"And to this purpose"

"If people like to read their books, it is all very well, but to be at so much trouble in filling great volumes, which, as I used to think, nobody would willingly ever look into, to be labouring only for the torment of little boys and girls, always struck me as a hard fate; and though I know it is all very right and necessary, I have often wondered at the person's courage that could sit down on purpose to do it." (In other words: rambling analyses, opinions, ideas, views, and comments from an English major, Essay/paper-writing enthusiastic, Austen-loving Master Librarian on, well, Jane Austen...and a whole lot of other things, too.)

"Celebrated Passages are Quoted"

Heidi's favorite quotes


"What is it really like to be engaged?" asked Anne curiously. "Well, that all depends on who you're engaged to," answered Diana, with that maddening air of superior wisdom always assumed by those who are engaged over those who are not."— L.M. Montgomery

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

2009 Book Challenge

Near the beginning of the year, I was introduced to my first Book Challenge by wonderful friend Sara Lyn of The Brambler. It was mostly based upon something she found on GoodReads--where all my reviews for the books may be found. I started to have a lot of fun keeping track. I didn't include any of the 148 picture books I read, but instead only counted books that were at least 100 pages long.

My main goal was to complete each category. I had no idea I would get as many points as I did! It was definitely one of the most fun things I did all year long, and it helped me broaden my reading scope. I am very grateful for that and cannot wait until whatever similar challenge I do next year. Currently I'm considering creating my own. We'll see if I continue. It would have to be something that ties in with the 2010 YA Book Challenge.

So here is my list of what will be finished by Dec. 31st. I have some (sometimes confusing) markings after each title/author which were helping me keep various statistics. (I'm a stats fan!) I tallied up various stats at the end of the list, if you're interested. You'll have to forgive any addition errors on my part. I've ben re-counting books so often, I get a little jumbled.

* = audio
~ = YA
# = children’s (non-picture book)
! = nonfiction
+ = reread
- = from my local library


5 points
1) For Valentines Day: read a book with the word heart or love in it.

I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You – Ally Carter ~ -
The Five Love Languages: Singles Edition – Gary Chapman ! -
Love, Ruby Lavender – Deborah Wiles * # -

2) For Saint Patty’s day: read a book set in Ireland, is by an Irish author, or whose main character is Irish.

Nory Ryan’s Song ­– Patricia Reilly Giff # -
Maggie’s Door – Patricia Reilly Giff * # -

3) read a classic

Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie * # -

4) Read a book by an author you've never read before

The Fire-Eaters – David Almond * ~ -
The Lightning Thief – Rick Riordan * ~ -
Peace like a River – Leif Enger * -
Betsy-Tacy – Maud Hart Lovelace #
Mandie and the Secret Tunnel – Lois Gladys Lepperd # - (finish)

5) Read a memoir

Marley & Me – John Grogan * ! -

6) March is National Women's History Month so read a book where a woman is the main character

Hope Was Here – Joan Bauer * ~ -
Bloody Jack – Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary “Jacky” Faber, Ship’s Boy – L.A. Meyer * ~ -
The Goose Girl – Shannon Hale ~ -
Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief – Wendelin Van Draanen * # -

7) Read a book set during a time of conflict

Before We Were Free – Julia Alvarez * ~ -
Enna Burning – Shannon Hale ~ -

8) read a book with any kind of food/drink in the title

Who Moved My Cheese? – Spencer Johnson * ! -
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows * -
Cream Puff Murder – Joanne Fluke * -
Everything on a Waffle – Polly Horvath * # -
Plum Pudding Murder – JoAnne Fluke * -

9) read a book written in the last 5 years

Carrot Cake Murder – Joanne Fluke * -
For One More Day – Mitch Albom * -
Counting on Grace – Elizabeth Winthrop * ~ -
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says about Us) – Tom Vanderbilt * ! -
River Secrets ­­– Shannon Hale ~ -
Forest Born – Shannon Hale ~ -
The Magician’s Elephant – Kate DiCamillo # -

10) Read a book that you already own

If Life Were Easy, It Wouldn’t Be Hard – Sheri Dew * ! +
Personal Revelation: How to Recognize Promptings of the Spirit – JoAnn Hibbert Hamilton * !
The Book of Mormon ­– edited by Mormon; translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. ! +

5 points category: 165 points

10 points

1) read a book with the name of a month in it.

