Sunday, September 7, 2008

R.I.P. III Reading Challenge

***A resounding success! I finished on time and even read more than I needed to!***


Dates: September 1st through October 31st of 2008

Host: Carl

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Several options available. I'm going with Peril the First, which means reading 4 books of the dark/creepy/scary variety.

My pool of possibles:

*The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason (yes, maybe this will be the time that I actually give this well-loved book a go)
*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
*Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
*Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo
*The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
*We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
*Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge
*Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
*The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield
*Witch-Hunt by Marc Aronson
*Dracula by Bram Stoker
*Lost Boy, Lost Girl by Peter Straub
*The Society of S by Susan Hubbard
*The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker
*Daphne du Maurier's Classics of the Macabre
*Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle
*From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
*Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest by Matt Haig
*The Homecoming by Ray Bradbury
*Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
*Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
*The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
*The Witches by Roald Dahl
*The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Floods: Good Neighbors by Colin Thompson

Friday, July 11, 2008

Japanese Literature Challenge 2


Dates: July 30th, 2008 through January 30, 2009

Host: Bellezza

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least 3 works of Japanese literature.

My list:

*The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

*Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

*Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino

Thursday, June 26, 2008

July Book Blowout

Dates: July 1st through July 31st

Host: Mrs. S

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read as many books as you can during the month of July.

My list (to be filled in as I go):

1. Six Modern Plagues and How We Are Causing Them by Mark Jerome Walters
2. Becoming a Superhero by William D. Smith (counts as half a book)
3. How did I get to be 40 & other atrocities by Judith Viorst
4. Death: The High Cost of Living by Neil Gaiman
5. Stuart Little by E.B. White

Monday, June 2, 2008

Classics Challenge


Dates: July 1st through December 31st

Host: Trish

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 5 classics, and then one bonus book from the list that the participants put together of should be/will be classics.

My list:

*Dracula by Bram Stoker

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

*Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

*Walden by Henry David Thoreau

*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

*Bonus book: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Friday, May 16, 2008

It's the End of the World...challenge


Dates: May 15th through September 15th

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read at least three apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic books.

My list:

*The Stand by Stephen King (for the 7th or 8th time)

*The Road by Cormac McCarthy

*Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse edited by John Joseph Adams

Monday, May 5, 2008

The Southern Reading Challenge

***Oh man...I can't believe I blew it again this year. In fact, I did even worse than last year. Yikes!***

Dates: May 15th through August 15th

Host: Maggie

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 3 books both set in the South and written by Southern authors.

My list:

*A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

*Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt (O.k., o.k., I know he's not from the South, but Maggie said I could use this book last year because the book gives such a good feel for Savannah, so I'm hoping she won't mind if I use it this year. I had it as a bonus read last year, but never got to it.)

*A Painted House by John Grisham (I didn't really want to read another John Grisham book for this year's challenge, but since I already owned it and since it sounds a bit different from others of his I've read, I decided it would have to do.)

Alternates:

*The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen

*Sonny's House of Spies by George Ella Lyon

Sunday, May 4, 2008

%1 Well Read Challenge


Dates: May 1st '08 through February 28th, '09

Host: 3M

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 10 books from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list

My list (with a few extras for wiggle room):

*Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

*The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

*The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

*Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

*Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

*The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

*Dracula by Bram Stoker

*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

*The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

*Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

*Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

*Walden by Henry David Thoreau

*Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Medical Mystery Madness '08


Dates: June 1st through November 1st

Host: Debi

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read at least three medical thrillers.

My list:

*Vanish, by Tess Gerritson

*The Sisterhood, by Michael Palmer

*Shock, by Robin Cook

Afraid I'm not spreading my wings here...three authors I'm already well acquainted with. But if I can manage it (yeah right, who am I kidding?!!), I'd like add a few extras as well. I counted, and in addition to the ones on my list, I have 12 more medical thrillers in my TBR pile.

Monday, April 21, 2008

I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge

Dates: June 1st through November 30th

Host: Lynne

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read three books recommended by others.

My list:

*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See (Kara's doing)

*The Looming Tower, by Lawrence Wright (Eva's doing)

*Larklight, by Philip Reeve (Annie's doing)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Novella Challenge


Dates: April 1st through September 30th

Host: Trish

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 6 novellas (definition for challenge--a book of 100 to 250 pages, or thereabouts).

My list:

*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

*Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed

*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

*The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

*Gossamer by Lois Lowry

*The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Monday, March 31, 2008

Initials Reading Challenge

***I just realized that I actually finished this one a while back. WooHoo for me!***

Dates: April 1st through November 30th

Host: Becky.

