One Book a Week Club in 2008

[thistlechick]

Can you make it to 52 books this year? Well, who's in for 2008?

Here is the previous thread for 2007: http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5074

(I only managed 27 complete books in 2007, so I'm personally only aiming for 30 for 2008.... and will continue keeping track of them on my LVwiki page: Here)

[gypsygirl]

I'm in! I made it to 94 last year, but I'm sure there are some I missed, because there were a couple of months here and there where I'd forget to record them, and then I'd go back and have to try and remember what I'd read during that time. My goal will be 104 - two books a week! (I'm keeping track on my xanga page)

[Cori]

I'm up for it! I read 24 books last year -- but oddly, according to my book diary, only in the last 5 months of the year. Goodness knows what I was doing Jan-Jun. (Oh, wait, that's when I became an MC. Hmmmm.)

Here goes an ongoing list:

1. A Separate Peace by John Knowles, a boys' coming-of-age book set in New England during the Second World War. Good!

2. The Blank Wall by Elizabeth Sanxay Holding -- what would result if Charlotte Perkins Gilman had written Noir mystery fiction. SO good I even looked to see if its copyright had been renewed properly (it had. )

3. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster (audio) -- classic, splendidly read by Kara.

4. Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton -- sort of the opposite of a coming-of-age book ... what *is* that called..?

5. The Yellow Wallpaper by CPG -- I'm thinking of LibriVoxing a version, so thought I'd reread it to get it percolating in my mind.

6. The White Hotel by DM Thomas. Ghastly-painfully-amazing.

7. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. A reread, and very worthwhile.

8. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Another reread, I love this book.

9. Mathilda by Mary Shelley (librivoxed as my latest solo)

10. In the Heart of the Country by JM Coetzee.

11. The Aunt's Story by Patrick White. Far more gentle and elegant than I was expecting -- a fascinating view of 'mental difference' from the inside, set a century ago (or thereabouts, I wasn't counting too closely.)

12. Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton. Fascinating non-fiction account of a year in the later life of the famous poet and author.

13. Emma by Jane Austen. Another reread, but I'd forgotten some of the detail!

14. The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner. Doing an excerpt from this for a Prose Performance exam, but I'll have to answer questions on the whole book, so I'll prolly read this once again before July too. It would make such a lovely LV book, published in the UK in 1948 though.

15. Hadrian the Seventh by Fr. Rolfe. An extremely unusual story about a British eccentric who bcomes Pope. I'd dearly love to hear someone record this (it's perfectly LVable.)

16. Kiss of the Spider-woman by Manuel Puig. I read this book in a single day ... a fascinating page-turner.

17. The Quest for Corvo by A. J. A. Symons. Subtitled "An experiment in biography" -- I declare the experiment a success. Perhaps more interesting because I'd formed some opinions about the author of Hadrian already -- and unexpectedly amusing as well as insightful.

18. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. A reread, sort of, I'd previously read the 13 chapter version -- this was the 20 chapter one. Just wonderful.

19. Giants in the Earth by O. E. Rolvaag. A strong story about Norwegian pioneers on the American prairies. I was particularly impressed by how it handles the spiritual and emotional aspects of the newcomers, and how positive it is overall.

20. Howard's End by E. M. Forster (audio). Wonderful portrait of overlapping groups of people, beautifully read by gloriana. Highly recommended!

21. The Pirates in the Deep Green Sea by Eric Linklater. Rollicking kids' book.

22. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (audio). I know, it's some kind of shame I haven't gone all the way through this before. But I was just saving the pleasure. Lovely!

23. Romola by George Eliot. Miss Stav recommended this one as a possible LV read a while back, and while the Italian placenames would throw me a bit, the story's great!

24. The Night Rider by Tom Ingram. Mr Ingram is the author of one of my favourite books ever (The Hungry Cloud) so this one would have had a hard time living up to that ... it was good, but not 'as' good.

25. The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith. Liked his No. 1 series, but didn't like this, though, I didn't really get on with the heroine, and disagreed somewhat with the ending.

26. Nothing To Be Frightened Of by Julian Barnes (non-fic). Excellent book, nominally on death, but including a lot of personal reminiscence and family reflection. Really, really good book.

27. The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy - ebook ... confirms me in my sudoku habit, thinking I might need to take up crosswords too.

