complete the 999 challenge on librarything.com

Really? I’m still doing the 999 reading challenge well into 2010. That’s…that’s some kind of dedication, I guess. Let’s just run this down.

Books Finished
1. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons from Favourite Re-Reads
2. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 1 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby from Comics Trade

Books Started
From this list? None, again.

Books Still Working On
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato (After some good progress, it got really tough, REALLY fast.)

Favourite of the Month:
Out of those two? Watchmen, for sure. You can’t really compare the oversized art and brilliant storytelling to black & white reprints of early superhero comics.

And now, the news. I’m taking this off my list, as “completed”. I read a lot of books; I read 55 books last year, not including comics TPBs. I just think that I limited myself a little bit. I like to go from book to book, following the trails, and sticking to a list makes me a little…constrained. I need to fly free, dammit.

I will finish every book on this list, but I don’t think it’ll take me a couple of months. So I’m saying this is completed. It’s a failure, but it’s time to take it off the list and work through the books on my own time.

I challenged myself once again to read 7 books. Did I do it? SPOILER ALERT: No I did not!

Books Finished
1. The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester from Favourite Re-Reads
2. Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Johnson from Pop Cultural Studies
3. A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber from Philosophy
4. Socrates Cafe by Christopher Phillips from Philosophy
5. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain from Mystery/Crime Fiction

Books Started
None. Well, none from this list.

Books Still Working On
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato (Actually making progress on this, though!)
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons from Favourite Re-Reads (procrastination)
3. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 1 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby from Comics Trade Paperbacks (Lost this for three weeks)

Favourite of the Month:
The Postman Always Rings Twice, for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I love, love, LOVE Winchester’s book – I can’t NOT love a book about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary – but I read Cain’s 100-pages of sex, violence, and retribution when I was on vacation, and it really did it for me.

Once again, I sure failed to get through 7 books this month, but I did get very close. Maybe January will be the month. Oh well. My initial challenge to myself was to get all these books read by the end of December ‘09 anyhow, so that didn’t work. We’ll see how I’m going in another 23 days or so.

Consider yourself PRE-AMBLED!

Books Finished
1. The Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom from History
2. The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester from Favourite Re-Reads
3. Everything Bad is Good For You by Steven Johnson from Pop Cultural Studies

Books Started
1. Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 1 by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby from Comics Trade Paperbacks

Books Still Working On
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons from Favourite Re-Reads
3. A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber from Philosophy

Favourite of the Month:
Tough call, but for the third month in a row, a re-read was my favourite this month. The Meaning of Everything is just too good, and if you think that a book about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary can’t be good, then you are WRONG.

EDIT: When I first put this together, I accidentally included two books that I actually finished in DECEMBER, not November. So I only read one book this month from my 999 Challenge list. That is pretty sad, but that also means that it was my favourite book this month. I found that The Birth of the Chess Queen didn’t tie its two subjects together as neatly as I wanted it to, but it was still interesting to see the Queen’s rise in power both on the chessboard and in the historical-political spheres. An interesting and educational read, if not necessarily a page-turner.

I honestly thought I would get through more books than I did, but I underestimated the amount of time the play would take. Now that it’s over, and December is half over, I re-re-re-challenge myself. Seven books from this list in December. With all the vacation time that’s coming to me, I I may even pull it off.

Let’s skip the preamble and head straight for the lists, shall I? I think I shall:

Books Finished
1. Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif from Canadian Fiction
2. Skyscrapers of the Midwest by Joshua Cotter from Comics Trade Paperbacks
3. Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin from Science/Technology
4. Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs from Biography/Memoir
5. The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams from Favourite Re-Reads
6. Comic Books And Other Necessities of Life by Mark Evanier from Pop Cultural Studies

Books Started
1. A Brief History of Everything by Ken Wilber from Philosophy
2. The Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom from History

Books Still Working On
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons from Favourite Re-Reads

Favourite of the Month
It’s kind of a cheat, but I think my favourite was Hitchhiker’s Guide. It’s unfair to the other books, I know, since H2G2 was already a favourite of mine, but it’s still a great book. Favourite non-re-read? Either Thinking in Pictures (a little dry, but fascinating) or Comic Books… (Mark Evanier is a thoroughly engaging essayist).

