The 999 Challenge

Anyone who has been following my blog for any amount of time may remember that I completely failed at the 888 challenge in 2008. But is that going to stop me from signing up for the 999 challenge in 2009. Nope...

I am, however, going to do one big thing differently--I'm not going to list the books I'm going to read in advance. I think that was part of the reason I didn't finish the challenge last year (hey, I didn't know, it was the first time I'd tried it ;o). Live and learn...).

So this year I've decided on my 9 categories and I will read 9 books in each category. I'll list the specific books as I read them. And the categories are...

Pubbed in 2009 -- This includes ARCs

1. Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

2. True Colors by Kristin Hannah

3. Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein

4. Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

5. The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez

6. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult

7. In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell

8. Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel

9. Shimmer by Eric Barnes

New (to me) authors

1. Shadow Game by Christine Feehan

2. Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

3. Willing Spirits by Phyllis Schieber

4. Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr

5. Crazy Hot by Tara Janzen

6. Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

7. Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

8. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

9. Rogue by Cheryl Brooks

Hardbacks on my TBR shelf -- trying to lighten the load!

1. Islands by Anne River Siddons

2. The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

3. Too Much Temptation by Lori Foster

4. Leilani Zan by Barbara Casey

5. Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart

6. Amethyst Dreams by Phyllis Whitney

7. Black Hills by Nora Roberts

8. The Spirit of the Place by Samuel Shem

9. The Gift by Nora Roberts

Book Club Picks -- These are books for my F2F book club

1. The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

2. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

3. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

6. Prayers for Bobby by Leroy Aarons

7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

9. The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates

Award Winners

1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2007 Pulitzer Prize)

2. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2006 Alex Award)

3. The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz (2008 Alex Award)

4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (2009 Newbery Award)

5. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (1998 Alex Award)

6. Prime Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan (2007 Agatha Award Winner for Best 1st Novel)

7. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman (2001 Whitbread Book of the Year)

8. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1937 Pulitzer Prize)

9. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (1962 Nobel Prize for Literature winner)

Romances

1. The Pagan Stone by Nora Roberts

2. I'm Watching You by Karen Rose

3. Nothing to Fear by Karen Rose

4. You Can't Hide by Karen Rose

5. Kill Me Twice by Roxanne St. Claire

6. Count to Ten by Karen Rose

7. Chosen to Die by Lisa Jackson

8. Wild Blue Under by Judi Fennell

9. Vision in White by Nora Roberts

Raved-About Reads

1. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

2. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

3. Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

4. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

5. Marley & Me by John Grogan

6. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

7. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

8. The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

9. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

Very old TBRs -- These books have been gathering dust on my shelves for at least 2 years

1. Silent Night by J.D. Robb, Susan Plunkett, Dee Holmes, Claire Cross

2. Conspiracy in Death by J.D. Robb

3. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

4. Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb

5. From the Heart by Nora Roberts

6. Irish Rebel by Nora Roberts

7. Nerd in Shining Armor by Vicki Lewis Thompson

8. An Irregular Moon by Sara King

9. Master of Murder by Christopher Pike

Whimsies -- For when the mood, or no mood, strikes...

1. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

2. Knit Together by Debbie Macomber

3. Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

4. Dirty Little Secrets by Julie Leto

5. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

6. Outcast by Cheryl Brooks

7. The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

8. Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber

9. Hot Damn! by James W. Hall