Colorful Reading Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Rebecca

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 9 books with a color in the title. There are six required colors (red, white, blue, black, silver, and gold), and the other three are reader's choice.

My tentative list:

Red: Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech

White: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson.

Blue: The Blue Girl by Charles de Lint

Black: Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden

Silver: The Silver Donkey by Sonya Hartnett

Gold: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Green: Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

Yellow: The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby

Rose: Rose Madder by Stephen King

Young Adult Challenge '09

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: J.Kaye

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 12 young adult books.

My list of possibles:

*An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

*Paper Towns by John Green

*A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti

*Nation by Terry Pratchett

*How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

*The Hollow People by Brian Keaney

*Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

*Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder

*The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

*Gossamer by Lois Lowry

*Such a Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess

*Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

*Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

*The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

*Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

*Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

*The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

*The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer

*American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

*The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

*Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

*Janes in Love by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

*Pemba's Song by Marilyn Nelson and Tonya C. Hegamin

*The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci

*The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

21 Cultures Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Lost in Books

For Details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 21 books about 21 different cultures, modern or traditional. Books can be fictional, but must not be about a fictional culture.

My list of possibles:

*The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost (Tarawa)

*Getting Stoned with Savages by J. Maarten Troost (Fiji and Vanuatu)

*The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma by Thant Myint-U (Burma)

*The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly (Thailand)

*Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang (China)

*Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (China)

*Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (Japan)

*Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP (Korea)

*A Taste of Earth and Other Legends of Vietnam by Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnam)

*The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)

*In the Land of Invisible Women by Qanta A. Ahmed, MD (Saudi Arabia)

*The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Iran)

*I’jaam by Sinan Antoon (Iraq)

*A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti (Israel/Gaza)

*The Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)

*Antipode by Heather E. Heying (Madagascar)

*Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell (Sierra Leone)

*They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, and Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein (Sudan)

*House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe by Christina Lamb (Zimbabwe)

*ZenZele by J. Nozipo Maraire (Zimbabwe)

*Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)

*Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen (Kenya)

*A Sunday by the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche (Rwanda)

*King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild (Congo region)

*No More Strangers Now interviews by Tim McKee (South Africa)

*Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Sweden)

*Winterwood by Patrick McCabe (Ireland)

*The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman (England)

*The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett (England)

*The Reader by Bernhard Schlink (Germany)

*Fax from Sarajevo by Joe Kubert (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

*The Jaguar Smile by Salman Rushdie (Nicaragua)

*The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende (Chile)

*A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela (Chile)

*The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic)

*Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston (Haiti and Jamaica)

*Almost Heaven by Martin Fletcher (rural U.S.)

*The Crucible by Arthur Miller (Puritan New England)

*Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden (Cree of northern Ontario, Canada)

*Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (Haisla of British Columbia, Canada)

*Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee by Dean Cycon (many indigenous cultures around the world)

Young Readers Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least 12 children's books (anything written to be read, or read aloud, to children 12 and under).

My list (to be filled in as I go):
1. Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner
2. Have You Got My Purr? by Judy West
3. Toots the Cat by Karla Kuskin
4. Comic Adventures of Boots by Satoshi Kitamura
5. Cat and Fish by Joan Grant
6. Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
7. Circle of Cats by Charles de Lint
8. Cat, What Is That? by Tony Johnston
9. The Scaredy Cats by Barbara Bottner
10. The Cat Who Walked Across France by Kate Banks
11.
12.

Dream King Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Jessi

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): There are several levels of participation, but the basic gist is reading Neil Gaiman works in a variety of categories and watching one movie.

My list:

*The Wolves in the Walls (children/young adult)

*Fragile Things (short story collection)

*Anansi Boys (novel)

*The Sandman: Doll's House (graphic novel)
bonus for category:
--The Sandman: Dream Country
--The Sandman: Season of Mists
--The Sandman: A Game of You

*Mirrormask (audiobook)

*The 13 Clocks (other: Neil approved reading)

*Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson (Neil spin-offs)

*Stardust (movie)

Dewey Decimal Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: The Novel World

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read one book from each of the Dewey Decimal categories.

