Inklings Mini-Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read two books by J.R.R. Tolkien and two books by C.S. Lewis.

Reasons for joining:

1. I'm tired of being put to shame by my 10-year-old daughter. Annie has read The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Silmarillion by Tolkien, as well as the all the Narnia books. I have read none of these.

2. These books are so cherished by so many that I would be a fool not to get them read eventually, right?

My list (though finishing all of these is probably wishful thinking on my part):

*The Fellowship of the Ring

*The Two Towers

*The Return of the King

*The Magician's Nephew

*The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

*The Horse and His Boy

*Prince Caspian

*The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'

*The Silver Chair

*The Last Battle

Wow...this may be a "mini-challenge" to most, but for me it qualifies as the full-fledged deal!

Jane Austen/Masterpiece Theater Mini-Challenge

***I gave Sense and Sensibility a shot. I just couldn't get into it. Just not for me, and since there's so many books out there I do want to read, I'm just bowing out of this challenge.***

Date: January 1st through December 31st

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read two Jane Austen novels or watch two of the Masterpiece Theater productions of her novels or any combination of the above.

Reasons for joining:

1. I'm obsessive.

2. I've never read any Jane Austen.

3. I had actually hoped to watch the Masterpiece Theater productions after reading each book anyway.

My list:

Well, I'm hoping to get to all six of these, but I certainly make no promises. If I manage to knock off two of them, I will be happy with myself.

*Sense and Sensibility

*Persuasion

*Emma

*Pride and Prejudice

*Mansfield Park

*Northanger Abbey

signing up for the readathon

Despite the fact that I already mentioned this over my "everyday" blog, and despite the fact that this isn't technically a reading challenge, I decided to mention Dewey's Readathon here as well. I just can't explain how excited I am about this! October 20th simply can't get here soon enough. 24 hours of self-indulgent reading! I mean, can you beat that?!! I think not.

Anyway, I figured I would mention it over here, as this will probably be the spot where I write my updates during the readathon. Not to mention the fact that this fun little adventure ought to give me desperately needed help in putting a dent in some of these reading challenges, right?

Celebrate the Author Reading Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st

February-
Judy Blume
Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

*March-
Dr. Seuss
The Lorax (my all-time favorite Dr. Seuss!)

*April-
Beverly Cleary
Ralph S. Mouse
--substituted Emily's Runaway Imagination

*May-
James M. Barrie
Peter Pan

*June-
Cynthia Rylant
The Octopus (Lighthouse Family)

*July-
E.B. White
Stuart Little

*August-
Ruth Stiles Gannett
My Father's Dragon

*September-
Roald Dahl
The Witches

*October-
Johanna Hurwitz
Lexi's Tale

*November-
Daniel Manus Pinkwater
Looking for Bobowicz

*December-
Avi
Ragweed

So, did you notice that all my selections are children's books? That's because I'm devoting this challenge to the boys. These will be among the books that I read to them. Gotta say, I really looking forward to this one!

1st in a Series Reading Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st

Host: Joy

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 12 books, each of which is the first in a series.

My list (updated 9/16):

The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles)

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials)

Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen (Smoky Barrett series)

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (Goose Girl series?...not sure what to call it)

The Black Echo by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch series)

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld (Midnighters)

MayBird and the The Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson (MayBird series)

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson & The Olympians)

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Book of Ember)

The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (The Sisters Grimm)

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison (Stainless Steel Rat series)

Substitutes:

Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)

The Floods: Good Neighbors by Colin Thompson (The Floods)

My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett (Dragon series)

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein (LOTR)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Ender series)

The Book Awards Reading Challenge

***Couldn't have done much worse on this one! But I'm determined to kick butt on the Book Awards II!***


Dates: July 1st through June 30th

Host: 3M

For details:The Book Awards Challenge

The Challenge (put simply): Read any 12 award winning books.

