Although a perpetual challenge, The Notable Books Challenge asks that participants set yearly goals. This year I hope to read at least 12 books from the lists.

Visit the dedicated blog to see reviews of Notable Books or to join the challenge.

Here is what I read in 2012:

1. Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (2011 NYT Most Notable) – Completed January 23, 2012; rated 3.5/5; read my review.

Here are some of the books I either own, or would like to read in 2012:

• Bound, by Antonya Nelson (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Foreign Bodies, by Cynthia Ozick (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• How to Read the Air, by Dinaw Mengestu (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Sourland: Stories, by Joyce Carol Oates (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Surrendered, by Chang-rae Lee (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell (from 2011 ALA Notable AND 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• The Wave, by Susan Casey (from 2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Homer and Langley, by E.L. Doctorow (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• The Book Of Night Women, by Marion James (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Under the Dome, by Stephen King (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, AND 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Miles From Nowhere, by Nami Mun (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Burnt Shadows, by Kamila Shamsie (from 2010 Tournament of Books)
• Woodsburner, by John Pipkin (from Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (from Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Lost City of Z, by David Grann (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, 2009 PW Best Books, 2010 ALA Notable, AND Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009)
• The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine (from 2009 ALA Notable Books)
• American Rust, by Philipp Meyer (from 2009 NYT Most Notable)
• A Mercy, by Toni Morrison (from 2010 ALA Notable, AND 2008 NYT Most Notable)
• Heyday, by Kurt Anderson (from Christian Science Monitor Bests – 2007)
• The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (from 2007 Christian Science Monitor Best Books AND NYT Most Notable-2007)
• The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich (from 2009 ALA Notable Books AND 2008 PW Best Books)
• The Likeness, by Tana French (from 2008 PW Best Books)
• Day, by A.L. Kennedy (from 2008 PW Best Books)
• The Boat, by Nam Le (from 2008 PW Best Books and 2008 NYT Most Notable)
• Away, by Amy Bloom (from 2008 ALA Notable Books)
• The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig (from 2007 ALA Notable Books)
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007 NYT Most Notable)
• The Art of Fielding by by Chad Harbach (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• 11/22/63, by Stephen King (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• The Sense of An Ending by Julian Barnes (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France, by Caroline Moorehead (2011 NYT Most Notable)
• Great House by Nicole Krauss (2010 NYT Most Notable)
• Every Man Dies Alone, By Hans Fallada; translated by Michael Hoffman (2009 NYT Most Notable)
• The Other by David Gutterson (2008 NYT Most Notable)
• There But For The by Ali Smith (2011 PW Best Books)

Although a perpetual challenge, The Notable Books Challenge asks that participants set yearly goals. This year I attempted to read 15 books from the lists. I fell short, but I am still happy with what I accomplished.

Books Read:

1. The Three Weismanns of Westport by Cathleen Shine (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED January 28, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
2. Shadow Tag, by Louise Erdrich (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED February 23, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
3. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, by Tom Franklin (from 2011 ALA Notable) – COMPLETED March 2, 2011;  rated 4.5/5; read my review.
4. That Old Cape Magic, by Richard Russo (from 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED April 1, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
5. Unbound, by Laura Hillenbrand (from 2010 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED June 6, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
6. The Long Song, by Andrea Levy (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED July 31, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
7. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Euginides (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED November 26, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
8. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED October 16, 2011; rated 4/5; read my review.
9. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED December 13, 2011; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
10. The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED July 8, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.
11. The Convert by Deborah Baker (from 2011 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED May 17, 2011; rated 3.5/5; read my review.
12. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (from 2010 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED May 6, 2011; rated 5/5; read my review.

Visit the dedicated blog to see reviews of Notable Books or to join the challenge.

A Perpetual Challenge with no time limits

Amanda at The Zen Leaf is hosting this project. She writes:

Last year, the lovely Ana of Things Mean a Lot introduced me to the song “The Booklovers” by The Divine Comedy. I adore this song, and while listening to it recently, I started to wonder about some of the authors it touches on. If you’ve not heard the song, it lists literary authors from hundreds of years ago to the present, and as it calls their names, they each respond. Their responses often have to do with their books, their relationships, and/or the perception we have of them. For all those authors I’ve read, I understand their responses, but many of the responses from writers I’ve never read go completely over my head.

