50 Book Challenge for 2011

[myown]

finished my 4th book. (i´m so proud!!)
now reading thuesdays with morrie by Mitch Albom

 

[e-v-elina]

i loved Tuesdays with Morrie!

 

[Belowen]

I actually have a question for everyone... how do you go about choosing what books to read?
I think some people might have mentioned this already, but...

Do you like to follow a certain theme and read a bunch of books on that theme?
Only read a certain genre or certain authors?
Do you mix it up?
Just completely random, whatever catches your fancy?

I missed this question

I have a few different ways of choosing the books that I read. One of the goals I've set for myself is to read the Time Magazine Top 100 Books of all time list, so that has plenty of titles for me to choose from when book shopping. I also try to read the Man Booker Prize winner and shorlist every year, and their site has an archive of previous nominees that I like to browse through if looking for a book to read. I have a personal preference for books with a post apocalyptic or apocalyptic theme, so I google for those when I want a random book choice. I also post about books from time to time on my blog, and when people offer suggestions I add them to my Book Depository wish list right away to purchase in the future.

 

[ChrissyM]

^^all good methods i think

i'm going to check out that time magazine list... sounds right up my alley...
i try to read some of the man booker prize books as well but that's something i got into only recently...

i tend to get caught up in amazon.com's recommendations for me and in their lists of best books of the month/year etc.
though i'm starting to shy away from that a bit because i tend to get crazy and buy more books than i can read and i'm choosing to be a bit more picky
though i do also just add books to my amazon wishlist if they interest me and i want to wait for them to come out in paperback or just for later consideration.

 

[Jenna-maria]

Cecilia Samartin Nora and Alicia
Tess Gerritsen The Surgeon
Lasr Kepler Hypnoitsija
Jo Nesbo The redbreast
Jo Nesbo Nemesis
Jo Nesbo The Devil´s star
Jo Nesbo The redeemer
Jo Nesbo the snowman
Jo Nesbo The leopard
Markus Zusak The book thief

There are actually two more books...I just do not remember their titles in english. I gonna add them later!

Originally posted by Chrissy M

I actually have a question for everyone... how do you go about choosing what books to read?
I think some people might have mentioned this already, but...

Do you like to follow a certain theme and read a bunch of books on that theme?
Only read a certain genre or certain authors?
Do you mix it up?
Just completely random, whatever catches your fancy?

I just pick books randomly and if I find author that I like I tend to collect all the books she/he has written. As you can see, same happened with Jo Nesbo. I just did get kinda addicted and I just had to read all those Harry Hole-books. Harry Hole is fantastic I think!

Also I checked out that TIME MAGAZINE TOP 100 OF ALL TIME-list and there re tons of books that I hve not read nd after googling some of those I did get super excited!
And amazon is also addicting site so hang-out, I could spend hours and hours there by searching interesting books.

It is sooo much fun to see what people are reading

​

 

[Bonbonenata]

I actually have a question for everyone... how do you go about choosing what books to read?
I think some people might have mentioned this already, but...

Do you like to follow a certain theme and read a bunch of books on that theme?
Only read a certain genre or certain authors?
Do you mix it up?
Just completely random, whatever catches your fancy?

Oh, I can't read two books one after one on the same theme. I read one Jane Austen, then Agatha Christie, then maybe some kind of chicklit... Otherwise I get bored.

I choose books from several blogs about books. They make wonderful reviews. My favorite time is when I'm in the bookstore or library and just pick random books. It's magical and I can do it forever!

@Jenna-maria, I read "The book thief" - amazing book! But there are books that have to be read slowly. It's one ot them. Just enjoy every word of the book.

 

[ChrissyM]

i just have to say... i'm really enjoying this thread and this challenge...
it's adding another dimension of enjoyment and motivation to my reading that's been so great

 

[cloudyshambles]

wow, there are some really fast readers in this thread! I'm still reading my second book of the year. I actually have to read it for college and should have finished it like one week ago, but I only have a couple more pages to go... I still spend too much of my free time on the internet, I really need to cut back on that to make more time for reading...

 

[GinAndTonic]

I read everytime I have some free time left. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that often.

So far this year, I've read :

- Pop heart (Barbara Israel)
- Notes Of A Dirty Old Man (Charles Bukowski)
- South Of No North (Charles Bukowski)
- Ask The Dust (John Fante)

The Demon, written by Hubert Selby jr is next on my list.

