The Quintessential Challenge for 2008

Michelle (or 3M) is hosting the quintessential challenge for 2008! In the Triple 8 Challenge (or 888), participants "read eight books in each of eight different categories in 2008." (Further details are available on the challenge blog.)


These are my eight categories:

1. Oh, To Be Young Again! (some cross-listing with the Young Adult Challenge)
   Eight young adult or older children's novels.


2. Escapism Reads (some cross-listing with the Series Challenge, the First in a Series Challenge, and the Cardathon)
   Eight books from the genres of mystery, suspense thriller, science fiction, fantasy, chick lit, or maybe even romance.


3. In Their Shoes (cross-listing with the "In Their Shoes" Challenge)
   Eight memoirs, biographies, or autobiographies. The "long list" of my picks is here.


4. Bee Bonanza
   Eight books from the 2008 Beehive Book Nominees. (The Beehive Awards are sponsored by the Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU). Awards are given in five categories: Children's Picture Book, Children's Fiction Book, Children's Informational Book, Young Adults' Book, and Children's Poetry Book. Winners are chosen from the nominated books by the children of Utah, who vote for their favorite books. A list of the 2008 nominees can be found here.) These are my preliminary picks (in alphabetical order):
   
   
   • Bella at Midnight by Diane Stanley*
   
   
   • Dairy Queen: A Novel by Catherine Gilbert Murdock*
   
   
   • Fairest by Gail Carson Levine*
   
   
   • Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes*
   
   
   • Pieces of Georgia by Jennifer Bryant*
   
   
   • The Rhyming Season by Edward Averett*
   
   
   • She's All That: Poems about Girls by Belinda Hollyer
   
   
   • Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh
   
   
5. Salt Lake County Library Reader's Choice
   Eight books from either the 2008 nominees or past winners. (Twice a year the Salt Lake County Library staff selects a group of recently published books that they enjoyed reading and that they think library patrons will like reading too. Patrons vote for their favorites. A list of past winners is here.)


6. Banned Books (in conjunction with the Banned Books Project)
   Eight books from the many that have ever been challenged or banned.


7. IRL Book Club Picks
   Eight picks from those chosen for my main in-real-life book club. (We meet eleven times during the year, so hopefully there will be at least eight picks that I haven't previously read. If there aren't enough, then this category will be expanded to include some picks of the book club of my church women's group.)


8. Books About Books (cross-listing with the Themed Reading Challenge)
   Eight books (fiction or non-fiction) about books or reading. Among the possibilities I'm considering are the following:
   
   
   • 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff (This would be a re-read from my college days.)
   
   
   • Book Crush: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl
   
   
   • Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl
   
   
   • The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them edited by Roxanne J. Coady and Joy Johannessen
   
   
   • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak*
   
   
   • Booked to Die (the first in the Cliff Janeway series) by John Dunning
   
   
   • Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
   
   
   • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (This would be a re-read from my high school days.)*
   
   
   • Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
   
   
   • How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
   
   
   • Inkheart by Cornelia Funke*
   
   
   • Inkspell by Cornelia Funke*
   
   
   • Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen*
   
   
   • Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World by Lawrence Goldstone
   
   
   • The Readers' Choice: 200 Book Club Favorites by Victoria Golden McMains

Note: Potentially overlapping picks (eight of which are allowed by the challenge) are marked with an asterisk.

I've done the math, and if I'm going to be successful with this challenge, I'm going to need to read at least five of these books each month (or a little more than one book a week) throughout the year. As of today I've read almost sixty-seven books this year - which is at a pace for a total of about seventy-nine for the whole year, or about one-and-a-half books a week. Even with the addition of a handful of additional books - for other challenges (either already in progress or yet to join), for other purposes (such as the Book Buddies picks and the selections of two Yahoo book groups I've recently joined - Book Awards and Classic Lit), or justforthehelluvit - it seems do-able. (I think.)