Hence, this project. I’ve never been tempted to try to read every author off any other list – awards lists, BBC top 100 list, ML top 100, 1001 books to read before you die, etc. But this list, these 73 authors – I want to be sure to try each of them, and then to come to understand their lines in “The Booklovers.”

Here is the list (with some extra credit authors tagged onto the bottom). I will BOLD the ones I have completed and add comments and links to my reviews (where relevant). Some I have read previous to the project, and according to the rules I can count these as “complete.”

1. Aphra Benn
2. Cervantes
3. Daniel Defoe
4. Samuel Richardson
5. Henry Fielding
6. Lawrence Sterne
7. Mary Wolstencraft
8. Jane Austen – I am not a huge Austen fan, but I have read a couple of her books including Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. I do want to read more from this author at some point just because.
   
9. Sir Walter Scott
10. Leo Tolstoy - LOVE Tolstoy. I gobbled up War and Peace back in the late 80s and was completely enthralled by Anna Karenina. I have also read his novellas Family Happiness and The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
    
11. Honore de Balzac
12. Edgar Allen Poe – Another terrific writer. Murder in the Rue Morgue scared the bejesus out of me in high school. I’ve read quite a few of Poe’s works over the years, but nothing recently.
    
13. Charlotte Bronte
14. Emily Bronte
15. Anne Bronte
16. Nikolai Gogol – I have read a short story by this author. I really liked The Overcoat (read my review) and this made me want to read more by this author in the future.
17. Gustav Flaubert
18. William Makepeace Thackeray
19. Nathaniel Hawthorne
20. Herman Melville
21. Charles Dickens – In high school I read A Tale of Two Cities (loved it) and A Christmas Carol. In January 2008, I read Great Expectations (read my review) which I didn’t love. I have several of Dickens’ novels in my TBR stacks…so I plan on reading more of his work.
    
22. Anthony Trollope – Thanks to the Classics Circuit, I read The Warden in 2010 (read my review). This was one of Trollope’s shorter novels (and the first in his Barchester series). It is quite Victorian in style – and although I didn’t love it, I thought it was a worthy read.
23. Fyodor Dostoevsky – I read and enjoyed Crime and Punishment back in 2004 or 2005 (before I began reviewing books). I have The Brothers Karamazov in my TBR stacks.
    
24. Mark Twain
25. George Eliot
26. Emile Zola - Again thanks to the Classics Circuit, I am able to check this one off my list. I read Therese Raquin in April 2010 (read my review) and was impressed with how accessible Zola’s writing is to modern readers.
    
27. Henry James
28. Thomas Hardy
29. Joseph Conrad
30. Katherine Mansfield
31. Edith Wharton - I am a big Wharton fan. I loved Ethan Frome – one of her darker works (read my review), and appreciated House of Mirth (read my review). Although I did not review it, The Age of Innocence is probably my least favorite novel by Wharton thus far. I also read (and thoroughly enjoyed) The Writing of Fiction (read my review) which is a non fiction book by Wharton.
    
32. DH Lawrence
33. EM Forster
34. James Joyce
35. Virginia Woolf
36. Marcel Proust
37. F Scott Fitzgerald
38. Ernest Hemingway – I am sure I read Hemingway in high school, but I can’t remember what. In 2007 I read For Whom the Bell Tolls which I had mixed feelings about (read my review). I am not keen to read a whole lot more from this author.
39. Hermann Hesse
40. Evelyn Waugh
41. William Faulkner
42. Anais Nin
43. Ford Maddox Ford
44. Jean-Paul Sartre
45. Simone de Beauvoir
46. Albert Camus
47. Franz Kafka
48. Thomas Mann
49. Graham Greene
50. Jack Kerouac – I attempted to read The Town and The City some years ago. I think I made it through 100 pages before tossing it aside. I couldn’t relate to Kerouac’s style at all and don’t have any motivation to try him again.
    
51. William S Burroughs
52. Kingsley Amis
53. Doris Lessing
54. Vladimir Nabokov
55. William Golding
56. JG Ballard
57. Richard Brautigan
58. Milan Kundera
59. Ivy Compton Burnett
60. Paul Theroux – I’ve only read a short story by this author – so I’m not crossing him off the list yet. I read Mr. Bones (read my review) which impressed me with its stunning, vivid writing. I’d like to eventually read a novel by Theroux.
61. Gunter Grass
62. Gore Vidal
63. John Updike – Some years ago I attempted to read Rabbit, Run (the first in the Rabbit series by this author). I read 1/2 the book before ditching it. I really couldn’t get into the author’s writing style. I don’t plan on reading more from this author…but I could be convinced to try if someone pointed out a novel by him that they loved.
64. Kazuro Ishiguro
65. Malcolm Bradbury
66. Iain Banks
67. AS Byatt - In May 2005, I read The Children’s Book (read my review) which I loved, loved, loved. I am definitely planning on reading more from Byatt.
    