 

[tigerrouge]

12: The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

In terms of choosing what to read, sometimes I like to do an exploration of an author, and read their most important books, other times I challenge myself to get through an entire series by someone.

Because it takes time to read a book, I'd rather spend it reading a classic that's recognised as having lasting relevance or importance, than something that's hyped at this moment. I don't set much store by awards or reviews - if a new release is worth reading, it'll still be talked about two years from now, I'm not in a rush to get to it.

I started reading Edith Wharton because a character in another book I'd read was reading her, and since then, I've selected a few random books from the modern classics shelf in the library.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

1 // Imperial Bedrooms by Bret Easton Ellis
2 // Limit by Frank Schätzing
3 // Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk
4 // The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
5 // Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
6 // Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
7 // The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

I finished Breakfast at Tiffany's (+ 3 other short stories that are included in the book). I'm not sure what to think of it. The problem is, I guess, that I know the film too well to be objective about the book. I couldn't stop thinking about scenes from the movie while reading it. In retrospect I can't even say how I liked his writing style because I felt like watching the film again. Almost the whole story is converted at its face value into the film, the only exceptions being Audrey's interpretation of Holly and the ending.

As for the other three short stories (House of Flowers, A Diamond Guitar, A Christmas Story They are puzzling and a little bit weird, but quite nice overall. I'm not really a fan of short stories and I don't get why they are included in the book but it's cool to see what else he's written.

btw, I'm not sure if I'll really read The Catcher in the Rye next, I read the first 20+ pages and its already annoying me a little. We'll see how it goes, I was actually looking forward to it but maybe I'll do sth a little more contemporary as a filler between classics

 

[Child_in_time]

So far:
1. Dubliners - James Joyce
2. Flaubert's Parrot - Julian Barnes
3. St Joan - G.B. Shaw

Now in the middle of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

 

[Toccata]

01|[strike]Aeneid by Virgil[/strike]
02|[strike]Nausea by Sartre[/strike]
03|[strike]Persians by Aeschylus[/strike]
04| Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus

Slow and steady

 

[Belowen]

Finished my sixth book, now onto the seventh...

01: American Subversive by David Goodwillie
02: The Collector by John Fowles
03: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
04: Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
05: The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
06: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
07: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien

 

[cloudyshambles]

I finally finished my second book!

Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach

Ecotopia consists of the former US states northern California, Washington and Oregon. As the name suggests they live as environmentally friendly as possible. 20 years after its secession from the US the first American, a journalist, is allowed to visit Ecotopia. The chapters consist of two parts: his official columns for the american newspaper he's writing for and his diary entries where he describes his experiences on a more personal level.
In his columns he describes various aspects of Ecotopian life and its people and some of them were a little dragging... but his diary parts compensated for that. Many parts just sounded too good to be true and a little unrealistic. The topic was a nice change from other utopian novels though and it was interesting how an environmentalist like Callenbach envisions the perfect society.


Now I'm going to read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

[Jenna-maria]

Originally posted by Bonbonenenata

@Jenna-maria, I read "The book thief" - amazing book! But there are books that have to be read slowly. It's one ot them. Just enjoy every word of the book.

​

Yes it was good! I liked it a lot



Cecilia Samartin Nora and Alicia
Tess Gerritsen The Surgeon
Lasr Kepler Hypnoitsija
Jo Nesbo The redbreast
Jo Nesbo Nemesis
Jo Nesbo The Devil´s star
Jo Nesbo The redeemer
Jo Nesbo the snowman
Jo Nesbo The leopard
Markus Zusak The book thief
Margaret Mitchell Gone With The Wind

​

 

[Nemova]

Hey guys, I know it's a bit late, but can I join you? I've read two books so far this year: Satori in Paris, by Jack Kerouac, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson. I'm on my third book, A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, but I'm having a hard time reading it because the Nadsat language kind of throws me off.

 

[kate_is_goddess]

^Sure, everyone can join at any time! It's not really a challenge, but rather a motivational thread for book lovers and reading fanatics

 

[Nemova]

Yay!

 

[tigerrouge]

13: Rabbit, Run by John Updike

Sometimes I get so irritated by the reputation of some novelists - and the way that men are accorded the status of being serious writers by virtue of their gender - that I have to go back to their earlier works to remember why they were hailed as brilliant.