Jan 6, 2010

2009 Challenge Wrap-Up

I haven't done my 2009 Challenge wrap-up yet, but I figured today would be as good a day as any.

I also have two challenges from 2009 that spill over into 2010, but I'll give you a progress update at the end of this post.


First up is the WWII Reading Challenge I co-hosted with Anna from Diary of an Eccentric at War Through the Generations.  I initially set out to read 5 books for the challenge, and actually exceeded my goal.  I read 10 books!  I only read one of the books I originally set out to read.

Here are the links to my reviews for the 10 books I completed for the challenge:

1.  Reading by Lightning by Joan Thomas
2.  Bloody Good by Georgia Evans
3.  T4 by Ann Clare Lezotte
4.  Now Silence by Tori Warner Shepard
5.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
6.  Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas
7.  Night of Flames by Douglas Jacobson
8.  Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen
9.  Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
10.  Words That Burn Within Me by Hilda Stern Cohen

I hope you take the time to check out those reviews if you missed them.  There are some great books in that list and one of them was my top pick for 2009.


I also participated in the Everything Austen challenge in which you could read Jane Austen's books, spinoffs, or watch movies.  All in all, you could mix and match to reach the six items required, which is what I did.  I didn't start this challenge with a specific list.

I read five books for the challenge and watched one movie.  Check out my reviews below.

1.  Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange
2.  Pride & Prejudice (2005) movie
3.  The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy by Sara Angelini
4.  A Match for Mary Bennet by Eucharista Ward
5.  Willoughby's Return by Jane Odiwe
6.  Searching for Pemberley by Mary Lydon Simonsen

You also will find one of these books in my top picks of 2009.

OK, as for the ongoing challenges through mid-2010 or thereabouts, this sums up my progress:


The Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge ends on June 30, 2010, and you must read the entire series, which for me is 9 books since I had never read these before.  I've only read two books for this challenge, but I fully expect to catch up and finish this one.  Click on the links below for my reviews:

1.  Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
2.  Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris


I signed up for the Valparaiso Poetry Review challenge a bit late, but since I had already reviewed poetry earlier in 2009 and those reviews counted toward my totals, I signed up for the highest level of reading 11-15 books.

These are the ones I've read:

1.  How to Read a Poem by Molly Peacock
2.  Becoming the Villainess by Jeannine Hall Gailey
3.  Green Bodies by Rosemary Winslow
4.  Apologies to an Apple by Maya Ganesan
5.  Carta Marina by Ann Fisher-Wirth
6.  More of Me Disappears by John Amen
7.  Fair Creatures of an Hour by Lynn Levin
8.  At the Threshold of Alchemy by John Amen
9.  Holocaust Poetry compiled by Hilda Schiff
10.  Words That Burn Within Me by Hilda Stern Cohen
11.  Vampire Haiku by Ryan Mecum

You will find one of these books in my top picks of 2009.  While I have met the lower end of the scale, I plan to read more through the end of the challenge on May 16, 2010.

Also, I've been cleaning up some sidebar stuff and I decided to use thumbnail images for the 2010 Challenges; you can find those in the right sidebar under the Best of 2009 Amazon.com shelf.

How did you do with your challenges last year?

15 comments:

Melody said...

Congrats on finishing and have fun with the rest of the challenges! :)

Anna said...

Congratulations! You did great with last year's challenges and you're on pace with the others. Do you ever sleep? LOL

--Anna
Diary of an Eccentric

Serena said...

I sleep about as much as you do, Anna! LOL I just need to read more in the Sookie Challenge...I think I can do it.

Sandy Nawrot said...

Wow, you had a banner year! Double the number of WWII books even! To me, that was the easiest challenge of the bunch. You trip over all the WWII books, there are so many. I swear I have enough WWII books to do another year's worth of challenge.

I was pretty proud of my performance on the challenges. I only did not finish one (Outlander, but who can blame me with like 250 audio discs!). I'm looking forward to 2010!

Serena said...

Sandy: I was glad that I read more than my goal. I was no where near Anna's total though.

Not finishing just one challenge is an accomplishment. Good luck in 2010!

Julie P. said...

You are awesome. I'm not doing quite as well -- I only post the ones that I've completed! ;)

bermudaonion said...

You did great with your challenges! You're ahead of me in the Sookie challenge.

Beth F said...

You are making great progress!!!

Jenners said...

Well done and keep on going!

Kristen said...

You did so well on your challenges and to have so many of your top books coem from their lists is fantastic!

J.S. Peyton said...

I saw "Pride and Prejudice" the 2005 movie for the first time a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was pretty good. It sped through and condensed a lot of parts, but I really liked Kiera Knightly as Elizabeth and I found the shyer version of Mr. Darcy in the movie was a nice interpretation of his character.

Good luck with the rest of your challenges!

Wrighty said...

Terrific job!! I haven't done any challenges yet, they seem so overwhelming. I think I just need to choose the right ones. I've read some of the books you have listed for your challenges and I really enjoyed them. Best of luck with the rest. I'm sure you will exceed your original expectations!

christina said...

I'm currently reading the Sookie books too. They're a lot of fun. And yay for the WW2 challenge. Did you join this year's War Thru the Ages?

Serena said...

Christina: Yes, I will be reading and hosting the Vietnam War 2010 Challenge...I hope you are joining us.

Anonymous said...

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