BTT: Online Book-Cataloguing Sites

(From 13 December 2007): Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?

I love making lists and being organised so combining that with my love of books means that book-cataloguing sites are often frequented by me :) I joined up with LibraryThing first and it remains my favourite site for cataloging my books. It has a well-designed layout and it's so easy to navigate around and edit my books with tags, ratings, reviews etc. When I buy a new book I can't wait to catalogue it, tag it and find the correct cover. A sure sign that I'm impressed with the site can be seen by the fact that I paid for lifetime membership - I NEVER usually do that sort of thing with websites!

I tried Shelfari for a little while but didn't find it as easy to use. It wasn't able to import all of my books from LibraryThing and it didn't have covers available for an awful lot of my books. I liked some aspects of the site, but ultimately I preferred LibraryThing, so I deleted my account.

I signed up with Goodreads last week and it remains to be seen whether or not I'll stick with it. Goodreads also wasn't able to import all of my books from LibraryThing so at some stage I'm going to have to go through them all and see what's missing and then add them manually. I'm happy to see that finding the correct cover is easier here than it was on Shelfari. I like the ability to add quotes to one's profile, but I'm having trouble adjusting to parts of the layout, such as the font (there seems to be quite a few different fonts and font sizes used, which makes it a little tough on the eyes).

I like the community aspect of all three sites. There are discussion groups for just about anything, and while I don't usually make a habit of posting in them, I like to read what everyone else is saying. I also find the reviews invaluable.

And as if all that isn't enough, I also have an Excel spreadsheet cataloging my books. Along with the name and author, I also have fields for the genre, ISBN, year of original publication, year my edition was published, number of pages, and whether the book has been read or remains unread. These details come in handy when I'm doing book reviews. The spreadsheet isn't actually complete yet, but it's almost there!

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs

Rating: 7/10

Published: 1918
Number of pages: 220

Started: 26 January 2008
Finished: 27 January 2008



Summary (taken from blurb):
May Gibbs' enchanting bush world, peopled with gumnut heroes and heroines, solid friends like Mr Lizard and Mrs Bear, and, of course, the villainous Banksia men, has played as important a part in the imaginative background of Australian children as The Wind in the Willows or Alice in Wonderland...It includes most of the original illustrations, which contribute as much as the stories to the charm, humour and character of May Gibbs' classic.

Comments:
Along with Norman Lindsay's The Magic Pudding, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie is one of the greatest children's novels in Australian literature. My hardback copy consists of the complete adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, Little Ragged Blossom, and Little Obelia, and comes complete with the original gorgeous black and white illustrations.

I loved this book as a kid and this has been the first time in many years that I've read it (I rashly decided to give away most of my childhood books years ago, but this was one of the few I kept). As a discerning adult, I can now spot obvious flaws that I never noticed before. There are gaping plot holes and unbelievable coincidences that are never satisfactorily explained, but ultimately it's a charming and fast-paced story of the adventures of the engaging Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and all of their friends.

The illustrations are plentiful and gorgeous (examples can be seen here). May Gibbs has created a beautiful world full of bush creatures inspired by Australia's flora and fauna, and she displays her passion for them by sprinkling subtle messages throughout the book about being kind to all plants and animals. Well worth a look, if only for the beautiful illustrations.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Rating: 9/10

Published: 1811
Number of pages: 407

Started: 17 January 2008
Finished: 25 January 2008



Summary (taken from blurb):
Sisters Marianne and Elinor couldn't be more different. Marianne is desperately romantic and longing to meet the man of her dreams, while Elinor takes a far more cautious approach to love.

When the two of them move to the country with their family, miles away from London, there is little prospect of them finding anyone at all. But then they meet their new neighbours - including kind Edward Ferrers and the good-looking, dangerous Willoughby - and it seems happiness may be just round the corner after all.

Things aren't always as they appear to be, though. Soon, both sisters will need to decide who to trust in their search for love: their family, their new friends, their heads - or their hearts?

Comments:
Another beautiful work by Jane Austen. No-one can capture romance and heartache quite like she can and, as always, her writing is a joy to read.

I didn't find myself particularly liking Elinor and Marianne until near the end of the book, which is unusual for me when reading Austen because I usually love all of her heroines (even Emma, with all of her flaws!). That didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book though.

There are also some great quotes in there reminding us that some issues are timeless. I prefer Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but Sense and Sensibility is still a very enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

Books Added to Wish List

I've added the following books to my wish list. I've been wanting some of them for a while now but just hadn't formally added them to the list.

Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy
Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park
Jared Diamond: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel
Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum
Umberto Eco: The Island of the Day Before
Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose
Homer: The Iliad
Homer: The Odyssey
Aldous Huxley: The Doors of Perception
Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City
Ovid: Metamorphoses
Dorothy Parker: The Portable Dorothy Parker
Shel Silverstein: The Light in the Attic
Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends

Like I really need all these extra books! (Actually I do need them. They keep me happy!)

BTT: Out-of-Print Books

I've decided to start participating in Booking Through Thursday. I always see interesting questions popping up that I would love to answer. According to the website, I don't necessarily have to answer the questions on a Thursday, so I'm just going to post the last couple of months worth of answers over a period of a week or so until I get caught up.

(From 6 December 2007): Do you have a favourite book, now out of print, that you would like to see become available again?

