorothy can be downright rude! So, we'll see. I'm going to try to finish this one and then maybe put off the rest until later in the year.

This week I finished Unfamiliar Fishes and The Road to Oz.

I'm planning on reading Aunt Dimity's Death, which I'm figuring will be a pretty quick read.

I finished Aunt Dimity's Death. It was a nice quick read. I may add the series to my list. I am now tackling Outlander. I know I'm only around 4% into the book, but it's moving a little slow for my tastes, so we'll see how it goes.

My goal for the month of June is to read the next two Wizard of Oz books and The Sea Hunters.

I read The Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World: Over 600 Secrets of the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Am now reading My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands.

I finished My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands. I will be starting The Emerald City of Oz on the train today.

I finished The Emerald City of Oz. This was originally supposed to be the last story about Oz. I'm not sure I want to read anymore after this, for reasons other than I'm tired of them! lol

I think I'm going to start The Sea Hunters on the train ride home, but I'm half tempted to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass. They're both short reads.

Decided to start Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! This is going to be a VERY quick read!

Finished Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! I'll be reading Through the Looking-Glass today!

I finished Through the Looking-Glass. On the train home, I'll be starting the last Frankenstein book in Dean Koontz's series -- The Dead Town.

I finished The Dead Town on Monday night. I'm a little disappointed with how abruptly everything came to an end. And I'm sad to see the characters go. But, a good end to the series.

Now, I am tackling Everything Is Illuminated. It's a little hard to follow, so far. Hope it clears up a little bit soon.

Everything Is Illuminated is still a bit hard to follow. I will go back to it soon. I did just read Twisted by Sara Shepard. This is book 9 in the Pretty Little Liars series. Good read. Now I am sad I have to wait until December for book 10 to come out!

Next up, I'm going to read Life's a Beach by Claire Cook. This was a Kindle freebie.

I threw Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs in the mix last week and finished that early Wednesday morning. I'm hoping to finish Life's a Beach today. Trying to crank through a few books since the workload is slow here in the office, but the work hours haven't shortened much!

I finished Life's a Beach on Thursday and started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. What an amazing book! Will be starting Catching Fire in a few minutes!

I finished the Hunger Games series last night. Not sure what I want to read now. I think I'll just try again to get into Smokin' Seventeen.