Category 1: 1001 BooksAesop's Fables
The Thousand and One NightsTale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift
Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe
Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
Middlemarch, George Eliot
Sandokan: The Tigers of Momprakem, Emilio Salgari
Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad
Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco
Bartleby and Co., Enrique Vila-Mata
Fixing typos as usual.
Message edited by its author, Sep 21, 2009, 4:27pm.
Last year, when everybody was building their categories, I so enjoyed it when the categories themselves, or their names, were witty or punny. Alas, my categories are once again going to be most 'scrutiating functional. (Elephant's Child, anyone?) I selected my 1001 reads to represent the full time span covered by the list.
Middlemarch is there in case it ties into
Foucault's Pendulum.
Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 1:48pm.
Category 2: A.S. ByattShadow of the Sun, 1964
The Game, 1967
The Virgin in the Garden, 1978
Still Life, 1985
Angels and Insects, 1992
Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye, 1994
Babel Tower, 1996
Biographer's Tale, 2000
The Whistling Woman, 2002
The Children's Book, 2009
Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 9:24am.
I read
Possession for my 999 challenge and was amazed and delighted. Then a friend of my sister's passed my a copy of
The Matisse Stories and I was again astounded, and that even though I tend not to be a fan of the short story form. So here I go, trying to play catch up on the other fiction she has written.
Category 3: On Books, Reading and WritingA Gentle Madness, Nicholas A Basbanes
Becoming a Writer, Dorothy Brande
Book by Book, Michael Dirda
Conondrums for the Long Weekend, (about Dorothy Sayer), Robert Kuhn McGregor
Essays of Virginia Woolf, Volume 1, Virginia Woolf
How Proust Can Change Your Life, Alain de Potton
On Histories and Stories, A.S. Byatt
The Art of Fiction, John Gardner
Umberto Eco on Literature, Umberto Eco
The Pleasures of Reading, Robert Alter
Updated list.
Message edited by its author, Dec 13, 2009, 5:17pm.
I really enjoy reading about books. I especially enjoy reading writers writing about writing.
Category 4: Classic WhodunnitsThe Moonstone, Wilkie Collins
Initials Only, Anna Katharine Green
Trent's Last Case, E. C. Bentley
The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie
The Red House Mystery, A. A. Milne
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Agatha Christie
Unnatural Death, Dorothy L. Sayers
The Greene Murder Case, S. S. Van Dine
The Footsteps at the Lock, Ronald Knox
The Poisoned Chocolates Case, Anthony Berkeley
Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 9:47am.
You would think that Dorothy Sayers deserves a functioning touchstone. Rude word. The only re-reads listed above are
The Moonstone and Unnatural Death.
Category 5: Dewey TBRs100 – Philosophy and Psychology -
Spell of the Sensuous, David Abrams
200 – Religion -
Holy War, Karen Armstrong
300 – Social Sciences -
The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan
400 – Languages -
The Story of English, Robert McCrum
500 – Science and Mathematics -
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
600 – Technology and Applied Science -
Proust and the Squid, Maryanne Wolf
700 – Arts and Recreation -
Levels of the Game, John McPhee
900 – History - The Knights Templar, Barbara Frale
900 – History - Pendulum:
Leon Foucault, Amir D. Aczel
000 – Computer science -
Hackers and Painters, Paul Graham
Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 10:02am.
The two history books are not strictly speaking TBR's. I got them to prepare me for reading
Foucault's Pendulum. The Frale history of the Knights Templar actually has an introduction by Eco, so I am hoping, trusting that it is not one of the more bogus ones. I read
The Name of the Rose for my 999 this year and was appropriate impressed and intimidated. And then intrigued. So, glutton for punishment, here I go again. The rest of the TBR list are real TBRs. I skipped the 800s because I need no encouragement to read fiction and, besides, I will have a stand alone Fiction TBR category.
Another typo fix.
Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 12:30pm.
Category 6: Fantasy MasterworksBook of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
Time and the Gods, Lord Dunsany
The Worm Ouroboros, E.R. Eddison
Tales of the Dying Earth, Jack Vance
Little, Big, John Crowley
The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny
Viriconium, M. John Harrison
The Conan Chronicles, Volume I, Robert E. Howard
The Land of Laughs, Jonathan Carroll
The Compleat Enchanter, L. Sprague de Camp
Fantasy Masterworks and
SF Masterworks are UK reprint lines that offer as good a list of the key works in both genres as any I have run across. There is, of course, the small problem of too many male authors selected and not enough women, but since I tend to read too many women and not enough men, that works for me. And one
can make the argument that the list is, in fact, historically representative. The only re-read here is
The Chronicles of Amber. Gene Wolfe I tried once and abandoned. I expect
Conan to be a whole different kind of challenge.
