Woordenaar's 999 Challenge

I picked my categories, got some ideas about what to read for it.

I. I bless the rain down in Africa (books about Africa)
II. Really Thick Books I Plan to Read (500 pages or more)
III. Every picture tells a story (Graphic Novels)
IV. And the winner is... (Award Winning Books)
V. The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades (Science fiction)
VI. I always have a song inside my head (Music in books)
VII. Hebban olla uogala nestas hagunnan (Dutch Literature)
VIII. Cold cases (Scandinavian crime novels)
IX. Our written history is a catalogue of crime (Historical Novels)

I like your clever titles--very creative. I'll be looking to see what you put in your Africa category because I also have an Africa category. I already have mine pretty full, but I have a couple I could move to another category. I'll also be checking the Scandinavian crime novels--assuming they have been translated into English. I read a lot in that genre but have never read any from Scandinavia--you may broaden my outlook!

In fact as I look at your categories again, probably the only one I won't "raid" will be the Dutch Literature--and if any of that has been translated I might even get some of those.

I. I bless the rain down in Africa (books about Africa)

1. Het beloofde land - Adriaan van Dis
2. Een staat van vrijheid - V.S. Naipaul
3. De luistervink - John le Carré
4. In ongenade - J.M. Coetzee
5. Het volle leven - Alexander MacCall Smith
6. Wat de sterren zeggen - Antjie Krog
7. Een ochtend in Irgalem - Davide Longo
8. Hart der duisternis - Joseph Conrad
9. Wat is de Wat - Dave Eggers

II. Really Thick Books I Plan to Read (500 pages or more)

1. A fraction of the whole - Steve Toltz
2. Kafka on the shore - Haruki Murakami
3. The savage detectives - Roberto Bolaño
4. Palace council - Stephen L. Carter
5. It - Stephen King
6. Het lot van de familie Meyer - Charles Lewinsky
7. Een storm van zwaarden: Staal en sneeuw - George R.R. Martin
8. Een storm van zwaarden: Bloed en goud - George R.R. Martin
9.

III. Every picture tells a story (Graphic Novels)

1. The arrival - Shaun Tan
2. Het dwaallicht - Willem Elsschot/Dick Matena
3. Ode to Kirihito - Osamu Tezuka
4. Eisner #2 - Various
5. De wandelaar - Jirô Taniguchi & Masayuki Kusumi
6. Metamorfoses - Schuiten/Peeters
7. Pyongyang - Guy Delisle
8. Een dierentuin in de winter - Jirô Taniguchi
9. Bob Dylan revisited - Various

IV. And the winner is... (Award Winning Books)

1. De eenzaamheid van de priemgetallen - Paolo Giordano
2. De koningin van Sheba - Knut Hamsun
3. The secret script - Sebastian Barry
4. De macht van meneer Miller - Charles den Tex
5. Laagland - Joseph O'Neill
6. Iemand, niemand en honderdduizend - Luigi Pirandello
7. Ik ben niet bang - Niccolò Ammaniti
8. Veranderend licht - Jens Christian Grøndahl
9. De witte tijger - Aravind Adiga

V. The future is so bright, I gotta wear shades (Science fiction)

1. Big planet - Jack Vance
2. Ringworld engineers - Larry Niven
3. The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy - Douglas Adams
4. Biochips - William Gibson
5. De Godenmakers - Frank Herbert
6. Het licht van vroeger dagen - Arthur C. Clarke & Stephen Baxter
7. Op drift in paradoxen - Charles Harness
8.
9.

VI. I always have a song inside my head (Music in books)

1. Jazzhelden - Koen Schouten
2. Opera in Qatar - Michiel Borstlap
3. Contrapunt - Anna Enquist
4. Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro
5. Ten zuiden van de grens - Haruki Murakami
6. Het Keuriskwartet - Anja Sicking
7. Denvis - Leon Verdonschot
8. High fidelity - Nick Hornby
9.

