50 Book Challenge

[Tuxian]

So, have any of you heard about this yet? The idea is to get people reading. There's no real reward save for the satisfaction you take in yourself for finishing. Anyways, the challenge is to read a total of 50 books (or more, if you so desire) in the span of a single year.

I'm currently up to book #20, which averages to about 1 book every 2 days. I think that's a fairly good pace. Especially since I'm not going to stop at 50, I'm going to do a 'how many can I read in a year' instead. I've got close to 100 more books sitting on my shelves ready to read.

If you folks are interested at all, here's the list of what I've read so far. I've been tracking them on my LJ.

1) Rogue Angel Book 15: Swordsman's Legacy by Alex Archer
2) Thunderbird Falls by C.E.Murphy
3) Coyote Dreams by C.E.Murphy
4) Ill Wind by Rachel Caine
5) Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
6) The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
7) X-Men: Mutant Empire Book 1 : Siege by Christopher Golden
8) X-Men: Mutant Empire Book 2 : Sanctuary by Christopher Golden
9) A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton
10) B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton
11) C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton
12) Running With the Demon: The Word & The Void Book 1 by Terry Brooks
13) A Knight of the Word: The Word & The Void Book 2 by Terry Brooks
14) D is for Deadbeat by Sue Grafton
15) E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
16) F is for Fugitive by Sue Grafton
17) G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton
18) House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
19) The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

Currently reading:
Dhampir by Barb & J. C. Hendee

[Broomjockey]

I did this pretty much every year from elementary to about 3 years ago. Only it was just me reading, there was no challenge attached to it. Once I finish college, I plan on resuming that pace.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Hm, interesting. Not sure I can remember which books I've been reading this year, but I'll give it a shot.

1) The Knight and the Squire by Terry Jones
2) The Ugly Princess & the Wise Fool by Margaret Gray
3) Capt. Hook by J.V. Hart

Meh, I know I've read more, but they weren't all that memorable. I'm always popping off to the library.

Welp, may as well keep working on it. I have a book on Fencing right here.

[LibraryLady]

What I've read so far this year.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Yeah, again)

Collins, Paul. Branvard's Folly. Tales of 13 People who Didn't Change the World.

Gardner, Martin. Did Adam and Eve Have Navels?

Summerscale, Kate. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher.

Oyeyemi, Helen. The Icarus Girl.

Aresty, Esther. The Best Behavior.

McMullen, Roy. Mona Lisa : the Picture and the Myth.

Jenkins, Elizabeth. Harriet.

O'Brien, Flann. At Swim-Two-Birds.

Kilpack, John H. Nothing Can Go Wrong.

Hughes, Robert. The Shock of the News.

[Soulstealer]

I used to devour books. now I read for class so much that I don't have time to read for fun. How much would 200 pages worth of reading per week be?

[Eireann]

Only 50? Good God! I couldn't live with only that amount.

[Rine]

I've only read about 10 "grown up" books.

I suppose all those books I've read to my elementary school class don't count. :lol:

[Tuxian]

Only 50? Good God! I couldn't live with only that amount.

The creator of the challengs (someone on LJ, there's a comm for it if you go hunting) set the challenge for himself, actually. He says he's yet to finish it. But like all self-improvment movements, it got discovered and spread like ripples in a pond. The number of target books doesn't matter, it's the "get in there and read!" that matters. Kind of the reverse of NaNoWriMo, really.

[AnaKhouri]

I read at least that, except maybe the year I tackled "The Count of Monte Cristo" which took me three weeks to read (but was well worth it).

I can't begin to remember what I've read since January 1st...but I'll start keeping a list from my last two books.

1. Under the Banner of Heaven- John Krakauer
2. Funeral Games- Mary Renault
3. The Mermaids Singing- Val McDermid
4. Platinum Pohl- Frederik Pohl
5. Seven Short Tales- Junichiro Tanizaki

[Reyneth]

Only 50? Good God! I couldn't live with only that amount.