Message edited by its author, Aug 11, 2009, 10:27am.
Category 7: Fiction TBRsThe Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
The Truth About Lorin Jones, Alison Lurie
The Alienist, Caleb Carr
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed, John Irving
Talking to the Dead, Helen Dumore
Paradise, Toni Morrison
Kissing the Witch, Emma Donoghue
The Blue Place, Nicola Griffith
An Instance of the Fingerpost, Ian Pears
The Whole World Over, Julia Glass
Message edited by its author, Sep 21, 2009, 4:23pm.
These fiction TBRs are pretty much random grabs from my general fiction TBR list. Some are hand-me-downs from other readers in my life. Sometime this year I came across the wonderful notion (in an LT thread, of course) that you should allow any book you start 50 pages to win you over, so long as you are under 50. After that, you get to subtract one page for each year you are over 50, as your time is becoming progressively more valuable, in the long view. So, I will give each of the above 44 pages to persuade me they are worth reading. Looking at the list, I expect most of them to pass the test.
Added September 21st: I am switching
The Three Musketeers (IN) for
The Woman in White (OUT) so that I can participate in the TTM group read.
Message edited by its author, Sep 21, 2009, 4:18pm.
Don't know what to say. A grand old man. A personal hero. I'll be finding out more in 2010.
Category 9: Travel and Discovery Reading - AlaskaDowncanyon, Ann Zwinger
The Man Who Walked Through Time, Colin Fletcher
Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
Gathering the Desert, Gary Paul Nabhan
The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, John Wesley Powell
Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner
Indians of the American Southwest, Steven L. Walker
Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert, Terry Tempest Williams
The Blessing Way, Tony Hillerman
Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner
Focus changed from Alaska to the Colorado River.
Message edited by its author, Dec 13, 2009, 5:29pm.
If my knees and budget permit (not at all a sure thing on either account), I am hoping to get to Denali Park in Alaska in 2010. I did one walking tour in Alaska a couple of years ago and I have a yen to get back.
Added September 21st: Well, Alaska isn't going to happen, at least not in 2010, but I am going ahead on the Alaska read anyway.
Added November 9th: I have had to change my 2010 vacation plans and will not be going to Alaska. Sadness. But, ta-da, all being well, I will be going to Arizona to the Grand Canyon and Sedona in May instead. I am therefore going to revise my Regional Reading category.
Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 1:12pm.
Category 10: SF MasterworksThe Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Cities in Flight, James Blish
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
Babel-17, Samuel R. Delany
Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Gene Wolfe
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
Earth Abides, George R. Stewart
Martian Time-Slip, Philip K. Dick
So there we go. My reading plan for 2010. When I signed up for the 999 Challenge, I had difficulty thinking of categories, but that was early in my thus far (ta-da) one year career as an LT member. I have no such problem now. I find myself already thinking about the categories I would like to try in 2011 because I have run out of space for 2010. Virago Modern Classics come to mind for one thing, along with some of the Guardian 100 lists. I have so enjoyed following other people's threads even though I am behind in my reporting out and behind in my reading. And the reading I have done has been a great experience.
A fully populated list already. Such planning! I do envy you your return trip to Alaska as I visited there briefly as part of a trek tour (I was younger and fitter then) and still think it's the best vacation I've experienced. I wish you well with your challenge.
That is impressive! I liked your explanations for each category. And
Foucault's Pendulum--I read that fifteen years ago, while living in Paris (and buying books based on value for money--the more pages the better) and would like to read it again. If you let me know when you start, I'll read at the same time and we can encourage each other.
Oh my gosh, you are in for so many great books! I can't wait to see how you react to the Agatha Christies...and if you want more, you should definitely also read
Murder on the Orient Express and
And Then There Were None (if you haven't read them already, that is)!
> 21 - My knees need your good wishes too. I may not get there. I need to lose weight and see a doc about some joints. Not to mention save some money.
> 22 - I would love but love to have someone to read
Foucault's Pendulum with, so I will let you know when I get ready. I will want to get through
Middlemarch and
The Knights Templar first in case they help me make sense of Eco. Although, judging by
The Name of the Rose, gaming his readers is one of Eco's primary goals, so prepare as you will, preparing for surprize will be the best bet.
> 23 - Thanks for the recommendations. I love recommendations. I have to admit that I am going into the Christie reads with a bias in favor of Sayers, Marsh and Tey. We'll see how I feel later.
Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 12:34pm.
BTW - I finally just changed my LT user name. When I initally set up my account I had no notion what-so-ever that I would engage with the groups, or even what they were, so I used one of my technical aliases. Very offputting I should think. For months, the change capability was shut down. The new alias is pretty on the money, I think.