My list:

*Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card --1985 Nebula Award and 1986 Hugo Award

*A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole --1981 Pulitzer Prize

*The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan --2006 National Book Award, Non-Fiction (7/21/07)

*Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman --2006 Mythopoeic Award, Adult Literature

*New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver --1992 National Book Award, Poetry

*Darwin's Radio by Greg Bear --2000 Nebula Award

*The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook --1997 Edgar Award

*American Gods by Neil Gaiman --2002 Hugo Award and 2002 Nebula Award

*Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes --1966 Nebula Award

*Looking for Alaska by John Green --2006 Printz Award

*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare --1959 Newbery Award

*To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee --1961 Pulitzer Prize (8/5/07)

The Unread Authors Challenge

***Hooray! Finish writing up my final book review for this one on February 27...nothing like pushing the limits, huh?***

Dates: September 1st through February 29th

Host: Ariel at Sycorax Pine

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 6 books by authors you've never read before.

My list (with alternates):

*Ray Bradbury
The Halloween Tree

*Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything OR
A Walk in the Woods OR Notes from a Small Island OR In a Sunburned Country

*Trenton Lee Stewart
The Mysterious Benedict Society

*Chuck Palahniuk
Haunted

*George Orwell
Animal Farm

*Scott Westerfeld
Uglies

Alternates:
*Brandon Mull
Fablehaven

*Alice Sebold
The Lovely Bones

*Terry Prachett
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

*Gabrielle Zevin
elsewhere

*Philip Pullman
The Golden Compass
--I Was a Rat

*Shannon Hale
The Goose Girl

*Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol

*H.G. Wells
The War of the Worlds

Four-Legged Friends Reading Challenge

***Came up short. Only finished two of the three by the deadline.***

Dates: September 20th through February 26th

Host: Kailana

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 3 to 5 books in which an animal is the main character, or at least a very important character.

My list:

*Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, which I will be reading to the boys (spider and pig) (10/15/07)

*Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (dog)

*The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (mouse)

The Newbery Challenge

***Came up short. Only finished four of the six by the closing date.***

Dates: May 15th through December 31st

Host: In memory of Nattie

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simple): Read 6 Newbery Award winners.

My list (updated 9/15/07):

*Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (6/26/07)

*The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg

*Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

*The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

*Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (7/29/07)

*The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

2nds Reading Challenge

***I did it! Finished up on Dec. 29th, 2007.***



Dates: October 1st through December 31st

Host: Joy

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 3 books by authors whom you've read only one previous work.

My list:

*American Gods by Neil Gaiman (I've read Coraline. And adored it.)

*The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett (I've been so anxious to read this book ever since Annie and I read Chasing Vermeer last year for school.) (finished 10/21/07)

*The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was one of my all-time favorite books as a kid.)

The Book to Movie Reading Challenge

***Oops. Blew this one. Only finished 2 of the 3 by the deadline.***

Dates: September 1st through December 1

Host: Callista at S.M.S. Book Reviews

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 3 books that have made into movies.

My list:

*MacBeth by William Shakespeare (10/12/07)

*Zodiac by William Graysmith

*Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (I actually read this back in 2000, but I want to refresh my memory before moving on the the others)

Medical Mystery Madness Reading Challenge

***I did it! O.K.-I sort of cheated...I originally planned to read one more book. But I'm going to consider it a success none-the-less, since I still read one more book than was actually required.***



Dates: June 1st through October 31st

Host: Debi

For details: Click here.


The challenge (put simply): Read 2 or more medical mystery thriller type books.

My list (updated 9/15):

*Angel of Mercy by Andrew Neiderman (7/6/07)

*Terminal Condition by David Shobin (7/24/07)

*Lethal Practice by Peter Clement (8/22/07)

R.I.P. II Reading Challenge

***I did it! I finished up book four on 10/20/07.***



Dates: September 1st through October 30th

Host: Carl

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Peril the First--Read four books of the eerie, creepy, dark variety.

My List of Possibles--Peril the First (updated 9/15):

*Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (10/28/07)

*MacBeth by William Shakespeare (10/12/07)

*Cell by Stephen King

*Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk

*Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

*The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury (10/20/07)

*Tithe by Holly Black (9/7/07)

*Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (10/9/07)

*The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason

The Non-Fiction Five Reading Challenge

***I did it! Finished 9/30/07***



Dates: May 1st through September 30th

Host: Joy

For Details: Click here.

Challenge (put simply): Read 5 non-fiction books, trying to vary them at least a bit.

My list:

*The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Animal Behavior by David Attenborough (9/20/07)

*We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories From Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch (5/22/07)

*The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (7/21/07)

*Kiss Me, Kill Me by Ann Rule (6/28/07)

*And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts (8/22/07)