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I debated starting this challenge because there are so many challenges already out there, but this is one I personally really want to do.

There are so many newer books from the last few years that I haven’t read yet.  There’s the Pub Challenge for new books, the Decades Challenge for older books, so why not a challenge for something in between?  For books published in 2001-2009, the Countdown Challenge requires reading the number of books in the last digit of the year.  Nine for books published in 2009, 8 for 2008, 7 for 2007, etc.  It does require a commitment of 45 books, but if you’re already doing The Pub Challenge, it’s ‘only’ 36.  In addition, the challenge is retroactive.  It starts with books you’ve read after 8/8/08 and goes until 9/9/09.

For more info and to sign up for the challenge, click here.

Below are the books I’m considering reading for the challenge.  I’ve already fulfilled the requirements for 2008 already!

2009 (9 required)

1. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
2. The Houskeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
3. All the Living by C.E. Morgan
4. Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
5. The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
6. The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley
7. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
8. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
9. The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne

• The Mystery of Grace by Charles De Lint
• Drood by Simmons
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
• American Rust
  
• The Believers by Heller
• God’s Gardeners by Atwood
• The Girl Who Played with Fire by Larsson

2008 (8 required — COMPLETE)

1. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
2. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
3. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
4. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
5. The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer
6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
7. Breath by Tim Winton
8. Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen
9. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
10. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
11. The Pets by Bragi Olafsson
12. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
13. Goldengrove by Francine Prose
14. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman
15. Somebody Else’s Daughter by Elizabeth Brundage
16. The Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
17. Esther’s Inheritance by Sandor Marai
18. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill
19. The Book of Murder by Guillermo Martinez
20. Broccoli and Other Tales of Food and Love by Lara Vapnyar
21. A Mercy by Toni Morrison
22. Ender in Exile by Orson Scott Card
23. A Country Called Home by Kim Barnes
24. The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry
25. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
26. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J. K. Rowling
27. The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith
28. Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

2007 (7 required — COMPLETE)

1. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
2. Finn by Jon Clinch
3. Petropolis by Anya Ulinich
4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
5. Ravel by Jean Echenoz
6. The End of the Alphabet by C.S. Richardson
7. Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith

• A Thousand Splendid Suns
• In the Woods by French
• First Among Sequels
• Tenderness of Wolves
• The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
• Savage Detectives
• Bridge of Sighs
• Then We Came to the End
• Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
• Run by Ann Pachett
• Reluctant Fundamentalist
• Fire in the Blood
• Maytrees
• Someone Knows My Name
• Astrid and Veronika
• The Blood of Flowers
• Gifted
• Lottery
• Mister Pip
• The Rest Falls Away
• Rises the Night
• Eclipse
• Yiddish Policeman’s Union
• Heart Shaped Box
• Down River by Hart
• The Terror by Simmons

2006 (6 required – COMPLETE))

1. X-Kai- by Asami Tohjoh
2. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Vol. 1 by M.T. Anderson
3. X-Kai- Vol. 2 by Asami Tohjoh
4. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
5. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paul Coelho
6. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith
7. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
8. Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith
9. Intuition by Allegra Goodman
10. The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro

• Measuring the World
• Dream Life of Sukhanov
• Special Topics in Calamity Physics
• Last Town on Earth by Mullen
• What is the What
• Digging to America
• Stolen Child by Donohue
• Apex Hides the Hurt
• Arthur and George
• Black Swan Green
• The Inhabited World
• Intuition
• Matrimony
• The Tent by Atwood
• Moral Disorder by Atwood
• The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox
• New Moon

2005 (5 required — COMPLETE)

1. Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi
2. Sky Burial by Xinran (2004, 2005 for the English translation)
3. Q & A by Vikas Swarup
4. The House of Paper by Carlos Maria Dominguez
5. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
   

• Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins
• History of Love
• Kafka on the Shore
• Twilight
• Inkspell
• The Tender Bar
• On Beauty Zadie Smith
• Saturday by McEwan
• Historian by Kostova
• Eleanor Rigby by Coupland
• Mother’s Milk
• Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon
• Seven Types of Ambiguity

2004 (4 required – COMPLETE)

1. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors
2. Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
3. Natasha and Other Stories by David Bezmozgis
4. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith
5. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

• Something Rotten
• Cloud Atlas
• Master by Toibin
• Confessions of Max Tivoli
• Rules of Engagement by Brookner
• Transmission by Kunzru

2003 (3 required — COMPLETE)

1. Blankets by Craig Thompson
   
2. Purple Hibiscus by Adichie
3. The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith
4. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

• The Well of Lost Plots
• The Namesake
• Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
• The Great Fire
• Jennifer Government
• Love by Toni Morrison
• My Life as a Fake
• Reunion by Alan Lightman
• Sunday at the Pool in Kigali

2002 (2 required — COMPLETE)

1. Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb
2. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith
3. Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
4. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
5. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
6. Property by Valerie Martin
7. Unless by Carol Shields

2001 (1 required — COMPLETE)

1. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
2. Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith
3. A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

I’ve decided against hosting or doing a 999 challenge next year — I’m not that brave!  However, there is a group doing it at LibraryThing if you’re interested.  The group is here, and they’ve set up a blog here.

One of the reasons I decided against it was that I felt it would just be too big of a commitment in terms of the number of books involved.  Another reason was that I want to host another challenge called The Countdown Challenge.  This challenge still has a big commitment — 45 books — but it’s not as hard as it sounds if you’re already doing The Pub Challenge.

Stay tuned for the announcement soon.

Lasted from November 1, 2007 through November 1, 2008

The year after the book title refers to which list(s) the books were on.

The 12 books I read:

1. The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx ‘98, ‘02, ‘06
2. Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini ‘06
3. Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery ‘98
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling ‘02, ‘06
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling ‘02
6. The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time – Mark Haddon ‘06
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – J.K. Rowling ‘02, ‘06
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling ‘02
9. Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix – J.K. Rowling ‘06
10. Life of Pi – Yann Martel ‘06
11. The Twits by Roald Dahl ‘98 (review to come)
12. Artemis Fowl by Coifer ‘02 (review to come)

My favorites were Anne of Green Gables, HP and the Chamber of Secrets, HP and the Goblet of Fire, and the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.

Thanks, Maria!

I enjoyed all the books I read, but Dracula and The Graveyard Book were my favorites.  Thanks, Carl, for another terrific challenge!

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Roald Dahl’s Book of Ghost Stories edited by Roald Dahl (I reviewed some of the stories here and here.)
  
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Substituted: Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi (review to come!)