Laurie's What was I Thinking? Corner

[Laurie]

I have a goal of 70 books in 2016 ( Laurie's 70 books thread). I will track all of my challenges here for this group and my other groups.

YEARLY CHALLENGES
Fiction to Reality COMPLETED
Around the World in Books COMPLETED
Let's Turn Pages
Women's Classics Century COMPLETED
A-Z: Character Edition COMPLETED
Old and New Classics COMPLETED
Classics Bingo COMPLETED
A-Z Author Challenge COMPLETED
Non-Fiction Challenge COMPLETED
A-Z Places Challenge

[Laurie]

Fiction to Reality Challenge COMPLETED

10/10 complete

1a. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami (non- fiction memoir about Murakami's life as a runner)
1b. Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder (fictional story of a Canadian 1928 Olympic gold medal runner)
2a.Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (letter to his son about "race")
2b. Native Son by Richard Wright (classic novel about race)
3a. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (letters between a book buyer and a bookseller over a 20+ year period)
3b. My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (The search for the killer of a man who was illustrating a book for the Sultan)
4a. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
4b. All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane by Amy Elizabeth Smith (travel narrative in which author discusses JA novels with readers in Latin America)
5a. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
5b. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (story of a 15 year old autistic young man)

[Laurie]

Around the World in Books COMPLETED

24/24 complete

1. Switzerland - Heidi by Johanna Spyri
2. France - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
3. Japan - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
4. Sweden - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
5. USA - The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
6. Mauritania - Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
7. Nigeria - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
8. Chile - The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
9. England - The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
10. Morocco - The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami
11. Sierra Leone - Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
12. Cape Verde - The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida
13. Canada - Girl Runner by Carrie Snyder
14. Antigua - Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid
15. Turkey - My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk
16. New Zealand - The Bone People by Keri Hulme
17. Finland - The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
18. Russia - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
19. Zimbabwe- The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
20. Australia - A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
21. Ghana - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
22. Latvia - High Tide by Inga Ābele
23. Iraq - The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon
24. Vietnam - The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

[Laurie]

Let's Turn Pages

24,082/25,000 pages

[Laurie]

Women's Classics Century Challenge (classics group) COMPLETED

The rules of this challenge are to pick 10 novels by women from 10 consecutive decades. I chose a Level Two challenge which means that I have never read any books by these authors. I can change the books and the decades at any time, but they must be consecutive decades to successfully complete the challenge.

10/10 complete

1880-89 Heidi by Johanna Spyri 1880 ✔ 1/2/16
1890-99 The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett 1896 ✔ 8/27/16
1900-09 The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy 1905 ✔ 9/7/16
1910-19 My Ántonia by Willa Cather 1918 ✔ 1/30/16
1920-29 So Big by Edna Ferber 1924 ✔ 7/30/16
1930-39 Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 1932 ✔ 4/9/16
1940-49 I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith 1948 ✔ 9/23/16
1950-59 The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing 1950 ✔ 6/18/16
1960-69 The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau 1964 ✔ 1/17/16
1970-79 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 1970 ✔ 3/31/16

[Laurie]

Old and New Classics (classics group) COMPLETED
The rules of this challenge are to pick 3 pre-20th century novels, 3 from the 20th century and 6 from any time period. The books must be chosen prior to January 1st and then no changes may be made. However, two alternates are also chosen which may be substituted for any of the other books to complete the challenge. I chose my Wild Card Six and alternates with authors and settings from countries other than the US or UK to help with my goal to read more globally this year.

12/12 complete

1899 and earlier
1. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 1814 ✔ 5/29/16
2.Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 1856 ✔ 10/2/16
3.Heidi by Johanna Spyri 1880 ✔ 1/2/16

1900-1999
4.My Ántonia by Willa Cather 1918 ✔ 1/30/16
5.Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 1932 ✔ 4/9/16
6.The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy 1958 DNF

Wild Card Six
7.Broken April by Ismail Kadare 1978 ✔ 10/9/2016
8.The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende 1982 ✔ 2/23/16
9.A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute 1950 ✔ 7/4/16
10.The Makioka Sisters by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki 1943
11.My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk 1998 ✔ 4/26/16
12.Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 2006 ✔ 2/13/16

Alternates
The Bone People by Keri Hulme 1984 ✔ 5/19/16
The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas 1963 ✔ 10/18/16

[Zara's Corner]

Good luck Laurie

[Laurie]

Classics Bingo (classics group)

24/24 COMPLETED

B1: Written by Nobel Laureate The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy
B2: Sci-fi or Fantasy Classic The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
B3: Classic of Africa The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
B4: Children's Classic Heidi by Johanna Spyri
B5: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (Prix Femina Vie Heureuse)