Glad I'm not the only one thinking that! I'm here trying to remember books I've read this year and I bet I'm at 25 already. LOL :roll: I probably read more than all the coworkers (25 or so people) in my main job's group combined with one or two exceptions!

Right now I'm devouring Jodi Picoult's new one. I love how the basis for some of her plots really make you *think* about things and putting yourself in the character's shoes.

Others I remember:
Foundation by Mercedes Lackey
the new collection of Valdemar series by Mercedes Lackey
The Fairy Godmother (for the 5th time or so) by Lackey
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn (2nd-3rd for each)
Shelter me (an ARC, but it's on the shelves now)
Complete Idiot's Guide to Enlightenment
Something something Genius (I can not find the title on Amazon!)
American Thighs (Sweet Potato Queens book)
True Colors - good but I liked the earlier Firefly Lane better
Sing Them Home - ok, but loved her first book Broken For You

and about a dozen or so other advance reader copies and hardcovers I've checked out from the bookstore that just aren't sticking in my mind!

[AnaKhouri]

Did you like "Mr. Whicher", LibraryLady? I read it in one day last August when a wind storm knocked out our power and I had no distractions. I thought it was fascinating!

[Plaidman]

Hmmm

Prince of Lies
Trial of Cyric the Mad
Joy Luck Club (One of my favorite)
Maniac Magee (something light)
Swan Song (DROOOOOOOOOOL)

Still working on that one. No time to read.

[McGoddess09]

Let's see..

Kindred by Octavia Butler
Night by Elie Wiesel
All four Twilight books
Fever Dreams by Sandra Brown
Julius Cesar by Shakespeare
Macbeth by Shakespeare
Beowulf
Some Edgar Allan Poe works
Some Brothers Grimm works
A few self help books for children of Alcoholics

Currently, I am reading:
The Devil Who Tamed Her by Johanna Lindsey (almost done)
The Qu'ran (started)

I have to read a few books at a time. After I'm done reading TDWTH, The Qu'ran will be bumped up to first priority reading and the secondary reading will be Jewels by Danielle Steel.

Some of those were for English class. If it weren't for that class, i wouldn't have read that many books. Not enough time lol

[Becks]

Only 50? Good God! I couldn't live with only that amount.

My thought(s) EXACTLY.

I'd write down what books I've read lately, but that would take too long.

Highlights:

Biography of Charles II of England
Historical romance pertaining to above (3-in-1)
Historical romance pertaining to his wife
Biography of Emperor Franz Josef
The first 12? 13? (It was 13) books in the Stephanie Plum series, plus 2 "Between the Numbers" books

...and that was in just the past 2½ weeks or so...

[iradney]

Over the past two weeks i've read:

Men at arms
Guards guards
Interesting times
Jingo
Carpe Jugulum
- Terry Pratchett

Duma Keys – Stephen King (twice)
Velocity – Dean Koontz
Brother Odd – Dean Koontz
From the corner of his eye – Dean Koontz
Odd Thomas – Dean Koontz
Forever Odd – Dean Koontz

[LibraryLady]

Did you like "Mr. Whicher", LibraryLady? I read it in one day last August when a wind storm knocked out our power and I had no distractions. I thought it was fascinating!

Oh yes, I loved it. The story of the crime itself was well told but the background information about public attitudes of the time really enriched the experience.

[lupo pazzesco]

Wow, I think I likes this thread. I can't remember everything I've read since January 1st of this year, so I'll just list what I do remember (Which is probably within the last month or so...)

Teasing Secrets from the Dead by Emily Craig
Hades' Daughter by Sara Douglass
God's Concubine by Sara Douglass
Darkwitch Rising by Sara Douglass
Druid's Sword by Sara Douglass (The four by Sara Douglass were her Troy Game series)
Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
Catering to Nobody by Diana Mott Davidson
The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop

Currently, I'm working on Chalice by Robin McKinley, and I have two other books after that lined up, Dying for Chocolate by Diana Mott Davidson, and The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Oh, and if re-reading counts, then I have to include the following...

