Book Challenge Update, 1/24

I've made a bit more progress on the book challenge, even though the school year has begun and I have a graduate course starting. It will all likely slow down here soon. But here are my updates for now. Again, I think I'll just move the most recent reads to the top of the list.

1. Trashy Romance - This novel could count in several of my categories, but I think I'm going to list it as my trashy romance. I finally got around to reading Gone With the Wind. I found the first half of the book extremely entertaining and could see how the novel got the following that it has. It reads really well, with some fairly complex and interesting characters. The scenes with Rhett really do pop off of the page. The second half of the book, however, was nowhere near the same quality. This was both as a matter of politics (even forgiving Mitchell a little bit for expressing the views of her time, the racial politics of this part of the novel are offensive, as are the negative stereotypes assigned to northernors) and plot. On the whole, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but I was a lot more disturbed by the book than I thought I was going to be, too.

2. Graphic Novel/Comics - I used to read and enjoy the Ducktales comics when I was young, and I didn't realize until recently that the original Ducktales comics, authored by Carl Barks, are considered classics. I requested a copy of them, both for the sake of nostalgia and because I was interested if I would still like some of them. It turns out that they were quite funny and well-drawn, though I did probably enjoy them more as a kid.

3. Contemporary Children's Novel - Stephanie and I read Kate DiCamillo's The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane together. It's a fable--much in the mold of The Velveteen Rabbit or The Mouse and His Child--about a porcelain rabbit learning to love. DiCamillo is one of the best children's writers around (though it's sometimes debatable whether or not her books would always be enjoyable by children), and this was another well-written fantasy.

4. Poetry - I enjoyed Kathleen Norris's memoir The Cloister Walk back in college, and I've encountered some of her poetry in anthologies, so I've wanted to read one of her books of poetry for quite a while now. I happened across a signed copy of Little Girls in Church one day in a used book story for $1 and have now tried it out. Though Norris can, just on occasion, be a little abstract and over-allusive (is that a word?) for my taste, a lot of the poems--many of them centered around women in history and the Bible--were very striking and thought-provoking. I enjoyed it and will keep it on my shelf.

5. Mystery - I read an Agatha Christie--The Hallowe'en Party--just because I was needing something light and short after Gone With the Wind, and she typically does the trick. This one was one of her final novel--and so one of the lesser ones, since her talent dropped off a bit toward the end of her life. That's not to say, though, that I didn't enjoy it. I just enjoyed it while recognizing it as a middling effort of a very fine writer.

6. Current Bestseller - For a current bestselling novel, I read Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child, a novel set in Alaska about a lonely middle-aged couple who forms a child from the snow...who comes alive. It was decent, but it read like a first novel.

7. Thriller - I've been on a big Graham Greene kick for the last few months, and so I decided to read one of his more obscure (though also least popular) novels Orient Express. About halfway through, I thought that I would never be able to consider it as a thriller, despite it being advertised as such, because even though it was well-written, it was just about the sundry relationships developed amongst the travelers on a train. By the end, however, it became a thriller of sorts. And I decided that it was one of Greene's most underrated novels.

8. Popular History Book - I read A Land So Strange by Andres Resendez, about the journey of Cabeza de Vaca through the American Southwest after the Spanish expedition he was on ended in tragedy. It was a pretty fascinating account of a part of history which I, as a Texan, have long been interested in.

9.  Pulitzer Prize Winner -

10. A Vampire Book -

11. Newbery Prize Winner -

12. A book that has or is being made into a movie -

13. A Shakespeare Play -

14. Biography/Memoir -

15. Comedy -

16. British Classic -

17. Sir Walter Scott -

18. Texas Books -

19. Swashbuckler -

20. The Bible -

21. SciFi or Fantasy -

22. Theology -

23. Modern Library 100 Novel -

24. Christmas Book -

25. Education Book -

Book Goal Update - 1/13

Well, I am a couple of weeks into the year, and I've made a bit of progress on the book list. Specifically, I've gotten three books finished. I'll just reorder them so that the categories I've completes are at the top.


