I participated in a lot of time restricted reading challenges in 2008 – and completed many of them – but, in 2009 I want to make a bigger dent in my perpetual reading challenge lists…especially those involving the award winners. To help me keep organized, I’ve decided to make a list of books I currently [...]
Posts on ‘December 7th, 2008’
My Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008
I keep promising myself I will stop signing up for challenges – but I couldn’t resist this one! My Year of Reading Dangerously is the brainchild of Heather and Andi from Estella’s Revenge. They want readers to read worthwhile and intimidating books and have chosen twelve. Readers may choose to read all twelve or may substitute books as they wish. I will probably be substituting 2 or 3. Either way, if participants engage in the discussion happening at the challenge blog, they will automatically be enrolled to win prizes! Who could resist this challenge??!?
The Twelve “Official” Novels:
January: Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens (since Estella is our namesake)
COMPLETED January 25, 2008; rated 3/5; read my review.
February: Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (African American)
COMPLETED February 25, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review
March: Cat’s Eye, by Margaret Atwood (Atwood for Atwood’s sake)
COMPLETED February 29, 2008; rated 4.5/5; read my review
April: Transformations, by Anne Sexton (Poetry)
May: Other Voices, Other Rooms, by Truman Capote (Southern)
June: Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov (Russian)
July: The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier (adolescent)
August: Maus I and II, by Art Spiegelman (Graphic Novel, Pulitzer winner)
September: The Secret Lives of People in Love, by Simon Van Booy (Independent)
October: The Human Stain, by Philip Roth (Contemporary/Jewish)
November: A Month of Classic Short Stories, Various – watch for a list
December: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck (Dusty)
Russian Reading Challenge 2008
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008
Sharon at Ex Libris is hosting an intriguing challenge: The 2008 Russian Reading Challenge. She has started a group blog which has numerous links to Russian literature sources.
The goal is to read a minimum of four books (fiction, non fiction, memoir, etc…) either about Russia or written by Russian authors. Participants will be posting their lists and reviews on the group blog.
I’ve decided to make a list of books from which I will choose my books to be read:
Oblomov, by Ivan Goncharov
Home of the Gentry, by Ivan Turgenov
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (new translation)
The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Russian Journal, by John Steinbeck
**More to be added per my whim!
The goal is to read a minimum of four books (fiction, non fiction, memoir, etc…) either about Russia or written by Russian authors. Participants will be posting their lists and reviews on the group blog.
I’ve decided to make a list of books from which I will choose my books to be read:
Oblomov, by Ivan Goncharov
Home of the Gentry, by Ivan Turgenov
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy (new translation)
The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Russian Journal, by John Steinbeck
**More to be added per my whim!
To-Be-Read (TBR) Challenge 2008
January 1, 2008 – December 31, 2008
Mizbooks is once again hosting this wonderful challenge which helps readers knock off books lingering on their TBR shelves. All the guidelines and rules can be found here. I also highly recommend joining the TBR Yahoo Group (new members may join beginning December 15, 2007) as it is very motivating to do this challenge as part of a group.
I’ve established my final list:
1. What Was Lost, by Catherine Flynn
2. Stones From The River, by Ursula Hegi
3. Acts of Faith, by Philip Caputo
4. We Need To Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver
5. The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
6. The Lizard Cage, by Karen Connelly
7. A Woman in Jerusalem, by A.B. Yehoshua
8. Hope Rising, by Kim Meeder
9. The Secret River, by Kate Grenville
10.The World Below, by Sue Miller
11.Lisey’s Story, by Stephen King
12.Embers, by Sandor Marai
Alternates and Extras:
1. I, Elizabeth, by Rosalind Miles
2. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier
3. Minaret, by Leila Aboulela
4. The Last Time They Met, by Anita Shreve
5. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult
6. She’s Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
7. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
8. Good Grief, by Lolly Winston
9. The Mermaid Chair, by Sue Monk Kidd
10.The Reading Group, by Elizabeth Noble
11.The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell
12.The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant
Sunday Salon – December 7, 2008
December 7, 2008
9:30 AM
It has been an emotional week on the book blogs with the loss of one of our most prolific and generous bloggers – Dewey from The Hidden Side of a Leaf. Participants in Weekly Geeks are encouraged to write a memory post this week … here is mine. Dewey’s projects will continue [...]
Weekly Geeks #27 – In Memory of Dewey
This week’s Weekly Geeks is a special one – Becky asked for participants to create a tribute to Dewey, the founder and creative energy behind Weekly Geeks.
Like everyone else, I was stunned when I had learned of Dewey’s passing. She was a constant in the book blogger world – a person who was always right [...]
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= Okay read
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= Ugh! Don't waste your time.