28. The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy - ebook ... a neat book about creativity and how to get more of it.

29. Imperium by Robert Harris. A fictionalised but thoroughly-researched account of Cicero's life. Oooh, the politics! Very decent page-turner.

30. The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields. A beautifully-written fictional auto/biography.

[Gesine]

Books I read in 2007.

Completed in 2008:

1. David Ball. The Sword and the Scimitar
2. Charles Norris and Alice Muriel Williamson. It Happened in Egypt
3. Frank Pinkerton. Dyke Darrel, the Railroad Detective
4. Various. Short Story Collection 022
5. L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace. The Brotherhood of the Seven Kings
6. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth
7. E.C. Bentley. Trent's Last Case
8. Margaret O. Oliphant. The Open Door and The Portrait
9. Marie Belloc Lowndes. The Lodger
10. G.K. Chesterton. The Man Who Was Thursday
11. Various. Short Mystery Story Collection 002
12. Edgar Wallace. The Daffodil Mystery
13. Various. Short Story Collection 024
14. Edith Wharton. Ethan Frome
15. Jacques Futrelle. Elusive Isabel
16. Anne Bronte. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
17. Baroness Orczy. The Elusive Pimpernel
18. Kafka, Franz. Der Landarzt: Kleine Erzaehlungen
19. Donna Leon. Blutige Steine
20. Johanna Schopenhauer. Reise durch England und Schottland
21. Fergus Hume. The Secret Passage
22. Theron Q. Dumont. The Power of Concentration
23. Yacki Raizizun. The Secret of Dreams
24. Bram Stoker. Dracula
25. Rudyard Kipling. The Man Who Would Be King
26. Warren Hilton. Initiative Psychic Energy
27. William George Jordan. The Majesty of Calmness
28. E.W. Hornung. Raffles, Further Adventures of the Amateur Cracksman
29. E.W. Hornung. Dead Men Tell No Tales
30. Augusta Hueill Seaman. The Dragon's Secret
31. Franz Kafka. Die Verwandlung
32. James Oliver Curwood. The Valley of Silent Men
33. Maurice Leblanc. The Eight Strokes of the Clock
34. Paul Verne. Eine Mont-Blanc-Besteigung
35. Wilkie Collins. Fraeulein Minna und der Reitknecht
36. Ernst Constantin. Die silberne Axt
37. John Banville. The Newton Letter
38. Stephenie Meyer. Twilight
39. Stephenie Meyer. New Moon
40. Stephenie Meyer. Eclipse
41. Jane Austen. The Watsons
42. Melvin Powers. A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis
43. Stephenie Meyer. Breaking Dawn
44. Theodor Storm. Zwei Maerchen
45. Anna Maynard Barbour. That Mainwaring Affair
46. Heinrich Heine. Buch der Lieder
47. Aldous Huxley. Has a Frog a Soul?
48. Abraham Lincoln. Gettysburg Address
49. Graham Swift. A Modest Proposal

[kayray]

Yay! I was going to come start this thread if it wasn't here already :) I made it to 52 in 2007, even when you consider that there were a number of books I finished, forgot to write down, and then forgot the titles and authors, heheh.
http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=170386#170386

Currently Reading:
The Unfolding of Language, by Guy Deutscher
The Story of Science, Vol 1 Aristotle Leads the Way, by Joy Hakim