Death's Acre and Beyond the Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass and John Jefferson, and the entire Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop, as well as Tangled Webs and Dreams Made Flesh, also by Anne Bishop.


yeah...I likes to read...

[lolad]

Over the past two weeks i've read:
Men at arms
Guards guards
Interesting times
Jingo
Carpe Jugulum
- Terry Pratchett


I've read all of those except interesting times this year, but only because i don't own it yet.

have also read -
When H.A.R.L.I.E. was One (Version 2.0) by David Gerrold
Thud
Thief of Time
Where is my Cow
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (the whole series)
Darkly dreaming dexter by Jeff Lindsay (and the next 2 dexter books)
and a couple more i can't remember right now (already had to refer to the bookshelf :))

[Bella_Vixen]

Only 50? Slackers.

I can't say that these are all the books that I've read since the beginning of the year, but it's definately 75-90% of them...

...in no particular order...

*all the Little House On The Prairie books (yes, I'm a geek.)
*The Six Wives of Henry VIII
*Whisper of Violets (see bekow)
*Scotsman's Lady
*Scotsman's Bride (all by Linda Madl)
*Man Of My Dreams (see below)
*Love Me Forever
*The Pursuit (Johanna Lindsey)
*Vows (Lavyrle Spencer)
*Queen In Waiting
*Caroline The Queen (Jean Plaidy)
*The Duchess (too lazy to see who it's by) this book gives historical romances a bad name!
*The Outlaw Hears (Rebecca Brandywine)
*Pride and Prejudice
*Cages Of Glass Flowers Of Time (Charlotte Culin) this book depresses the hell out of me
*The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria (Joan Haslip)
*The Empress Of Farewells: Charlotte of Mexico (Prince Micheal of Greece)
*Isabel The Queen (Peggy Liss)
*Outlander
*Dragonfly In Amber
*Voyager
*Drums Of Autumn
*The Fiery Cross
*A Breath Of Snow and Ashes (all by Diana Gabaldon) keeping in mind that these 6 books are over 1,000 pages each)
*Catherine de Medici (Leonie Frieda)
*a book about Mary Queen of Scots that's in the living room and I'm too lazy to check

and some more but I don't feel like looking right now.



I tend to go between history and romantic fiction. Each clears my head from the other.

[Cookiesaur]

A lot of these I've read before, but I re-read them because I'm lame. AND SO . . .

(CURRENTLY READING)
Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal

(RE-READ)
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

(NEW READ - only these count)
The Nature of Monsters by Clare Clark
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (OH MY GOD SO FUCKING BORING.)
The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon
Duma Key by Stephen King
Just After Sunset by Stephen King (Man, remember when you used to write WEIRD stories?)
Dream House by Valerie Laken (Seriously? SERIOUSLY?)
Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisine by Anthony Bourdain
Sons by Pearl S Buck
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz (I think I hate you now.)
Roasting in Hell's Kitchen by Gordan Ramsay (Can we be BFFs?!)
Wastelands (anthology)
An Arsonist's Guide to Writer's Homes in New England by Brock Clarke (Don't.)
The Best of HP Lovecraft by HP Lovecraft
The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (What happened to you guys? You've changed. You're not the writers I fell in love with. This isn't working out. I'm just . . . I'm going to stay with Stephen King for a while, okay? Don't try to call me.)

(BONUS! BOOKS I GAVE OUT ON BECAUSE I HATED THEM)
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Feeling for Bones by Bethany Pierce
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (OH JESUS SO INSIPID IT'S LIKE IF NEIL GAIMAN HAD A VAGINA AND A HEAD WOUND)

[Buglady]

I tend to read 9 or 10 books a week. Thank God for libraries because otherwise this would cost more than a substantial drug habit.