68. Martin Amis
69. Brett Easton Ellis
70. Umberto Eco
71. Gabriel Garcia Marquez
72. Roddy Doyle
73. Salman Rushdie - I read Midnight’s Children in May 2009 (read my review) … and although Rushdie is certainly brilliant, the magical realism and complex themes lost me a bit.

Extra Credit Authors:

• Thomas Pynchon
• John Irving - Irving is one of my all time favorite authors. The list of books by him which I’ve read is lengthy: The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampshire (one of my favorites), The Cider House Rules, A Prayer for Owen Meany (another favorite – read my review), A Widow for One Year, Until I Find You (disappointing), and Last Night In Twisted River (read my review). I am working my way through all of his books, and will probably re-read a few of them.
  
• Ayn Rand
• Truman Capote - In high school I read In Cold Blood – an amazing book. In July 2007 I read a wonderful novella titled Summer Crossing (read my review). Then in May 2008, I read a bizarre book by Capote: Other Voices, Other Rooms (read my review) which had I read first, I would never pick up another book by this author!
  
• Haruki Murakami – I’ve only read a short story by this author: Landscape with Flat Iron (read my review) – so I’m not crossing him off my list yet.
• Victor Hugo
• Toni Morrison - I’ve read Song of Solomon by this Noble Laureate and found it beautiful (read my review). I plan on reading more from Morrison.
  
• Tobias Woolf
• Dave Eggers
• Norman Mailer
• Philip Roth
• Orhan Pamuk
• Jose Saramago

A Perpetual Challenge

I have decided to do a personal challenge which is based in my love of literature by female authors AND my desire to read more translated books as well as novels from around the world. There is a fantastic electronic magazine called Belletrista which is the brainchild of one of my friends. This wonderful literary magazine has introduced me to a wide variety of books which you will rarely seen being marketed on the bestsellers lists, although they perhaps SHOULD be.

Belletrista is a not-for-profit, bimonthly web magazine which seeks both to encourage cross-cultural understanding through international literature written by women and to increase the visibility of that literature.

Here is my challenge idea (which is perpetual in nature). I am going to start making a list on this post of the books from each issue which interest me. Since I can see this list quickly spiraling out of control, my goal will be to read at least 75% of the books listed. Feel free to join me in this venture if you wish – although this challenge is completely informal – pick your own list of books, decide how many you want to read – and I am not creating a sign up or links to reviews (but if you are playing along with me, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your blog so others can find you)!

Here are the links to the Belletrista Issues so far and my list of books under each issue that I want to read (with links to the review of them). Books I’ve read are in red with links to my reviews. A few of these books have already made it to my physical TBR pile (indicated by an asterisk):

Issue #1 (September/October 2009):

• Ancestor Stones by Aminatta Forna (review) – Sierra Leone
• Delirium by Laura Restrepo – Translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (review) – Columbia

Issue #2 (November/December 2009):

• For Grace Received by Valeria Parrella – Translated from the Italian by Anthony Shugaar (review) – Italy
• *The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini (review) – Zimbabwe
• Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne (review) – Sri Lanka

Issue #3 (January/February 2010):

• God’s Mercy by Kerstin Ekman – Translated from the Swedish by Linda Schenck (review) – Sweden
• *The Disappeared by Kim Echlin (review) – Canada and Cambodia
• *The Seamstress by Frances de Ponte Peebles (review) – Brazil
• *The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow (review) – United States

Issue #4 (March/April 2010):

• Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (review) – Ethiopia
• *The Vera Wright Trilogy by Elizabeth Jolley (review) – England
• The Passport by Herta Muller (review) – Romania (COMPLETED November 26, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review)
• *Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa (review) – Palestine

Issue #5 (May/June 2010):

• Touch by Adania Shibli – Translated from the Arabic by Paula Haydar – (review) – Palastine

Issue #5 (July/August 2010):

• *Map of Home by Randa Jarrar (review) – Egypt
• *The China Garden by Christina Olsen (review) – Australia
• *Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pinero – Translated from the Portuguese by Miranda France (review) – Argentina

Michelle from 1MoreChapter and I co-host this perpetual challenge to read from the Notable Lists on the challenge blog. Each year we ask participants to create goals for that year. In 2009, I had a goal to read 6 books from the lists, but I actually ended up reading 13!

