Herding Cats…My First Challenge

So today I start a new adventure in blogging, Challenges. I have become a regular reader of Thinking About… written by Jules. I stumbled upon her blog when doing a google search for the restaurant my husband works at (she had written about it in her blog). So I have been reading her blog and I noticed that she participates in quite a few challenges, so when she wrote about this one, it looked interesting so I decided to join my first challenge.

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats

1. List 10 books you have read and love or at least really really like.

2. Pick 3 books you haven’t read before from the ‘favorite books lists’ of other challenge participants. They have put together a great master list, making it much easier.

3. Read those 3 books, and review them on your blog. The time frame is May - November 2008.

4. Of course, link to the main challenge blog.

So here is my list of 10:

1) Yellow Raft in Blue Water- By Michael A Dorris- This book is an amazing book about the relationship between Mothers, Daughters and Granddaughters.
2) A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier- By Ishmael Beah- I read this book in one night because it was a Christmas gift for someone else and I had to wrap it. I would stay up all night again to read this!
3) Mists of Avalon- By Marion Zimmer Bradley- I was introduces to this wonderful book by my Women’s Lit teacher in college. I have read it again since then.
4) Night- By Eli Wiesel- I read this book for the first time in high school and have read it many times since. I cry every time.
5) Nectar in a Sieve- By Kamala Markandaya- I was assigned this book in a Humaniites course in college but dropped the class. So years later when I was moving I found the book and read it then. I wish I had read it sooner.
6) The Great Gatsby- By F. Scott Fitzgerald- This classic is a permanent fixture on my bookshelf. I have read it so many times it is scribbled all over and worn out. But I still love it.
7) The Wedding- By Nicholas Sparks- This book is the sequel to the bestseller The Notebook. I liked both books but I liked this one better. I loved this story and am glad that I took the time to read it.
8) At First Sight- By Nicholas Sparks- I have two Nicholas Sparks books on my list and I probably could have put more but I wanted to but a variety of different authors. This book is probably my second favorite book of his. It has a sequel, which I was less crazy about but this book shines alone also.
9) Dr. Dave- By- Clark S. Sturges- This book is about the Founder of the Haight- Ashbury Free Clinic in San Francisco. It is an great read and not one that a lot of people know about. This interesting story gives you a glimpse of an amazing city during a crazy time.
10) A Lesson Before Dying- By Earnest Gaines- I just read this book recently and really liked it because of the emotions it evoked. I think every student should read this book so we never forget what type of terrible injustice Americans are capable of.

And the Three Books I am reading:

1) Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik- The title of this book is what first grabbed me. Then as I was looking for another book I was reading a blog and they mentioned this book. So I looked it up and ordered it. It looks to be a good BART read. It came from Athena's list.

2)Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See- This book was recommended to me about a year ago and I never go around to reading it. I am looking forward to this read. This book came from 1 more chapter's list.

3) Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani- This book was recommended to me years ago and I remembered that my friend had told me about this series of books she absolutely loved but I could not for the life of me remember the name of the books. Then when I saw the title on the list I KNEW it was the book she had told me about. So I am looking forward to reading the book that has eluded me until now. This book was on Page After Page's list.

I will review the books as I read them and keep updating on my progress. I hope to finish more than three books from the list but only time will tell.