Completed in 2008:
1. Running in Heels, by Anna Maxted (I love Anna Maxted :) (Jan 4)
2. A Spot of Bother, by Mark Haddon (Excellent!!)(Jan 6)
3. Behaving Like Adults, by Anna Maxted (Jan 11)
4. Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson (Jan 14)
5. A Tale of Two Sisters, by Anna Maxted (Jan 16)
6. Alphabet Weekends, by Elizabeth Noble (Jan 20)
7. The Trapp Family Singers, by Maria Augusta Trapp (Jan 29)
8. Family on Wheels, by Maria Augusta Trapp (Jan 30)
9. The Family Trade, by Charles Stross (March)
10. Angels, by Marian Keyes (March)
11. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. Re-read. Brilliant book. (March)
12. several assorted books on knitted lace (March)
13. Helen's Babies, by John Habberton, recorded for LV (March)
14. Watermelon, by Marian Keyes (April)
15. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, by Marian Keyes (April)
16. Getting Over It, by Anna Maxted (May)
17. The Country Wife, by Dorothy Van Doren (May)
18. Everything Bad is Good for You, by Steven Johnson (read aloud to Henry in May)
19. The Lighthouse, by P.D. James (June)
20. A Certain Justice, by P.D. James (June)
21. Wild Horses, by Dick Francis (June)
22. The Mirror Crack'd, by Agatha Christie (read aloud to Henry in June)
23. The Year 1000, by Robert Lacey (June)
24. The Girl Who Stopped Swimming, by Joshilyn Jackson (read cover to cover June 24)
25. Cover Her Face, by P.D. James (July)
26. Between, Georgia, by Joshilyn Jackson (July)
27.Death in Holy Orders, by P.D. James (July)
28. Devices and Desires, by P.D. James (August)
29. Original Sin, by P.D. James (August)
30. Sleeping at the Starlite Motel, by Bailey White (August)
31. How to Talk to a Widower, by Jonathan Tropper (August)
32. Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson (September?)
33. A Clubbable Woman, by Reginald Hill (September)
34. Death Comes for the Fat Man (November)
35. Nice to Come Home To, by Rebecca Flowers (November)

[chocoholic]

I want to play too! I've been parked on the sofa with the baby a lot, so I've been able to do more reading than usual. No goal for me, I'll just see how long the list gets (or how long I remember to write them down).

1. The Kitchen God's Wife, Amy Tan
2. The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde
3. Frankenstein: A Cultural History, Susan Hitchcock
4. The Adventures of Buster Bear, Thornton W. Burgess and The Tale of Timothy Turtle, Arthur Scott Bailey (these are short, so I'm counting them as one. Both audio and both with my son.)
5. Evil Under the Sun, Agatha Christie
6. Hebrew Literature -- compilation of short fiction, various authors
7. The Tale of Jimmy Skunk and The Adventures of Paddy Beaver, Thornton W. Burgess (audio) -- short
8. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin -- had to see what you all were talking about
9. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards, Lilian Jackson Braun
10. Rumpole Misbehaves, John Mortimer
11. I Henry IV, Shakespeare
12. Riders of the Purple Sage, Zane Grey (also read solo for LV)
13. A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare
14. Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language, Douglas Hofstadter (I only got halfway through before my library renewals ran out, but it's a big book)
15. Old Mother West Wind, Thornton W. Burgess (also read solo for LV)
16. Macbeth, Shakespeare
17. Saving Fish from Drowning, Amy Tan
18. The Miracle at Speedy Motors, Alexander McCall Smith
19. Uncounted books with the kids, lots and lots
20. A Study in Scarlet, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read solo for LV)
21. The Eyre Affair, Jasper Fforde
22. Bernice Bobs Her Hair and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and whatever 3rd short story I decide to record, F. Scott Fitzgerald

[Kikisaulite]

I am also in!!! I never thought about keeping a book-diary, but it sounds fun! Let's see how many I can manage.

Completed this year :
1. Karl May "Der Ölprinz" (Jan.17.)
2. Jules Verne "Fur Country" (Jan.20., Audiobook)
3. R.M.Ballantyne "Fast in the ice" (Jan.24., Audiobook)
4. "Robinson Crusoe, written anew for children" (Jan.27., Audiobook)
5. D.Wyss "The Swiss Family Robinsons" (Jan.30., Audiobook)
6. Dora Duncker "Madame Pompadour" (Feb.4.)
7. J.H.Haaren "famous Men of Middle Ages" (Feb., Audiobook)
8. J.Conrad "The Mirror of the Sea" (Feb., Audiobook)
9. A. Norton "The Time Traders" (Feb., Audiobook)
10. A. Norton "Key out of time" (Feb., Audiobook)

Reading list:
Johan Huizinga "Herbst des Mittelalters"
Karl May "Die Helden des Westens"
Helen M. Winslow "Concerning Cats"
Ник Перумов "Кольцо тьми"
Helmut Feld "Franziskus von Assisi"

[AmethystA]

I'll play again this year, too....I'll try for 90 this year, since I made 85 last year.

