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.