My list (to be filled in as read):

000 - Generalities
100 - Philosophy and Psychology
200 - Religion
300 - Social Sciences - Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule (364.152 RUL)
400 - Language - Sister's Bernadette's Barking Dog by Kitty Burns Florey (428.2)
500 - Natural Sciences/Math - The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz (576.5 SCH)
600 - Technology - George & Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism by Charlotte Moore (618.928 MOO)
700 - The Arts - That's Life: Finding Scrapbook Inspiration in the Everyday by Nic Howard (745.593 HOW)
800 - Literature and Rhetoric - The Crucible by Arthur Miller (812 MIL)
900 - Geography and History - House of Stone: The True Story of Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe by Christina Lamb (968.9105 LAM)

World War II Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Hosts: Anna and Serena

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least 5 books, fiction and/or non-fiction, that involve WWII.

My list of possibles (I'm going for 5 of these; any extras will be icing on the cake):

*Smoke and Ashes by Barbara Rogasky

*Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

*The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

*The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

*Dawn of Fear by Susan Cooper

*The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

*Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

*The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

*Night by Elie Wiesel

*Plot Against America by Philip Roth

*Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (would be a reread)

*The Zookeepers Wife by Diane Ackerman

*Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

*...I never saw another butterfly...: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944

World Citizen Challenge

Date: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Eva

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Basically, read books about the world. There are a variety of levels of participation. And a variety of categories. I obviously secretly love failure, because I'm going for the post graduate level. That means seven books, including one from each of the six categories.

My list of possibles:

***Note 1--I tried very hard to stick with only books that we already owned, but a couple (*) have been on my wish list for a long time, and I figured this was a good excuse to possibly finally pick them up.

***Note 2--I'm not entirely sure I have all these books in the appropriate category. Please feel free to set me straight.

Politics:

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

The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith

A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa by Howard W. French

The Siege of Mecca: The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine and the Birth of Al Qaeda by Yaroslav Trofimov

*A Nation of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet by Pamela Constable and Arturo Valenzuela

*House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe by Christina Lamb

Economics:

*The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs

History:

The Massacre at El Mozote by Mark Danner

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild

Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader

Culture:

*Labor's Lot: The Power, History, and Culture of Aboriginal Action by Elizabeth A. Povinelli

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Worldwide Issues:

Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Deadly Path of the World's Most Precious Stones by Greg Campbell

Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro

The New Killing Fields: Massacre and the Politics of Intervention edited by Nicolaus Mills and Kira Brunner

Memoirs:

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Joung Ung

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsian Deng, and Benjamin Ajak with Judy A. Bernstein

In the Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed MD

Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee by Dean Cycon (This isn't exactly a memoir. But I'm not sure it quite fits under economics either. Just wasn't sure where to put it, but thought it definitely fit in with the spirit of the challenge, so I wanted to use it.)

Essay Reading Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Books and Movies

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 10, 20, or 30 essays.

My list (I think I'll shoot for 30) to be added as read:

1. "Bugs in the Brain" by Robert M. Sapolsky (from Monkeyluv and Other Essays on Our Lives as Animals)
2. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby ***This actually contained a total of 28 essays, so technically I'm in great shape for this challenge. :)
3. "The Pony Problem" by Sloane Crosley (from They Said There'd Be Cake)
4. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby ***This actually contained 15 essays.
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The Science Book Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31t of 2009

Host: Science Besieged

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read at least 3 science books.

