50 Book Challenge
I decided at the beginning of 2007 to see if I could complete the 50 book challenge that many other people have been doing. I have always been a voracious reader, but I do not read very quickly, at least compared to many people I know. In addition, I have an insane number of unread books sitting on my shelves -- an enormous source of stress for me. When one collects books three times faster than one reads them, well... it's kind of ridiculous. Alas, this challenge did not cure me of this affliction -- it just made me buy books faster.
I started out trying to read 75 pages per day, typically reading for only six days of the week. My thinking was that an average book was about 450 pages, so that should work out nicely. But I quickly pushed that to 100 pages per day, then 125, then 150 and, for a while there, was finishing two books per week easily. As a result, by the end of August, I had already passed the 50 book mark. So, after that, I kind of took the rest of the year easy and only finished a dozen more, heh.
There are a couple of days left in 2007, but, since there's little chance of finishing one of the other books I have going, I think it's safe to post this now.
Notes:
I started out trying to read 75 pages per day, typically reading for only six days of the week. My thinking was that an average book was about 450 pages, so that should work out nicely. But I quickly pushed that to 100 pages per day, then 125, then 150 and, for a while there, was finishing two books per week easily. As a result, by the end of August, I had already passed the 50 book mark. So, after that, I kind of took the rest of the year easy and only finished a dozen more, heh.
There are a couple of days left in 2007, but, since there's little chance of finishing one of the other books I have going, I think it's safe to post this now.
- Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson
- The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer -- Neal Stephenson
- Spin -- Robert Charles Wilson
- Time Travelers Strictly Cash -- Spider Robinson
- Tesseracts Ten (A collection of new Canadian speculative fiction) -- Various
- Son of Man -- Robert Silverberg
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams
- The Restaurant at the End of the Universe -- Douglas Adams
- Life, the Universe and Everything -- Douglas Adams
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish -- Douglas Adams
- Mostly Harmless -- Douglas Adams
- Blindsight -- Peter Watts
- To Say Nothing of the Dog -- Connie Willis
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell -- Susanna Clarke
- Past Master -- R. A. Lafferty
- Thirteen Bullets -- David Wellington
- Monster Planet -- David Wellington
- Frostbite -- David Wellington
- Light -- M. John Harrison
- Cyteen: The Betrayal -- C.J. Cherryh
- Cyteen: The Rebirth -- C.J. Cherryh
- Cyteen: The Vindication -- C.J. Cherryh
- Galveston -- Sean Stewart
- Ender's Game -- Orson Scott Card
- Temeraire -- Naomi Novik
- Rainbows End -- Vernor Vinge
- Otherness -- David Brin
- Eifelheim -- Michael F. Flynn
- The Best of C.M. Kornbluth -- C.M. Kornbluth
- Accelerando -- Charles Stross
- On The Beach -- Nevil Shute
- The Curse of Chalion -- Lois McMaster Bujold
- Paladin of Souls -- Lois McMaster Bujold
- The Hallowed Hunt -- Lois McMaster Bujold
- Glasshouse -- Charles Stross
- More Than Human -- Theodore Sturgeon
- The Children of Men -- P.D. James
- Talking About Empire and Resistance -- Tariq Ali
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince -- J.K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- J.K. Rowling
- Desolation Road -- Ian McDonald
- Hominids -- Robert M. Sawyer
- All Quiet on the Western Front -- Erich Maria Remarque
- The Space Merchants -- Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth
- The Merchants' War -- Frederik Pohl
- Passion Play -- Sean Stewart
- The Algebraist -- Iain M. Banks
- Market Forces -- Richard Morgan
- The Locus Awards -- Various
- Farthing -- Jo Walton
- Altered Carbon -- Richard Morgan
- The Electric Church -- Jeff Somers
- The Final Reflection -- John M. Ford
- The God Delusion -- Richard Dawkins
- What We Say Goes -- Chomsky/Barsamian
- The Northern Lights -- Phillip Pullman
Notes:
- My previous challenge was to read all of the Hugo Award winning novels. With the exception of one novel which I can't find and which is out of print, that challenge is now complete. Now on to the Nebulas!
- Because I was reading all of the Hugo winners, it made sense to read all of the 2006 Hugo nominees, the first time I have read them all before the actual winner was announced. Alas, the book that should have won -- Glasshouse by Charles Stross -- did not.
- I originally had no intention of reading the Potter books, because I hate to conform, and, frankly, they sounded kind of silly to me. Nevertheless, because Goblet of Fire won the Hugo, I was obligated to read at least that one, and, well, it would be stupid to read only the 4th book. And so, I reluctantly read them all. And I loved them! I had great timing, too -- just as I finished the 6th, Deathly Hallows was released.
- At least three UK published novels had their names dumbed-down changed for American audiences. One will probably be obvious, but can you guess the other two? (Might be more, but not to my knowledge)
- Two authors on this list are in my friend list. One probably doesn't want people to know this, so shall remain nameless. Too bad, really, because his was one of the better novels in the list!
- Cyteen has been published in both one volume and as three separate novels (against the wishes of the author). Fortunately, I had the split volume, so could count the book three times -- woohoo! Unfortunate that I had to read the books at all... not a big fan.