Goodbye 2008

As it will be time in my particular timezone to bid farewell to 2008, I am going to wrap up a few final challenges of 2008. It has been a pretty great reading year for me!

Classics Challenge
Sigh, didn't quite make it for this one (goal to read 6 books total), but I did fit in a few books. I read:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

Highlights: Winnie the Pooh and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Lowlights: I didn't care for I Am Legend as much as I expected.

Short Story Challenge
The goal was to read 10 short stories or 5-10 short story collections or combination in 2008. I think I did pretty well, although I always feel like I should take more time to read short stories. Onward in 2009!
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (collection)
The Overcoat by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (story)
Araby by James Joyce (story)
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (collection)
Eminent Domain by Dan O'Brien (collection)
Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese (collection)
I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon by Philip K. Dick (collection)

Highlights: I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon is a collection that sticks with you. Smoke and Mirrors was also very awesome.

Lowlights: None, really, except I wish I'd read more short stories.

Graphic Novel Challenge
Yeah, nailed this one. The goal was to read 3 graphic novels in 6 months.
Sandman: World's End by Neil Gaiman
The Absolute Sandman Volume 1 by Neil Gaiman
Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman
Watchmen by Alan Moore
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol 1 by Alan Moore

Highlights: I pretty much loved all of the graphic novels I read.

Lowlights: None.

Young Adult Reading Challenge
The goal was to read 12 YA novels in 2008, and I think I got this one covered.
Feed by M.T. Anderson
House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
The Messenger by Lois Lowry
The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Breakout by Paul Fleischman
The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation Volume 1: The Pox Party by M. T. Anderson
Uglies by Scott Westerfield
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer

Highlights: I more than doubled the required number of books.

Lowlights: Meh, I liked all of the ones I read in some form or another.

My Year of Reading Dangerously
The goal was to read 12 books in challenging categories in 2008, 1 per month. I read 7 out of the 12 required books.
January: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
February: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (African American)
March: Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood (Atwood for Atwood's sake)
April: Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney (Poetry)
May: The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace (Southern)
July: Breakout by Paul Fleischman (adolescent)
August: Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman (Graphic Novel, Pulitzer winner)

Highlights: I found that I really enjoyed Beowulf, and I have come to enjoy Atwood more than I ever expected.

Lowlights:I did pick up Lolita, The Chocolate War, and The Human Stain, but sadly, no luck finishing.