My list of possibles:

*The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors by John Gribbin

*Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley

*The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt Ridley

*The Diversity of Life by E.O. Wilson

*Climbing Mount Improbable by Richard Dawkins

*Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

*Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form by Michael Sims

*Into the Jungle: Great Adventures in the Search for Evolution by Sean B. Carroll

*The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

*Civilization and the Limpet by Martin Wells

*Why Geese Don't Get Obese (And We Do) by Eric P. Widmaier

*When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy

*Cheating Monkeys and Citizen Bees: The Nature of Cooperation in Animals and Humans by Lee Dugatkin

*Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation by Olivia Judson

*The Snakebite Survivors' Club: Travels Among Serpents by Jeremy Seal

*Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? by David M Raup

*The Sixth Extinction: Patterns of Life and the Future of Humankind by Richard Leakey and Roger Lewin

*Unearthing the Dragon by Mark Norell

*Antipode: Seasons with the Extraordinary Wildlife and Culture of Madagascar by Heather E. Heying

*Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology by D. Bruce Means

*Throwim Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums and Penis Gourds--On the Track of Unknown Mammals in Wildest New Guinea by Tim Flannery

*Among Orangutans: Read Apes and the Rise of Human Culture by Carel Van Schaik

*A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky

*The Wisdom of the Bones by Alan Walker and Pat Shipman

*A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

*Animal Minds by Donald R. Griffin

*King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz

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

*Life on a Little Known Planet by Howard Evans

*Parasite Rex by Carl Zimmer

*A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

*How to Dunk a Doughnut: The Science of Everyday Life by Len Fisher

*Nature of Australia: A Portrait of the Island Continent by John Vandenbeld

*The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

*Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1928 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It by Gina Kolata

*The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

*Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization by W. Hodding Carter

*The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, The Epidemic that Shaped Our History by Molly Caldwell Crosby

*The Survival Factor by Mike and Tim Birkhead

*Of Kinkajous, Capybaras, Horned Beetles, Seladangs, and the Oddest and ost Wonderful Mammals, Insects, Birds, and Plants of Our World by Jeanne K. Hanson and Deane Morrison

*Why Aren't Black Holes Black? by Robert M. Hazen

*The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon

*The Secret Life of Germs: What They Are, Why We Need Them, and How We Can Protect Ourselves Against Them by Philip M. Tierno, Jr., Ph.D.

*The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz

The Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

Date: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: J.Kaye

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): There are different levels (numbers of books to choose to read), but essentially it just involves reading books from one's library as opposed to buying them. I'm choosing the "12 book" level...in true wimp style.

My list, to be completed as I go:
1. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea by Valerie Zenatti
2. Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
3. The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
4. House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe by Christina Lamb
5. Fax From Sarajevo by Joe Kubert
6. The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer
7. The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
8. George & Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism by Charlotte Moore
9. Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
10. ...I never saw another butterfly...: Children's Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944
11. The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot
12. Javatrekker: Dispatches from the World of Fair Trade Coffee by Dean Cycon

What's In a Name 2

Dates: January 1st through December 31st, 2009

Host: Annie

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read one book from each of 6 different categories (book with body part in its title, book with relative in its title, book with profession in its title, book with medical condition in its title, book with time of day in its title, and book with building in its title).

My list of potentials (a quick pulling of books that worked from my TBR piles):

*body part-
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell
Cell by Stephen King
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet
Blood Run by Leah Ruth Robinson
Deep as the Marrow by R. Paul Wilson
The Calcutta Chromosome by Amitav Ghosh
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

*relative-
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman (might use as a profession instead)
Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson
The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
The Piper's Sons by Bruce Chandler Fergusson
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

*profession-
Iris, Messenger by Sarah Deming
I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
The Buffalo Soldier by Chris Bohjalian
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian
Judge & Jury by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
The Judges by Elie Wiesel
The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman
King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu
In The Land of Invisible Women: A Female Doctor's Journey in the Saudi Kingdom by Qanta A. Ahmed, MD

*medical condition-
The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Shock by Robin Cook
Seizure by Robin Cook
Insomnia by Stephen King
George & Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism by Charlotte Moore

*time of day-
Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
Four Past Midnight by Stephen King
Forests of the Night by James W. Hall
Night by Elie Wiesel
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominiuqe Lapierre and Javier Moro
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

*building-
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
A Stranger in the House by Gloria Murphy
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
The Museum of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates
The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman
Castle Waiting by Linda Medley
House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-Torn Zimbabwe by Christina Lamb
The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech

Elizabeth Scott Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read at least two books by Elizabeth Scott.

My list:

*Living Dead Girl

*Love You Hate You Miss You

Read Your Own Books '09

Date: January 1st through December 31st of 2009
(However, I found out about it on March 16th, so my list will only include books read after this time.)

Host: MizB

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read books you already own. Didn't take a brain surgeon to figure that one out, huh? You choose your own goal as to number of books. No need for a predetermined list.

Notes: My goal is 29. Decided to join this because a.) I seemingly am incapable of NOT joining a challenge, and b.) I'm hoping this nudges me to get some of my own books read.

My list (to be filled in as I go):
1. Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese
2. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
3. Looking for Bobowicz by Daniel Pinkwater
4. The Castle Corona by Sharon Creech
5. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
8. Starting Points by Linda Harrison
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
10. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby
11. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
12. Fables: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
13. Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham
14. Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
15. Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP
16. The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
17. The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going
18. Nation by Terry Pratchett
19. The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
20. The House with the Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs
21. Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson
22. Affluenza by John DeGraaf, David Winn, and Thomas Naylor
23. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
24. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
25. Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

Herding Cats II

Dates: April 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Renay

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): List exactly 5 books you've read in 2007, 2008, and/or 2009 that you highly recommend. Then try to read some of the other participant's suggestions.

My list of suggestions:
*The Stand by Stephen King
*We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
*And the Band Played On: People, Politics, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts
*Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
*The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

My list to read:
*Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
*The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar
*28: Stories of AIDs in Africa by Stephanie Nolen
*Nation by Terry Pratchett
*Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

--This list took serious weeding. It was originally easily five times this long, but I promised myself if I joined I would only make a list of five.

GLBT Reading Challenge

Dates: July 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Amanda

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 6 books that somehow fit under the umbrella of GLBT. Fiction and non-fiction. GLBT by topic and/or by author.

My list, which is highly subject to change:

*The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (doesn't actually count towards the challenge...I couldn't make myself wait for the challenge to start...oops)

*Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

*Freak Show by James St. James

*Among Other Things, I've Taken Up Smoking by Aoibheann Sweeney

*Wide Awake by David Levithan

*Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

And a few extras I'd really love to get to:

*Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger

*Hero by Perry Moore

*The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson

*grl2grl by Julie Anne Peters

*Luna by Julie Anne Peters

*Night Kites by M.E. Kerr

*The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

*Girl Goddess #9 by Francesca Lia Block

*Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block

*The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

*Thinking Straight by Robin Reardon

*Why I Wake Early: New Poems by Mary Oliver

*Orlando by Virginia Woolf

*The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

*Pedro and Me by Judd Winick

*Normal by Amy Bloom

Graphic Novels Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Laza

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read graphic novels. There are several levels of participation. I'm shooting for the Majors level of 12 books.

My list of possibles:

The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman

The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey

Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Rose by Jeff Smith

Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 by David Petersen

The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Nightmares & Fairy Tales: Once Upon a Time by Serena Valentino

Castle Waiting by Linda Medley

The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

Fax From Sarajevo by Joe Kubert

Palestine by Joe Sacco

The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

Berlin: City of Stones by Jason Lutes

Amulet: Book One The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA by Mark Schultz

Bonus reads:
The Sandman: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman
Fables: Storybook Love by Bill Willingham
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers by Bill Willingham
The Sandman: A Game of You by Neil Gaiman
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
Pedro and Me by Judd Winick
Janes in Love Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale
Death: At Death's Door by Jill Thompson
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld
Bone: One Volume Edition by Jeff Smith

Manga Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Rhinoa

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Read 6 Manga.

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

1. Bizenghast One by M. Alice LeGrow
2. Bizenghast Two by M. Alice LeGrow
3. Legend of Chun Hyang by CLAMP
4.
5.
6.

Dewey's Book Reading Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 31st of 2009

Host: Chris

For details: Click here.