1.  Current Bestseller - For a current bestselling novel, I read Eowyn Ivey's The Snow Child, a novel set in Alaska about a lonely middle-aged couple who forms a child from the snow...who comes alive. It was decent, but it read like a first novel.

2. Thriller - I've been on a big Graham Greene kick for the last few months, and so I decided to read one of his more obscure (though also least popular) novels Orient Express. About halfway through, I thought that I would never be able to consider it as a thriller, despite it being advertised as such, because even though it was well-written, it was just about the sundry relationships developed amongst the travelers on a train. By the end, however, it became a thriller of sorts. And I decided that it was one of Greene's most underrated novels.

3. Popular History Book - I read A Land So Strange by Andres Resendez, about the journey of Cabeza de Vaca through the American Southwest after the Spanish expedition he was on ended in tragedy. It was a pretty fascinating account of a part of history which I, as a Texan, have long been interested in. 

4. Pulitzer Prize Winner - 

5. Trashy Romance -

6. A Vampire Book -

7. Newbery Prize Winner -

8. A book that has or is being made into a movie -

9. A Collection of Poetry -

10. A Shakespeare Play -

11. Biography/Memoir -

12. Comedy -

13. British Classic - 

14. Mystery -

15. Sir Walter Scott -

16. Texas Books -

17. Swashbuckler -

18. The Bible -

19. SciFi or Fantasy -

20. Graphic Novel/Comics -

21.  Theology -

22. Modern Library 100 Novel -

23. Christmas Book -

24. Education Book -

25. Contemporary Children’s Book - 

My sister has hooked me back into doing a blog post this year with something I can’t resist--a book list. She is reading 20 books from 20 different categories and was wondering if I’d do it with her. I looked at her list and decided that I probably could, with a couple of small changes.

Here’s my challenge, with some explanations.

1. Theology - I usually read a pretty good bit in this category, but I didn’t much last year. Dr. Beck does has a new book coming out, though, so this won’t be difficult to get to.

2. Pulitzer Prize Winner - I’m actually going to try to read five of these in total, like I did last year, so that I can gain some ground on my goal of reading them all.

3. Mystery - This one’s no prob.

4. Thriller - I’ve been hooked on Graham Greene books lately, so I’ll just read one of them.

5. Trashy Romance - This may be the year to finally take a stab at Gone With the Wind.

6. A Vampire Book - I wouldn’t normally go for this, but Christopher Moore has some vampire books that I’ve never read yet.

7. Newbery Prize Winner - This is another of the lists that I have a long-term goal of completing.

8. A book that has or is being made into a movie - I will finally get to watch one of the movies on my long list of “movies I don’t want to watch until I’ve read the book.”

9. A Collection of Poetry - I’ve got a couple of new ones sitting around.

10. A Shakespeare Play - I may finally read MacBeth, like the rest of the world.

11. Biography/Memoir - I think Kalyn’s going to make me read Hauerwas’s Hannah’s Child.

12. Comedy - Moore’s vampire books are a trilogy.

13. British Classic - Ok.

14. Popular History Book - I substituted this one for Kalyn’s Doris Kearns Goodwin book. I’ve already got one in progress.

 15. Sir Walter Scott - Kalyn’s reading an Agatha Christie novel, since she’s always wanted to but never has. I’m reading a Sir Walter Scott novel for the same reason.

16. Texas Books - I’ve been trying to read a lot more of these the last few years. I should read at least five.

17. Swashbuckler - The favorite novels of my childhood and teen years were very often swashbucklers like The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche, and The Scarlet Pimpernel. I still have a few of them, though,

18. The Bible - I’m only fudging slightly on this. I’ve got the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament in progress, and that will count for me.

19. SciFi or Fantasy - I do need to reread The Hobbit soon.

20. Graphic Novel/Comics - Mom bought me a classic Donald Duck graphic novel, I kid you not.

21. Popular Contemporary Novel - In progress.

22. Modern Library 100 Novel - The final list that I hope to finish eventually.

23. Christmas Book - I read at least one every year.

24. Education Book - I’m taking a class, so I might as well get some credit for the tons of books I’m going to read for it this year.

25. Contemporary Children’s Book - I’ve got a project going in which I hope to finish several of these.