Just For the Love of It Challenge

The Just For the Love of It Challenge is one of the choose your own books kind of challenges that sound like such a good, easy idea and yet when you sit down to compile the actual list, you are surprisingly stumped. Perhaps part of my problem is that one of the rules is that you should only read books you just can't wait to read. Every book in my house falls under that category at some point and time and heaven knows that there's no hope for me to read all of them sometime between now and the end of April! But, because I love compiling lists and fondling my books debating whether to put them on the list or not is always an enjoyable exercise for me, I'm signing up for this one anyway. I decided not to make the list retroactive to January 1 so it'll be a much shorter version of what I would have written then. Here's the tentative list:

1. Fork It Over by Alan Richman
2. Spies by Michael Frayn
3. The Lost Years of Jane Austen by Barbara Ker Wilson
4. Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols
5. The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
6. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliott
7. Cordelia Underwood by Van Reid

I'm sure I'll be adding more as the next two months roll along!

Compass Points Challenge 2009

Guess I should get around to signing up for my own challenge, eh? Of course I will be doing this as I am also hosting it. The rules are to read four books between March 1 and August 31 that contain the names of the four major compass points (North, South, East, and West) in the title. My list as it stands right now will be:

1. North of Ithaka by Eleni Gage
2. Bound South by Susan Rebecca White
3. East of the Mountains by David Guterson
4. A Strong West Wind by Gail Caldwell

National Just Read More Novels Challenge

So I stumbled across this challenge a couple of days ago and thought, I can do this. Even better, I've already done this! I have read more than my usual share of non-fiction already this year but the month devoted to reading novels is helping keep me balanced. So far, The Water Babies, Firmin, and Fingersmith (reviews to come of the latter two) count towards my total. We'll see how many I can read before the deadline of the 31st! I suspect I'll earn a silver medal for reading five but not make it to a gold for 10 since I have a couple more non-fiction on the go too.

Victorian Challenge

The last challenge I'll list today lest my few faithful readers hate me and quit reading the blog will be the Victorian Challenge. I don't think I have loads of books that will fit this one, but I'm interested in trying nonetheless. Even better, if I decide to read something other than what I've listed, the rules don't say I can't switch. So here's my initial thought on the 3 I'll read:

1. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
3. The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley

What An Animal Challenge

Going through my lists, I found yet another one I have been reading along for but haven't bothered to officially sign-up with. I guess I'm just an unofficial rebel. ::snort:: At any rate, even though I never liked most animal stories when I was a child, I decided to go ahead and read for the What An Animal Challenge. And I decided to branch out a bit on the animals, reading about a bear and a pig in addition to dogs and cats. So here's the list for this one:

1. The Good, Good Pig by Sy Montgomery
2. Unleashed edited by Amy Hempel and Tim Shepard
3. Gentle Ben by Walt Morey
4. The Cat Who Covered the World by Christopher Wren
5. The Dogs Who Found Me by Ken Foster
6. Dog Years by Mark Doty

Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge

I have scads of books that would fit this challenge so it's no surprise that I want to jump on the bandwagon of the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge . Here's my list:

1. Fork It Over by Alan Richman
2. How Not to Live Abroad by Shaun Briley
3. Lonely Planet Unpacked by Tony Wheeler

Winter Reading Challenge

I love the seasonal challenges because they are so lovely and loosey-goosey in their rules (ie: I determine the whole of the challenge for myself but get to call it participating in someone else's challenge--weird distinction, I know, but it works for me). So I was pleased to see that the Winter Reading Challenge will be continued this year. Generally I take these seasonal suit yourself challenges as a chance to finish all the books on the bedside table that I currently have bookmarks working their way through (no matter how slowly). But given the books on there at the moment (War and Peace and The Far Pavilions being just two of the insanely large books resting there), I've decided to go about this one slightly differently this year. I am still going to challenge myself to finish but I am only going to include one book, instead of all of them (I like my challenges to at least seem attainable). So I hope to have finished War and Peace no later than March 20th, which is when the challenge wraps up. Maybe then I'll go back to my regularly scheduled finish them all strategy if the Spring Challenge happens again (depending, of course, how far into The Far Pavilions I am by then!).

