Here is the finalized list.  Requests for additions and other changes have been made.  Choose 12 of the 15 categories for your reading challenge. For a "lite" challenge choose 6.  If a book you really want to read fits none of the categories, you may always make it a Free Choice.  Have fun putting your list together!--Bookmarm

1. A captain of industry

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal

3. Female author

4. Influential woman

5. Male author

6. Performing or visual arts

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors

9. Royalty or nobility

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman

14. Travel memoir or journal

15. Villain

1. A captain of industry--OMIT

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal--A Secret Gift by Ted Gup (Completed 2/24/14)

3. Female author--First Darling of the Morning byThrity Umrigar (also works for non-western culture category (Completed 1/19/14)

4. Influential woman--Dearie by Bob Spitz  (Completed 8/21/14)

5. Male author--Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin

6. Performing or visual arts--Memories Before and After The Sound of Music by Agathe von Trapp  (Completed 7/20/14)

7. Person from a non-western culture--OMIT

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors--The Zookeeper's Wife By Diane Ackerman  (Completed 5/21/14)

9. Royalty or nobility--The Queen Mother by Lady Colin Campbell

10. Someone born before 1700--Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel

11. Someone born the same decade as you--OMIT

12. Sports personality--OMIT

13. Statesman--The Last Lion 1874-1932 (Vol. 1) by William Manchester

14. Travel memoir or journal--Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson (Completed 6/29/14)

15. Villain--The Young Hitler I Knew by August Kubizek

FREE CHOICE--Call the Midwife, Vol 1 (& maybe 2 & 3 also)  by Jennifer Worth (Completed Vol. 1--3/24/14; Completed Vol. 2--4/16/14; Completed Vol. 3--4/22/14)

1. A captain of industry

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal Reading the Man:  A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters by Elizabeth Brown Pryor Completed 1/25 5*****

3. Female author

4. Influential woman Below the Peacock Fan:  First Ladies of the Raj by Marian Fowler - completed 5/5 5*****

5. Male author

6. Performing or visual arts

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors

9. Royalty or nobility

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman His Excellency:  George Washington by Joseph Ellis - completed 3/22 4****

14. Travel memoir or journal

15. Villain George Washington and Benedict Arnold:  A Tale of Two Patriots -completed 3/17 4****

I've always wanted to read The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh. maybe I'll finally get around to it this year.

a couple of memoirs I have read and recommend are An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison and World Within World by Stephen Spender.

Here's my 2014 list (at this point):

1. collection of letters: How Do I Love Thee/ The Love Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2. female author: Pearl Buck in China (Hilary Spurling)

3. influential woman: My Life in France (Julia Child)

4. male author: Robert Louis Stevenson (Frank McLynn)

5. performing or visual arts: Charles Ives Reconsidered (Gayle Sherwood Magee)

6. person from a non-Western culture: First Darling of the Morning/Memories of an Indian Childhood (Thrity Umrigar)

7. person from the same country as your ancestors--Bismarck: A Life (Jonathan Steinberg)

8. someone born before 1700--Francis of Assisi (Andre Vauchez)

9. someone born the same decade as you: Almost There/The Onward Journey of a Dublin Woman (Nuala O'Faolain)

10. statesman--Team of Rivals (Doris Kearns Goodwin)

11. travel memoir or journal: On Travel (Charles Dickens)

12. villain: The Story of Chicago May (Nuala O'Faolain)

This will really help clear off a bookshelf!

                                                       Rose

Here is the finalized list.  Requests for additions and other changes have been made.  Choose 12 of the 15 categories for your reading challenge. For a "lite" challenge choose 6.  If a book you really want to read fits none of the categories, you may always make it a Free Choice.  Have fun putting your list together!--Bookmarm

1. A captain of industry

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal

3. Female author   Everybody's Got Something by Robin Roberts, Veronica Chambers (5/30/14)

4. Influential woman

5. Male author   Writing Out the Notes by Bob Hallett (7/28/14)

6. Performing or visual arts   Son Of Harpo Speaks! A Family Portrait by Bill Marx (6/10/14)

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors  The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry (7/31/14) (Great Britain)

9. Royalty or nobility   The Real Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Andrew Marr (12/5/14)

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you  How to Cook Like A Man: A Memoir of Cookbook Obsession by Daniel Duane (2/04/14)

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman   My Life in Politics by Jacques Chirac (9/4/14)

14. Travel memoir or journal  Down the Road: Journeys Through Small-Town British Columbia by Rosemary Neering (8/5/14)

15. Villain

I'd like to participate in this one please! For now, I'm going to attempt the "light" challenge, choosing 6 since biographies and memoirs are not my usual cup of tea.

1. A captain of industry

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal  The Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey by Ernesto "Che" Guevara (completed 9/23/14)

3. Female author  Paula, a memoir. By Isabel Allende

4. Influential woman

5. Male author

6. Performing or visual arts  Walk This Way: The Autobiography of Aerosmith by Aerosmith (and Stephen Davis) completed 7/25/14

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors

9. Royalty or nobility  Marie Antoinette

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman

14. Travel memoir or journal Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed (completed 8/28/14)

15. Villain

1. A captain of industry

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal

3. Female author

4. Influential woman

5. Male author

6. Performing or visual arts

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors   'Tis Herself : An Autobiography

9. Royalty or nobility

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman

14. Travel memoir or journal

15. Villain  Sickened : The True Story of a Lost Childhood

I didn't do very well last year but let's try again this year.

1. A captain of industry An Unseemly Man by Larry Flint

2. Collection of letters, a diary, or a journal

3. Female author The Liars Club by Mary Karr

4. Influential woman Beyond Uhura by Nichelle Nichols

5. Male author Adolph Hitler and My Part In His Downfall by Spike Milligan

6. Performing or visual arts Enter Whining by Fran Drescher

7. Person from a non-western culture

8. Person from the same country as your ancestors It's Not Me, It's You by Jon Richardson

9. Royalty or nobility

10. Someone born before 1700

11. Someone born the same decade as you Small Man In A Book by Rob Brydon

12. Sports personality

13. Statesman

14. Travel memoir or journal  When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris

15. Villain