2011 Book Challenges: Final Post

Yay! 

I did it! 

I didn't complete all the challenges as I had planned, but I am happy with my over all accomplishments. In a year filled with job hunting, tutoring ELA & Reading, and dealing with a few crises, I consider that a major feat.

When life is full and responsibilities abound, having an 'excuse' to read is priceless. At times it can even be sanity saving.

You may also notice the inclusion of ebooks, beginning at #33. I received a NOOK COLOR from my dear husband for my birthday - AND I LOVE IT!

There is much debate on whether digital books spell the end of paper books. And I am here to tell you that the answer to that question is a resounding NO. What I have found is that my Nook has expanded my literary reach exponentially.

Being that I am on a tight budget, my ability to buy books is somewhat limited. I have exhausted the libraries in three counties, and if I hadn't discovered online used book venders I might have already expired for lack of nourishment. But there are many books I would like to read that just do not find their way to these venders, or they carry hefty price tags when they do. 

Robert Browning's The Ring and the Book is one example. I had searched unsuccessfully several years for an affordable copy, only to find it in the ebook format for $1.99. Is it the same as holding the original leather bound volume? No. But at least I can read it. And that, after all, is the ultimate goal of a book lover - reading.

HERE ARE MY FINAL LISTS:

From: Home Girl's Book Blog.

1. Recovering - May Sarton
2. The Cat Who Killed Lillian Jackson Braun - Robert Kaplow
3. The Red Tent - Anita Diamont
4. Finding Your Bipolar Muse - Lana R. Castle
5. The Pig Did It - Joseph Caldwell  
6. The Pig Comes To Dinner - Joseph Caldwell
7. The Short Stories of John B. Keane - John B. Keane
8. Living In The State Of Stuck: How Assistive Technology Impacts The Lives of People With Disabilities - Marcia J. Scherer 
9. A Vindication of the Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft 
10. So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba
11. A Long Rainy Season - ed. Leza Lowitz, Miyuki aoyama, & Akemi Tomioka
12. The Pest Maiden: A Story of Lobotomy - Penelpoe Scambly Schott
13. The Fur Person - May Sarton
14. From the Dark Side: The Collected Poetry of Jonathan Schwartz - Jonathan Schwartz
15. Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment and the Creative Process - Ed. Richard M. Berlin
16. Port Mortuary - Patricia Cornwell 
17. Sunbathing in the Rain - Gwyneth Lewis
18. Selected Poems of May Sarton - Ed. S. Hilsinger & L. Brynes
19. The Subjection of Women - John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill
20. A Doll’s House - Henrik Ibsen
21. Herland - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
22. A Room of One’s Own - Virginia Woolf
23. The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingston
24. The Beauty Myth - Naomi Wolf
25. Ain’t I a Woman? - Bell Hooks

26. A Maze Me - Naomi Hihab Nye
27. Cat Cross Their Graves - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
28. Muhammad: The Banned Images - Gary Hall
29. Cat Breaking Free - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
30. Cat Pay the Devil - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
31. Cat Deck the Halls - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
32. My Lobotomy - Charles Fleming    
33. A Study In Scarlet (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle
34. The Sign of Four (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle

35. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle
36. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle

37. The Hound of the Baskervilles (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle

38. The Return of Sherlock Holmes (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle

40. Dexter is Delicious - Jeff Lindsay
41. His Last Bow (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle 

42. The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (ebook) - Arthur Conan Doyle          

43. Serenity: Achieving Inner Peace Through Haiku (ebook) - Kiyoshi Hayakowa  
44. In the Spirit of Haiku (ebook) - Kamala Moore  
45. Haiku (ebook) - Toshiyuki Ihira     

46. Isotropes: A Collection of Speculative Haibun (ebook) - T.J. McIntyre  
47. 100 Selected Poems (ebook) - e.e. cummings    

48. Cat Had a Tail (ebook) - Steven D. Bennett
49. Faith and Feminism - Helen LaKelly Hunt    
50. The Death Clock (ebook) - J. Rock  
51. Short Stories for Short on Time People (ebook) - David Santos Solano    
52. No Light Might Escape (ebook) - Joe Hakim     

53. Bullied: Volume One (ebook) - Christopher Jones     
54. Bullied: Volume Two (ebook) - Christopher Jones
55. Bullied: Volume Three (ebook) - Christopher Jones
56. Bullied: Volume Four (ebook) - Christopher Jones
57.9 Lives Stories for Cat Lovers (ebook) - Ahmed Khalifa
58. Chronicles of Bursts of Light and Shadow (ebook) - Amanda Clark-Williams
59. God in the Machine (ebook) - Thea Atkinson
60. Husband Won't Buy Wife a Kindle (ebook) - Franklin Eddy
61. Old Ladies Who Love Porn (ebook) - Franklin Eddy
62. So and Sew (ebook) - Cassandra Pepper
63. The Alzheimers Book Club (ebook) - Jill Zeller
64. Cats in the Belfry (ebook) - Doreen Tovy & Dan Brown
65. Go the F***k to Sleep (ebook) - Adam Mansbach
66. The Thin Man (ebook) - Dashell Hammett
67. The Cat, the Professor, and the Poison (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
68. The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
69. The Cat, the Lady, and the Liar (ebook) - Leann Sweeney
70. Curiosity Thrilled the Cat (ebook) - Sofie Kelly        
71. How to Wash a Cat (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale
72. Nine Lives Last Forever (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale
73. How to Moon a Cat (ebook) - Rebecca M. Hale 
74. Mystery - Johnathan Kellerman
75. Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin    
76. Cat on The Money - Shirley Rousseau Murphy    
77. Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
78. Duplicity Dogged the Dachshund (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
79. Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
80. Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof (ebook) - Blaize Clement     
81. The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven - Joseph Caldwell   

82. Raining Cat Sitters and Dogs - (ebook) - Blaize Clement      

83. Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons - (ebook) - Blaize Clement
84. The House of Darkness - (ebook) - Ellery Queen
85. Arson Plus - (ebook) - Dashell Hammett
86. Homeowner Haiku - Jerry Ratch & Sherry Karver
87. Sleight of Paw - (ebook) - Sofie Kelly     
88. Arsene Lupine Vs. Herlock Shomes - (ebook) Maurice LeBlanc
89. If Not For the Cat - Jack Prelutsky         
90. Haiku for Sociologists - Ed. Kristin Barker & Gary Tiedeman      

91. Full Dark, No Stars - Stephen King       

92. Fur-de-Lance - Rex Stout            
93. Black Orchids - Rex Stout
94. Women Poets of Japan - Kenneth Rexroth & Ikuko Atsumi, Ed.
95. Working Stiff - Annelise Ryan             
96. Scared Stiff - Annelise Ryan             
97. Hiss of Death - Rita Mae Brown    
98. New and Selected Poems - Mary Oliver      
99. Cat Playing Cupid - Shirley Rousseau Murphy
100. Red Mist - Patricia Cornwell  

Hosted by: Robin of My Two Blessings. (Yes, I surpassed my goal for this one. And I loved every minute of it!)

Hosted by: Carrie from Books And Movies. Although my goal was 6 books for this one, I didn't quite make it. 

MY LINK is here.

 From: Savvy Verse & Wit. This one was easy, as the challenge was to read just 1 book of poetry. I made it to 22.

MY LINK is here.

Hosted by: Opinions of a Wolf. My goal was 12 books, but once again, I only made it to 10.

MY LINK is here.