YES! Well, not so much a favourite book as many books that I would like to read but never see in shops. Until a couple of days ago, there was one in particular that stood out above all others, and that was '1985' by Anthony Burgess. It was originally published in 1978 as a tribute to George Orwell's '1984'. It's published in two parts: the first is a collection of essays and interviews discussing aspects of '1984'; and the second part is a novella set in 1985. I thought it sounded like an interesting read but despaired of ever finding it in a shop (new or second-hand) or on ebay. Then, a couple of days ago I did a search on ebay that I was expecting would be fruitless. But there it was! In excellent condition and reasonably priced. It was one of my happiest book purchases :)

There are quite a few other books that I would like to see given a new lease on life:
Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed (and anything else of his that isn't currently in print)
Graham Greene: The Third Man (I've seen an expensive version of this in shops, but would like to see it reissued properly and given the attention I think it would deserve)
Aldous Huxley: The Doors of Perception (and anything else of his that isn't currently in print)
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden series (they've started reissuing these, but it's going to be years, if ever, until they get to the last, and rarest, books in the series)
Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress/Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
Nancy Turner: Sarah's Quilt/The Star Garden
John Wyndham: Chocky
Yevgeny Zamyatin: We

Found: One Rare Book

I'm so excited today! I did a search on ebay earlier for Anthony Burgess (author of the brilliant A Clockwork Orange) in the remote hope that I would find one of his more obscure works that I've been dying to get my hands on, and there it was!

The book has been out of print for I-don't-know-how-long and I've never seen it in secondhand bookshops or heard much discussion of it anywhere. I've had it on my wishlist for a while but I didn't really have any hopes of being able to track it down! I am so terribly excited!

The book is called 1985 and it was originally published in 1978 as a tribute to George Orwell's 1984. From my understanding, it's published in two parts: the first is a collection of essays and interviews discussing aspects of 1984; and the second part is a novella set in 1985. It should make for some very interesting reading.

I am just so thrilled at finding this book! And it wasn't too expensive either! This is one happy little book-lover!

I'm an Amazing Blogger!

Kell has very kindly bestowed upon me the above award. What an honour! Especially coming from Kell, who has an incredible blog herself over at Life Gets in the Way.

Apparently I now have to confess seven weird or random facts about myself. Well, here goes!

1. I love almost everything about the 60s: music, fashion, cars, the peace movement. It is my greatest regret in life that I was not born several decades earlier. Instead, I got to be born in the early 80s; the decade with the worst music, fashion etc. I also love old movies (prior to 60s as well).

2. I can't roll my 'r's. It's completely unfathomable to me how people do it and I would love to be able to do it but have never managed it. I just kind of go 'llll' instead.

3. I had a lot of trouble learning to tie my shoelaces when I was little. I could never manage to do it the way everyone else did it (I still can't figure it out!) I found my own way instead, and I think it's much simpler than what everyone else does. I have recently found out that my way is called 'bunny ears'.

4. My favourite food has always been meat pies. Usually plain, but sometimes potato. And always with tomato sauce on the plain, but never on the potato (for some strange reason!).

5. I'm quite particular about what chips I eat (hot chips). I don't like them too cooked or undercooked, and I avoid the crunchy ones and ones with pointy ends. So: soft, golden brown and square ends, please! I'll eat the others, but generally leave them till last in case I get full. Luckily my Mum is the opposite so we work well together when eating chips!

6. I loathe cheese and can only tolerate it when it's melted (and then I love it!). If I get a burger with unmelted cheese sticking out the sides, I have to pull it off but leave the melted part in the middle. My Mum once tricked me into eating a cheeseburger that she accidentally bought by telling me it was butter. Oh, how young and naive I was!

7. I was once in a school production where I dressed in overalls and danced to 'Karma Chameleon' as part of Boy George and the Culture Club (one of the guys dressed up as Boy George). In other school productions, I have dressed up at different times as a fairy in the Nutcracker, a beach ball in Santa's toy workshop, a crow in an Aboriginal dreamtime story, and Jesus.

OK, now that I've let you in on all my deep, dark secrets, it's time to pass this award on! I'm not sure how many people I'm supposed to pass it on to, and at any rate, most of the blogs I frequent (which isn't very many) have already received the award. So I'm just going to pass it on to one blog that I think is particularly awesome. And the winner is...(drum-roll please)...

Kimbooktu
A wonderfully unique book blog full of quirky book news and interesting ideas. I wish my blog was half as interesting! Described by the owner as 'Gadgets for readers. Bookish products every book lover will lust for!'

Congrats, and thanks again to Kell!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Rating: 7/10

Published: 2002
Number of pages: 319

Started: 8 January 2008
Finished: 17 January 2008


Summary (taken from blurb):
After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, one solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The crew of the surviving vessel consists of a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger and Pi - a 16-year-old Indian boy. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary pieces of literary fiction of recent years.

Yann Martel's Life of Pi is a transformative novel, a dazzling work of imagination that will delight and astound readers in equal measure. It is a triumph of storytelling and a tale that will, as one character puts it, make you believe in God. Can a reader reasonably ask for anything more?

Comments:
***Warning! Spoilers!***
I thought Life of Pi was a pretty entertaining read, but there was nothing that really knocked my socks off or that will stand in my memory for a long time (other than a few slightly gruesome scenes).

There was quite a bit of background story leading up to the lifeboat section, which got a little tiresome, but mostly I found Pi's comments on animals and religion to be quite interesting, even if I didn't completely agree with what he was saying. Like others have said before me, the whole island part was most puzzling - it seemed very out of place! (Although probably not as out-of-place as the short incident with the Frenchman that preceded it!)

I know the ending has come as a disappointment to some people but luckily I knew beforehand how it would end so I wasn't disappointed. Highlight to view spoiler: Which story do I believe? Well, of course we'd all like to believe the version with the animals, but I'm inclined to think his second story was true. If you had spent 227 days at sea, it would certainly give you ample time to think up a story to explain away your actions (which in other circumstances would be atrocious), and perhaps it would also help you to maintain your sanity.

Perhaps I enjoyed it more than some people because I didn't try to read too much into it and find symbolism everywhere. I took it at face value and enjoyed it as a good story, well told.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson

Rating: 9/10

Published: 1954
Number of pages: 176

Started: 7 January 2008
Finished: 8 January 2008


Summary (taken from Dymocks website):
Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth, but he is not alone, for every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire and they are hungry for Neville's blood. By day he is hunter; by night, the prey. How long can one man survive like this?