In 2010, I decided to push a little and I hope to read 12 books from the lists. Below are books I either already own, or would like to get my hands on in 2010. It is from this group of books I will pick my 12 for the year:

1. The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood (from 2010 Tournament of Books, AND 2009 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED January 7, 2010; rated 3.5/5; read my review.
2. Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel (from Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009, AND 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED February 20, 2010; rated 3/5; read my review.
3. The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, 2009 PW Best Books, AND 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED April 3, 2010; rated 4/5; read my review.
4. The Children’s Book, by A.S. Byatt (from 2009 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED March 14, 2010; rated 5/5; read my review.
5. Little Bee, by Chris Cleave (from 2010 ALA Notable, AND 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED April 25, 2010; rated 4/5; read my review.
6. Let The Great World Spin, by Colum McCann (from 2009 NYT Most Notable, Christian Science Monitor Best Books 2009, 2010 ALA Notable, AND 2010 Tournament of Books) – COMPLETED April 30, 2010; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
7. There is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene (from 2007 ALA Most Notable) – COMPLETED June 9, 2010; rated 4/5; read my review.
8. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (from 2009 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED August 7, 2010; rated 5/5; read my review.
9. Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED November 15, 2010; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
10. I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED July 27, 2010; rated 3/5; read my review.
11. The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED March 19, 2010; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
12. Room by Emma Donaghue (from 2010 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED October 2, 2010; rated 5/5; read my review.

Due to personal reasons, Sharon will no longer be able to host the Costa Book Awards Project. I have offered to step up and host it…but this means that the site for the challenge is also going to be moving. Sharon will be deleting her blog sometime soon…so please make note of the following information:

I have moved all the posts and information from the old site to a new Blogger format which can be found here. The new address for the challenge is now: http://costabookawardproject.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in continuing the challenge OR would like to join the challenge, please email me at caribousmom (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you an invitation to join the new blog.

I hope everyone will be interested in continuing the challenge at our new site. I have not made ANY changes to the challenge! Please email me if you have any questions.

2009 is upon us … and I have a few reading goals. I have quite a few books in my TBR pile and I have some really wonderful perpetual challenges I have been working on. In 2008, those challenges got put aside as I focused on time-limited challenges. But in 2009, I’m determined to make a dent in the perpetual lists. I have stolen Michelle’s idea of listing all perpetual challenges in one post with the books I hope to read in 2009. I am going to list the books for each project which already reside on my shelves and set a goal of how many books from each list I’d like to read in 2009. Here they are:

The Pulitzer Project

My goal for 2009: 5 books

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz (winner 2008)
• The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (winner 2004)
• Empire Falls, by Richard Russo (winner 2002)
• Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri (winner 2000)
• American Pastoral, by Philip Roth (winner 1998)
• The Stone Diaries, by Carol Shield (winner 1995)
• A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley (winner 1992)
• Breathing Lessons, by Anned Tyler (winner 1989)
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison (winner 1988)
• The Optimist’s Daughter, by Eudora Welty (winner 1973)
• All The King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren (winner 1947)
• The Magnificent Ambersons, by Booth Tarkington (winner 1919)

The Complete Booker

My goal for 2009: 5 books

• The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga (winner 2008) – COMPLETED January 3, 2009; rated 4/5; read my review
• Offshore, by Penelope Fitzgerald (winner 1979) – COMPLETED March 27, 2009; rated 3.5/5; read my review
• True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey (winner 2001)
• Amsterdam, by Ian McEwan (winner 1998)
• Sacred Hunger, by Barry Unsworth (winner 1992)
• Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie (winner 1981) – COMPLETED May 30 2009; rated 3/5; read my review

The Orange Prize Project

My goal for 2009: 10 books

Winners:

• The Road Home, by Rose Tremain (2008) – COMPLETED January 16, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• The Lizard Cage, by Karen Connelly (New Writers 2007)
• On Beauty, by Zadie Smith (2006)
• We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005)
• Small Island, by Andrea Levy (2004)
• Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (2002)
• The Idea of Perfection, by Kate Grenville (2001)
• Fugitive Pieces, by Anne Michaels (1997)
• A Spell of Winter, by Helen Dunmore (1996)