Unread Authors Challenge

I could have sworn I signed up for this one a while ago. After all, it is not only listed on both my handy dandy lists of challenges, but it is also listed in my excel database of which books belong to which challenge. You never knew what a nerd I was, did you? I admit the extent of my dorkiness sometimes even surprises me. In any case, apparently I only *thought* I'd joined the challenge officially because there's not a record of my participation on the host blog. So even though it ends in less than a month, I am signing up now. It's sort of satisfying to sign up when you've already finished reading for it too, I might add. ::grin:: This is one challenge I definitely won't fail! So the challenge is The Second Unread Authors Challenge and my list of books for the challenge is:

1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
2. Skating to Antarctica by Jenny Diski
3. Raising Fences by Michael Datcher
4. The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce
5. The Bookseller's Daughter by Pam Rosenthal
6. Netblue by James L. Hayhurst

TBR Challenge

I am signing up for this one a little behind the usual time (story of my life these days). This is th TBR (to be read) challenge. Unlike most of my challenges, this one doesn't allow you to swap out books on your list once you create it so it takes some careful thinking. It does let you have a main list of 12 and a list of 12 alternates just in case though. In any case, I pondered my possibilities and finally created an eclectic list that should suit me all year long no matter what kind of reading mood in which I seem to be at any given moment. So with no further ado, here's the 2009 list I'll be tackling:

1. Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
2. The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki
3. Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
4. River of Doubt by Candice Millard
5. Jim the Boy by Tony Earley
6. Merry Hall by Beverley Nichols
7. Eve's Ransom by George Gissing
8. I Wanna Be Sedated: 30 Writers on Parenting Teenagers edited by Faith Conlon and Gail Hudson
9. The Bar Sinister by Linda Berdoll
10. Dog Years by Mark Doty
11. Kartography by Kamila Shamsie
12. Don't Let's Go To the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

alternates:
1. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2. Independent People by Haldor Laxness
3. A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella Bird
4. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
5. The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
6. Firmin by Sam Savage
7. Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
8. Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori
9. Eve's Ransom by George Gissing
10. Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon
11. Short Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams
12. Tallulahland by Lynn Messina

The Rescue Book Challenge

As a true book addict, I have books in my tbr (that's "to be read" for those of you not up on bookish, web inspired abbreviations) pile that have been languishing there since the dawn of time. Okay, maybe not that long but certainly since I was in college, which was only just moments past the dawn of time--just ask my kids--and it's about time I managed to read these books or admit defeat (Never!). So when I stumbled across this reading challenge: The Rescue Book Challenge , I couldn't resist. As per the rules, I will be challenging myself to read books that never seem to make it to the top of the stack. I'm going for 4 books during the coming year. I figure that's hard enough given how many years I've been avoiding these already. In any case, my options will be taken from this list:

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Eve's Ransom by George Gissing
Adam Bede by George Eliot
Billy Budd and Other Tales by Herman Melville
Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
Eyestone by D.R. MacDonald
Stories of the Old South edited by Ben Forkner and Patrick Samway
Beloved-Infidel by Sheilah Graham
The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald
Equal Affections by David Leavitt
A Season in the West by Piers Paul Read
The Temple of My Familiar by Alice Walker
Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
New Stories From the South edited by Shannon Ravenel

If you have any suggestions about which books on this list I should definitely try to read over the coming year, feel free to weigh-in with your opinion.

Summer Reading Thing Challenge

Because the person with the most challenges wins, I found another one that is loose enough rule-wise for me to play along. These are my favorite sorts of challenges! This one is the Summer Reading Thing Challenge and it is a very relaxed sort of challenge. It doesn't hurt that I think this button is, well, cute as a button. ::groan:: I tend to use the seasonal "Thing" challenges to make myself finish those books I have bookmarks in but keep putting aside in lieu of other books. And since it's worked for me in the past, I'm going to do it again. So here's my list for this one (and yes, I know it contains fewer books than I declared I was going to read in all of July but I'm hedging my bets so I can be successful on at least one of these challenges!):

1. Waltzing at the Piggly Wiglly by Robert Dalby
2. Book Lust by Nancy Pearl
3. Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
4. What's a Girl Gotta Do? by Sparkle Hayter
5. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

July Book Blowout

So I found another reading challenge I'm going to flirt with. This one asks me to declare how many books I will read for the month of July and is called the July Book Blowout. You can find all the pertinent details here. So, should I be optimistic and claim a zillion books, more realistic and claim a reasonable number, or ensure my success and claim only a few? I think I'll go with reasonable since I may be picking up War and Peace at some point in July and that'll certainly throw a wrench in zipping through books! So for challenge purposes, I'll say I will read 10 books in July. Maybe I should download a few audible books to use on my increasingly long runs too. Hmmmm. Must ponder this.

