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My 2011 Goals

I have three main focuses for my reading this year.

1. Continue to take part in Diane’s Around the World in 80 Books challenge. Not sure that I’ll make it as I’m already running behind schedule. But let’s face it; it’s the journey that’s so enjoyable, not whether you complete it. Progress can be seen at Robyn - Frequent Flyer
(Diane's Around the World in 80 Books challenge has clocked over to a new year and is now a group in it's own right. Progress can now be found at Robyn - Frequent Flyer 2011/2012)

2. Read at least 34 books from 1001 Books to Read Before You Die (including all three lists). This is currently the minimum I must read (it’s been going up every year!) if I am to have any hope of completing it. Mind you, if I keep picking 1001 books from different countries for Diane’s challenge, I can kill two birds with one stone and make great progress!

3. Lastly on a lighter note (and with no real deadline involved) I have read a lot of Agatha Christie over the years but don’t really know exactly what. With that in mind (and a complete list of her novels and short stories at hand), I’m going to begin at the beginning and embark on a journey to read all things Agatha! Nice light reading to slot in when the other lists get heavy and who knows I might come across a country or two I can claim.

Progress


1001 Books:
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Switzerland)
2. The Lover by Marguerite Duras (Vietnam)
3. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (Canada)
4. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
5. Wuthering Heights by Emilie Brontë (England)
6. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières (Greece)
7. The Third Man by Graham Greene (Austria)
8. The Grass is Singing: A Novel by Doris Lessing (Zimbabwe)
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (Slovenia)
10. A Room With a View by E M Forster (Italy)
11. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
12. At the Mountains of Madness by H P Lovecraft (Antarctica)
13. Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway (Spain)
14. The Twins by Tessa de Loo (Belgium)
15. The Drivers Seat by Muriel Spark
16. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer (Ukraine)
17. Candide by Voltaire
18. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan
19. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
20. A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov (Georgia)
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (Congo, Democratic Republic of the)
22. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Germany)
23. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (Iceland)
24. Mrs. Dalloway by Viginia Woolf
25. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud (Morocco)
26. The Trial by Franz Kafka (Czech Republic)
27. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Dominica)
28. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic)
29. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (Scotland)
30. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
31. I Robot by Isaac Asimov
32. Embers by Sándor Márai (Hungary)
33. The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
34. The Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
35. Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
36. The Wonderful O by James Thurber
37. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
38. Silk by Alessandro Baricco (Japan
39. The Color Purple by Alice Walker (USA/State:Georgia)
40. The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber
41. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho (France)
42. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (State:Massachusetts)
43. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels (Greece)
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (State:New Hampshire)
45. Saturday by Ian McEwan (England)
46. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Canada)

Agatha Christie:
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
2. The Secret Adversary
3. The Murder on the Links
4. The Man in the Brown Suit (South Africa)

1001
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
(also Switzerland - atwi80books)

1001
2. The Lover by Marguerite Duras
(also Vietnam - atwi80books)

1001
3. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
(also Canada - atwi80books)

The Ancient Future by Traci Harding
(Wales atwi80books)

1001
4. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

1001
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
(also England atwi80books)

1001
6. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
(also Greece atwi80books)

Agatha
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
(Guernsey atwi80books)

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
(Benin atwi80books)

I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui
(Yemen atwi80books)

1001
7. The Third Man by Graham Greene
(also Austria atwi80books)

Secrets in the Fire by Henning Mankell
(Mozambique atwi80books)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
(Afghanistan atwi80books)

1001
8. The Grass Is Singing: A Novel by Doris Lessing
(also Zimbabwe atwi80books)

1001
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
(also Slovenia atwi80books)

Robyn wrote: "1001
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
(also Slovenia atwi80books)"

I enjoyed the movie, must read the book.

Claire wrote: "Robyn wrote: "1001
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
(also Slovenia atwi80books)"

I enjoyed the movie, must read the book."

I didn't realise there was a movie. Intriguing.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
(Bosnia and Herzegovina athwi80books)

1001
10. A Room With a View by E.M. Forster
(also Italy atwi80books)

1001
11. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

1001
12. At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
(also Antarctica atwi80books)

Temple by Matthew Reilly
(Peru atwi80books)

1001
13. Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
(also Spain atwi80books)

1001
14. The Twins by Tessa de Loo
(also Belgium atwi80books)

1001
15. The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

1001
16. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
(also Ukraine atwi80books)

1001
17. Candide by Voltaire

1001
18. Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

1001
19. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams

1001
20. A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Lermontov
(also Georgia atwi80books)

Robyn wrote: "Claire wrote: "Robyn wrote: "1001
9. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
(also Slovenia atwi80books)"

I enjoyed the movie, must read the book."

I didn't realise..."

Yup Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in it x

1001
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
(also Congo, Democratic Republic of the atwi80books)

1001
22. Slaughterhouse 5: Or, the Children's Crusade, A Duty-Dance with Death by Kurt Vonnegut
(also Germany atwi80books)

1001
23. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
(also Iceland atwi80books)

1001
24. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

1001
25. Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud
(also Morocco atwi80books)

1001
26. The Trial by Franz Kafka
(also Czech Republic atwi80books)

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
(Haiti atwi80books)

1001
27. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
(also Dominica atwi80books)

1001
28. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
(also Dominican Republic atwi80books)

1001
29. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
(also Scotland atwi80books)

1001
30. Solaris: The Definitive Edition by Stanisław Lem

Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
(US state Georgia atwi80books)

Agatha
2. The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

1001
31. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

1001
32. Embers by Sándor Márai
(also Hungary atwi80books)

1001
33. The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark