Monday, July 28, 2008

New Classics Challenge

Joanna at Lost in a Good Story is hosting The New Classics Challenge, and I figured it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to join since I've already posted and discussed this list of new classics compiled by Entertainment Weekly here on my "Pondering the Classics" post. Also, I have 6 of books—the required number—already on my TBR list, so I don't have to add any to my list. I am, however, adding a couple of alternates.

So the challenge rules are:

1) Copy the list and bold the titles that you have already read.
2) Choose at least 6 other books from the list , read and review them between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.
2) Go back to Lost in a Good Story and post links to your reviews.
3) In January 2009, cast your vote for which one of the 100 books on the list is your favorite (and write a post on why). The winning book will be sent to a lucky winner chosen by the scientific method favored here in the blogosphere, i.e. names in a hat.

Below is the list (with books I've read already in red), and here are the books I'm planning to read for this challenge:
The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995) Read and reviewed 8/08
Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002) Read and reviewed 8/08
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

My alternates:
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)

EW's List

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

You can take part in the challenge by following the links above.

9 comments:

Mrs. Darling said...

Oh my goodness when I read this list I about died! I thought they all had to be read by Jnauary so then I went back up and read the rules and it became more doable. I would love to do this. I wonder if I could....hmmmm. I dont know. I'll have to think about it.

Marbel said...

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is one of the best books I've ever read. Ever.

That list of classics from EW. I dunno, a tv show dedicated to fluff entertainment determining classic books? But I haven't heard of all the books so I should tone down the snobbery, eh? :-)

Sarah at SmallWorld said...

Mrs. D--that would be quite a challenge!!

Marbel--I am looking forward to reading it!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's a lot o' classics!

I wish I was a better reader... I'll have to blog about that sometime.

Did I mention that I'm enjoying your Housewarming Party? ;)

(in this case... Day 4)?

raymond pert said...

In answer to a couple of your questions you posted at my blog:

1. I did indeed see JJL in Short Cuts when the movie first came out and my jaw literally dropped. At kellogg bloggin, I've been writing about movies of hers I've watched in the last few weeks. I saw Short Cuts right when it came out. I love Robert Altman and I loved Short Cuts. BTW, I haven't seen every movie of JJL's, but I'm working on it!

2. I did not originate Three Beautiful Things. It started here:
http://threebeautifulthings.blogspot.com/
I'm simply happy to be a part of this international movement!

Marny said...

I'm looking forward to reading your review of The Road (assumed you're writing one). I've started reading it but put it back on my TBR pile for now. It's just too depressing but I'm definitely going to read it.

joanna said...

Welcome to the challenge! :-)

Anonymous said...

Is it bad that I haven't read a single book on that list save for Harry Potter? I really need to get my hands on some really great books!

CustomBookshelf said...

It is a huge list to make complete :)
but I hope you will. Let me know about it.