Well, once again I didn’t make seven books, but I did get through two more than I did last month. SO CLOSE. I’m going to put that seven books goal down one more time. Third time’s the charm, right?

I haven’t really been thinking about 43T since my brother’s wedding, but now I’m getting back into it. And part of that is, I suppose, examining my 999 challenge progress. Let’s find out together.

Books Finished
1. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin from Biography/Memoir
2. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie from Mystery/Crime Fiction
3. Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 by various writers & artists
4. The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie from Favourite Re-Reads

Books Started
1. Whale Song by Cheryl Kaye Tardif from Canadian Fiction
2. Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons from Favourite Re-Reads

Books Still Working On
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato

Favourite of the Month
It’s a tough choice, but I think that it’s The Gun Seller, which was even better the second time through. The first time I read it I thought the ending didn’t fit, but this time I thought it flowed a lot better, and was a lot more satisfying. Special mention to And Then There Were None, which was really fun to read, and a page-turner, but after the conclusion I thought it was a little empty. Definitely not a re-read, but still really fun.

I gave myself a mini challenge to get through four books on the list, and I only got through four. Which isn’t great. So I’m going to try it again. I want to try and have seven books in the Books Finished category at the end of October. I just hope the second time through I’m more successful.

Well, August is long past, and as I write this, I honestly don’t know how well I did on my 999 Reading Challenge List. I’m kind of nervous to see, actually; I don’t think I did very well. But let’s find out.

Books Finished
1. The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa from Comics Trade Paperbacks
2. Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus: Volume 1 by Jack Kirby from Comics Trade Paperbacks
3. A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg
4. A Crack In The Edge Of The World by Simon Winchester

Books Started
1. Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin from Biography/Memoir

Books Still Working On
1. Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 by various writers & artists
2. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato

Favourite of the Month
While the ideas in A Brief History of Infinity came close to blowing my mind all over my face at times, and Fourth World Omnibus had some unbelievable moments, I have to say that The Live & Times of Scrooge McDuck was ultimately the best read of the month. Adventure, beautiful art, and a very “human” story. Don’t let the Disney nature of it hold you back.

Well, that wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. I mean, sure, I could have done more, but I finished up four books and started one more, and already in September I’ve started a few more as well. I’m going to read my ASS off in September and hopefully get through seven books from the list. That’s a really terrifying goal to set for myself, but there’s no point in going half-way on this one.

(Yes, I know summary has an “a” in it. I’m trying for a pun.)

So I took a few books with me on vacation, and although I didn’t get as much reading in as I wanted to, I still did not too badly.

Books Finished
1. Monkey Business: The Lives & Legends of The Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish from Biography/Memoir
2. The Hunter by Richard Stark from Mystery/Crime Fiction
3. No Coins, Please by Gordon Korman from Favourite Re-Reads
4. Northlanders, Vol. 1: Sven The Returned by Brian Wood and David Gianfelice from Comics Trade Paperbacks

Books Started
1. Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus: Volume 1 by Jack Kirby from Comics Trade Paperbacks
2. The Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa from Comics Trade Paperbacks

Books Still Working On
1. A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg
2. A Crack In The Edge Of The World by Simon Winchester
3. Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 by various writers & artists
4. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato

Favourite of the Month
As good as The Hunter was – and it was very good – I still loved No Coins, Please more. For a book written for kids that I first read in Grade 5, it holds up really well.