Read so far:
1. Captain's Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
2. Flowers for His Funeral by Ann Granger
3. Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
4. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
5. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (every now and again I just need a new Oscar Wilde "dose!")
6. Inkheart By Cornelia Funke
Currently Reading:
Dead Heat by Dick Francis and Felix Francis (aloud with my hubby)
Easy to Kill by Agatha Christie
The Brandons by Angela Thirkell

[mlemmons]

I want to do this as well, though I don't think that I will make a particular effort to read more than I normally would. I don't even know how much I read in a year currently, but one book a week sounds about right. My husband and I joke that we single handedly keep the new Books -A-Million in town in business


Finished Audiobooks:

• 1. King Solomon's Mines by H. Rider Haggard
  2. Silas Marner by George Eliot
  3. Alan Quartermain by H. Rider Haggard

Currently Reading:

• 1. Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams (sequel to Dragonbone Chair which I won't count since I started it before Christmas.
  2.The Boleyn Inheritance by Phillipa Gregory (Really am enjoying her books)
  3.Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (current solo project)
  4. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

Coming up:
To Green Angel Tower pts 1 and 2 (sequel to Stone of Farewell)
The Constant Princess, Meridon, The Virgin's Lover, and Wildacre all by Phillipa Gregory
Confessor by Terry Goodkind (The final book in the Sword of Truth series! I'm just waiting for it in paperback.)

Librivox keeps me sane!

[tardistraveller]

Count me in for the One-Book-a-Week club! I've got a stack of 15 books that I have to get through, and those are just the ones that I've consciously put aside and said, "Hey, you actually have to read these." There are many others lurking in my bookshelves, waiting for me to remember that I haven't read them yet. I just keep buying books at the used-book sales!

Here's what I'm currently reading:
- History of the Kings of Britain, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, trans. Michael Faletra
- The Simple Art of Murder, by Raymond Chandler
- Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself, by Alan Alda

I've also got a short-story collection on the go called Vintage Mystery and Detective Stories, but I'm not counting it because it's taking me forever to finish. I started it in 2006 and I'm maybe halfway through.

And here's what's in the queue:
- Bones to Ashes, by Kathy Reichs
- The Draining Lake, by Arnaldur Indridason
- Life After God, by Douglas Coupland
- The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
- The Remains of an Altar, by Phil Rickman
- Bones and Silence, by Reginald Hill
- The Grave Tattoo, by Val McDermid
- The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus
- The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
- The Constant Gardener, by John le Carré
- Poison, by Ed McBain
- Past Reason Hated, by Peter Robinson
- The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells
- Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), by Ann-Marie McDonald

I'm not sure if Desdemona counts for the purposes of this exercise, because it's a play and not an actual novel, but it's in the queue anyway.

As for books finished so far this year, I'll claim two: Firewall, by Henning Mankell, and The Abominable Man, by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. (I'm 99% certain I finished reading them after the New Year, but by that point in my vacation, I was forgetting what day it was. )

Good luck to everyone as you read your way through 2008!

[Cori]

I wish we could count audio books because I listen to books 2 hours per day on my long commute. Librivox keeps me sane!

I'm sure you can count those too! Let's not get into a debate about whether it's *really reading* ... it'd be crazy not to include the books we're working on here.

[gypsygirl]

I wish we could count audio books because I listen to books 2 hours per day on my long commute. Librivox keeps me sane!

I'm sure you can count those too! Let's not get into a debate about whether it's *really reading* ... it'd be crazy not to include the books we're working on here.

We decided we could in last year's thread... I don't see why they should be left out of this one!

[mlemmons]

I wish we could count audio books because I listen to books 2 hours per day on my long commute. Librivox keeps me sane!

I'm sure you can count those too! Let's not get into a debate about whether it's *really reading* ... it'd be crazy not to include the books we're working on here.

We decided we could in last year's thread... I don't see why they should be left out of this one!

That's what happens when I only read the first and last pages of last years thread... That's great!

[ExEmGe]

Currently reading:
* Erskine Sanders. The Riddle of the Sands

Didn't I see that last year Gesine? - obviously not quicksands then

O.K. then off we go for more humiliation this year!
'A' Audio book
'L' Librivox Audio
'R' Re-read
'S' Downloaded fro Gutenberg & read on my Sony 'Reader'

1. 'Kings Counsellor' diaries of Sir Alan Lascelles ed Duff Hart-Davis
2. 'The Anti-Social Behaviour of Horace Rumpole' John Mortimer)
3. 'Fleshmarket Close' Ian Rankin (A)