= Excellent
= Good/Very Good
= Okay read
= Not recommended
= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
Archive for May 25th, 2008
Sunday, May 25th, 2008The 24 Hour Read-A-Thon
June 28 - 29, 2008
9:00am to 9:00am PCT
Dewey is hosting the 24 hour Read-A-Thon again this year. Last year I missed out because I was on vacation during the challenge…but this year I intend to participate! If you are interested, Dewey has created an FAQ page for the event. Participants can choose to be readers, cheerleaders and/or donors. Sign ups are here.
The really special thing about this Read-A-Thon is not the prizes or the exhilaration of sleep deprivation (although those are great), but the fact that it is also a charity event. Participants are encouraged to pick up sponsors and donate to Reading is Fundamental (RIF) which puts books into the hands of children.
My goal is to stay up for the 24 hours and read and participate in as many of the mini-challenges that I can. I’m blocking out the entire weekend so that I’ll have a day after the event to recover! I’m looking for sponsors…people who will commit to either a dollar amount per hour of my participation OR a set amount of money (regardless of hours) to donate to RIF. I won’t ask you to send me money…rather, I will encourage you to donate directly to this charity in one of the 7 ways they allow on their site. Interested? If so, this is how to sponsor me:
- Post about this challenge on your blog and commit on that post (in writing) to whatever your donation is to be. If it is for a certain dollar amount per hour of participation (for example), come back here on June 29th and I will post my number of hours committed to the challenge so you can do the math.
- Once you’ve created a post, come back and link to it through Mr. Linky here on my blog. I will do a follow up post following the challenge to show how much Team Caribousmom raised for reading!
- Following the challenge, send your sponsorship money directly to RIF by going to their site here.
- Follow my progress during the 24 hour period here on my blog - I’ll be doing updates and letting you know if I reach my goal of staying up for the entire time!
To sponsor Team Caribousmom, link to the post where you have committed to sponsor Team Caribousmom using Mr. Linky below:
Sunday, May 25th, 2008BookAwards II Challenge
August 1, 2008 - June 1, 2009
Michelle from 1MoreChapter is hosting part 2 of the BookAwards Challenge. I completed (and exceeded) the first one (reading 17 award winning books!) and can’t wait to continue reading award winning literature into 2009. I’m creating a list here, but don’t be surprised if it changes! The goal is 10 books representing a minimum of 5 different awards.
My preliminary list:
- Maus I and Maus II, by Art Spiegelman (1992 Pulitzer in Special Awards and Citations - Letters) - COMPLETED August 31, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review.
- The True History of the Kelly Gang, by Peter Carey (2001 Booker and 2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize)
- Breathing Lessons, by Anne Tyler (1989 Pulitzer)
- Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya (1972 Premio Quinto Sol National Chicano Award)
- We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver (2005 Orange Prize)
- Sacred Hunger, by Barry Unsworth (1992 Booker)
- The Known World, by Edward P. Jones (2005 IMPAC Dublin, 2003 National Book Critics Circle, 2004 Pulitzer)
- Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett (2002 PEN/Faulkner)
- A Bend in the River, by V.S. Naipaul (2001 Nobel Prize for Literature)
- The Secret River, by Kate Grenville (2006 Commonwealth Writers Prize)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon (2003 Costa Novel Award)
- Music and Silence, by Rose Tremain (1999 Whitbread/Costa Award) - COMPLETED October 9, 2008; rated 5/5; read my review.
- The Collected Stories of William Faulkner, by William Faulkner (1951 National Book Award)