The Every Year Challenge - 2013

[Deedee]

Into the home stretch now --- see: Post #176 --- I'm doing 1950 - 2013 and all I have left are: 1987, 1983, 1979, 1969, 1964 and 1952.

I'm also doing the Decades Challenge Post #30 and have left: 2009 (3 books), 2008 (3 books) and 2006 (1 book).

Will I finish both challenges this month? Or will I be distracted by the shiny new 2013 books? Time will tell!

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1987 - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. Really well written! I enjoyed the changes in format and the changes in time between the chapters was accomplished adroitly, which is difficult in most books. Very different from the movie, but stands on its own very well. Definitely worth reading! 4 stars

28/31

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1992 - A Break with Charity: A Story about the Salem Witch Trials by Ann Rinaldi. Bit of a slow start at the beginning but picked up in the middle. I appreciated Rinaldi's examination of the non-hysterical Salemites who worked against those crying witchcraft. Good read. 3 stars

29/31

[Karina]

At the moment, I lack 5 books to complete my challenge (1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, and 2006) - Not sure I'm going to choose my reading the rest of the month with this in mind, but we'll see!

[Anna]

Filling in 1987 with Beloved by Toni Morrison. Disturbing. Engrossing. Discomfiting. 3.5-4 stars from me...lacking only in that I wanted just a little bit more clarity regarding Beloved's true origins and eventual fate. Still, Goodreads says it's #1 of a Toni Morrison trilogy...so maybe my answers are still coming? I can hope, right?

Every Year Challenge Books

1979- The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
1980 - Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
1981
1982 - The God Project by John Saul
1983 - On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
1984 - Shapechangers by Jennifer Roberson
1985 - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
1986 - Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr
1987 - Beloved by Toni Morrison
1988 - The Trial of Socrates by Isidor Stone
1989
1990
1991 - Searoad by Ursula LeGuin
1992 - Lost Boysby Orson Scott Card
1993
1994 - The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan
1995 - Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates
1996 - Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
1997
1998 - Cold Storage by Don Lasseter and About a Boy by Nick Hornby
1999 - Every Dead Thing John Connolly
2000 - The Telling by Ursula K. Le Guin
2001 - How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
2002 - The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
2003 - We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
2004 - Nocturnes by John Connolly
2005 - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
2006 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy & The Keep by Jennifer Egan
2007 - Darling Jim by Christian Mork & Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
2008
2009 - The Magicians by Lev Grossman and The Rapture by Liz Jensen
2010
2011
2012 - Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife by Eben Alexander and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
2013 - Unholy Hunger by Heather James and The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane

[Deedee]

Three weeks left -- see: Post #176 --- I'm doing 1950 - 2013 and all I have left are:
1987, 1979, 1969, and 1952.

I'm also doing the Decades Challenge Post #30 and have left:
2009 (2 books), 2008 (3 books) and 2006 (1 book).

10 books in 3 weeks including Christmas .... think I'll focus on the 1987, 1979, 1969, and 1952 ones first and then finish the decades challenge if and only if I have time .....

[Alison]

I just finished Catching Fire so I have 3/10. Been slacking on this challenge

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1988 - The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. I love Kingsolver's writing - every time I read her work, I feel like she's writing what is in my head! And this book is no exception. She does a superb job of telling the story with wit and sentiment in perfect measure. The characters are complex and sympathetic. Definitely worth reading and cannot wait to read the next book! 4.5 stars

30/31

[Kme_17]

I m at 22/33 the ones that are giving me trouble are the 1980s but I am like you guys so close but so far : )

[[deleted user]]

oooo..this sounds like fun. I will try this challenge after I finish my top 5 reads :)

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1998 - Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. Well-written with beautiful, complex characters! I appreciated that Quindlen approached the story of a battered woman running from her abusive husband from a different angle, that of how to live and change after running. Bittersweet, wonderful story and definitely worth reading! One of my favorite reads this year! 5 stars

30/32

[Alison]

I'm at 4/10. I just finished Mockinjay. I think this will be my last book read for this challenge.

