It's Almost That Time!

We're almost ready to officially kick off the challenge! Has anyone started doing any reading yet? I had every intention of reading Charles Dickens' "The Christmas Books" over the holidays but who was I kidding? I didn't even have time to do Christmas cards this year! We did read some of "A Christmas Carol" from it as a family on Christmas Eve. It's so much easier to get the family to sit and listen when the weather has made them a captive audience!

I've joined a number of challenges this year but I was only able to join so many of them because this one has such a wide variety of books available that can cross over into other challenges. If I pick my books right from this list, there are a couple of challenges I could finish without even picking up an extra book. I'm liking the idea of double pats on the back without twice the work!

Starting Date

So the challenge officially begins January 1st. And I told you that if you are no more than half done by then you can count the book. But I really want to read A Christmas Carol this year. Before Christmas. And I want it to count for the challenge. So, since it's my challenge, I'm changing the rule!

The challenge officially starts January 1st. But if you want to get a head start, you can count anything that you're reading this month that's on the list. You just can't add the review until January 1st.

Now I just have to figure out when I'm going to work in another book before Christmas. Hmm...

Crossing Over With Other Challenges

Okay, when I was watching The Gilmore Girls on the WB network, I knew Rory Gilmore was an avid reader surrounding by a smart mom and spent a lot of time in school. Stands to reason that there would be a lot of books around. But I had no idea how many that was until a friend guided me to a list of almost 300 books.

Now I know I'm slow getting this challenge up, but the good news about this challenge is that with this many books to choose from, it makes a great crossover challenge.

If you're reading the Women Unbound Challenge, you'll find on this list "The Second Sex" by Simone de Beauvoir, "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woolf, "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen and and "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath. For "Woolf In Winter" you could also add Woolf's "Mrs. Dalloway. Crossing over with All About The Brontes, you could read "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte and "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. The Shelf Discovery Challenge has crossovers with "Deenie" by Judy Blume and the Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene. If you're participating in the Really Old Classics Challenge, you can crossover "The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, "Bhagavad Gita," and "The Iliad" by Homer. Wow, I just figured out that I could sign up for about three more challenges!

Book Giveaway--"The Bell Jar"

Jo-Jo of Jo-Jo loves to read!!! is hosting a giveaway for Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar." Since this is one of the books included on the Gilmore Girls list, I thought you might like a chance to win it if you were thinking about reading it.

Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge

Books played a big part in the television show "The Gilmore Girls." Rory was an avid reader. When Rory and Lorelai were going to Europe, Rory wanted to bring 12 books. Mind you, she was carrying everything in a backpack. Recently, a friend sent me a link to an episode-by-episode listing of all of the books seen, read, or mentioned in the series and the idea for a challenge was born. Of course, I didn't really have any idea how many books that actually was. Or how to set up a challenge. So I'm a little late getting this up and running. The good news is that there should be something in this for everyone. Rory and company read everything from Homer to Dan Brown and poetry to social commentary. The challenge will officially run from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. You can begin reading now and anything that you're not more than half way through right now can be counted.
Crossover books from other challenges are allowed. A lot of the books on the list have also been made into movies and those will count as well.

There are three levels of participation:

Emily: Read 5 books from at least two different categories.
Lorelai: Read 10 books from at least three different categories.
Rory: Read 20 books from at least four different categories.


Here is the very long list of books you can choose from:

Classics

Austen	Jane	Northanger Abbey
Austen	Jane	Emma
Austen	Jane	Pride & Prejudice
Bronte	Emily	Wuthering Heights
Bronte	Charlotte	Jane Eyre
Browning	Elizabeth Barrett	Sonnets From The Portuguese
Cervantes		Don Quixote
Chaucer	Geoffrey	Canterbury Tales, The
Dante		Inferno
Dante		Divine Comedy, The
Dickens	Charles	David Cooperfield
Dickens	Charles	Little Dorrit
Dickens	Charles	Great Expectations
Dickens	Charles	A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens	Charles	Our Mutual Friend
Dickens	Charles	A Christmas Carol
Dickens	Charles	Oliver Twist
Dickinson	Emily	New Poems of Emily Dickinson
Flaubert	Gustave	Madame Bovary
Heaney	Seamus	Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
Homer		Iliad, The
Hugo	Victor	Hunchback of Notre Dame, The
Lawrence	D. H.	Lady Chatterley's Lover
Melville	Herman	Moby Dick
Poe	Edgar Allen	Raven, The
Shakespeare	William	Othello
Shakespeare	William	Henry IV, Part 2
Shakespeare	William	Julius Caesar
Shakespeare	William	Romeo And Juliet
Shakespeare	William	Hamlet
Shakespeare	William	Henry V
Shakespeare	William	Merry Wives of Windsor, The
Shakespeare	William	A Comedy of Errors
Shakespeare	William	Richard III
Shakespeare	William	The Sonnets
Shakespeare	William	Macbeth
Shelley	Mary	Frankenstein
Stowe	Harriet Beecher	Uncle Tom's Cabin
Thoreau	Henry David	Walden
Tolstoy	Leo	War And Peace
Tolstoy	Leo	Anna Karenina
Twain	Mark	The Jumping Frog of Calavares County
Twain	Mark	Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Voltaire		Candide
Wharton	Edith	Roman Holiday
Whitman	Walt	Leaves of Grass