Comments:
Often the shortest books can pack the biggest punch, and I am Legend is no exception. It's quite fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat several times. I thought Matheson did a great job of exploring the psyche of Robert Neville and a world without people. I found the medical descriptions dull, but knew they were necessary in order for the author to logically explain the appearance of vampires. An ending to a story like this has the potential to be hugely disappointing, but happily this wasn't the case with I am Legend: the ending was simply brilliant. An excellent read.

No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion by Geoff Tibballs

Rating: 8/10
Published: 2006
Number of pages: 192

Started: 5 January 2008
Finished: 6 January 2008



Summary (taken from blurb):
Cricket, or 'the elegant game', occupies a long-established and distinguished position in the annals of sporting history. Skilful and graceful, technical and tactical, the intricacies and multi-faceted nature of the sport have enthralled and baffled spectators in equal measure over the centuries. Delving into its rich and varied history, No-Balls and Googlies uncovers the origins of this captivating game, and explores its traditions, records, milestones and memorable moments through a fascinating array of facts and figures, anecdotes and curiosities.

...

For cricket fanatics the world over, No-Balls and Googlies also provides an amusing insight into the sport's many quirky characters, and presents a wealth of facts, trivia, quotations and stories taken from this great sport's illustrious history.

Comments:
This is a charming little book full of fun facts and trivia regarding the long history of cricket. It's not a book one would usually read straight through; rather, it's one that can be dipped into occasionally. That said, I read the entire thing while watching (what else?) the cricket.

Some of the stories and incidents mentioned in the book make the current spat between Australia and India seem not so bad. Just another colourful event in the long history of the game. It's really given me a greater appreciation for the sport, its rules, its origins, and the people who have represented their teams over the year. Highly recommended if you're a fan of the sport (and if you're not, it might help you see the game in a new light!)

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Rating: 7/10

Published: 1983
Number of pages: 285

Started: 21 December 2007
Finished: 5 January 2008


Summary (taken from blurb):
On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There's an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet...

Comments:
After eyeing off Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for many years, I have finally gotten around to starting it! I was actually putting it off because I knew I'd like them and I really couldn't afford to get sucked into reading such a big series, but you've gotta give in sooner or later.

I wasn't too sure what to expect from this book because I'd read a few reviews stating that it wasn't as good as his later works. It turned out to be pretty much what I was expecting; not overwhelmingly brilliant but a good read that has got me interested in continuing with the rest of the series.

I liked the characters, particularly Rincewind and Death, and look forward to seeing them more in future books. My one minor gripe was that it seemed a bit repetitive: Rincewind would get himself into one similar life-threatening predicament after another. I feel a bit lousy criticising this book when it's a nice, light read, but there you have it. Ultimately, it's fun and enjoyable and I'm looking forward to reading The Light Fantastic to find out what happens after that, er, cliff-hanger ending!

Books on My Wish List

The below list consists of the books on my wish list (as at 25 December 2007). I'll no doubt be adding more as the year goes on and I get more recommendations from the BCF!

I don't intend buying all of these books this year, especially as some of them will be difficult to track down. Items will be moved to my 'Books Bought in 2007-2008' post as I track them down.

Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy
Clive Barker: The Thief of Always
Graeme Base: Animalia
Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour
Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the World
Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
Kyril Bonfiglioli: The Mortdecai Trilogy
Pattie Boyd: Wonderful Tonight
Charlotte Bronte: Shirley
John Brunner: The Jagged Orbit
John Brunner: The Sheep Look Up
John Brunner: The Shockwave Rider
John Brunner: Stand on Zanzibar
Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed
William S Burroughs: Junky
Patrick Califia: Doc and Fluff
Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
John Connolly: The Book of Lost Things
Michael Crichton: Jurassic Park
Jared Diamond: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs, and Steel
Alexandre Dumas: The Last Cavalier
Alexandre Dumas: The Three Musketeers
Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum
Umberto Eco: The Island of the Day Before
Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose
Michael Ende: The Never Ending Story
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides
Jasper Fforde: First Among Sequels
Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary
Neil Gaiman: American Gods
Neil Gaiman: Anansi Boys
Neil Gaiman: Stardust
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Harry Harrison: Make Room! Make Room!
Raven Hart: The Vampire's Seduction
Homer: The Iliad
Homer: The Odyssey
Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner
Aldous Huxley: The Doors of Perception
Robert Jordan: Wheel of Time series
James Joyce: Ulysses
Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #19, #35, #37, #38, #39
Andrew Keogh: Twentytwelve
Jack Kerouac: On the Road (The Original Scroll)
Timothy LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins: Glorious Appearing
Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City
Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress
Stanislaw Lem: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
Ira Levin: This Perfect Day
Lois Lowry: The Giver
Lois Lowry: Number the Stars
David Malouf: Remember Babylon
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Herman Melville: Moby Dick
Stephenie Meyer: Twilight
John Milton: Paradise Lost
Vladimir Nabokov: Bend Sinister
Vladimir Nabokov: Speak, Memory
Baroness Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Ovid: Metamorphoses
Dorothy Parker: The Portable Dorothy Parker
Jodi Piccoult: My Sister's Keeper
Thomas Pynchon: Vineland
Christopher Reid (ed): Letters of Ted Hughes
Philip Roth: The Plot Against America
David Sedaris: Naked
Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are (maybe borrow this from a library)
Shel Silverstein: The Light in the Attic
Shel Silverstein: Where the Sidewalk Ends
Brian Southall: Northern Songs
Jacqueline Susann: The Valley of the Dolls
Adrian Tinniswood: By Permission of Heaven - The True Story of the Great Fire of London
Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
Nancy Turner: Sarah's Quilt
Nancy Turner: The Star Garden
Kurt Vonnegut: Welcome to the Monkey House (short story)
Alan Weisman: The World Without Us
Gene Wilder: My French Whore
Tim Winton: Dirt Music
Tom Wolfe: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Jack Womack: Elvissey
John Wyndham: Chocky
Malcolm X: Autobiography of Malcolm X

Books Bought in 2007-2008

Below is a list of the books I have bought since the post-Christmas book sales in December 2007. After buying close to 200 books last year, I've pledged to restrict myself to buying less than 100 books this year.

