I have finally finished my first 999 Challenge and (SURPRISE, SURPRISE!) there were 50 books there were on the list at the end that were on the list at the beginning so I actually read more than half of the original list.
Here is the final breakdown of how I perceived my Challenge.
By Category:
Best of New books in an Old Series - Winter Study
Worst of New books in an Old Series - Candy Cane Murder(not really bad)
Best of Classics - Inferno by Dante
Worst of Classics - Northanger Abbey (Can't believe it, Jane Austen)
Best of Mysteries - Déja Dead (I understand why this is a TV series)
Worst of Mysteries - Shop til you Drop - not bad, but not great either
Best of Biographies/History - [Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation
Worst of Biographies/History - [James Madison] :The Presidents Series
Best of Award Winners: Mistress of the Art of Death
Worst of Award Winners : American Sphinx
Best of Surprise Books: My Sisters Keeper
Worst of Surprise books: Getting Old is Murder (not really bad)
Best of Harry Potter related : Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Worst of harry Potter related : The science of Harry Potter
Best of Favorite Authors: Shadow Queen (Language of Bees) a close 2nd
Worst of Favorite Authors: The Silver Needle Murder (not up to par)
Best of Found Books: Crocodile on the Sandbank
Worst of Found Books: The Lost Art of Towel Origami (I was really disappointed.)
Best Category overall: Award Winners (4 of my Top Ten are from this category)
Worst Category overall: Classics
Easiest Category to read: Favorite Authors
Hardest Category to Read: Classics
Category that surprised me the Most: Biographies/History
Category with no surprises: New Books in an Old Series
Category you wished you hadn't read: Classics
Category you wished you read more: Surprise- Books I found I want to read
Needless to say, I will not be having a Classics category next year!
My Top Ten of the 999 Books read are:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American nation (it surprised me too that this beat McCullough, I think it was the man more than the writing)
Mistress of the Art of Death
John Adams
Shadow Queen
Time Traveler's Wife
My Sister's Keeper
Still Life
Crocodile on the Sandbank
Sunrise
Ten Most Disappointing of the 999 Books read are:
Grandma Gets Laid
Northanger Abbey
The Lost Art of Towel Origami
New Clues to Harry Potter Book 5: Hints from the Ultimate Unofficial Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter
Don Quixote
A funny thing happened on the way to the White House
The Maltese Falcon
The Innocence of Father Brown
Benjamin Franklin
Shop Till You Drop
Mysteries - 39
History/ Bios 11
Fantasy/Children lt/YA 11
Fiction 12
Romance 6
General 2
Audiobooks 33
Surprises: When I looked at all these totals, it surprised me that...
1. I only read 39 mysteries because I felt like I was constantly reading mysteries (but maybe that's in 999X2).
2. I read 11 childrens books - I don't have kids!
3. I only read 6 romances - usually that's most of what I read.
4. I actually finished by 9/09/09 and half of another 999 challenge.
What didn't surprise me was that….
1. I really enjoyed the experience (so much so that I'm doing it again!)
2. I was able to stick with my original categories throughout the entire Challenge (I have good organizational skills, or so I've been told.)
3. but most of all, I made such wonderful friends along the way.
How could I not try again next year! Vivè 101010CC!
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