Nominees:

• Fault Lines, by Nancy Huston (short list 2008)
• The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (long list 2008)
• The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff (New Writers short list 2008)
• Digging to America, by Anne Tyler (short list 2007)
• What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn (long list 2007)
• Minaret, by Leila Aboulela (long list 2006)
• The Mammoth Cheese, by Sheri Holman (short list 2005)
• A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian, by Marina Lewycka (short liet 2005)
• Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson (long list 2005)
• Ice Road, by Gillian Slovo (short list 2004)
• The Amateur Marriage, by Anne Tyler (long list 2004)
• What I Loved, by Siri Hustvedt (long list 2003)
• In the Forest, by Edna O’Brien (long list 2003)
• Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold (long list 2003)
• Fingersmith, by Sarah Waters (short list 2002) – COMPLETED January 24, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• Five Quarters of an Orange, by Joanne Harris (long list 2002)
• Amy and Isabelle, by Elizabeth Strout (short list 2000)

Costa Book Award Project

My goal in 2009: 5 books

• What Was Lost, by Catherine O’Flynn (First Novel Winner 2007)
• Small Island, by Andrea Levy (Novel Winner 2004)
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (Novel Winner 2003)
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum, by Kate Atkinson (First Novel Winner 1995)
• The Queen of the Tambourine, by Jane Gardam (Novel Winner 1991)

National Book Award Project

My goal for 2009: 5 books

Winners:

• Three Junes, by Julia Glass (2002)
• The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen (2001)
• Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier (1997)
• The Spectator Bird, by Wallace Stegner (1977)
• Them, by Joyce Carol Oates (1970)

Nominees:

• Fieldwork, by Mischa Berlinski (short list 2007)
• Drop City, by T.C. Boyle (short list 2003)
• The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (short list 2003)
• House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III (short list 1999)
• Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat (short list 1995)
• Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler (short list 1988)
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison (short list 1987)
• The Optimist’s Daughter, by Eudora Welty (short list 1973)

Read The Nobels

My goal for 2009: 3 authors

• Herta Muller (2009) – Read The Passport, COMPLETED November 24, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• Doris Lessing (2007)
• Orphan Pamuk (2006)
• V.S. Naipaul (2001)
• Jose Saramago (1998)
• Naguib Mahfouz (1988)
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982)
• William Faulkner (1949)
• Hermann Hesse (1946)
• Sigrid Undset (1928)

Science in Fiction

My goal in 2009: 3 books

• Intuition, by Allegra Goodman (Medical Science)
• Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver (Biology)
• Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck (Marine Biology)

5 Under 35 Challenge

My goal in 2009: 3 books

• One More Year:  Stories, by Sana Krasikov (2008)
• The Boat, Nam Le (2008)
• Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, by ZZ Packer (2006)

Notable Books

My goal in 2009: 6 books

• Netherland, by Joseph O’Neill (from NYT Most Notable – 2008) – COMPLETED April 4, 2009; rated 3/5; read my review.
• Heyday, by Kurt Anderson (from Christian Science Monitor Bests – 2007)
• There is No Me Without You, by Melissa Fay Greene (from ALA Most Notable – 2007)
• Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson (from 2008 ALA Most Notable and NBCC Best Books- 2007 and NYT Most Notable-2007) – COMPLETED January 6, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer (from 2007 Christian Science Monitor Best Books AND NYT Most Notable-2007)
• The Likeness, by Tana French (from 2008 PW Best Books)
• Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh (from 2008 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED June 13, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• Unaccustomed Earth, by Jhumpa Lahiri (from 2008 PW Best Books and 2008 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED February 22, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• The Boat, by Nam Le (from 2008 PW Best Books and 2008 NYT Most Notable)
• Matrimony, by Joshua Henkin (from 2007 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED February 11, 2009; rated 3.5/5; read my review.
• What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman (from 2007 PW Best Books) – COMPLETED June 16, 2009; rated 4.5/5; read my review.
• The Whistling Season, by Ivan Doig (from 2007 ALA Notable Books)
• The Good Thief, by Hannah Tinti (2008 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED August 1, 2009; rated 3/5; read my review.
• The Road Home, by Rose Tremain (2008 NYT Most Notable) – COMPLETED January 16, 2009; rated 5/5; read my review.
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007 NYT Most Notable)

Reading the World

My goal in 2009: 10 books

These will come from several sources.