December 2007:
Enid Blyton: The Magic Faraway Tree
Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There
Simon Callow: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles biography Volume 1)
Simon Callow: Hello Americans (Orson Welles biography Volume 2)
Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep and Other Stories
Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop
Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy
Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South
Stella Gibbons: Cold Comfort Farm
Jack Kerouac: The Dharma Bums
Stephen King: IT
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
Sue Townsend: The Secret Diaroy of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4

January 2008:
ER Braithwaite: To Sir, With Love
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita
Anthony Burgess: 1985
Vladimir Nabokov: Nabokov's Dozen
Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

February 2008:
Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart
Frank Beddor: The Looking Glass Wars
Frank Beddor: Seeing Redd
Bill Bryson: The Lost Continent
Albert Camus: The Outsider
Albert Camus: The Plague
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra: Don Quixote
Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings
Jonathan Safran Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Mystery of the Antique Doll (#36)
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden and the Pet Show Mystery (#37)
Matthew Pearl: The Poe Shadow
Marisha Pessl: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
John Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea
Alexander McCall Smith: The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom
Patrick Suskind: Perfume
Peter Temple: The Broken Shore
Hunter S Thompson: Hell's Angels
Lynne Truss: The Lynne Truss Treasury (With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, Tennyson's Gift, Going Loco, Making the Cat Laugh)

March 2008:
John Banville: The Sea
Clive Barker: Weaveworld
Roald Dahl: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six Others
HV Evatt: Rum Rebellion
Alex Garland: The Beach
Graham Greene: The Third Man and The Fallen Idol
George Grossmith: The Diary of a Nobody
Henry James: What Maisie Knew
Banjo Paterson: The Man from Snowy River
John Steinbeck: The Red Pony
Evelyn Waugh: Brideshead Revisited
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

April 2008:
Margaret Atwood: Cat's Eye
John Banville: Athena
John Banville: Doctor Copernicus
John Banville: Kepler
John Banville: Mephisto
Susanna Clarke: The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
David Mitchell: Black Swan Green

May 2008:
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World Revisited
Gregory Maguire: Wicked

June 2008:
Raven Hart: The Vampire's Kiss
Raven Hart: The Vampire's Secret

July 2008:
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden #19

Priority Reading for 2008

The following books are a small selection of the total number of books on my TBR pile. These are my 'top priority' books: the books that I would most like to read this year. I won't get through them all (I expect I'll be buying others and reading them, or jumping to others on my TBR pile if they come up for reading circles), but I certainly hope to put a big dent in this lot by the end of the year!

I've listed which challenges each book is eligible for in brackets, except for the RD challenge, because they're all eligible for that one! Books that have been read have a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

Richard Adams: Watership Down (CL, YA)
Isaac Asimov: I, Robot (1K, CL, SF)
Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake (DY, SF) 9/10
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (1K, BF, CL) 8/10
Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey (1K, BF, CL)
Jane Austen: Persuasion (1K, BF, CL)
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (1K, BF, CL) 9/10
Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar (AU, YA)
Graeme Blundell: King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy (AU)
Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes (CL?, SF)
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre (1K, CL) 10/10
Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden (CL, YA) 9/10
Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1K, CL, RD) 10/10
Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama (SF) 8/10
Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1K, CL)
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (YA) 7/10
Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox (YA)
Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop (CL)
Daphne Du Maurier: Rebecca (1K, CL)
Kim Edwards: Memory Keeper's Daughter
Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man (1K, CL)
AB Facey: A Fortunate Life (AU) 9/10
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (SF) 8/10
Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones' Diary
Ian Fleming: Casino Royale (1K, CL)
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (AU, CL, RD, YA) 7/10
Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon (SF)
Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd (1K, CL)
Frank Herbert: Dune (CL, SF)
Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1K, CL)
Anne Holm: I Am David (YA)
James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1K, CL)
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various) (YA)
Stephen King: The Stand (BF, SF)
Tim LaHaye: Left Behind #7 (SF)
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time (BB, CL, DY, SF, YA) 8/10
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (BB, CL, SF, YA) 8/10
Yann Martel: Life of Pi (1K, BF) 7/10
Richard Matheson: I am Legend (CL, DY, RD, SF) 9/10
Ian McEwan: Enduring Love (1K)
Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin (1K, CL)
Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife (BF)
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah (DY, RD, SF, YA) 7/10
Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (BF)
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (AU, YA) 8/10
Jodi Piccoult: Vanishing Acts
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (RD, SF) 7/10
Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 9/10
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (1K, BB, BF, CL, SF) 10/10
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath (1K, CL)
Donna Tartt: The Secret History (1K)
William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair (1K, CL)
Hunter S Thompson: The Rum Diary
John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1K, CL)
Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake (SF)
Charles Webb: The Graduate (1K, CL) 7/10
Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust (CL, RD) 7/10
Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth (1K, CL)
Tim Winton: Cloudstreet (AU)
Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #1: The Last Augury (SF)
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids (CL, SF)
Carlos Ruiz Zafon: The Shadow of the Wind