Childrens/Young Adult

Anderson	Hans Christian	Little Match Girl, The
Baum	L. Frank	Wizard of Oz, The
Baum	L. Frank	Scarecrow of Oz, The
Blume	Judy	Deenie
Brothers Grimm		Rapunzel
Carroll	Lewis	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Chbosky	Stephen	Perks of Being A Wallflower, The
Collodi	Carol	Pinocchio
Granowsky	Alvin	Goldilocks & The Three Bears
Grimm Brothers		Snow White and Rose Red
Hinton	S. E.	Outsiders, The
Keene	Carolyn	The Nancy Drew Series
King-Smith	Dick	Babe
Lofting	Hugh	Doctor Doolittle
Rawlings	Marjorie Kinnan	Yearling, The
Rodgers	Mary	Freaky Friday
Rowling	J. K.	Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire
Rowling	J. K.	Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone: Book 1
Salten	Felix	Walt Disney's Bambi (based on Original Story by Felix Salten)
Seuss	Dr.	How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Sobol	Donald	Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective
Thompson	Kay	Eloise
White	E. B.	Stuart Little
White	E. B.	Charlotte's Web
Wiggin	Kate Douglas	Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm

Modern Classics

Albee	Edward	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Beckett	Samuel	Waiting for Godot
Burgess	Anthony	A Clockwork Orange
Dostoevsky	Fyodor	Demons (translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky)
Du Maurier	Daphne	Rebecca
Faulkner	William	Sanctuary
Faulkner	William	As I Lay Dying
Faulkner	William	Sound and The Fury, The
Fitzgerald	F. Scott	Tender is the Night
Fitzgerald	F. Scott	Great Gatsby, The
Forster	E. M.	A Room With A View
Ginsburg	Allen	Howl
Heller	Joseph	Catch-22
Hellman	Lillian	Children's Hour, The
Hemingway	Ernest	Snows of Killimanjaro
Hemingway	Ernest	Sun Also Rises, The
Hemingway	Ernest	A Moveable Feast
Hemingway	Ernest	To Have And Have Not
James	Henry	Daisy Miller
James	Henry	Art of Fiction, The
Joyce	James	Finnegan's Wake
Joyce	James	Ulysses
Kafka	Franz	Trial, The
Kafka	Franz	Metamorphosis
Lawrence & Lee	Jerome & Robert Edwin	Inherit The Wind
Lee	Harper	To Kill A Mockingbird
Mailer	Norman	Naked & The Dead, The
Mencken	H. R.	Mencken's Chresthonomy
Mencken	H. R.	My Life As Author & Editor
Miller	Henry	Sexus
Miller	Arthur	Crucible, The
Mitchell	Margaret	Gone With The Wind
Nordhoff & Hall	Charles & James Norman	Mutiny On The Bounty
Orwell	George	Nineteen Eighty-four
Parker	Dorothy	Portable Dorothy Parker, The
Plath	Sylvia	Bell Jar, The
Proust	Marcel	Swann's Way
Rand	Ayn	Fountainhead, The
Salinger	J. D.	Franny And Zooey
Salinger	J. D.	Catcher In The Rye, The
Shaefer	Jack	Shane
Steinbeck	John	Grapes of Wrath, The
Tolkien	J.R.R.	The Fellowship of the Rings: Lord of the Ring Book 1
Tolkien	J. R. R.	The Return of The King: Lord of the Ring Book 3
Vonnegut	Kurt	Slaughterhouse Five
Welty	Eudora	Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, The
Williams	Tennessee	A Streetcar Named Desire
Woolf	Virginia	A Room of One's Own
Woolf	Virginia	Mrs. Dalloway

