Thursday, March 26, 2009

Herding CATS II Challenge

I've read:

1) The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling
2) Old Man's War by John Scalzi
3) Skellig by David Almond
4) Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

The oh-so-fabulous Renay is hosting the Herding Cats II challenge. I can't fine the start/end dates about the challenge anywhere. (APRIL 1, 2009 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2009) But these are the rules we do know:

1. Make a list of five books you love. Directions:

  • Five. I'm as serious as a beached whale.
  • All titles must be books you've read in 2007, 2008 or 2009.
  • Please don't list a series; just the first book. If you really want to list a book in the middle of a series, you can, but it has to be that specific book.
  • Feel free to share why you're putting the book on your list, because I am nosy.

2. Post your list:

  • in your own journal, in the comments here, whatever is fine. Share the list here.
  • Lists should be public (no locked entries, no logging in to view).

3. Browse the new book list. Stay a while. Read a few.

4. If you review your books, you can share the reviews. You know, if you want. No pressure. Definitely not.

The home page for this project is at http://www.echthroi.org/getliterate/herdingcats/ (or http://tinyurl.com/cdxk45). If you twitter, feel free to #herdcats over there. ;)


I have NO IDEA how I'm going to choose just FIVE BOOKS. But here it goes...

1) Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck. It's funny. It's short. It's accessible. Simple, straightforward, but oh-so-charming storytelling. No pretenses. What you see, is what you get.

2) The Amulet of Samarkand (Bartimaeus Book #1) by Jonathan Stroud. (Cough, cough) (Yes, I'm looking at you.) More people need to read this one. It's fantasy at its best.

3) Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. One of my favorite books of 2008. I just loved this one. (And it's the Printz winner from last year.) Just read how this one starts off, "My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted. It happened on the Jellicoe Road."

4) Ten Cents A Dance by Christine Fletcher. One of the best historical fiction novels ever, ever. Give it a try!

5) Marcelo In the Real World by Francisco X. Stork. One of my favorites of 2009. I just LOVE this book. And I think you will too.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
If you're reading this post on another site, or another feed, the content has been stolen.

9 comments:

Renay said...

Ha! I planned EVERYTHING but the start/end dates. I'll go add them. Start: April 1st! End: December 31st! I would make it longer but I need a few months to prep Herding Cats III, so!

Jellicoe Road is on my list (and my shelf) and I think you made me put Marcelo In the Real World on my to-red list with your review. I almost picked it up the other day at B&N but chose The Forest of Hands and Teeth instead, because, well...zombies.

I will get your list up soon. :D

Becky said...

Renay, it's funny you should mention The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It came down to a coin toss between Marcelo in the Real World and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I LOVED both of them so much and wanted them both to have a home on the list. But only one spot left...

Oh well.

Renay said...

Well, that's a good way to convince me to read it sooner, rather than later! Hopefully someone else will join the challenge and list it? *crosses fingers*

Anonymous said...

I'm adding Tortilla Flat to my list!

chrisa511 said...

I put three on my list because of you :p Can't wait to see what other books end up on the list!!!

DesLily said...

LOL Chris is going to read Bartimaeus !!

Debi said...

Well, I already have Jellicoe Road on my TBR pile because of you. I have a feeling, I'm going to have to read Marcelo, too, and that's okay. But the Bartimaeus trilogy, oh man. Annie absolutely LOVED these...and I've been resisting due mainly to their length. So I'm begging you, please don't go making me want to read these, okay? (Yeah, you're so not going make such promises, are you?)

Sandra said...

I'm so glad I found this. I was too late to do it last year. I may try Ten Cents a Dance for one of my reads since you recommend it so highly. Thanks for the link. And I always enjoy browsing around your blog when I come here. I only read one genre but you read such a wide variety of things that I always find books that interest me.

Nise' said...

Just finished Ten Cents A Dance and loved it!