Tafadhali's 2019 Anniversary Challenge

2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of my participating in LT's category challenge, so I decided to shelve the high-concept approaches I've taken in recent years and to revisit my original 9 categories (plus 9 new, related categories for this year). 18 categories is a lot, so I'm not setting any big numerical goals for myself — I just want to read at least one book in each category. I will be trying to tackle some of the titles on my brainstorming list in 2009 that I still haven't gotten to, a decade later! (I'm starring those below.)

2009 Legacy Categories

I. 19th Century Classics
II. Books Made Into Movies
III. Plays
IV. Fantasy/Science Fiction
V. Detective Novels
VI. Books from My Father
VII. Fun with Postmodernism!
VIII. Post-Colonial
IX. Young Adult

2019 Companion Categories

I. Historical Fiction & Time Travel (...because I've been wanting to read a lot of time travel stories lately and this seemed like a good place to put that...)
II. Books About the Movies
III. Graphic Novels
IV. Space Race
V. Crime & Criminal Justice
VI. Other Unread Gifts/Recommendations
VII. Experiments with Modernism!
VIII. Diverse American Voices
IX. Children's

 

Ia. 19th Century Classics

1. North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell (re-read) DONE, 9/11/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (re-read of first book; first time for Good Wives) DONE, 12/27/19 - ★★★★ for LW, ★★ 1/2 for GW

IDEAS
Moby Dick by Herman Melville *
Demons by Fyodor Dostoevsky *
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley *
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens *
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (okay, it's 1905, but I've been meaning to read it for ages)

  *

Ib. Historical Fiction & Time Travel

1. A Brief History of Montmaray by Michelle Cooper (re-read) DONE, 4/20/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
2. The FitzOsbornes in Exile by Michelle Cooper (re-read) DONE, 4/21/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
3. The FitzOsbornes at War by Michelle Cooper (re-read) DONE, 4/23/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
4. Starring Sally J. Freedman As Herself by Judy Blume DONE, 7/1/19 - ★★★★
5. The Trolley to Yesterday by John Bellairs DONE, 9/26/19 - ★★★

IDEAS
Time and Again by Jack Finney
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
More Lymond books

* Like, if anything represents historical fiction it's this nonsense, tbh.

 

IIa. Books Made Into Movies

1. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (this is going here because I'm rereading it after rewatching the film and visiting the set location in Hobbiton!) DONE, 9/21/19 - ★★★★★
2. Cujo by Stephen King (I actually haven't watched the movie yet, but I plan to now that I've read the book!) DONE 5/10/19 - ★★★ 1/2
3. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han DONE, 5/29/19 - ★★★
4. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood DONE, 6/24/19 - ★★★★

IDEAS
The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle *
The Godfather by Mario Puzo *
Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella *
Julie & Julia by Julie Powell *
A Different Season by Stephen King
Annihilation by Keith Giffen
The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan

 

IIb. Books About the Movies

1. Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes' Hollywood by Karina Longworth DONE 3/14/19 - ★★★★

IDEAS
Incongruous Entertainment by Steven Cohan

 

IIIa. Plays

IDEAS
Travesties by Tom Stoppard
The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder

 

IIIb. Comics

1. The Wicked The Divine Vol. 7 by Kieron Gillen DONE 1/30/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
2. Ms. Marvel Vol. 10 by G. Willow Wilson DONE 3/31/19 - ★★★★
3. Runaways, Vol. 3 by Rainbow Rowell DONE 4/19/19 - ★★★★
4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (re-read) DONE 9/5/19 - ★★★★★
5. Guts by Raina Telgemeier DONE 10/14/19 - ★★★ 1/2
6. Runaways, Vol. 4 by Rainbow Rowell DONE 11/26/19 - ★★★★

 

IVa. Fantasy/Science Fiction

1. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell DONE, 1/17/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
2. The Magicians by Lev Grossman DONE, 4/19/19 - ★★★
3. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman DONE, 12/9/19 - ★★★ 1/2
4. Provenance by Ann Leckie DONE, 12/20/19 - ★★★ 1/2

IDEAS
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick *
Dune by Frank Herbert *
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman *
The Quick by Lauren Owen
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
Foreigner by C. J. Cherryh
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

 

IVb. Space Race

1. The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe DONE, 8/7/19 - ★★★ 1/2

IDEAS
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickham *
Chariots for Apollo by Joshua Stoff
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterley

 

Va. Detective Novels

1. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (I read this last for the 2009 challenge and now am reading it for a book club with my students -- and in preparation for my own 10-year reunion for college) DONE, 3/23/19 - ★★★★★
2. The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley DONE, 8/3/19 - ★★★

IDEAS
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett *
Strachey's Folly by Richard Stevenson *
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P.D. James
More Flavia de Luce, Precious Ramotswe, Peter Wimsey...

 

Vb. Crime & Criminal Justice

1. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt DONE, 9/22/19 - ★★★ 1/2

IDEAS
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Ghettoside by Jill Leovy
The Invention of Murder by Judith Flanders
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

 

VIa. Books From My Father

IDEAS
Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz del Castillo *
The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman *
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill *
King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz *

  *

VIb. Other Gifts/Recommendations

1. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (recommended by my friend Abby) DONE, 4/25/19 - ★★★ 1/2
2. David Bowie Made Me Gay by Darryl W. Bullock (gift from my sister) DONE, 4/30/19 - ★★★

IDEAS
The Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich

* Because my brother recommended it to me, and my gift to him this year is that we're going to watch it together.