I1: Published/Written Before 1600’s A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
I2: New-to-You Author My Ántonia by Willa Cather
I3: Classic Play Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill
I4: Banned Book Native Son by Richard Wright
I5: Published in the 1700's The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

N1: Classic of the Americas The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
N2: Short Story Collection Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
N3: FREE SPACE
N4: Poetry Collection Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
N5: Classic of Europe The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

G1: Published in the 1600's Tartuffe by Molière
G2: Book from Le Monde’s 100 Books of the Century The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
G3: Classic Non-fiction 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
G4: Classic from School Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
G5: Published in the 1800's Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

O1: Literary Prize of Your Country/Region The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau (Pulitzer Prize)
O2: Gothic Classic We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
O3: Classic of Asia or Oceania The Bone People by Keri Hulme
O4: Mystery or Crime Classic Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
O5: Prize-Winning Female Author Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Baileys Women's Prize)

[Laurie]

A-Z: Character Edition

26/26 COMPLETED

A Abigail (The Keepers of the House)
B Bigger Thomas (Native Son)
C Christopher Christopherson (Anna Christie)
D Death (My Name is Red)
E Esteban Trueba (The House of the Spirits
F Fanny Price (Mansfield Park)
G Gregor (The Metamorphosis)
H Heidi (Heidi)
I Irene Forsyte (The Forsyte Saga)
J Jim Burden (My Ántonia)
K Kula Radiance of Tomorrow)
L Lennie Small (Of Mice and Men)
M Mustafa ibn Muhammad (The Moor's Account)
N Neil Cotton (I Capture the Castle)
O Ove (A Man Called Ove)
P Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream)
Q Queequeg (Moby-Dick; or, The Whale)
R Richard (Bleak House)
S Simon Gillayley (The Bone People)
T Theodore Morde (Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure)
U Ugwu (Half of a Yellow Sun)
V Valeria (Lolita)
W Woland (The Master and Margarita)
X Wu Xiaoming (Death of a Red Heroine)
Y Yaw (Homegoing)
Z Zaphod Beeblebrox (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

[Laurie]

A-Z Author Challenge (classics group) COMPLETED
26/26 complete

A Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
B Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove
C Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me
D Charles Dickens - Bleak House
E Laura Esquivel - Like Water for Chocolate
F Edna Ferber - So Big
G Shirley Ann Grau - The Keepers of the House
H Kent Haruf - Our Souls at Night
I Kazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of Hills
J Shirley Jackson - We Have Always Lived in the Castle
K Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
L Laila Lalami - The Moor's Account
M Haruki Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
N Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
O Eugene O'Neill - Anna Christie
P Orhan Pamuk - My Name is Red
Q Anna Quindlen - How Reading Changed My Life
R Carlo Rovelli - Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
S Johanna Spyri - Heidi
T Daniel Tammet - Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
U Loung Ung - First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
V Tarjei Vesaas - The Ice Palace
W Richard Wright - Native Son
X Qiu Xiaolong - Death of a Red Heroine
Y Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen
Z Fareed Zakaria - In Defense of a Liberal Education

[Laurie]

Non-fiction Challenge (personal challenge) COMPLETED
My plan is to read a minimum of 20 non-fiction books

20/20 complete

1 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
2 Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
3 Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
4 Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure by Christopher S. Stewart
5 Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
6 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
7 In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria
8 The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain by Bill Bryson
9 Old Age: A Beginner's Guide by Michael E. Kinsley
10 All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane by Amy Elizabeth Smith
11 Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant by Daniel Tammet
12 Seven Brief Lessons on Physics by Carlo Rovelli
13 Gratitude by Oliver Sacks
14 H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
15 Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto by Steve Almond
16 How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
17 First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung
18 Stranger than Fiction: True Stories by Chuck Palahniuk
19 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
20 At the Bottom: A Woman's Life in Central America by Luisa Gonzalez

[Laurie]

A-Z Places Challenge (Around the World Group)
These places can be countries, cities, provinces, states, etc.

25/26 complete

A Alabama - The Keepers of the House
B Birmingham - Homegoing
C California - Of Mice and Men
D Dunnett's Landing - The Country of the Pointed Firs
E England - The Forsyte Saga
F Florida - The Moor's Account
G Guatemala - All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane
H Honduras - Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure
I Illinois - Native Son
J Japan - A Pale View of Hills
K Kazakhstan - Jamilia
L Latvia - High Tide
M Mauritania - Guantánamo Diary
N Nebraska - My Ántonia
O Outer Space - The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
P Piedras Negras - Like Water for Chocolate
Q Quebec, - A Trick of the Light
R Russia - The Master and Margarita
S Switzerland - Heidi
T Toronto - Girl Runner
U United States - Against Football: One Fan's Reluctant Manifesto
V Vietnam - The Sympathizer
W Winesburg - Winesburg, Ohio
X
Y Yugoslavia - Murder on the Orient Express
Z Zimbabwe - The Grass is Singing

[Laurie]

I planned on doing fewer challenges this year, and now I have more than I did last year. I am such a sucker for new challenges, but I hope to be nicer to myself and allow myself not to complete challenges if it becomes too stressful.