(The college bookstore had a sign out for a sale on remaindered books. I commented that this was rather like my friendly neigbourhood dealer offering free samples... one of my instructors heard me and cracked up. When I appeared in class the next day with an armful of said books (I didn't have time to get to my locker) he started laughing again).

Let's see.. in no order whatsoever:

Still Alice - forget the author's name, and I've given it to a friend to read. Story about a cognitive psychologist who had early-onset Alzheimer's. Heartbreaking.
Should I Leave? by Peter Kramer (philosophical musings on the nature of advice - by a psychiatrist)
Four books about anger in relationships
Dared and Done:The marriage of Elizabeth Barret and Robert Browning by Julia Markus
Fasting Girls: The ermergence of anorexia as a modern disease
The Nineteenth-Century Sonnet by Joseph Phelan
Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout by Tomson Highway (short play about Native-White relations)
Listening to Prozac by Peter Kramer
The last half (2 books) of the Otherland series by Tad Williams (Read the first two books just before New Years - 1000 pages each, by the way)
Five or six fantasy novels that I've since given away
Five or six mystery novels
Shock: a history of electroconvulsive therapy

Can't remember the rest...

[Lace Neil Singer]

I read voraciously. I probably have already read 50 books this year; and it's only March! :lol: Right now, I'm rereading the LOTR trilogy; I'm on Fellowship, and chuckling to myself about the characters and happenings that were left out the movies.

[Bella_Vixen]

I bought 2 books today, and Becks bought 2 or 3.

One is Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier. I actually bought the DVD a few months ago, but never managed to get around to watching it yet.

The other is Nicholas and Alexandra, by Robert Massie. The Czarina allowed pictures be taken of herself where her ankles are showing!! :eek:

[Becks]

*Isabel The Queen (Peggy Liss)

Isn't that my book?

I bought 2 books today, and Becks bought 2 or 3.


I bought three.

One's a novel about Catherine Parr. I finished it less than half an hour ago.

The second one's yet another biography on Elizabeth I. I'll start that one later.

Third is a book on Marie Antoinette.

Then I'm going to borrow the books Bella bought. :D

[Bella_Vixen]

Isn't that my book?

Yes. Yes it is. If it's the one about Isabella of Castile. :lol:



I bought three.

One's a novel about Catherine Parr. I finished it less than half an hour ago.

The second one's yet another biography on Elizabeth I. I'll start that one later.


When do I get to borrow them? Is the Catherine Parr one any good?

[Tuxian]

Adding two more to the list.

20) Dhampir by Barb & J. C. Hendee
21) Watchmen graphic novel

Currently reading Thief of Lives by Barb & J. C. Hendee

[dalesys]

Another resource would be the bane of my existencebudget: Baen Publishing (http://www.baen.com/).

They have fantasy, science fiction, alternate history...
Downloadable versions of many of their books at significant savings over paperback ($5DL vs $8PB).
A large free library. (about 100-150 titles)

They have published CD's bound in books with many more novels and the CD's can be downloaded at baencd at the fifth imperium (http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/).

[Drakstern]

People stop at 50? O.o

Not counting comic books(TPB of course), manga, and textbooks, I probably go through at least ten books a month.

Off the top of my head, from last month...

For the Emperor
Caves of Ice
The Traitor's Hand
Execution Hour(Yes I went on a 40K kick)
Through the Looking Glass(John Ringo, not Alice Carroll)
Vorpal Blade
Manxome Foe
The Kingdom Keepers(Not a very good book, sadly :/)
Princeps Fury
Count Zero
Snow Crash

That's not including the popcorn reading(comic strip collections and the like, as well as online stuff).

Then again, I read so much that in order to save money I just re-read things I've already read... though I just ordered the last half of the Ciaphas Cain series, as well as picking up White Witch, Black Curse from the Hollows series.

Between video games and books, I honestly don't know how I ever get anything done.