>25 It took me a minute to figure out what was going on... not enough coffee this morning, I guess. I didn't know it was possible to change user names...
It's a capability you get to via your edit Profile. Same place you can change your password.
You have made some great choices. Good luck.
You have some writers in here that I've never tried. I'll be interested to read your reviews later.
I love the classic mysteries. The Poisoned Chocolates Case was one of my favorites.
I might add a few of your books on books to my list. That was my most disappointing category for 999 x 1 so I've eliminated it but will probably collect ideas in case I decide to bring it back in future category challenges.
Every time I've checked on the change user name option it's always been disabled. Will have to give some serious thought to whether it's worth doing now.
>31 It was fixed today. See
http://www.librarything.com/topic/70730NeverStopTrying -I like the categories, and the fact that you already know what's going in some of them. Good Luck with the challenge
Wow, fully poulated lists already! I'll be interested in following categories 2 and 8, since both writers are unfamiliar to me.
The land of laughs I read something like 15 years ago, but that one really stuck with me. Strange and fascinating book. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you think of
Viriconium as well. The stories have been written over many years, and it's quite interesting to see them reflect their times. To me, the later, more surreal and weird tales were more interesting than the early, gritty, grey-brownish ones.
> 31 - AHS-Wolfy, looks like you opted for changing, if I remember correctly (if vaguely) from yesterday.
> 33 - Thanks for the info on
The Land of Laughs and
Virconium. I am doing my 1001 reads pretty stab in the dark, although there are some authors I know already I won't bother with since they have already annoyed me. If you follow my thread you will likely see comments on my Byatt and Matthiessen reads since they are favorites.
@34 NST, Yes, I've had the operation and it was quite painless. ;) Now more in line with my other online communities and my Wolf category makes more sense now as well.
Like the new name Wolfy!
Wow, impressive, filled categories already. I love the Dewey one, I wonder if that will fit in with my 10. non-fiction. We share the 1001 category and I've got my 10 Virago Modern Classics so I'll be trying to read those in 2010. :-)
An Agatha Christie populated category is a neat idea too. Too many ideas, too few categories.
I agree chrine, I've been reading the new posts as they come up and so far I think I have it narrowed down to about 27 different categories :)
Great categories / books neverstoptrying, I'd be especially interested to see what you think of all those Byatt's books ... I've not read any yet myself but was thinking of including some for next year.
Wow! I'm impressed that you have your categories so thoroughly filled out. Gives us indecisive ones more ideas. Are these books from your TBR pile?
> #39 - I won't be trying to read all those Byatts consequetively and a good number of them are short collections of long short stories, so it should be doable.
> #40 - I managed to choose 41 TBRs for 2010. I started early on my 2010 list because 2009 was my first challenge year, being my first LT year, and, while I do like the choices I made, I did not even
think about working my TBR problem deliberately. I am looking to increase the TBR count again in 2011. Tucking them into categories and making them part of a challenge will motivate me to actually read them finally instead of buying more and adding to the problem. A lot of my TBRs are my parents'. I cannot bring myself to pass them forward without reading them first.
Spelling error corrected.
Message edited by its author, Aug 27, 2009, 12:39pm.
Good plan! We parents have read some good ones! ;-) Hope you have some there that turn out to be worth keeping!
@#41 A very good argument. I might just start making some lists. And if you don't decide what order to read books in, you still have a lot of freedom (plus you can change under way of course...)
Great categories, I am very interested in your Classic Whodunnit's. I am going to try to fit some classic mysteries into my Crime Category so I'll be looking for your comments as you read yours.
Message edited by its author, Nov 9, 2009, 1:08pm.
Oh, I love your categories - and your organisational skills! I tried to start filling my categories already from Mount TBR, but I just KNOW I'll have acquired more books by the end of December. I figured I'd set a day aside after Christmas to eat mince pies and chocolate and play around with it...
Starring you now!
Thanks for the suggestion, Belladonna - I did check it out. Books on Books is one of my favorite categories, so even if I don't get to it this year, I will add it to my list for another year. She sounds like an interesting woman. I will look to see what you think of it when you get there!
I'm going to watch for your thoughts on the Peter Matthiessen books. I saw your list and thought I should read all of those too. One of these days I'll get to some of them.
And you have
Little, Big coming up. The other day I was scanning Amazon's Movers & Shakers and Little, Big had the number one spot. Silly, but that made me happy.
Just added Cities in Flight to my 1010 in the same category, SF Classics. I remember loving the Gateway series, a long time ago. I'll be interested to hear how you like them/it.
Little, Big is in my challenge too. It sounds like fun.
Little, Big is in my Magical Realism category for my 1010 challenge. I can't wait to see what everyone else thinks of it.
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