[Laurie]

Two weeks into the year and my challenges are going well. And I am enjoying my books so far.

[Laurie]

January total is 9 books and 1 short story. I read only 3 female authors which I want to better on, but next month won't help with the books I have planned. All but two authors were new to me. I had several short books, so I want to read some longer ones soon.

[Laurie]

I only finished 6 books in February, but two were 5 star books so I think it was a good month. And one novel was almost 900 pages so it was great to finish a chunkster. Plus I have completed 5,003 of my 25,000 page goal so I am easily on track there. My challenges are going okay, but I would like to do better on my non- fiction challenge.

[Laurie]

I managed to read 8 books in March, but there were some short ones. I have gotten into a kind of reading funk because life has gotten so busy that I am sometimes too tired to read in my limited time. So only about 1,600 pages this month. Hope to do better in April.

[Laurie]

I read 7 books in April with a little over 1,700 pages total. So slightly better than March but not by much. My challenges are mostly going okay, but I wish I hadn't committed to so many. I will continue to chip away at completing them though.

[Laurie]

I finished off May with 3 books in the last 3 days but only for a total of 6 books read for the month. Wow, I am getting slower and slower it seems. But I have a goal of 70 books for the year, and I have completed 37 so far, so in actuality I am ahead of target. I hope others feel less stressed by their challenges than I do. I need to do fewer challenges next year.

[Laurie]

I read 6 books in June with a total of 43 for the year. So I am well ahead of my 70 book goal for the year, but I have read several really short books so my page count is slightly under my goal at the halfway point. And here is a rundown of my challenges so far:

Fiction to Reality - 8/10 complete
Around the World in Books - 20/24 complete
Let's Turn Pages - 12,008/25,000 pages
Women's Classics Century Challenge - 6/10 complete
Old and New Classics - 8/10 complete
Classics Bingo - 22/24 complete
A-Z Character Edition - 19/26 complete
A-Z Author - 15/26 complete
Non-fiction Challenge - 11/20 complete
A-Z Places - 14/26 complete

[Laurie]

I read 9 books in July, so I am up to 52 total. My book total will be easily met this year, but it remains to be seen about my page challenge. But I read some very good books in July so a satisfactory month overall.

[Laurie]

Whoo, August was a slow reading month thanks to the Olympics. I read 5 books, but I managed to finish a 1000+ page novel so not so bad overall. I completed my Fiction to Reality challenge during August and the Around the World in Books challenge today. So I have completed 3 of 10 challenges. I don't think I I think I will complete all of them this year.

[Laurie]

Lost steam in a big way in September. I read 5 books and it felt like such a struggle. I wanted badly to finish at least one of my challenges and I did finish my Women's Classic Century Challenge. Sooo happy to do so. I haven't enjoyed some of my recent books lately so I need something fun next.

[Laurie]

I read 10 books in October and completed two challenges, so yea!! this was finally a good month. I finished my Old and New Classics challenge and the A-Z Character challenge. Two months left in the year so we'll see if I can complete the Let's Turn Pages challenge with less than 5,000 pages to go.

[Laurie]

I read 8 books in November and 7 books in December. I read a total of 87 books and my goal was 70, so good job on that goal.

I'm done for the year now and looking forward to 2017. I won't be participating in nearly as many challenges next year. I've only signed up for 3 and my goals are very low in those.

I discovered this year that challenges are hard for me because I don't do really well with failure. For instance, I failed to reach my page goal this year. I read 24,082 of my 25,000 page goal and I am disappointed that I didn't reach my goal. I read much more last year, but it felt like I read just as much this year. Oh well, I read some really great books and that's all that really matters. So here is a recap.

YEARLY CHALLENGES
Fiction to Reality COMPLETED
Around the World in Books COMPLETED
Let's Turn Pages
Women's Classics Century COMPLETED
A-Z: Character Edition COMPLETED
Old and New Classics COMPLETED
Classics Bingo COMPLETED
A-Z Author Challenge COMPLETED
Non-Fiction Challenge COMPLETED
A-Z Places Challenge

[Katie]

That's crazy awesome! I typically fail or forget about more of my challenges than that. Don't be too hard on yourself :)

[Laurie]

Katie/Doing Dewey wrote: "That's crazy awesome! I typically fail or forget about more of my challenges than that. Don't be too hard on yourself :)"

Thanks, Katie. While I did accomplish a lot in these challenges, I plan on not being hard on myself this year by forgoing virtually all challenges. I look forward to my year of reading more spontaneously.

[Katie]

I cut down on my challenges too and hopefully that will help me keep track of them :) happy reading!