 

VIIa. Fun with Post-Modernism!

IDEAS
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski *
Ada, or Ardor by Vladimir Nabokov *
Possession by A.S. Byatt *
White Noise by Don DeLillo *
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace *

*

VIIb. Experiments with Modernism!

1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (re-read) DONE, 11/15/19 - ★★★★

IDEAS
Ulysses by James Joyce
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Nightwood by Djuna Barnes

* I...have not seen a movie that pairs well with this so here is a 2009 film with "modern" in the title.

VIIIa. Post-Colonial

1. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy DONE 9/8/19, ★★★ 1/2

IDEAS
David's Story by Zoe Whicomb *
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie *
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee *
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai *
The Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

  *

VIIIb. Diverse American Voices

1. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond DONE, 1/2/19 - ★★★★

IDEAS
Yo! by Julia Alvarez
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldua
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Typical American by Gish Jen

* Look, this franchise demonstrates that films with racially diverse casts do well in the box office, and also I love it.

 

IXa. Young Adult

1. The Shattering by Karen Healey (re-read) DONE, 3/19/19 - ★★★★ 1/2
2. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han DONE, 5/29/19 - ★★★
3. Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell DONE, 9/28/19 - ★★★

IDEAS
Anything is up for grabs, but I could revisit the Anne of Green Gables series, which I read in 2009 for the first time

 

IXb. Children's

1. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (re-read) DONE, 4/28/19 - ★★★★

BingoDOG!



1. Ms. Marvel Vol. 10 by G. Willow Wilson (author uses middle name or initials)
2. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green (debut novel)
3. A Brief History of Montmaray and sequels by Michelle Cooper (about siblings)
4.
5. The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (presumably many books but I'm thinking of the "Council of Elrond" reference in The Martian right now!) (mentioned in another book)
6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (I think a book that opens with a full chapter describing the process of designing children in labs can be said to be related to medicine or health)
7. The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (animal in title)
8. Guts by Raina Telgemeier (artistic character)
9. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (Prague) (Eastern European setting)
10. The Shattering by Karen Healey (young adult novel)
11. Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes' Hollywood by Karina Longworth (not strictly, but alliteration does abound in it!) (alliterative title)
12. The Magicians by Lev Grossman (part of a series)
13. FREE
14. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (Pulitzer Prize) (prize-winner)
15.
16.
17. Cujo by Stephen King (made into a movie)
18.
19. The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 7 by Kieron Gillen (graphic novel)
20. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (title with 6+ words)
21. Runaways Vol. 3 by Rainbow Rowell (it has 6!) (cover has at least 2 human figures)
22.
23.
24. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (4.01) (LT rating of 4+)
25. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers (night/knight) (title contains a homophone word)

What a great theme! Looking forward to seeing how you fill the categories.

There are some truly great books in your line-up. I hope you enjoy them when you get to them.

Congratulations on your 10th anniversary with the category challenge!

I'll be reading a Lymond as well this year. I'm reading one book a year and am up to Pawn in Frankincense.

rabbitprincess: I've been doing the same thing and am up to the same book! I'm hoping to read Pawn in Frankincense over my winter break (the last week of this year), and then get to The Ringed Castle next year. I've been enjoying them so much. Always a little slow-going when I get started with one and ease back into the world/try to figure out what Lymond is up to this time, but by halfway through I can't put them down.

This is a great way to commemorate your tenth year with the challenge. Happy reading.

>24 Tafadhali: Yes! That's how it is for me as well. I did find The Disorderly Knights a lot harder to get into than the first two, though, but that could have been because I haven't read much about Malta or the Mediterranean in general in that time period. With the parts set in Scotland I have a lot more background knowledge that makes it easier to slip into that world.

I'll be interested to hear what you think about Pawn in Frankincense!

Some great reading ideas--good luck!

Congratulations on 10 years and looking forward to following your 2019 reading!

Nice theme and I especially love the use of the Fast & Furious picture!

LittleTaiko - Thanks! I do love that film franchise, haha

Happy New Year!

This has been a slow reading year for me -- mostly a re-reading year in fact, including a few books I read first in 2009 (and some I read much earlier). As we enter the last month of the year, these are my current stats:

2009 Legacy Categories

I. 19th Century Classics: 1
II. Books Made Into Movies: 4
III. Plays: 0
IV. Fantasy/Science Fiction: 2
V. Detective Novels: 2
VI. Books from My Father: 0
VII. Fun with Postmodernism!: 0
VIII. Post-Colonial: 1
IX. Young Adult: 3

2019 Companion Categories

I. Historical Fiction & Time Travel: 5
II. Books About the Movies: 1
III. Graphic Novels: 6
IV. Space Race: 1
V. Crime & Criminal Justice: 1
VI. Other Unread Gifts/Recommendations: 2
VII. Experiments with Modernism!: 1
VIII. Diverse American Voices: 1
IX. Children's: 1

Total: 32