VII. Hebban olla uogala nestas hagunnan (Dutch Literature)

1. De liefdesbaby - A.F.Th. van der Heijden
2. Ik begrijp de moordenaar - Mark Boog
3. Dagboek 1967 - Jan Wolkers
4. Een tafel vol vlinders - Tim Krabbé
5. Horrible tango - Jan Wolkers
6. Alleen maar nette mensen - Robert Vuijsje
7. Kamermeisjes & soldaten - Arnon Grunberg
8. Visser - Rob van Essen
9. Vis - Anton Valens

VIII. Cold cases (Scandinavian crime novels)

1. The redbreast - Jo Nesbø
2. De commissaris en het zwijgen - Håkan Nesser
3. Poortwachter - Kristian Lundberg
4. De vijfde vrouw - Henning Mankell
5. Maandagskinderen - Arnaldur Indriðason
6. Gerechtigheid - Stieg Larsson
7. Schaduw - Karin Alvtegen
8. Snel geld - Jens Lapidus
9. Kluis 21 - Anders Roslund & Börge Hellström

IX. Our written history is a catalogue of crime (Historical Novels)

1. Zeepost - Roelof van Gelder
2. Heretic - Bernard Cornwell
3. De kleine keizer - Martin Bril
4. De kille maagd - Ellis Peters
5. Het ei van Salaì - Monaldi & Sorti
6. Rome - Steven Saylor
7. Oeroeg - Hella S. Haasse
8. De terugkeer van de geschiedenis - Robert Kagan
9. De een van de ander - Philip Kerr

Musicmom41: thank you! I read most of my books in Dutch, maybe one or two in English. I've put some titles in now. Don't know if I'm gonna read about 9 different African countries, I just wait and see what's on my way. Oh, and you should definitely read Scandinavian crime novel the girl with the dragon tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

I guess that I will now have to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo--your are the fourth person today that has posted I should read it! I didn't realize it was Scandinavian--that is the clincher. I probably can't get it for a while from my library--I'm sure the wait is long--but if I don't read it before the end of this year it will go in my Mystery category for 999. Thanks for the recommendation.

I really enjoyed Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful by Alan Paton. It's set in South Africa. It's told in several different viewpoints.

cmbohn: Thanks for the recommendation, I'll keep Alan Paton in mind but a first quick look learns he's not translated in Dutch.

I'll be interested in seeing what you read for Graphic Novels; I have that as a category too.

Fun category headings! I'm a sucker for everyone out there with catchy ideas. Mine, of course, are boring and to the point.

I look forward to seeing the books you have in the music in books category.

Pirandello is a good one in the Prize Winners category - I have that category too. I've already read Iemand, niemand en honderdduizend, but I also have Dagboek van Serafino Gubbio, cameraman. I might read that one instead.

What is de What is a very good idea!

bell7: I have no idea's yet, but I'm sure titles come along the way. I've never read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi for example, might be a good choice.

nmhale: nothing wrong with to the point. The music category. Again, no idea's. Can be nonfiction, literature or crime novel. For example: this year I read Past Reason Hated by Peter Robinson, in which a Vivaldi record is part of the mystery.

jebronse: I knew you would find What is the What a very good idea :-)

About the music thing. Read Misterioso by Arne Dahl yet?

I will be following closely what you read in your music category. I'm a musician and hope to find some things that I would like to add to my reading list.

ETA Years ago I read a novel by John Hersey called Antonietta which is the story of a violin from its making and the travels through many famous owners. Don't know if this would appeal to you but I enjoyed it.

jebronse: not yet

MusicMom41: sounds like a movie I once saw, not bad. Have you, as a musician, ever read An equal music by Vikram Seth? Highly recomendable!

New author for me and so a new book--I read the reviews and have added to my wish list. Thanks for the suggestion--I think I will really like it.

If they made a movie of Antonietta I didn't hear about it. There was a movie called The Red Violin which I haven't seen but I don't think it's the same story. I have the soundtrack on CD because it is great music--I've just never gotten around to checking out the DVD. I'm a reader, so unless my family wants to watch I seldom get movies for myself.