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least 5 books by authors who go by their initials.

My list of possibles:

*100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

*The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

*Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

*The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

*Stuart Little by E.B. White

*The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

*As Deep as the Marrow by F. Paul Wilson

*Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

*Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot

*The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E.L. Konigsburg

*Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft

*A Nameless Witch by A. Lee Martinez

*The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

*Pendragon: The Merchant of Death by D.J. MacHale

--This way, way, way more books than I'll actually read, but I just couldn't narrow down my choices at this point. :)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Spring Reading Thing '08

***I believe this is what they mean by going down in flames. I did not read one single book from my list. Pathetic.***


Dates: March 20th through June 19th

Host: Katrina

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Make a list of books and read them.

My list:

*Zodiac by Robert Graysmith

*The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

*The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Boockmeier

*The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

---Special Note:
I realize my list is pretty short. I'm already so over-committed with other challenges, but there was no way I could pass this one up. Katrina's Spring Reading Thing 2007 was the very first reading challenge I ever joined. It started my obsession, and thus remains very close to my heart :-)

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Once Upon A Time II Reading Challenge

***Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I did it! All five books, plus A Midsummer Night's Dream!***



Dates: March 21st through June 20th

Host: Carl.

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Actually, there are a few different options. I am choosing Quest 3, which involves reading 5 books from the world of fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology, and finishing up with a June reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

My list of possibles (because I'm having a really hard time committing to a specific five):

*Runemarks by Joanne Harris

*What-the-Dickens by Gregory Maguire

*Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

*Horns & Wrinkles by Joseph Helgerson

*The Book without Words by Avi

*The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

*The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

*The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu

*The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

*100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

*Beauty by Robin McKinley

*The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block

*Wicked by Gregory Maguire

*Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

*The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley

*A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

*Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits by Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson

*The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

*A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

Friday, March 14, 2008

Twisted Fairy Tales Reading Challenge

***Failure...in the sense that I didn't complete my books in time. Success...in the sense that I did get two books read.***


Date: March 5th through May 5th

Host: Enna Isilee

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least four fairly tale retellings, adaptations, or in the tradition of a fairy tale books.

My list:

*The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

*The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley (finished late)

*Beauty by Robin McKinley

*The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Alternates:

*A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

*Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

*The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block (finished late)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Non-Fiction Five Reading Challenge '08

Date: May 1st through September 30

Host: Joy

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 5 non-fiction books. Try to mix it up at least a little bit.

My list:

*Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan

*The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright

*New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People by Robert S. Desowitz

*Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule

*The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari

*All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward

Yes, I realize that was 6 books...I just couldn't decide which one to leave out.

Substitutes:

*Six Modern Plagues and How We are Causing Them by Mark Jerome Walters

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Banned Books Challenge

***Blew it. Only 2 out of my 4 were completed on time. Oh well.***



Dates: February 24th through June 30th, 2008

Host: Pelham Public Library

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read banned books, you choose how many.

My list: (It was really hard to narrow this down!)

*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (although I've read it a bazillion times, I never tire of it)

*Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

*Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut (this will also be a reread...a needed one because I can't remember any of the stories)

*The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

Heart of a Child Reading Challenge

***Well, better late than never, as they say.***

Dates: February 1st through July 14, 2008

Host: Becky

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 3-6 books that you loved in childhood (childhood being broadly defined as birth to age 18).

My list: (though no list is required)

*The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams (favorite book as a little tyke)

*Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume (favorite book as a preteen)

*The Stand by Stephen King (during middle school, Stephen King took over as my favorite author...read The Stand when it first came out and it immediately became my all-time favorite book)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Margaret A. Edwards Reading Challenge

***WooHoo! Pulled this one off. Finished up with my last review on June 1st. Hey, I made the deadline.***

Dates: February 1 through June 1, 2008

Host: Becky

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 3-5 books by any Margaret A. Edwards award winner. All one author or mix it up.

My list:

*Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

*Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

*I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This by Jacqueline Woodson

Alternatives, or hopeful additions:

*The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold by Francesca Lia Block

*Voices by Ursula Le Guin

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The Chunkster Challenge (2008)

Dates: January 7th through December 20th, 2008

Host: Dana

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read at least 4 books of 450+ pages.

My list:

*Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King --522 pages--

*Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi --490 pages--

*The Stand: Complete and Uncut by Stephen King --1153 pages--

*Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke --782 pages--

Alternates:

*The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien --458 pages--

*The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova --642 pages--