30 Books to Movies Challenge

Hosted by: Bibliophile’s Lounge
January 1 – December 31, 2010

This is one of my favorite challenges when people host it because I love reading books and watching their adaptation. This challenge requires you to read 30 books and watch the movie it is based on (or I’m adding in TV show since there are many books out there that are).

MY LIST:

1. Bell Jar
2. Black Beauty
3. Blood Work
4. Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
5. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
6. Dear John
7. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien
   
8. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
   
9. Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
   
10. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
11. Godfather by Mario Puzo
12. Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
14. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
16. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
17. Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
18. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
19. A Mighty Heart
20. Miracle on 34th Street
21. Nanny Diaries
22. The Outsiders
23. Precious by Sapphire
24. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
    
25. Second Summer of the Sisterhood
26. Secret Diary of a Call Girl by Anonymous
27. Secret Garden
28. Shining
29. Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley
30. Who Moved the Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
31. Witches of Eastwick by John Updike
32. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

1010 Category Challenge

The next generation of the 999 Challenge, with 10 categories with 10 books under each – being held by librarything.com.

I’ll work on filling these in over time.

I. Published in 2010 – COMPLETE

1. The Day I Shot Cupid by Jennifer Love Hewitt
2. Twilight: Graphic Novel Volume 1 by Stephenie Meyer
3. Linchpin by Seth Godin
4. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
5. Rich Again by Anna Maxted
6. Everything Counts by Gary Ryan Blair
7. The Anah’jari File by Douglas Armentrout
8. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
9. Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler
10. 9th Judgment by James Patterson

II. New Authors – COMPLETE

1. What My Cat Has Taught Me About Life by Niki Anderson
2. Dear Jane Austen by Patrice Hannon
3. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain
4. The Killing Circle by Andrew Pyper
5. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason
7. The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene
8. Tarantula by Bob Dylan
9. In Odd We Trust by Dean Koontz
10. Fish by Stephen Lundlin

III. Next in Series – COMPLETE

1. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
2. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
3. Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain
4. Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
5. Seven Up by Janet Evanovich
6. Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich
7. Glory in Death by J.D. Robb
8. E is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
9. Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich
10. 2nd Chance by James Patterson

IV. 1,001 Books You Must Read – COMPLETE

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. The Godfather by Mario Puzo
3. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
4. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
5. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
6. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
7. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
8. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
9. Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

V. Made Into Movies/TV Shows – COMPLETE

1. Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
2. Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
3. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
6. Thank You For Smoking by Christopher Buckley
7. Precious by Sapphire
8. The Secret Diary of a Call Girl by Anonymous
9. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

VI. Cozy Mysteries – COMPLETE

1. A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris
2. 1st to Die by James Patterson
3. Angels Flight by Michael Connelly
4. 3rd Degree by James Patterson
5. 4th of July by James Patterson
6. 5th Horseman by James Patterson
7. To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
8. Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb
9. Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson
10. Sail by James Patterson

VII. Non-Fiction – COMPLETE

1. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
2. Twitter Power by Joel Comm
3. Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives by Laura Schlessinger
4. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
5. Heart Mender by Andy Andrews
6. The Girlfriend’s Guide to Understanding Men by Bo Sebastian
7. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
8. Late, Late at Night by Rick Springfield
9. Exploiting Chaos by Jeremy Gutsche
10. The Time of My Life by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi

VIII. Thrillers – COMPLETE

1. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
2. Lost Light by Michael Connelly
3. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
4. The Narrows by Michael Connelly
5. Sorry, Right Number and Other Stories by Stephen King
6. Stationary Bike by Stephen King
7. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
8. Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
9. Smash Cut by Sandra Brown
10. The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver

IX. Young Adult/Children Books – COMPLETE

1. The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene
2. Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene
3. Sign of the Twisted Candles by Carolyn Keene
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
5. Specials by Scott Westerfeld
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
7. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
9. The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene
10. The Mystery of the Ivory Charm by Carolyn Keene

X. Library Books – COMPLETE

1. Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
2. Queen of Babble in the Big City by Meg Cabot
3. You Suck by Christopher Moore
4. The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene
5. The Secret of Red Gate Farm by Carolyn Keene
6. The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene
7. The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene
8. Nancy’s Mysterious Letters by Carolyn Keene
9. Password to Larkspur Lane by Carolyn Keene
10. Clue in the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene

Fall Into Reading Wrap-Up

Hosted By: Callapidder Days
Sept 22 – Dec 20, 2009

My Goal – 15 books

Once again I didn’t quite finish my list of books. I read 12 of my 15, with 1 still in progress and two left unread.

My List:

1. The Shack by William P. Young
2. The English Patient by Michael Ondaaje
3. Hot Six by Janet Evanovich
4. Dangerous Days of Daniel X by James Patterson
5. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence
6. Roxana by Daniel Defoe
7. Generation Kill by Evan Wright
8. Double Cross by James Patterson
9. Emma by Jane Austen
10. Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
11. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
12. Cross Country by James Patterson

I am still working on Gone With the Wind and hope to read both Spook and Secrets of the Morning by the end of the year. I read various other books including these so I definitely made 15 books throughout the few months but was impressed with how many I did complete.

• Did you finish reading all the books on your fall reading list? If not, why not?
  Nope, I read 12 of the 15. I either overestimated or kept getting distracted by other books. I had so many I wanted to read.
• Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along?
  I kept the same list and opted out of using alternates even though I did read other books not on the list.
• What was your favorite book that you read this spring? Least favorite? Why?
  My favorite books was probably Hot Six because Stephanie Plum is amazing. My least favorite was probably Roxana, it jut wasn’t as appealing as some of the other classics in the long run.
• Did you discover a new author or genre this fall? Did you love them? Not love them?
  I read many new authors and all were enjoyable even if the book itself was not as entertaining. I enjoyed Barbara Kingsolver has a great writing style and Evan Wright gave a new personal perspective to the war on terror.
• Did you learn something new because of Fall Into Reading 2009 – something about reading, about yourself, or about a topic you read about?
  I learned I still need to keep my reading focused and stop straying so much or getting wrapped up into other people’s recommendations so close to the end of the year.
• What was your favorite thing about the challenge?
  I just love the challenge of a set of books to read from instead of searching my shelves for something to keep me entertained. I look forward to it next year.

REVIEW: Daniel X-Watch the Skies

Title: Daniel X-Watch the Skies
Author: James Patterson
Finished: December 21, 2009
Pages: 251
Published: 2009
Format: 1st Edition Hardback

The second book in James Patterson’s new young adult series, featuring Daniel X “Alien Hunter”. It was a fun little book, quick read, about Daniel hunting his next alien – #6 – who plans on taking over the world by creating clones of himself.

Daniel also meets a new girl who likes he just the way he is, is not a monster, or a figment of his imagination. It was interesting reading this adventure with Daniel X, his new troubles.

I don’t know what Patterson has up his sleeves for the next edition but it sounds pretty interesting. At this rate there sounds like there will only be about 6 books if Daniel continues to go after the top aliens before taking out the smaller ones first.

*challenges: 100+ challenge, ya challenge, 999×2 challenge, james patterson challenge, countdown challenge

WWW Wednesday

Hosted by Should be Reading

You tell us the answers to 3 questions:

What are you currently reading? Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Are These My Basoomas I See Before Me by Louise Rennison

What did you recently finish? Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson

What do you think you’ll read next? Queen of Bable by Meg Cabot, Spook by Mary Roach and Secrets of the Morning by V.C. Andrews

Finally making progress over the weekend and hope to read much more of the holiday. The year is closing in and there’s not much more reading time.