2008: Challenges – The 888 Challenge

Oh my god, this is the last one, I swear.  I’m not going to be able to sign up for any others unless I can use books I’ve already chosen!

In The 888 Challenge, you’re supposed to read 8 books in 8 different categories of your choosing in 2008.  You’re allowed 8 overlaps for a total of 56 books. The challenge runs the full calendar year.  Here’s my list!  Books that are read and reviewed have been linked.

last updated 10/29

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

1. Saturday – Ian McEwan
2. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
4. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
5. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
6. Sula – Toni Morrison
7. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
8. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

First in a series

1. The Face of a Stranger – Anne Perry (William Monk series)
2. Heartbreaker – Julie Garwood (Buchanan-Renard series)
3. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards – Lilian Jackson Braun (Jim Qwilleran series)
4. The Neon Rain – James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux series)
5. The Mysterious Affair at Styles – Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot series)
6. Undead and Unwed – Mary Janice Davidson (Queen Betsy series)
7. Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison (Rachel Morgan series)
8. Dead Until Dark – Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse series)

In the TBR Pile

1. The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
2. We Were the Mulvaneys – Joyce Carol Oates
3. The Finishing School – Michele Martinez
4. Matrimony – Joshua Henkin
5. Any Given Doomsday – Lori Handeland 
6. Homeport – Nora Roberts
7. College Girl – Patricia Weitz
8. The Face of a Stranger – Anne Perry

Award Winners

1. Life of Pi – Yann Martel
2. The Eye of the Needle – Ken Follett
3. Creepers – David Morrell
4. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
5. Tamar – Mal Peet
6. Small Island – Andrea Levy
7. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
8. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

Audiobooks

1. Undead and Unwed – Mary Janice Davidson
2. Before I Wake – Dee Henderson
3. Dark of the Moon – John Sandford
4. Hold Tight – Harlan Coben
5. Fat Tuesday – Sandra Brown
6. Plum Lucky – Janet Evanovich
7. The Whole Truth – David Baldacci
8. The Neon Rain – James Lee Burke

Non-US Authors

1. Saturday – Ian McEwan
2. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
3. Driving Force – Dick Francis
4. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
5. Agents of Light and Darkness – Simon R Green
6. As For Me and My House – Sinclair Ross
7. Dead Witness – Joylene Nowell Butler
8. The Girl with the White Flag – Tomiko Higa

Recommended by the Daring Book for Girls

1. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
2. Bridge to Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
3. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – E.L. Konigsberg
4. Mary Poppins – P.L. Travers
5. Wizard of Earthsea – Ursula K. LeGuin
6. The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster
7. Black Beauty – Anne Sewell
8. Northern Lights – Philip Pullman

Novel Ladies Book Club Picks (TBA as chosen)

1. Twisted – Andrea Kane
2. Never Tell – Karen Young
3. Whitewash – Alex Kava
4. Midnight Rain – Holly Lisle
5. I’m Watching You – Mary Burton
6. Nefertiti – Michelle Moran 
7. Dark of the Moon – P.J. Parrish 
8. Third Degree – Greg Iles