MusicMom41: it was indeed The Red Violin.

Hello,
you could try in your category on history a book of Robert Goddard like Past Caring - Verjaard bedrog in dutch.
It are crime novels, but always with a historical background, sometimes amazing to see how the details are very correct but the story remains fiction. His earlier books are stronger then the newer ones.

@Lunar18: I'll check Goddard at the library if I don't know what to read

I truly love Scandinavian crime novels. Henning Mankell you have probably already read, but two others I really enjoyed this year were by Karin Fossum and Johan Theorin.

I'll be peering intently at your choices in that category and if you have enjoyed any in particular, please let me know!

Some nonfiction possibilities for your music category:
* This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin
* Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
* World in Six Songs by Daniel Levitin
* The Soloist by Steve Lopez
* Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber

I also read a Deborah Crombie mystery, A Finer End, that featured much information about church music. I ended up buying a few CDs after reading that one....

And then there's Swing: A Mystery by Rupert Holmes, which comes with a CD that has swing music on it.

ReneeMarie

Good suggestions about music related books--I have the first two, but not read yet, and will be looking up the others.

I'm also interested in the Crombie--I love mysteries. I notice this is a series. Does it pay to read this series in order? This is what I usually do--I love having more of a series I like to look forward to!

That's actually the only Crombie book I've read so far. I'm a history addict: I love historical fiction and I love contemporary fiction with historical ties. The Crombie book is the latter. It caught my eye one day while shelving the mystery section.

The Lopez book is a biography/memoir that's becoming a movie, if it isn't out already. And the Faber book was a staff recommendation at the bookstore where I work. The guy who recommended it is into religion, classical music, and Jung.

Of the nonfiction, the only ones I may end up reading are the ones by Levitin. I probably won't read the Holmes, but the fact that the book came with a CD when it was published several years ago definitely made it memorable.

RidgewayGirl: I hope to include a Wallander novel by Henning Mankell, haven't read them all. I will definitely include one or maybe more novels by Håkan Nesser. Also planning to read the third Stieg Larsson novel. Johan Theorin sounds promising.

ReneeMarie: oh, Musicophilia is an excelent suggestion, thanks for that!

I came across The Soloist this past year on the 888. I really enjoyed it!! It is about a journalist who comes across a homeless man playing a violin on a street corner. Come to find out the homeless man is a schizophrenic, Julliard drop out. It is my understanding the movie (with Jamie Fox and Robert Downey Junior) keeps getting pushed back, but the last date I heard was May sometime.

ShannonMDE: a movie adaption menas there may be a Dutch translation comming. Sounds good!

I've started my first book: A fraction of the whole by Steve Toltz for my category Really Thick Books I Plan to Read

Reading book 4, once again for my category Really Thick Books I Plan To Read, Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami.

Finished book 5, a graphic novel version of Het dwaallicht. Reading #6 Jazzhelden, interviews by Koen Schouten for my music category and started with De roodborst by Jo Nesbø for my Scandinavian thrillers category.

Finished #6 and #7. #8 will be a pricewinner: De eenzaamheid van de priemgetallen by Paolo Giordano, winner of the Premio Strega 2008.

Started book #9 Pillars of the earth by Ken Follett for the history category. Eventually I might double that with the 500+ pages category.

I quited Pillars of the earth, didn't liked it at all.

#9 Opera in Qatar - Michiel Borstlap. Jazz pianist Michiel Borstlap composed an opera for the sheik in Qatar. Sometimes hilaric story, but Borstlap plays better then he writes.
#10 De koningin van Sheba - Knut Hamsun. Short stories by the Norwegian Nobelprize winner from 1920. Good stories!
#11 Het beloofde land - Adriaan van Dis. Van Dis traveling through a part of South Africa. Better then I expected.
#12 The secret script - Sebastian Barry. Great story, wonderfully written.
#13 De commissaris en het zwijgen - Håkan Nesser. Swedish crime novel. I realy love these van Veeteren novels.
#14 Big planet - Jack Vance. Not the best novel I read by Jack Vance, still enjoyable.