TBR Pile N-Z

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

Vladimir Nabokov: Pale Fire
#Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin
#Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife
Robert O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (re-read)
#Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah 7/10
Maggie O'Farrell: After You'd Gone
#Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
George Orwell: Animal Farm 10/10
#Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (re-read) 8/10
Boris Pasternak: Doctor Zhivago
Gilbert Pearlman: Young Frankenstein
*Iain Pears: An Instance of the Fingerpost
#Jodi Piccoult: Vanishing Acts
Edgar Allen Poe: The Complete Tales and Poems
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) 7/10
Terry Pratchett: Equal Rites (Discworld #2)
Terry Pratchett: The Light Fantastic (Discworld #3)
Terry Pratchett: The Last Continent (Discworld #22)
Terry Pratchett: Thief of Time (Discworld #26)
Terry Pratchett: Going Postal (Discworld #33)
Terry Pratchett: Thud! (Discworld #34)
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: Good Omens
Mario Puzo: The Godfather
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged
*Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea 6/10
WC Sellar: 1066 and All That
Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 9/10
#Mary Shelley: Frankenstein 10/10
Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice
Betty Smith: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Nicholas Sparks: A Walk to Remember
Steven Spielberg: Clouse Encounters of the Third Kind
John Steinbeck: East of Eden
#John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck: The Winter of Our Discontent
Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels
Michael Swift: Mapping the World
Donna Tartt: The Little Friend
#Donna Tartt: The Secret History
William Makepeace Thackeray: Barry Lyndon
#William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair
Hunter S Thompson: Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72
#Hunter S Thompson: The Rum Diary
Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion 8/10
JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (re-read)
JRR Tolkien: The Silmarillion
#John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces
Nancy Turner: These is My Words (re-read)
Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain: Huckleberry Finn
Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Jules Verne: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
#Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake
Lew Wallace: Ben-Hur
#Charles Webb: The Graduate 7/10
HG Wells: The Cone
#Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust 6/10
Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth
*Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray 9/10
*Thornton Wilder: The Bridge on San Luis Rey 7/10
Michael Wilding and David Myers: Best Stories Under the Sun
Tennessee Williams: A Streetcar Named Desire and Other Plays
*Tim Winton: Breath 8/10
#Tim Winton: Cloudstreet
Working Dog: Phaic Tan
Working Dog: San Sombrero
Jonathan Wylie: Across the Flame
#Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #1: The Last Augury
Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #2: Dark Fire
Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empires #3: Echoes of Flame
Jonathan Wylie: Other Lands
Jonathan Wylie: Shadow Maze
#John Wyndham: The Chrysalids
John Wyndham: The Kraken Wakes
John Wyndham: Stowaway to Mars
#Carlos Ruiz Zafon: The Shadow of the Wind
Emile Zola: Nana
*Markus Zusak: The Book Thief 10/10

TBR Pile F-M

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

Michel Faber: The Crimson Petal and the White
#AB Facey: A Fortunate Life 9/10
Jasper Fforde: The Big Over Easy
#Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair 8/10
Jasper Fforde: The Fourth Bear
Jasper Fforde: Lost in a Good Book
Jasper Fforde: Something Rotten
Jasper Fforde: The Well of Lost Plots
#Helen Fielding: Bridget Jones's Diary
F Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned
#Ian Fleming: Casino Royale
Ian Fleming: Diamonds are Forever
Ian Fleming: Goldfinger
Ian Fleming: Moonraker
Ian Fleming: You Only Live Twice
Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank
Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career
*Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere 8/10
Elizabeth Gaskell: North and South
#May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie 7/10
Nikolai Gogal: Dead Souls
Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows
Julia Gray: Fire Music
Julia Gray: Ice Mage
Julia Gray: Isle of the Dead
#Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon
Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #2: The Jasper Forest
Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #3: The Crystal Desert
Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #4: The Red Glacier
Julia Gray: The Guardian Cycle #5: Alyssa's Ring
*Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol 9/10
Alice M Hadfield: King Arthur and the Round Table
Helene Hanff: 84 Charing Cross Road
#Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd
Thomas Hardy: Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Thomas Hardy: The Woodlanders
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter
Brian Herbert: The Butlerian Jihad
#Frank Herbert: Dune
Frank Herbert: Messiah
Frank Herbert: Children of Dune
Hermann Hesse: Steppenwolf
#Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game
#Anne Holm: I am David
Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore
Aldous Huxley: Crome Yellow
Aldous Huxley: The Grey Eminence
Aldous Huxley: Those Barren Leaves
James Jones: From Here to Eternity
#James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Carolyn Keene: Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Dancing Puppet
#Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various)
Jack Kerouac: The Dharma Bums
#Stephen King: The Stand
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book 5/10
Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)
#Tim LaHaye and Jerry B Jenkins: Left Behind Series #7-#11
DH Lawrence: Sons and Lovers
John Le Carre: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Donovan Leitch: The Hurdy Gurdy Man
#Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time 8/10
#CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 8/10
CS Lewis: Prince Caspian 8/10
Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock
John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)
#Yann Martel: Life of Pi 7/10
Steve Martin: The Attorney
#Richard Matheson: I am Legend (ebook) 9/10
#Ian McEwan: Enduring Love
Henry Miller: The Tropic of Cancer
Henry Miller: The Tropic of Capricorn
Elyne Mitchell: The Man from Snowy River
Margaret Mitchell: Gone with the Wind
Sally Morgan: My Place
Kate Mosse: Labyrinth

TBR Pile A-E

The following list, over 3 posts, represents the bulk of my TBR pile. I haven't included reference books or books on the supernatural and The Beatles, of which I have quite a few.

Books marked with an # indicate priority reading. Books that have been read are in bold. In the interests of keeping this post relatively short, I've decided not to add the books that I buy during the course of 2008, unless I also read them this year, in which case the book has been marked with an *.

Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide
#Richard Adams: Watership Down
#Isaac Asimov: I, Robot
Isaac Asmiov: Pebble in the Sky
Margaret Atwood: Alias Grace
#Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake 9/10
Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear
Jean M Auel: The Mammoth Hunters
Jean M Auel: The Valley of Horses
#Jane Austen: Mansfield Park 8/10
#Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
#Jane Austen: Persuasion
#Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility 9/10
*John Banville: The Book of Evidence 10/10
#Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar
Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the 20th Century
#Graeme Blundell: King: The Life and Comedy of Graham Kennedy
Pierre Boulle: Planet of the Apes
Ray Bradbury: Dandelion Wine
Ray Bradbury: The Golden Apples of the Sun
Ray Bradbury: I Sing the Body Electric!
Ray Bradbury: Long After Midnight
Ray Bradbury: S is for Space
#Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes
*ER Braithwaite: To Sir, With Love
Anne Bronte: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
#Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre 10/10
Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights
Dan Brown: Digital Fortress
Bill Bryson: Made in America
#Bill Bryson: Neither Here Nor There
*Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita
#Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 9/10
Simon Callow: The Road to Xanadu (Orson Welles biography, Volume 1)
Simon Callow: Hello Americans (Orson Welles biography, Volume 2)
* Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's 10/10
#Truman Capote: In Cold Blood 10/10
Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn
Angela Carter: The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Michael Chabon (ed): McSweeney's Echanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories
Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep and Other Stories
GK Chesterton: The Complete Father Brown Stories
Agatha Christie: The Secret Adversary
Arthur C Clarke: Against the Fall of Night
Arthur C Clarke: The Deep Range
Arthur C Clarke: Expedition to Earth
#Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama 8/10
Arthur C Clarke: Imperial Earth
Arthur C Clarke: Of Time and Stars
Arthur C Clarke: Rama Revealed
Colette: The Claudine Novels
Eoin Colfer: Artemis Fowl 2: The Arctic Incident
Tom Collins: Such is Life
Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone
#Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White
#Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 7/10
#Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox
Iris Rainer Dart: Beaches
Charles Dickens: Bleak House
Charles Dickens: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
#Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop
Jack Drake: The Cattle Dog's Revenge
Daphne du Maurier: The Birds and Other Stories
Daphne du Maurier: My Cousin Rachel
#Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca
#Kim Edwards: The Memory Keeper's Daughter
George Eliot: Middlemarch
#Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man

Mini Challenges

This post is reserved for any other mini challenges I feel like undertaking throughout the year!

Dystopian Challenge

COMPLETE!

The eighth and final challenge I'm beginning this year is the Dystopian Challenge (DY). I find books about dystopian societies absolutely fascinating. The challenge is to read 5 dystopian books by the end of the year.

A little background on the subject (taken from wikipedia):
A dystopia is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. It is usually characterised by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government. In other words, a Dystopia has the exact opposite of what one would expect in a Utopian society.

An excellent list of dystopian literature can be found here.

DY reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
Richard Matheson: I am Legend
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
George Orwell: Animal Farm

TBR books that qualify for the DY challenge:
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake
Pierre Boulle: Planet of the Apes
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (re-read)
William S Burroughs: Naked Lunch (ebook)
Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn
Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (ebook)
Aldous Huxley: Ape and Essence (ebook)
Kazuo Ishiguro: Never Let Me Go (ebook)
Stephen King: The Stand
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
Cormac McCarthy: The Road (ebook)
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
George Orwell: Animal Farm (re-read)
Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids
Yevgeny Zamyatin: We (ebook)

Other DY books I'd like to own and read:
Note: Books in italics have been bought/downloaded.
Richard Bachman: The Long Walk
Richard Bachman: The Running Man
Anthony Burgess: 1985
Anthony Burgess: The Wanting Seed
Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle
Harlan Ellison: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
William Gibson: Neuromancer
Stanislaw Lem: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub
Ira Levin: This Perfect Day
Vladimir Nabokov: Bend Sinister
Philip Roth: The Plot Against America
Kurt Vonnegut: Welcome to the Monkey House
HG Wells: The Sleeper Awakes

Australian Challenge

The seventh challenge I'm going to undertake for 2008 is an Australian Challenge (AU). I've had a few of these books on my TBR pile for a while now and I think it's time to take the plunge! Considering Australian literature makes up a relatively small proportion of my total number of books, I've decided to set myself a target of 6 books for the year. About half of the books on the below list will also qualify for the Classics Challenge.

AU reading in 2008: (currently reading)
AB Facey: A Fortunate Life
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow
Tim Winton: Breath
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

TBR books that qualify for the AU challenge:
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Richard Butler: The Men that God Forgot (re-read)
Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn
Marcus Clarke: For the Term of His Natural Life (re-read)
Tom Collins: Such is Life
AB Facey: A Fortunate Life
Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career
Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore
Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)
Joan Lindsay: Picnic at Hanging Rock
John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)
Sally Morgan: My Place
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (re-read)
Ruth Park: The Harp in the South (re-read)
Nevil Shute: A Town Like Alice
Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar (re-read)
Tim Winton: Cloudstreet

Other AU books I'd like to own and read:
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Graeme Base: Animalia
Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour
Geoffrey Blainey: A Short History of the World
David Malouf: Remember Babylon
Banjo Patterson: The Man from Snowy River
Tim Winton: Dirt Music
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge

COMPLETE!

The sixth challenge I'm beginning in 2008 is a Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (SF). I've been sadly neglecting this genre in the last couple of years and I've left myself with a lot of catching up to do. I've decided to give myself a goal of 8 books to read during the year.

SF reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake
Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
CS Lewis: Prince Caspian
Richard Matheson: I am Legend
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

TBR books that qualify for the SF challenge (max 15 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Douglas Adams: The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide
Isaac Asimov: I, Robot
Isaac Asimov: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Jean M Auel: The Clan of the Cave Bear
Isobelle Carmody: Obernewtyn
Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: Good Omens
Julia Gray: Guardian Cycle #1: The Dark Moon
Frank Herbert: Dune
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1)
Steven Spielberg: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
JRR Tolkien: The Hobbit (re-read)
Jonathan Wylie: Island and Empire #1: The Last Augury
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids

Other SF books I'd like to own and read:
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles
Michael Ende: The Never Ending Story
Jasper Fforde: First Among Sequels
Stanislaw Lem: The Futurological Congress
John Wyndham: Chocky

Young Adults Challenge

COMPLETE!

