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Discussion Forums - Biographies & Memoirs
Topic: Biography Challenge for 2013: Lists only
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I realize that only a handful of people might be participating in this challenge, but I really want to do this! Here are my choices: 1) author--The Talented Miss Highsmith (Joan Schenkar) 2) collective--Ladies of Liberty (Cokie Roberts) 3) influential woman--Joan of Arc (Mark Twain) 4) "ordinary" person--The Tender Box (J.R. Moehringer) 5) performing/visual arts--Mahler (Michael Kennedy) 6) person of the cloth--Bonhoeffer (Eric Metaxas) 7) person with disability--We Need to Talk about Kevin (Lionel Shriver) 8) president--The Last Lincolns (Charles Lachman) 9) royalty/nobility--Queen Without a Country (Kathryn Lasky) 10) statesman--The Life of Alcibiades (E.F. Benson) 11) Villain--The Man Who Loved Books Too Much (Allison Hoover Bartlett) 12) free choice--The Life of Kingsley Amis (Zachary Leader) Rose Last Edited on: 10/15/12 9:18 AM ET - Total times edited: 2 |
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I'm not going to read anything about a person of the cloth so I chose the opposite, atheist Christopher Hitchens. Too many on my shelf to pick a free choice at this time, I'll have to think about that one. Mark Twain is going to be an undertaking but this should make me read it. The book is HUGE, with tiny print. Don Arden is Sharon Osborne's father and by all accounts a real bastard so I thought he fit under villain. The bolded ones are finished.
1) author--Autobiography of Mark Twain
2) collective--The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion and the new Journalism - Marc Weingarten
3) influential woman--This Child Will Be Great - Ellen Sirleaf
4) "ordinary" person--The Long Road Home - Margaret Robison
5) performing/visual arts--Just Kids - Patti Smith
6) person of the cloth--Mortality - Christopher Hitchens
7) person with disability--Thinking in Pictures - Temple Grandin
8) president--Bill Clinton - My Life
9) royalty/nobility--Catherine The Great - Robert Massie
10) statesman--Tony Blair - A Journey
11) Villain--Mr Big - Don Arden
12) free choice--Dear Cary by Dyan Cannon
Last Edited on: 3/12/13 3:13 PM ET - Total times edited: 9 |
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Reading Goal: 6 Books I'll give the "lite" version a try. 1) Author - Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt (Shakespeare) 2) Ordinary Person - Shopping, Seduction, and Mr. Selfridge by L. Woodhead - Completed 4/29 3) Influential Woman - Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China by Sterling Seagrave (Tzu Hsi) 4) Free Choice - Blood of Tyrants: George Washington and the Forging of the Presidency by Logan Beirne - Completed 10/18 5) President - Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by John Meacham - Completed 1/27 6) Person of the Cloth The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad by Lesley Hazleton - Completed 6/25
Last Edited on: 10/24/13 10:55 PM ET - Total times edited: 9 |
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1) author: Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind, Robert D. Richardson Completed 5/1/2013 B
2) collective: Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged our Age, Arthur Herman Completed 1/17/2013 - A-
3) influential woman: Florence Nightingale, Mark Bostridge Completed 2/10/2012 B+
4) "ordinary" person: The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, Wendy Welch Completed 1/20/2013 - B+
5) performing/visual arts: Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, Gregory Clark Completed 9/28/2013 B-
6) person of the cloth: Francis of Assisi: A New Biography, Augustine Thompson Completed 1/15/2013 - B
7) person with disability: Juliette Gordon Low, Stacy Cordery Completed 1/8/2013 - A
8) president: Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, John Milton Cooper, Jr. Completed 4/20/2013 - A-
9) royalty/nobility: Peter the Great, Robert Massie Completed 7/5/2013 - A
10) statesman: Seward: Lincoln's Indispenable Man, Walter Shahr Completed 1/11/2013 - B
11) Villain: Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Jeff Guinn Completed 7/28/2013 - B+
12) free choice #1: Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln, Jason Emerson Completed 1/4/2013 - A
13) free choice #2: Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Jon Meacham Completed 2/13/2013 - B
Last Edited on: 9/28/13 8:07 PM ET - Total times edited: 19 |
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Give at least the light a try (6 choices)! 1)
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9) royalty/nobility: Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne by David Starkey, in process
11)
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Last Edited on: 12/20/13 10:50 AM ET - Total times edited: 47 |
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Challenge for 2013 1) author 2) collective (a book that focuses on more than one person) 3) influential woman 4) "ordinary" person 5) performing/visual arts 6) person of the cloth 7) person with disability 8) president 9) royalty/nobility 10) statesman 11) villain 12) free choice 13) free choice. |
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I have enough for now for the light challenge. I will probably add mor later.