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1996 - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. This book was thought-provoking and quite interesting. Whenever I remembered that it was a memoir, I became incredibly sad. I do not know how McCourt survived his childhood, but it is an inspiring story of the tenacity of a child's spirit. Definitely worth reading! 4 stars

31/32

[April Lyn]

I just finished Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala for my 2013 book. This was my 12th and final book. This was the only challenge that I actually completed this year :)


2002 Perfect Match
2003 The Wedding
2004 The Namesake
2005 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
2006 The Book Thief
2007 Foster Parenting: A Simple Guide to Understanding What It's All About
2008 The Silence of Trees
2009 The Help
2010 Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
2011 Then Came You
2012 The End of Your Life Book Club
2013 Wave

[Deedee]

I did it! After 14 years of trying, I finally did it! One book every year from 1950-2013 inclusive.

See: Post #176

I've found that 1995-present year I can usually get without difficulty; 1980-1994 I have a few that I don't get; and, 1950-1979 is "challenging" to find books that both (1) fulfill the year and (2) that I want to read.

Now that I've done 1950-2013, I think I'll give this challenge a year off, and do other, new & different challenges in 2014.

I'm close to finishing the Decades Challenge (see: Post #30). Because the challenge goes through Jan. 04, 2014, I have a chance of finishing. I have left:
2009 (1 book), 2008 (2 books) and 2006 (1 book)

[Megan]

Completed my selection for 1995 - The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Deliciously complex and interesting! The movie definitely did not do this book justice. Cannot wait to read the 2nd book. Definitely worth reading! 4.5 stars

32/32 - Challenge completed!

[Julia]

I did not finish the challenge... I read 69 books but unfortunately only covered 19 of the needed 30 years... oh well... :)

[Cheryl]

I didn't finish this challenge either, but read more than 100 books. So I still win! Happy New Year, all!

[Jodi]

I won't have finished either by the end of the year. I am quite short. I will meet my 65 books in 2013 though. I am going to re-try the challenge this year. I have planned out the books already, so I hope to be successful.

[Lilac]

Finished at last. :)

1997: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - ★★★★★ - 29/12/13
1998: A Clash of Kings - ★★★★☆ - 16/06/13
1999: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - ★★★★★ - 26/01/13
2000: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - ★★★★★ - 29/01/13
2001: The Eyre Affair - ★★★☆☆ - 29/03/13
2002: Lost in a Good Book - ★★★☆☆ - 30/11/13
2003: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - ★★★★★ - 11/05/13
2004: The Secret Hour - ★★★☆☆ - 28/07/13
2005: Never Let Me Go - ★★★★☆ - 02/01/12
2006: The Lies of Locke Lamora - ★★★★☆ - 08/06/13
2007: My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary - ★★★☆☆ - 13/03/13
2008: Serena - ★★☆☆☆ - 19/10/13
2009: Beautiful Creatures - ★★★★☆ - 13/01/13
2010: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - ★★★★☆ - 28/12/13
2011: A Dance with Dragons: Dreams and Dust - ★★★★☆ - 15/12/13
2012: Under the Never Sky - ★★★★☆ - 08/01/12
2013: Through the Ever Night - ★★★★★ - 23/01/13

Completed 17/17

[Lorelei]

I finished this challenge with 3/10. Boo!

[Anna]

Ah, fell short. 27 of 35 years complete. Congrats to everyone whatever your level of success. It was fun! :-)

[Lianne]

I didn't finish this challenge. I got real close, but being busy and reading Sophie's World turned out to be a bad combination. But I had a lot of fun and read great books from genres and authors that were new to me.

22/24

1990. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
1991. Sophie's World
1992. Along Came a Spider
1993. The Giver
1994. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
1995. Blindness
1996. Fight Club
1997. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
1998. A Clash of Kings
1999. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
2000. A Storm of Swords
2001. Life of Pi
2002. Coraline
2003. The Time Traveler's Wife
2004. Cloud Atlas
2005. The Lightning Thief
2006. Water for Elephants
2007. A Thousand Splendid Suns
2008. The Angel's Game
2009. Catching Fire
2010. Noah Barleywater Runs Away
2011. The Prisoner of Heaven
2012. The Fault in Our Stars
2013. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls