Cherry Blossom Adventures

Ages and ages and ages ago I signed up for  reading challenge here which involved reading eight books in eight different categories during 2008 (with an allowance of up to 8 crossovers). Anybody that knows me in real life knows I am a reader…I have always been a reader, in fact my parents are not sure how but I apparently taught myself to read at age 3 and there are photos of me less than a year old pouring through old encyclopedias (and I unlike most babies I apparently wasn`t just trying to eat them).

I am not sure how many books I would normally read in a year but I would have put it at close to 80 (I originally thought more but have now reassessed)

My original list was on this blog post but due to an international move a couple of months ago when I was forced to leave some unread books behind in Japan I had to rewrite my list and take off the books I knew I wouldn`t be able to read this year. And well, last week I finally got around to uploading it to the 888 blog and now less than a week after that I am actually getting around to posting it on here so i am actually quite proud of my time management skills on this!

Here is my list- Those in green have already been read, those with asterix`s are books I owned already when the challenge started and just so you know I have seven overlaps meaning by the end of the challenge I should of read not 64 books but 57 and so far for this challenge I have read 48 I think. I have been keeping track of the books I read since I started journaling again last August but have now put it on my computer (somewhere?!?) since I was constantly forgetting the books I had read already (and it also helps me remember authors I like!)

Ok, enough rambling from me. Here is the list (Really!)

Favourite authors- Chose this category for obvious reasons

1. An offer you can`t refuse- Jill Mansell(Jun)
2. Change of Heart- Jodi Picoult (Jun)
3. Wife for Hire- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-mar)
4. Cage of Stars- Jacqelyn Mitchard* (Jan)
5. Prisoner of Earth- Jeffrey Archer (Cross over)
6. Dear John- Nicholas Sparks* (Cross over- Mar)
7. Lean Mean thirteen- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Jan)
8. Black Cat- V.C Andrews (Cross over-Feb)

In a series- Chose this category since I have started a couple of different series but need to catch up on them, plus also already had a couple of these books on my shelves

1. Broken Flower- V.C Andrews* (Feb)
2. Scattered Leaves- V.C Andrews
3. Lean Mean thirteen- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Jan)
4. Fearless Fourteen- Janet Evanovich (Aug)
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows- J.K Rowling*(April)
6. Skinny Bitch- Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouim (Jan)
7. Key Lime Pie Murder- Joanne Fluke (Jun)
8. Honky Tonk Kat- Karen Kijewski

Read because I moved back to Australia and got new books!- Choose this because had an unplanned mid year move

1. Lessons in Heartbreak- Cathy Kelly (Jun)
2. You Drive me Crazy- Carole Matthews (May)
3. It`s a Kind of Magic- Carole Matthews (Jul)
4. Bad Behaviour- Shelia O`Flanagan (Aug)
5.Tales from the Crib- Jennifer Coburn (May)
6. The Babymoon- Melanie La`Brooy (Sep)
7. The Alibi- Sandra Brown
8. Second Chance- Jane Green

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller- Chose this since mysteries etc are one of my most read style of books, this and chick-lit

1. Bell, book & scandal- Jill Churchill*
2. Chocolate chip cookie murder- Joanne Fluke* (Jan)
3. Strawberry Short Cake murder- Joanne Fluke (Feb)
4. Count Down- Iris Johansen *(May)
5. Dream man- Linda Howard* (Feb)
6. Ricochet- Sandra Brown* (Apr)
7. Open Season- Linda Howard (Apr)
8. Play Dirty- Sandra Brown (Aug)

Chick-lit- What I read just as much, if not more than mysteries….

1. Baby Proof- Emily Giffin* (Jan)
2. You Could Do Better- Stephanie Lehman* (Feb)
3. Marshmallows for breakfast- Dorothy Koomson*(Jun)
4. Those Faraday Girls- Monica McInerney* (Mar)
5. Artistic Licence- Katie Fforde* (Sep)
6. Remember me- Sophie Kinsella (Sep)
7. Certain Girls - Jennifer Weiner (Jun)
8. Wife for Hire- Janet Evanovich (Cross over-Mar)

Young Adult/Children Fiction- Thought I should go back to some books that make me the reader I am today, and also read some other YA fiction that has had a lot of good reviews or awards!

1. Alison- Margaret Watts (One of my favourite books as a teenager- reread)*
2. Dear Venny, Dear Saffron-Libby Hathorn (same as above)*
3. The Book Theif- Marcus Zusak*
4. Gossipgirl- Cecily Von Ziegesar*(jun)
5. Kira Kira- Cynthia Kadohata* (Jan)
6. All American Girl- Meg Cabot* (Mar)
7. On the Jellicoe Road^ Melina Marchetta* (May)
8. Black Cat- V.C Andrews (Feb- Cross over)

Japanese authors/books about Japan- Live(d) Japan so thought I should try to read some more books that have come from here…

1. In Praise of shadows- Junichiro Tanizaki*(Cross over-April)
2. Snow Country- Yasunari kawebata* (Cross over-Jan)
3. Kitchen- Banana Yoshimoto* (Jan)
4. South of the border, west of the sun- Murakami Haruki*(Cross over-Aug)
5. Yakuza moon- Shoko Tendo* (Feb)
6. Goodbye Tsugumi- Banana Yoshimoto (Feb)
7. Losing Kei- Suzanne Kamata (May)
8. Bar Flower- Lea Jacobson (Apr)

Male Authors- I am trying to broaden my reading horizons a little bit and it seems that most of the books I do read are by female authors…Hopefully this will help me get started on my quest to broaden my reading horizons.

1. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree- Nick Hornby* (Feb)
2. For one more day- Mitch Albom*
3.South of the Border West of the Sun-Haruki Murakami (Cross over- read in August)
4. Dear John- Nicholas Sparks* (Cross over- mar)
5. Snow Country- Yasunari kawebata* (Cross over-Jan)
6. In Praise of shadows- Junichiro Tanizaki*(April)
7. Prisoner of Earth- Jeffrey Archer (Cross over)
8. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini (Apr?)

So who else keeps track of the books they read? Or enters reading challenges?! I know that entering keeps me a little bit more focused and ensures I continue to read a little everyday even if it is just while on the train to and from work. I have read more books this year that are not on this list but only about 6 or 7 so as a total have only read about 55 books so far this year.

My favourite books from the list are Yakuza Moon, Losing Kei, Kitchen, The babymoon, Change of Heart, Count Down & The Kite Runner. Have you read any of these books? Which did you like?

So with 9 books left to read before December 31 I am sure I will fit them all in but wish me luck all the same- especially since their are a couple of pretty thick ones left to go!

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