2010 Challenges

Housekeeping post...

These are the challenges I participated in in 2010:

1% Well-Read Challenge

2010 Countdown Challenge

Flashback Challenge - done

Four-Month Reading Challenge

Graphic Novels Challenge

Orbis Terrarum

R.I.P. V - done

What's in a Name 3 - done

Women Unbound

Four Month Reading Challenge

The Four Month Reading Challenge is hosted by Martina of She Read a Book and is already on its 4th edition. That's because it's so much fun, I'm sure! I've never joined before, but I'm finding new enthusiasm for joining challenges at the moment so here I am.

The challenge runs from July 1 to October 31 2010.

Just read books from the categories below and earn points! I list some possibilities below, we'll see how much actually gets done. :-)

Points so far: 75 as of 6 October


5 Point Challenges

Read a chick lit book

• Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Read a name with a proper name in the title

• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

Read a historical fiction book

• The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

Read a book with a one word title

• Dracula by Bram Stoker

Read a book made into a movie

• Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

10 Point Challenges

Read a book with a Civil War theme (any country)

Read a Biblical fiction book

Read a hardcover book

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Read a book about a king or queen

Read a book set in France


15 Point Challenges

Read a book by an author you’ve never read before

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Read a biography or autobiography

Read a book with a number in the title

Read any book and then post a review

• The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

Read any book but read it outside


20 Point Challenges

Read a book in a series AND the one after it

• Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
• Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Read a book that was a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Read a book considered Christian fiction

Read a book from The Modern Library Top 100

• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Read a book by an author born in July, August, September or October

• The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (born August 17)
• Agatha Christie (born September 15)
• Fannie Flagg (born September 21)
• Ursula LeGuin (born October 21)

Japanese Reading Challenge

The Japanese reading challenge is back! Since Belezza is only requiring one book this time around, I figure I actually have a chance of completing the challenge. :-) If you want to play too, make sure you visit the challenge blog, there are loads of great suggestions on there!

Completed: 0/1 as of 17 June 2010

Hard-Boiled Wonderland at the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
After Dark by Haruki Murakami

What's in a Name 3 Challenge

The third edition of What's in a Name is hosted by Beth of Beth Fish Reads. I've always really liked Beth's blog, I hope to spend more time there than I have up till now!

The challenge blog itself is elsewhere though - check it out for the exact rules and to see how everyone is doing. The challenge lasts till the end of 2010, the categories, along with my possibles, are listed below.

I love this challenge! :-)

Completed: ALL 6/6 as of 15 September 2010 (read my wrap-up post here)

A book with a food in the title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

A book with a body of water in the title: Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

A book with a plant in the title: The Ivy Chronicles by Karen Quinn

A book with a place name in the title: Gods in Alabama by Joshlyn Jackson

A book with a music term in the title: The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee

Flashback Challenge

Hosted by Aarti and Kristen the Flashback Challenge reminds us to re-read books we've already read and loved. I've been so concentrated on adding new books to my list of accomplishments that I haven't re-read anything in ages and I think it's really time to do so. After all, if I really loved a book so much it's certainly worth re-visiting, eh?

Completed: ALL 3/3 as of 25 March 2010

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
the Harry Potter series
the Anne of Green Gables series
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Kristy's Great Idea (The Babysitters' Club #1) by Ann M. Martin
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls (The Babysitters' Club #2) by Ann M. Martin
The Truth About Stacey (The Babysitters' Club #3) by Ann M. Martin

Graphic Novels Challenge 2010

Nymeth from Things Mean A Lot and Chris from Stuff as Dreams are Made On are hosting the 2010 Graphic Novels Challenge. This is a genre I only just discovered and am really enjoying - I don't know that much about it yet so I'm also really enjoying seeing what everyone else is reading and discovering the gems that are out there.

There several levels of participation; I'm going for the intermediate, so my goal is 3-10 graphic novels in 2010!

Completed: 4/3-10 as of 25 November 2010

Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi
Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
Fables, vol.2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
The Sandman, vol.1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus, vol. 2
The Borden Tragedy by Rick Geary
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

2010 Challenges

Well, the time has come to sign up for a few of this year's challenges... I am tempted by so many but am trying very hard to resist most of them - last year I signed up for pretty much everything going and completed 50% of what I signed up for, but this year will be very different...

Last year was a year of hospitals and medical leave and therefore lots of reading time. This year is the year of our new baby and I can't realistically expect to read as much. Or to react as well to pressure. :-) So I'm trying to leave my reading open as much as possible, to give myself the freedom to just pick up whatever I feel like reading at that particular moment, with no (or few) specific goals to accomplish.

Having said that, I AM a reading challenge addict so I will be signing up for a few... I'll keep track of them in this post; here's what I'm signed up for in 2010 (so far):

1% Well-Read Challenge
2010 Countdown Challenge
Graphic Novels Challenge
Women Unbound

Women Unbound Challenge

I realize that I have less will power than some other people, but there are some challenges that I really, really cannot say no to. The Women Unbound Challenge, co-hosted by Aarti, Care, and Eva,is all about reading books related to women's studies - non-fiction about women and related fiction all qualify. There are three levels you can choose as a reader:

• Philogynist: read at least two books, including at least one nonfiction one.
• Bluestocking: read at least five books, including at least two nonfiction ones.
• Suffragette: read at least eight books, including at least three nonfiction ones.

I'm going to be brave and ambitious and go for the Sufragette level - but I do reserve the right to change my mind! Some options are below and I'm sure more will be added as we go along.

The challenge runs from November 2009 to November 2010.

Completed: 4/8 as of 7 September 2010

Fiction (1/5):

• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
• Empress Orchid by Anchee Min
• The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel
• The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
• The Awakening by Kate Chopin
• The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
• Beauty by Robin McKinley
• Veil of Roses by Laura Fitzgerald
• The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar
• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

Non-Fiction (0/3):

• The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How it Has Undermined All Women by Susan Douglas and Meredith Michaels
• What Mothers Do, Especially When it Seems like Nothing by Naomi Stadlen
• Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Muslim Women by Geraldine Brooks
• Women who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Estes
• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
• Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Bluestockings by Jane Robinson 
• Wild Swans by Jung Chung