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The Listopia Challenge - 2014
message 251:
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Meimei
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Apr 12, 2014 06:47AM

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Updated message 248. I now have 9/80 books read

I finished 2 more: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (04/12/14) and The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (04/14/14) - both from my list #1, "1001 Books to Read Before You Die." I've updated my original post.
Total read: 5/20

Read 5 books from Best 20th Century Books List
Read 5 books from Best 21st Century Books List

Switched out "Novels mentioned in "Among Others" for "Spain", because I somehow can't go near new Fantasy and especially SF this year.
Books that aren't linked are books that I haven't read yet, because I wanted to list all my available options.
6/77
I: Man Booker Prize Eligible 2013
1) Neil Gaiman - The Ocean at the End of the Lane
The Professor of Poetry, Harvest, The Cuckoo's Calling, Questions of Travel, The Night Rainbow, This Magnificent Desolation, Life after Life
II: Man Booker Prize Eligible 2012
1) Ali Shaw - The Man Who Rained
The Forrests, The Uninvited Guests, Snake Ropes, Merivel, The Light Between the Oceans, The Watch, The Bellwether Revivals
III: Man Booker Prize Eligible 2011
The Sentimentalists, The Proof of Love, The Absolutist, Today, The Last Gift, (Among Others)
IV: Magical Realism
The Lace Reader, Big Fish, Blackbird House, Invisible Cities, Of Bees and Mist, (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Life of Pi, All the Names, Like Water for Chocolate, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, Midnight's Children
V: Spain
The Spanish Bow, The Coffee Trader, Waiting for Columbus, The Shadow of the Wind, The Ornament of the World, (The Prisoner of Heaven)
VI: Around the World in 100 Books
Wolves of the Crescent Moon, The Kashmir Shawl, The Death of Vishnu, In the Country of Men, Shantaram, A Golden Age
VII: Favourite Travel Books
A Moveable Feast, Shadow on the Silk Road, Passionate Nomad, A Walk in the Woods, A Year in the World, The Valleys of the Assassins
VIII: Microhistories: Sweeping Social Histories of Just One Thing
Color, The Song of the Dodo, The Swerve, Guns Germs and Steel, The Year 1000, The Map that changed the world
IX: Best for Book Clubs
1) Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain
2) John Green - The Fault in Our Stars
Julie & Julia, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, To Kill a Mockingbird, Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress, True Colors, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
X: Silhouette Covers
1) Helen Oyeyemi - White is for Witching
2) Jacqueline Kelly - The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
The Monsters of Templeton, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle, (The Glass Palace)
XI: Past-Present Books
The Island, The Little Stranger, Water for Elephants, The Winter Sea, The Legacy, The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, Cutting for Stone

Where'd You Go, Bernadette
and
The Girl You Left Behind
Both from 2014:Women Born in the 1970s list
Which puts me at 9/20

I finished Under the Skin by Michel Faber (from my list #1, 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, 04/19/14, ****)
Read: 6/20


I finished The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall (****, 04/25/14) (from my list #3, Best Books of the 21st Century)
Read: 7/20

Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto **** (04/29/14)
(from list #2, Japanese Literature)
Read: 8/20

A bit late maybe, but because of that only 8 books from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Orlando
6. A Passage to India
7.
8.
9. Bonus:
10. Bonus:
11. Bonus:
12. Bonus:
13. Bonus:
14. Bonus:
15. Bonus:
16. Bonus:
17. Bonus
18. Bonus
19. Bonus
20. Bonus
18/8

This puts me at 2/13.

Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-sook **** (05/02/14)
(from list #3, Best Books of the 21st Century)
Read: 9/20

I can't remember where I was up to in my updates, so this is my list so far:

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig **** (05/17/14)
(from list #1, 1001 Books to Read)
Read: 10/20

I am finished The Fault in Our Stars. I updated post #23. I have now finished 7 books. I have fully completed one of my lists.

And I was looking at my numbering and realized I was off by two. Way back I numbered something 5/20 when it was actually supposed to be 7/20. So I am actually at 13/20 now. I went back and edited my other posts to change to the correct number. I'm sorry for that confusion. I am keeping track in my reading corner so you can look there if you need to see the list. So current and correct is 13/20.

I'm now at 10/20. My reads to date:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green - 4 stars
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - 5 stars
The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick - 3.5 stars
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - 4 stars
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce - 3.5 stars
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty - 4.5 stars
The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton - 3.5 stars
The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - 3.5 stars
Howards End by E.M. Forster - 3 stars
The Chronicles of Downton Abbey: A New Era by Jessica Fellowes - 4 stars

And also read Unwind which is on the "Best Books Ever" list.
That puts me at 16/20 :)

6/10
Best Books of Decade 2010's
1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks*** READ 4.20.14
2. The Night Circus*** READ 6.2.14
3. Gone Girl *** READ 10.13.14
4. The Fault in Our Stars *** READ 9.9.14
Best Books Ever
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns *** READ 1.8.14
2. A Prayer for Owen Meany
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in Night-time
Best Crime and Mystery Books
1. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America *** READ 10.28.14
2. Whose Body
Best American History Books
1. Founding Brothers

- The Fault in Our Stars - 4 stars
- Howards End - 3 stars (perhaps one I should have read properly rather than listening to an audiobook)
- The Shadow of the Wind - 2.5 stars (too slow to engage me - or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it?)
- The Eyre Affair - 3 stars (very strange, interesting premise, probably not interesting enough to make me want to read any more in the series)

I've updated message 296

Where'd You Go, Bernadette
and
The Girl You Left Behind
Both from 2014:Women Born in the 1970s list
Which puts me at 9/20"
Karma, what did you think of Where'd You Go, Bernadette?

Where'd You Go, Bernadette
and
The Girl You Left Behind
Both from 2014:Women Born in the 1970s list
Which puts me at 9/20"
Karma, wha..."
I thought it was cute. It's written in an unconventional way, but I didn't feel like that slowed the story down any. It wasn't one of my favorites of the year, but it wasn't bad.

Me Before You
and
Whistling Past the Graveyard
These were both 4 star reads for me (I'm very stingy with my 5-stars :)
19/20

Lady Audley's Secret.
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