I’m really close to finishing some of the “Still Working On” books, and should get through even more in August thanks to The Fringe and a slightly lax work schedule. My biggest problem, though, is that I’m going to be dropping one of the books from Philosophy. I tried reading it over the weekend, but I found out it wasn’t written by David Hume, but rather someone using the pen name of David Hume, and the book wasn’t what I was expecting, I didn’t like where it was going. So I dropped it, and now need to look for another Philosophy book. The hardest category I have just got harder…

I really tried to focus on reading books from my list this month, and I did make some progress. Well, at least more progress than last month. Let’s see how I did.

Books Finished
1. World War Hulk: Renegades (Incredible Hercules) by Greg Pak, Jeff Parker, Gary Frank, and Leonard Kirk from Comics Trade Paperbacks
2. The Pig That Wants To Be Eaten by Julian Baggini from Philosophy
3. The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived by Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter from Pop Cultural Studies
4. The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett from Mystery/Crime Fiction

Books Started
1. Legends of the Samurai by Hiroaki Sato from History

Books Still Working On
1. Monkey Business: The Lives & Legends of The Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish
2. A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg
3. A Crack In The Edge Of The World by Simon Winchester
4. Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 by various writers & artists

Favourite of the Month
Definitely The Glass Key. Just a classic novel about crime, politics, and murder, and a bit of an interesting mystery too. I am having a really hard time putting my finger on whether my favourite classic crime writer is Hammett or Chandler. Then again, does it matter?

I read quite a few other books that weren’t on my list, but I think that the progress on this list went pretty well. I read bits and pieces of my “Still Working On” books, too, but not enough to finish them. My new goal for this week is to get the first three books off the “Still Working On” list as well as a few new ones to boot. Setting goals monthly seems to work for me. Plus I’ll be leaving on vacation at the end of the month, so I might have a bit more free time to read, too.

Well, I said I was going to try and watch fewer movies and read more books on my “999 Challenge” list for May. And did I? Well, I watched fewer movies. I also read fewer books…

Books Finished
1. Sky Doll HC by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa from Comics Trade Paperbacks
2. Her Majesty’s Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage by Stephen Budiansky from History

Books Started
1. Showcase Presents: House of Mystery, Vol. 1 by various writers & artists from Comics Trade Paperbacks

Books Still Working On
1. Monkey Business: The Lives & Legends of The Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish
2. A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg
3. A Crack In The Edge Of The World by Simon Winchester

Favourite of the Month
Well, out of the two books that I actually completed this month, I would say Sky Doll was the better of the two. A beautifully illustrated story of the relationships between politics, sex, religion, and power. Just gorgeous; it would have been even better in the original size.

I did read a couple of other books that were not on this list, and long ones, too. But seriously: two books completed? Three that continue to move over for another month? That’s pretty sad. I’m going to have to get cracking on this goal, and hopefully the end of the school year (a.k.a. report-writing season) won’t get in my way.

I’ve had pretty much a month and a half to tackle some of the books in this goal, and how have I been doing? Pretty damn poorly. Here’s a brief summary so far.

Books Started
1. Monkey Business: The Lives & Legends of The Marx Brothers by Simon Louvish from Biography/Memoir
2. A Brief History of Infinity by Brian Clegg from Science/Technology
3. A Crack In The Edge Of The World by Simon Winchester from Science/Technology and History

Books Read
1. Avengers: The Kree-Skrull War by by Roy Thomas et al from Comics Trade Paperbacks
2. Plato & A Platypus Walk Into A Bar by Thomas Cathcart from Philosophy
3. Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen from Canadian Fiction

Favourite of The Month
Definitely Plato & A Platypus Walk Into A Bar. A short fast read, and it has great jokes, but the jokes are there to illustrate the basic schools of philosophical thought, so it was a good primer for the rest of the books in that category. Plus, hilarious.

So yeah, three books completed and another three started in over seven weeks isn’t very good. But I’ve been watching a LOT of movies lately, and I think that this has made me realize this. So I’m going to cut down a little on my movie-watching, step up my reading, and see how much more ground I can make up next month.