Non-fiction

Albaret	Celeste	Monsieur Proust
Albom	Mitch	Tuesdays With Morrie
Assorted Authors		Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism
Binyon	T. J.	Pushkin: A Biography
Bolles	Richard Nelson	What Color Is Your Parachute? 2005
Bourdain	Anthony	Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly
Bugliosi & Gentry	Vincent & Curt	Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders
Butler	Judith	Gender Trouble
Capote	Truman	In Cold Blood
Clinton	Hilary Rodham	Living History
Clinton	Hilary Rodham	It Takes A Village
Collett	Anne	Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals
Cook	Blanche Wiesen	Eleanor Roosevelt
De Beauvoir	Simone	Second Sex, The
De Beauvoir	Simone	Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter
Denison	Isak	Out of Africa
Des Barres	Pamela	I'm With The Band
Didion	Joan	Year of Magical Thinking, The
Eggers	Dave	A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Ehrenreich	Barbara	Nickel And Dimed
Faludi	Susan	Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
Fodor	Eugene	Selected Hotels of Europe
Ford	Ford Madox	Good Soldier, The
Franken	Al	Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Friedman	Milton	A Monetary History of the United States
Gibbon	Edward	History of the Decline & Fall of The Roman Empire, The
Gibson	William	Miracle Worker, The
Harvard	Joe	Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground & Nico (33 1/3 Series)
Hersh	Seymour M.	My Lai 4: A Report On The Massacre And Its Aftermath
Huffington	Arianna	Pigs At The Trough
Irvin	Jim	Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion, The
Johnson	Spencer	Who Moved My Cheese?
Kagan	Donald	Outbreak of the Peoponnesian War, The
Kagan	Donald	Peace of Nicias & The Sicilian Expedition, The
Kagan	Donald	Archidamian War
Kerouac	Jack	On The Road
Lee/Neil/Mars/Sixx		The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
Lipton	Lawrence	Holy Barbarians, The
Macaulay	David	New Way Things Work, The
McCarthy	Mary	A Bolt From The Blue & Other Essays
McCarthy	Mary	Group, The
McNeill & McCain	Legs and Gillian	Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
Meyers	Phillip	Vanishing Newspaper, The
Milford	Nancy	Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay
Moore	Barrington	Social Origins of Dictatorship & Democracy: Lord & Peasant in the Making of the Modern World
Moore	Michael	Fahrenheit 9/11
Nietzche	Fredrich	Portable Nietzche, The
Pagels	Elaine	Gnostic Gospels
Plath	Sylvia	Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath, The
Rubin M.D.	Theodore Issac	David and Lisa
Sherman	Wiliam Tecumseh	Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman
Sinker	Daniel	We Owe You Nothing - Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews (Edited)
Spinoza	Baruch	Ethics
Steves	Rick	Europe Through The Back Door, 2003
Suskind	Ron	The Price of Loyalty: George W Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill
Taylor	Hobart Chatfield	Moliere: A Biography
Thompson	Hunter S.	Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
Thompson	Hunter S.	Fear & Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72
Thurman	Judith	Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette
Tzu	Sun	Art of War, The
Vidal	Gore	The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
Waldo	Myra	Myra Waldo's Travel & Motoring Guide To Europe
Weisberg	Jacob	George W Bushisms: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit & Wisdom of Our 43rd President
Woolf	Thomas	Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The
Wurtzel	Elizabeth	Bitch In Praise of Difficult Women
		Rough Guide To Europe, The 2003 Edition
		Compact Oxford English Dictionary, The
		several biographies of Winston Churchill

Other

Allende	Isabel	House of the Spirits, The
Allende	Isabel	Eva Luna
Bloom	Judy	Gospel According To Judy Bloom, The
Brown	Dan	DaVinci Code, The
Bukowski	Charles	Notes of a Dirty Old Man
Davies	Robertson	Manticore, The
Dubus III	Andre	House of Sand And Fog, The
Ellis	Bret Easton	Less Than Zero
Erdrich	Louise	Love Medicine
Eugenides	Jeffrey	Virgin Suicides, The
Faber	Michel	Crimson Petal and the White, The
Farrell	Henry	What Happened To Baby Jane?
Foer	Jonathon Safran	Everything Is Illuminated
Gogol	Nikolai Vasilevich	Dead Souls
Goldman	William	Marathon Man
Grafton	Sue	R is For Richocet
Grafton	Sue	S is For Silence
Hathaway	Katharine Butler	Little Locksmith, The
Hornsby	Nick	High Fidelity
Kaysen	Susanna	Girl, Interrupted
Kennedy	William J.	Ironweed
King	Stephen	Cujo
King	Stephen	Shining, The
King	Stephen	Carrie
King	Stephen	Christine
King	Stephen	Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Kohner	Frederick	Gidget
Lerner	Alan Jay	Brigadoon
Levin	Ira	Rosemary's Baby
Marquez	Gabriel Garcia	One Hundred Years of Solitude
McCourt	Frank	Angela's Ashes
McDonald	Gregory	Fletch
McEwan	Ian	Atonement
McMurtry	Larry	Terms of Endearment
Metalious	Grace	Peyton Place
Parker	Dorothy	Complete Stories
Powell	Dawn	Complete Novels/Novels 1930-1942
Powell	Dawn	Selected Letters of Dawn Powell
Pressfield	Steven	Legend of Bagger Vance, The
Puzo	Mario	Godfather: Book 1, The
Reger	Roger	Emily The Strange
Rilke	Rainer Maria	Letters to a Young Poet
Robert	Henry	Robert's Rules of Order
Segal	Erich	Love Story
Sexton	Anne	Complete Poems, The
Stein	Joseph	Fiddler On The Roof
Styron	William	Sophie's Choice
Susann	Jacqueline	Valley of the Dolls
Tan	Amy	Joy Luck Club, The
Toole	John Kennedy	A Confederacy of Dunces
Uhry	Alfred	Driving Miss Daisy
Webb	Charles	Graduate, The
Wells	Rebecca	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The
Welty	Eudora	Collected Short Stories, The
		Bhagava Gita, The