Mirkwood Reflections

I enjoyed participating in the 888 Reading Challenge, so I went looking for a challenge for 2009. The 999 Library Thing Challenge is very similar - Read 9 books in each of 9 categories for 2009. Here is my list of books. You will see that some categories have more than 9 books. It's easier just to list them all than to try to pick and choose now. My final choices will depend quite a bit on what is available to me from the library. Nostalgia - Books I Read As a Child and want to Read Aloud to My Children 1.The Borrowers – Mary Norton 2.Edward, Hoppy and Joe – Robert Lawson 3.A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L'Engle 4.Five Little Peppers and How They Grew – Margaret Sidney 5.The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander 6.Dragonsong – Anne McCaffrey 7.The Great Brain – John D. Fitzgerald 8.Soup – Robert Newton Peck 9.Encyclopedia Brown – Donald J. Sobol Kindred Spirits - Books By Favorite Authors 1.An Echo in the Bone – Diana Gabaldon 2.The bodies left behind - Jeffery Deaver 3.Plum Spooky ...

The 888 Reading Challenge was to read 8 books each in 8 different categories in 2008 . I finished today! My categories changed a good deal as did many of the titles I chose initially . That was within the rules. I didn't use any overlaps. I also read a few books that didn't fit any of my categories. Here are my 8 completed categories with the 8 books I read for each one. Following that are the additional 18 books I read. 8x8+18= 82 books so far in 2008. I still have a few days to increase that total. In both 2006 and 2007, I read 86 books. Anyone up for the 999 Reading Challenge?? Books Published in 2008 1.The Secret Between Us – Barbara Delinsky 1-24-08 2.Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah 5-18-08 3.The Broken Window – Jeffery Deaver 7-22-08 4.Breaking Dawn – Stephenie Meyer 8-7-08 5.Say Goodbye – Lisa Gardner 8-8-08 6.The Keepsake – Tess Gerritsen 9-20-08 7.Sweet Love – Sarah Strohmeyer 10-15-08 8.More Than It Hurts You – Darin Strauss 11-1-08 Books Recommended to me by others 1....

Just four books in November, but that's ok, since I wrote a book in November too! LOL More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss 11/01/08 - Good - Fiction A doctor suspects a young mother is hurting her baby. This was a thoughtful sort of novel and it didn't end the way I expected. Jane Austen for Dummies by Joan Elizabeth Klingel Ray 11/13/08 - Excellent - Non-fiction If you've ever tried to read Austen and gotten confused about historical details or customs of the time, this is the book for you! Conversational in tone and very readable, this guide answered ALL the questions I had – and some I didn't realize I had! The only issue I had is that it revealed some of the plot points in Sense & Sensibility, the only Austen novel I hadn't yet read. So, if spoilers bother you, read the novels first and then get the book. Then you'll want to re-read them all over again! How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovich 11/18/08 - Excellent - Non-fict...

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - 10/13/08 Good - Fiction Francie grows up very poor in turn-of-the-century Brooklyn. My sister Janet recommended this. I surprisingly had not read it before. It was quite good, although not a light read at all. Wow, those people were POOR. Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer - 10/15/08 Good - Romance Betty Mueller put her foot down when she saw her teenage daughter had a crush on an older man; twenty years later, she wishes she hadn't done it, so she hatches a plan to bring them back together. I had wanted a light read after reading Tree Grows in Brooklyn and the cupcake on the cover of this made me think it would be. It wasn't. But it was good anyway. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - 10/22/08 Good - Classic Catherine Moreland is naïve and prone to romantic fantasy; in Bath she meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney and is invited to visit his family estate – Northanger Abbey This was for my Book Club and I really liked it! Henry Til...

My plan was to write write write in March. Sadly, it was one of those plans that did not come to fruition. Ah well, there's always tomorrow. So, I only read a little in March. I think I paid for it with some depression. If I'm not reading, then I'm not quite alive. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold - 03/02/08 Fair - Fiction Helen and her mother have had a rocky relationship and as her mother ages, things don't improve. I enjoyed The Lovely Bones also by Sebold. I did NOT like this one. Don't even know why I read it. The heroine was unlikeable in every way. Finding Hope by Brenda Coulter - 03/15/08 Excellent - Romance Hope befriends a rich heartless doctor but his lack of belief in God is a stumbling block to any further relationship This book could not be more different than The Almost Moon. I stayed up far too late reading this two nights in a row. It is part of the Steeple Hill Love Inspired series from Harlequin and I think it's one of the best examples of t...

Nine books in February. Not too shabby! I am not going to read fiction in March, other than finishing the book I am currently reading. (I have a couple other library books I borrowed before I decided to declare a March Moratorium on fiction. If I get weak, I may read one or two. lol ) I am going to focus on writing again this month. The exception to the fiction ban will be Pride & Prejudice. I am going to listen to the audiobook in the car to/from work, as well as read the annotated edition. I also have plenty of non-fiction to read if there is time. :-) So what have YOU read lately? Hide by Lisa Gardner - 02/02/08 Good - Suspense Annabelle's father moved her family around randomly and often during her childhood. Now he's dead and she wants to know the reason for the moves. Cop Bobby Dodge helps her get to the bottom of it. My mom recommended this. It was a twist-y turn-y suspenseful book. I liked it enough to go find the previous book in the series right away. (See below...

[edited 12-30-07 with complete list] I am participating in the Triple 8 Reading Challenge . Anyone care to join me? I only need to read 56 of these books to finish, but I'll try to read all 64 of them. Come on and READ WITH ME in 2008! Books Recommended to me by others Hide – Lisa Gardner (my mom) The Furies of Calderon – Jim Butcher (sister Christy) Vineyard series – Philip Craig (mom) Beauty - Robin McKinley (Marta) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith (sister Janet) Austenland - Shannon Hale (sister Christy) librarian series (Christy) Courting Trouble – Deeanne Gist (Mom) Young Adult Fiction Holes – Louis Sachar ttyl – lauren myracle Eclipse – Stephenie Meyer Spiderweb for Two: A Melendy Maze – Elizabeth Enright Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox - Eoin Colfer Eragon – Christopher Paolini Inkheart - Cornelia Funke Magic by the Lake – Edward Eager Non-fiction Ordering Your Private World – Gordon MacDonald Radar, Hula Hoops, and...