The fifth challenge I'm starting in 2008 is a Young Adults Challenge (YA). I had great success last year reading books that are aimed at younger readers, and so I've decided to make it more formal and give myself a goal of 10 books to read during the year. Quite a few books on the below list will also qualify for the Classics Challenge (CL).

YA reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
CS Lewis: Prince Caspian
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief

TBR books that qualify for the YA challenge (max 15 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Richard Adams: Watership Down
Enid Blyton: The Magic Faraway Tree
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Louise Fitzhugh: Harriet the Spy
Ann Holm: I Am David
Kathryn Kenny: Trixie Belden (various)
Charles Kingsley: The Water-Babies (re-read)
Robin Klein: Hating Alison Ashley (re-read)
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
John Marsden: So Much to Tell You (re-read)
LM Montgomery: Anne of Avonlea (ebook)
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow
Jonathan Swift: Gulliver's Travels
Judy Bernard-Waite: The Riddle of the Trumpalar

Other YA books I'd like to own and read:
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Graeme Base: Animalia (re-read)
Graeme Base: The Eleventh Hour (re-read)
Judy Blume: Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
Michael Ende: The Never Ending Story
Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth
Maurice Sendak: Where the Wild Things Are

Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge

The fourth challenge I'm undertaking this year is the Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (BF). The challenge is to participate in 10 reading circles, and if I read any books from past reading circles, I'll count those as well.

BF reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein

TBR books that qualify for the BF challenge (will be added to during the year):
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (May/June 2008)
Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey (November/December 2008)
Jane Austen: Persuasion (September/October 2008)
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility (January/February 2008)
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (February 2008)
Stephen King: The Stand (December 2007)
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Books (June 2008)
Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (May 2007)
Yann Martel: Life of Pi (January 2008)
Kate Mosse: Labyrinth (February 2006)
Audrey Niffenegger: The Time-Traveller's Wife (November/December 2005)
Christopher Paolini: Eragon (August 2006)
Terry Pratchett: Hogfather (December 2006)
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein (October 2006)

Other BF books I'd like to own and read:
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Clive Barker: The Thief of Always
John Boyne: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (July 2008)
Neil Gaiman: American Gods (January 2006)
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere (February 2008)
Jodi Piccoult: My Sister's Keeper (February 2006)
Tom Wolfe: The Bonfire of the Vanities (June 2008)

Reading through the Decades Challenge

Another challenge I've decided to take up is the Reading through the Decades Challenge (RD). The challenge is to read 1 book from every decade, beginning with the 1900s and ending with the 2000s. This is 11 books in total and if I have time I may start working backwards from the 1890s!

RD reading in 2008: (currently reading)
1890s Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray
1910s May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
1920s Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey
1930s Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust
1940s George Orwell: Animal Farm
1950s Richard Matheson: I am Legend
1960s Truman Capote: In Cold Blood
1970s Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah
1980s Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic
1990s Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere
2000s Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion

TBR books that qualify for the RD challenge (2 listed per decade):
1900s Miles Franklin: My Brilliant Career (1901)
1900s Kenneth Grahame: The Wind in the Willows (1908)
1910s Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden (1911)
1910s James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916)
1920s Agatha Christie: The Secret Adversary (1922)
1920s F Scott Fitzgerald: The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
1930s Daphen du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)
1930s Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust (1939)
1940s Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank (1947)
1940s Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1946)
1950s Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man (1952)
1950s CS Lewis: The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia) (1950)
1960s Ann Holm: I am David (1965)
1960s Charles Webb: The Graduate (1963)
1970s Richard Adams: Watership Down (1972)
1970s Robert C O'Brien: Z for Zachariah (1975)
1980s Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow (1980)
1980s John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces (1980)
1990s Ian McEwan: Enduring Love (1997)
1990s Tim Winton: Cloudstreet (1991)
2000s Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair (2001)
2000s Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (2006)

Other RD books I'd like to own and read:
None. I have enough choice as it is!

1001 Books Challenge

Another challenge I've decided to take up is the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Challenge (1K). This incorporates books that are listed in the abovementioned book by Peter Boxall. After reading 22 books last year, my goal this year will be to read 20 books. A lot of these will probably overlap with the Classics Challenge and also the Reading through the Decades Challenge.

1K reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
John Banville: The Book of Evidence
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Truman Capote: In Cold Blood
Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
Charles Webb: The Graduate
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray

TBR books that qualify for the 1K challenge (max 25 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen: Persuasion
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Truman Capote: In Cold Blood
Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White
Charles Dickens: Bleak House
Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca
George Eliot: Middlemarch
Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man
Ian Fleming: Casino Royale
Thomas Hardy: Far from the Madding Crowd
Nathaniel Hawthorne: The House of the Seven Gables
Herman Hesse: The Glass Bead Game
James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
Ian McEwan: Enduring Love
Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin
Edgar Allen Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair
John Kennedy Toole: A Confederacy of Dunces
Charles Webb: The Graduate

Other 1K books I'd like to own and read (max 10 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Miguel de Cervantes: Don Quixote
Jeffrey Eugenides: The Virgin Suicides
Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary
Graham Greene: The Third Man
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Herman Melville: Moby Dick
Leo Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray
John Wyndham: Chocky

Classics Challenge

Although I'm hoping to focus a bit more on modern literature this year, I can't pass up doing the Classics Challenge (CL) again, especially after successfully reading 25 classics in 2007. In 2008 I'll be aiming to read 25 books again.