1) author
2) collective- The Greater Journey by David McCullough
3) influential woman- There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters by Claire Berlinski
4) "ordinary" person- Let's Roll by Lisa Beamer
5) performing/visual arts- Matthew Brady: Portraits of a Nation by Robert Wilson (completed 12/1/13)
6) person of the cloth
7) person with disability
8) president- Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-The-Record Coversations With Gerald Ford by Thomas M. DeFrank (completed 1/15/2013)
9) royalty/nobility
10) statesman- Henry Clay: The Essential American by David S.Heidler, Jeanne T. Heidler
11) Villain
12) free choice
Last Edited on: 12/10/13 9:33 PM ET - Total times edited: 3 |
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I will probably do the lite challenge. Choices to come... |
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1. 2. 3. influential woman 4. 5. 6. person of the cloth 7. person with disability 8. president 9. royalty/nobility 10. 11. Villain 12. Last Edited on: 10/11/13 1:19 PM ET - Total times edited: 7 |
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1. Author Louisa May Alcott by Susan Cheever (Completed 6/23/13) 2. Collective Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (Did not read) 3. Influential Woman Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Completed 12/2/13) 4. "Ordinary" Person The Journal Keeper by Phyllis Theroux (Completed 3/23/13) 5. Performing/Visual Arts (OMIT) 6. Person of the Cloth Letters & Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Completed 11/6/13) 7. Person with Disability Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet (Completed 4/13/13) 8. President The Road to Monticello: The Life and Mind of Thomas Jefferson by Kevin J. Hayes (Completed 10/1/13) 9. Royalty/Nobility Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon (Completed 2/11/13) 10. Statesman Winston and Clementine: the Personal Letters of the Churchills Edited by Mary Soames (Completed 1/27/13) 11. Villain Hitler's Last Secretary: a Firsthand Account of Life with Hitler by Traudl Junge (Completed 9/17/13) 12. Free Choice Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Completed 5/27/13) 13. Free Choice Nella Last in the 1950's by Nella Last (Completed 8/4/13) Last Edited on: 1/5/14 3:32 PM ET - Total times edited: 13 |
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Lite challenge, select 6
1) author 2) collective (a book that focuses on more than one person) 3) influential woman 4) "ordinary" person 5) performing/visual arts 6) person of the cloth 7) person with disability 8) president 9) royalty/nobility 10) statesman 11) villain 12) free choice 13) free choice Last Edited on: 3/30/13 7:18 PM ET - Total times edited: 2 |
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I'll try a lite 1) author 2) collective (a book that focuses on more than one person) 3) influential woman 4) "ordinary" person - Nerd Girl Rocks Paradise City by Anne Thomas Soffee 5) performing/visual arts - Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe 6) person of the cloth 7) person with disability 8) president 9) royalty/nobility 10) statesman 11) villain 12) free choice 13) free choice. |
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I think I can complete the lite challenge--Sadly 2013 is over and I didn't finish the challenge. I hope to do better in the coming year. Red is Read 1) author - Shelf Life: Romance, Mystery, Drama and Other Page-Turning Adventures from a Year in a Bookstore by Suzanne Strempek Shea 2) collective (a book that focuses on more than one person) 3) influential woman - The Life and Death of Petra Kelly by Sara Parkin 4) "ordinary" person - Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart 5) performing/visual arts - Shakespeare by Bill Bryson 6) person of the cloth 7) person with disability 8) president 9) royalty/nobility 10) statesman 11) villain 12) free choice 13) free choice. Last Edited on: 1/1/14 2:33 AM ET - Total times edited: 7 |
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