ARC Reading Challenge

I came across another challenge I need to participate in like I need a hole in my head. But I do have scads of ARC's (advanced reading copies) I should try to work out of my tbr piles. I started to collect all the titles but gave up when I realized that I have a shameful amount of them. I will say that generally when a publisher sends me something to review, I am very good about getting to it asap instead of letting it molder there (although not all the time). The bulk of my list is made up of arc's that arrived in my stacks as gifts from others or even leftover from my days of grad school teaching when we were given these things like they were free candy. I only went partly through my stacks but here's the list I found on a quick scan through the D's (with one or two I just knew I had in other spots);

A Delightful Compendium of Consolation by Burton Visotzky
The Hiding Place by Trezza Azzopardi
A Southern Exposure by Alice Adams
Men May Come and Men May Go But I've Still Got My Little Pink Raincoat by Gigi Anders
Inappropriate Men by Stacey Ballis
Latitudes of Melt by Joan Clark
Everyday Matters by Nardi Reeder Campion
No Bones by Anna Burns
Burnt Bread and Chutney by Carmit Delman
The Way to Somewhere by Angie Day
The Inheritance by Annabel Dilke
I Am Madame X by Gioia Diliberto
White Man's Grave by Richard Dooley
Flight of the Swan by Rosario Ferre
The Snow Geese by William Fiennes
Having It and Eating It by Sabine Durrant
What's a Girl Gotta Do? by Sparkle Hayter

So the challenge (found here) requires me to read 4 of these between now and Sept. 21 because of the sheer volume of them that I currently have. I am only going to choose two and let the other two be up to fate or any blog readers I may have. (What am I up to now? Two of you besides my husband?) The two that I definitely think I should read are A Delightful Compendium of Consolation since that was indeed sent to me by the publisher and I haven't been timely about it at all and What's a Girl Gotta Do? because I remember getting it handed to me in grad school by one of Cosmo's book editors (plus Hayter writes mysteries and I am such not a mystery girl it's not funny so this would not only get it off my tbr pile, but potentially out of my house). Let me know if you have thoughts on the other two I should read from this list, which may or may not be added to at some later date.

You Set It Paperback Challenge

I'm giving myself summer homework. Of course, since it's self imposed, it should be fun, right? So I'm joining this challenge and choosing books that aren't listed for any other challenges. I need to read one for June, July and August in order to be successful. I want to read The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon, The Sea Lady by Margaret Drabble, and Mademoiselle Victorine by Debra Finerman.

Raved-About Reads Challenge

I don't always read things that have been raved about by others since the hype tends to guarantee that the book won't live up to my expectations. But I'm willing to give this challenge a try. I've only listed the couple from the suggestions list that I already own even though it's a perpetual challenge and I'll likely add more as time goes on. So here's the list:

1. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
2. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
3. The Usual Rules by Joyce Maynard
4. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
5. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
6. Kartography by Kamila Shamsie

And or anyone wanting to play along at home, find the challenge here: Raved About Reads Challenge .

Well-Rounded Challenge

Another challenge I couldn't resist signing up for (like there are any I can resist!). This one asks that I read 6 (or more) books I'm already supposed to be reading for other challenges. Should keep me honest, right? Anyway, I'm up for it. Here's my tentative list:

1. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Africa Challenge and 1% Well-Read Challenge)
2. Blue Valentine by Alison Tyler (Casual Reading Challenge, What's in a Name Challenge, On the Porch Swing Challenge, TBR Challenge alternate)
3. The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant (I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge, TBR Challenge)
4. Singular Intimacies by Danielle Ofri (Medical Madness Challenge, Non-Fiction Five Challenge)
5. The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken by Laura Schenone (Non-Fiction Five Challenge, The Pub 2008 Challenge)
6. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Book Awards II Challenge, Young Readers Challenge)

Book Awards II Challenge

I sort of unofficially participated in this one last go round (found it late and couldn't sign-up) but I still have a whole load of award winning books to read so I thought I'd play along officially this time. I'm not sure what books I'll be reading off the list, but I have some time to figure that out. If you're interested in playing along, you can find the challenge here: Book Awards II. Enjoy!

Expanding Horizons Challenge

So I've been reading along with this one but never officially signed up. Seeing as it's about to finish up, I thought I should not only sign-up but also list the books I read for it. Reviews will eventually make it up to the blog as well, but heaven only knows when at this point. I did complete this one is time (by the 30th of this month). Here's what I read:

African: The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta
Asian: Sky Burial by Xinran
Hispanic: Finding Manana by Mirta Ojito
Indian: Snakes and Ladders by Gita Mehta
Middle Eastern: Persian Girls by Nahid Rachlin
Native Peoples: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Another Bloomin' Challenge

I have had The Orchid Thief in my tbr stash for years so this challenge is the perfect impetus to get that one read.

Just for my own records...

Because I was too slow to post about these challenges at the time (although I did do them when the rules stipulated), I am just going to note that I did indeed complete the Four Legged Friends Challenge, From the Stacks Challenge, Hometown Challenge, Outmoded Authors Challenge, Seafaring Challenge, and Unread Authors Challenge in addition to the ones listed in my blog. Now on to list a few more I never did officially sign up for despite reading along for them and which are ending soon!