CL reading in 2008: (currently reading)
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's
Truman Capote: In Cold Blood
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Richard Matheson: I am Legend
George Orwell: Animal Farm
Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
Charles Webb: The Graduate
Nathanael West: The Day of the Locust
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey

TBR books that qualify for the CL challenge (max 25 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been read.
Richard Adams: Watership Down
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White
Charles Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop
Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man
AB Facey: A Fortunate Life
Ian Fleming: Casino Royale
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie
Frank Herbert: Dune
James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
Robert Louis Stevenson: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
William Makepeace Thackeray: Vanity Fair
Charles Webb: The Graduate
Nathaniel West: The Day of the Locust
John Wyndham: The Chrysalids

Other CL books I'd like to own and read (max 10 listed):
Note: Books in italics have been bought.
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita
William S Burroughs: Junky
Cervantes: Don Quixote
Graham Greene: The Third Man
James Joyce: Ulysses
John Milton: Paradise Lost
Baroness Emmuska Orczy: The Scarlet Pimpernel
Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead

2008 Reading Challenges

Welcome to my reading list for 2008! Last year I read 53 books (25 of which were counted towards my Classics Challenge), and this year I've decided to up the ante just a little to 55 books.

I've also decided to undertake some extra reading challenges this year. All the books I read for the challenges will be from my TBR pile, which is nearing the 300 mark, so I'll have a wide selection to choose from and won't need to buy more books in order to complete the challenges.

I'm trying not to stretch myself too much (even though it's a challenge, I'd like to keep my goals within the realms of possibility!) and quite a few of my books will suit several different challenges at once. For example, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs will tick a box in the Classics Challenge, Young Adults Challenge, Reading through the Decades Challenge and Australian Literature Challenge (see below for more details of challenges).

What's with all the challenges, I hear you ask? Well, I've been reading a fair few book blogs recently, and it seems like signing yourself up for a stack of reading challenges is quite a popular thing to do. It becomes addictive and it's very difficult to stop joining more challenges. I think it appeals to the list-maker in me: I love making lists and I love ticking things off. It gives me a great sense of achievement.

The challenges are as follows:

Classics Challenge (CL) - My definition of 'Classic' literature is books that were written prior to 1900; I define books written from 1900 to around the mid 1960s as 'Modern Classic'. Both types of books qualify for this challenge. As already mentioned, I read 25 books for the CL last year. This year my goal is the same: 25 books.

1001 Books Challenge (1K) - Books listed in '1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die' by Peter Boxall. I currently have around 60 of these books on my TBR pile, and a few dozen more as ebooks. Last year I read 22 books and this year my goal is 20 books.

Reading through the Decades Challenge (RD) - Entails reading a book from every decade for the past 100 years. My goal is to read 11 books which cover the 1900s to the 2000s inclusive. If I have time I'll start working backwards from the 1890s. I have so many books on my TBR pile that I'll have at least several choices from each of these decades!

Book Club Forum Reading Circle Challenge (BF) - Last year I read 8 books for various BCF reading circles. With the Jane Austen Reading Circle starting up this month, at least 4 of her books should count towards the challenge (if I don't elect to re-read the other 2). I will also count any books that were chosen for past reading circles (such as Life of Pi by Yann Martel). This year I'm going to aim for 10 books.

Young Adults Challenge (YA) - Books aimed at younger readers. My goal is to read 10 books, which shouldn't be a problem because they're generally easy reads and I have plenty of them on my TBR pile!

Sci Fi/Fantasy Challenge (SF) - The Sci Fi/Fantasy section of my TBR pile has been growing quite quickly in the last year, but my reading is lagging far behind. I'm going to try to remedy that this year by knocking 8 books off the list.

Australian Literature Challenge (AU) - I have been sadly neglecting Australian literature lately but I'm hoping to turn that around this year because I have plenty of great Australian classics on my shelves. My goal is to read 6 books.

Dystopian Challenge (DY) - Books set in dystopian societies (from Wikipedia: 'usually characterised by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government'). This is my favourite genre (sub-genre?) to read so I'm really looking forward to this one. I read 5 books last year and this year my goal is the same: 5 books.

2008 Reading List

Books that have been read have a rating out of 10 next to them. Then there are the books that I'm currently reading, books that have been borrowed and, unless otherwise stated, I'll be reading hard copies of all books.

The below list will be updated as the year progresses. I'll add books as I'm reading them. The ones that aren't bold or blue are upcoming reads.

Margaret Atwood: Oryx and Crake 9/10
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park 8/10
Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility 9/10
John Banville: The Book of Evidence 10/10
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre 10/10
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden 9/10
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany's 10/10
Truman Capote: In Cold Blood 10/10
Arthur C Clarke & Gentry Lee: The Garden of Rama 8/10
Roald Dahl: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator 7/10
AB Facey: A Fortunate Life 9/10
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair 8/10
Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere 8/10
May Gibbs: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie 7/10
Graham Greene: The Third Man & The Fallen Idol 9/10
Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Book 5/10
Madeleine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time 8/10
CS Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 8/10
CS Lewis: Prince Caspian 8/10
Yann Martel: Life of Pi 7/10
Richard Matheson: I am Legend (ebook) 9/10
Robert O'Brien: Z for Zachariah 7/10
George Orwell: Animal Farm 10/10
Ruth Park: Playing Beatie Bow 8/10
Terry Pratchett: The Colour of Magic 7/10
Jean Rhys: Wide Sargasso Sea 6/10
Diane Setterfield: The Thirteenth Tale 9/10
Mary Shelley: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus 10/10
Geoff Tibballs: No-Balls and Googlies: A Cricket Companion 8/10
Kurt Vonnegut: Timequake
Charles Webb: The Graduate 7/10
Nathanel West: The Day of the Locust 7/10
Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray 9/10
Thornton Wilder: The Bridge of San Luis Rey 6/10
Tim Winton: Breath 8/10
Markus Zusak: The Book Thief 10/10