Thank you, thank you for disliking Pillars of the Earth! I have a great disaffection for historical novels in which an historical period is entirely populated by modern people wearing quaint costumes. Pillars of the Earth annoyed me. And you are the first person here who has not loved the book. I love you.

Ridgeway Girl: I love you too :-) I realy tried and tried with Pillars of the Earth, especialy because everybody says its fantastic. Well, its not!

Finished #15 Ik begrijp de moordenaar - Mark Boog. Dutch literature, very poetic.

Finished #16 Zeepost - Roelof van Gelder

Now I finaly have 1 book read in each category.

#17 is my first manga ever: Ode to Kirihito by Osamu Tezuka. I can't wait untill the translation of MW lays in stores.

Finished #23 and almost ready with #24. Seems some categories are problematic...

Which ones? Maybe we can help?!

Kaela: Africa, Science Fiction and Historic novels. Only read one in each category. I do have some titles though.

Finished #24, another pricewinner. De macht van meneer Miller by Charles den Tex, winner of the Dutch crime novel award 2006.

Mmm...well, I'm not really into Africa or Historic (or does historic fantasy count, too?), but a science fiction book I enjoyed, was Gifmeester by Liz Williams. And did you read Tonke Dragts Torenhoog en mijlenbreed and Ogen van tijgers? Though YA/kids books, they're very good!

51: Hah! I don't even have 9 categories yet. I'm figuring that either inspiration will strike, or I'll split my existing categories when they fill up.

#26 is the fantastic Heretic by Bernard Cornwell for the history category. Only the last book of The Grail Quest trilogy is translated in Dutch, which is a bit odd, but still a fantastic novel. I ordered his newest novel Azincourt in English immediately.

Now reading for the Africa category: In a free state by V.S. Naipaul.

#30 is Palace council by Stephen L> Carter, great, great novel!

You practically took the words out of my mouth ;-)

Hi woordenaar,

I see that there are other 'dutchies' around, nice! :) I really love your categoryheaders!

Some suggestions:
- for your very thick books-category: have you already read De ontdekking van de hemel by Harry Mulisch? Really good book and about, oh, say, 900 pages.
- for your music in books-category: did you already try Der Klavierstimmer by Pascal Mercier (translated in dutch as De pianostemmer)? I haven't read it yet, but I hear it's really good.
- for your dutch literature-category: Eline Vere by Louis Couperus or Karakter by Bordewijk were some books I enjoyed in highschool. They start off a bit slowly, but once you're in it, the story really captures you.

How did you like Kafka on the shore? I've been intriguied by the title but somehow never got to buying the book.

#34 Vis - Anton Valens. Finished my category VII. Dutch Literature.

Ralinde: I (re)read De ontdekking van de hemel last year, good book indeed!
Also last year I read The piano tuner (also translated as De pianostemmer) by Daniel Mason, nice historic novel. Maybe I should try another pianostemmer ;)
Finished the Dutch literature, easy.
Kafka on the shore is realy good, highly recomandable!

#35 The fifth woman - Henning Mankell
#36 The mission song - John le Carré

Finished #41, the beautiful Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

Finished #47, De kleine keizer by Martin Bril, a book about the passion for Napoleon Bonaparte.

finished 61 books, gotto read 20 books in 83 days. I don't think I'm gonna finish this thing...

I must say I want to read things I like instead of things that fit in my categories.

Choose your categories so everything fits in somewhere....

So I ended up with 77 books read for my 999 challenge, with 90 books read over the whole year. Seems I read to many books that didn't fit a category.

Hello woordenaar,
90 books in one year, wow ! Please tell me how to read when asleep ! (that's my only chance of reading so many books in a year).
All the best for 2010 !
Lunar18