September Sisters – Jillian Cantor ~ -

2) read a book with an author that has same birthday month as you

Thirteen Reasons Why – Jay Asher ~ -
Matilda – Roald Dahl * # -
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine * # + -

3) read a book with either the word “school”,“class”, "college", "university" or "teacher" in it.

The Teacher’s Funeral: A Comedy in Three Parts – Richard Peck * ~ -

4) read a book and then watch the movie adaptation

Inkheart – Cornelia Funke * ~ -
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – John Boyne * ~ -

5) read a book that involves a medical condition (physical, mental, emotional)

Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox – Eoin Colfer * ~
Chocolate Fever – Robert Kimmel Smith * # -
Ida B – Katherine Hannigan * # -

6) read a book with a one word title

Impossible ­– Nancy Werlin ~ -
Incantation – Alice Hoffman * ~ -
Frindle – Andrew Clements * # -
Wings – Aprilynne Pike ~ -
Poppy – Avi * # -
Inkspell – Cornelia Funke * ~ -

7) read a book with the name of a country, state, or city in it.

Cold Sassy Tree – Olive Ann Burns * -
Elijah of Buxton – Christopher Paul Curtis * # -
Meet Me in St. Louis – Sally Benson
Misty of Chincoteague – Marguerite Henry * # -
London Calling – Edward Bloor * ~ -
Two Girls of Gettysburg ­– Lisa Klein ~ -

8) read a banned/challenged book

The Giver – Lois Lowry * # + -
My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult * -
The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket * # -
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Bud, Not Buddy – Christopher Paul Curtis * # -
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling * ~ + -

9) read a book set in a place you've always wanted to visit/live

The Little White Horse – Elizabeth Goudge #
Charles & Emma – Deborah Heiligman ! -
Looking for Anne of Green Gables – Irene Gammel ! -
Call It Courage – Armstrong Sperry * ~ -
North of Beautiful –by Justina Chen Headley ~ -
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy – Gary D. Schmidt * ~ -
Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers * # -

10) read a book written by someone of your same heritage (i.e. Belgian, Swiss, whatever)

Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China during the Cultural Revolution - Moying Li-Marcus # ! -
Dragon Rider – Cornelia Funke * # -
The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield * -
The Cricket on the Hearth and Other Christmas Stories – Charles Dickens -
The Magician’s Nephew – C.S. Lewis * # + -

10 points category: 450 points

15 points

1) read a book that has a college student as the main character or is a person that is near your age

Newes from the Dead – Mary Hooper ~ -
The Man in the Picture – Susan Hill -
Daddy Long Legs – Jean Webster ~

2) read a book from an author that was born/or had lived in your state/geographical area

The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch * ! -
Shakespeare’s Secret – Elise Broach * ~ -
Remember this Titan: The Bill Yoast Story: Lessons Learned from a Celebrated Coach's Journey – Bill Yoast, Jr. ! -

3) read a book about/relating to the particular field of study you are in/were in

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World – Vicki Myron ! -
The Book Thief – Markus Zusak * ~ -
Here Lies the Librarian – Richard Peck * ~ -
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen ­– Syrie James * -

4) Read a book written by a GoodReads author

A Curse Dark as Gold – Elizabeth C. Bunce ~ -
The Adoration of Jenna Fox – Mary E. Pearson * ~ -
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – Jamie Ford * -
Shanghai Girls – Lisa See * -

5) Read a book about a person you admire

One Gallant Rush: Robert Gould Shaw and His Brave Black Regiment – Peter Burchard ! -
Where Death and Glory Meet: Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry – Russell Duncan ! -

6) Read a book about a subject you wish you could have studied in school

Marie, Dancing – Carolyn Meyer * ~
Chasing Vermeer – Blue Balliett * # -

7) read a book by an author you hate (Maybe you just got turned off by one book and he/she is actually a good author... you might have just read the one bad book? Or maybe your hatred is warranted.. either way you'll know for sure)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll * # -
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll * # -

8) read that book you were supposed to read in high school but instead used SparkNotes (Heidi Note: I never used SparkNotes—or Cliff Notes! But here’s a book I should have read and didn’t)

Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens * -

15 points category: 315 points

25 points

1) book with over 700 pages

Mao: The Unknown Story – Jung Chung * ! -

2) read a book with your name in the title or is by an author with your same name.

Heidi – Johanna Spyri * # + -

3) read a book about a different religion than you are

The Redemption of Sarah Cain – Beverly Lewis * -
Catherine, Called Birdy – Karen Cushman * ~ -
Confessions of a Closet Catholic – Sarah Littman # -Have a Little Faith – Mitch Albom * ! -

4) read a book that you would normally never consider picking up (something daunting, something that is a genre you hate. Etc.)

All-American Girl – Meg Cabot * ~ -
Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie – David Lubar * ~ -
Anthem – Ayn Rand -
Return to Labyrinth Vol. 2 – Jake T. Forbes ~ -
Return to Labyrinth Vol. 3 – Jake T. Forbes ~ -

25 points category: 275 points

Grand Points Tally

1205
And here are some interesting (to me) statistics:
Total books from this list: 110 books
Total (adult) nonfiction: 16
Total (childrens) nonfiction: 1
Total (adult) fiction: 16
Total (YA) fiction: 46
Total (childrens) fiction: 29
I'm 2 off, if you counted. I have no idea which ones I forgot. Oh well.
Total re-reads: 13
Total from my library: 101 (Which helped me in completing--twice over--the 2009 Support Your Local Library Challenge.)
Total Audio: 75. (Which helped me in completing--5 times over!--the 2009 Audio Book Challenge.)

8 comments:

Sara Lyn said...

My final tally - 1290!! And I finished the last category today. :) I think I had more rereads than you. 18, I think. Good challenge. What's for this next year? You're doing the YA one. I don't think I'm in the mood. Should we look around for another like this?

ldsjaneite said...

The one I was trying to create was going to be similar to this one. Just one I could work a lot of YA into. But I don't think I'm creative and broad-minded enough to come up with one like this. Is there anything you've found?

Sara Lyn said...

Looking at different book challenge groups, here are a few ideas I found.

- Read a book that's been on your "to-read" list for at least a year.

- Read a book you own you haven't read before.

- Read a book from the London Times' Best Books of the Decade list. (Can look at either http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/262697-london-times-best-books-of-the-decade
or
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_reviews/article6914181.ece)

- Read an author with the last name to match every letter in the alphabet. {Alcott, Barron, Cadell...)

- Read a book with a body of water in the title.

- Read a book with a Title in the title. (The Count of Monte Cristo.)

- Read a book with a plant in the title.

- Read a book dealing with American History.

- Read a retold fairy tale.

- Read a book about science.


Okay, those are some ideas. What do you think?



[Some day I should really have a goal to finish all the books I own before I check out another from the library, but I just can't get the guts up to do it.:)]

ldsjaneite said...

Oooh. Those sound really good. Especially that alphabet author thing. I've seen some do it with countries. But I think I'd be able to do author much more easily. I also like the retold fairy tale one. :-)

One of my other reading goals this coming year is to cut down my currently reading list at least by half!

Sara Lyn said...

Had some more ideas. We could make it mandatory that to pass off a category, it has to be a new book, but additional points can be gained by reread books. (You probably do that already.) Also, I like the way this year's was set up. Maybe we could take the categories we especially like from that one and keep them? Do you want to set it up or should I?

ldsjaneite said...

I like those ideas, too. Would you mind setting it up? I would appreciate it so much!

Sara Lyn said...

Sure thing. Do you have any categories you particularly loved/hated in the 2009 version? If I don't hear back, I'll just do it my way. :)

ldsjaneite said...

I did have trouble trying to find ones with "teacher..." or a month in the title. Not sure why. Just did. And that 700 page one. Well, maybe that's because I read one on Mao. Ha ha.

I'm all up for what you come with. After all, the harder ones are what makes it more challenging!