The Challenge (put simply): Either read one book from each year in Dewey's archives or read any five books from her archives.

***Obviously, this is more than your average reading challenge. In fact, I prefer to think of it not so much as a challenge, but as a time to spend some time in spirit with Dewey. She is so loved. And she is so missed.***

My list of possibilities:

*Looking for Alaska by John Green

*The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood & Social Change edited by Shari MacDonald Strong

*The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

*How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

*The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

*The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

*Le Petit Prince by Antoine de St.-Exupéry

*Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

*The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming by Lemony Snicket

*The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

*The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton

*American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

*We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

*The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot

*The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards

*The Pesthouse by Jim Crace

*Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

*The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg

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

*Nation by Terry Pratchett

--Oh my, this list could go on for pages...

Suspense and Thriller Reading Challenge

Dates: February 12th 2008 through December 31st 2009

Host: J. Kaye

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read 12 books, each from a different sub-genre of thrillers.

My list:

1. Green River, Running Red by Ann Rule (true crime thriller)

2. Sea Change by James Powlik (environmental thriller)

3. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks (horror thriller)

4. Joyride by Jack Ketchum (psychological thriller)

5. Vanish by Tess Gerritsen (medical thriller)

6. Blaze by Richard Bachman/Stephen King (crime thriller)

7. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (sci-fi/dystopian thriller)

8. Pandora's Clock by John J. Nance (techno-thriller)

9. Trace by Patricia Cornwell (forensic mystery)

10. Testament by David Morrell (action thriller)

11. Deep as the Marrow by F. Paul Wilson (political thriller)

12. Double Cross by James Patterson (serial killer thriller)

100 Shots of Shorts

Dates: Whenever. (Gotta love that!)

Host: Rob

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read one hundred short stories.

My list:

1. "Down to a Sunless Sea" by Mathias B. Freese (1/3/09)
2. "I'll Make It, I Think" by Mathias B. Freese (1/10/09)
3. "The Father Thing" by Philip K. Dick (1/12/09)
4. "Orange" by Neil Gaiman (1/17/09)
5. "Ass-Hat Magic Spider" by Scott Westerfeld (1/17/09)
6. "The Menace From Earth" by Robert Heinlein (1/17/09)
7. "The Home Team" by Greg Wickenhofer (1/17/09)
8. "Summer All in a Day" by Ray Bradbury (1/18/09)
9. "Cheats" by Ann Halam (1/18/09)
10. "The Fluted Girl" by Paolo Bacigulupi (1/18/09)
11. "The Harvest" by Amy Hempel (1/23/09)
12. "The Surfer" by Kelly Link (1/31/09)
13. "The Chatham Bear" by Mathias B. Freese (1/31/09)
14. "Herbie" by Mathias B. Freese (2/14/09)
15. "Alabaster" by Mathias B. Freese (2/15/09)
16. "Juan Peron's Hands" by Mathias B. Freese (2/15/09)
17. "Little Errands" by Mathias B. Freese (2/16/09)
18. "Arnold Schwarzenegger's Father Was a Nazi" by Mathias B. Freese (2/17/09)
19. "Echo" by Mathias B. Freese (2/20/09)
20. "Chicxulb" by T.C. Boyle (2/23/09)
21. "Young Man" by Mathias B. Freese (3/1/09)
22. "Nicholas" by Mathias B. Freese (3/7/09)
23. "Billy's Mirrored Wall" by Mathias B. Freese (3/8/09)
24. "The Babysitter's Code" by Laura Lippman (3/9/09)
25. "Unanswerable" by Mathias B. Freese (3/12/09)
26. "For a While, Here, In this Moment" by Mathias B. Freese (3/17/09)
27. "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor (3/17/09)
28. "The April Witch" by Ray Bradbury (3/21/09)
29. "Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair" by Charles de Lint (3/22/09)
30. “No One’s a Mystery” by Elizabeth Tallent (3/23/09)
31. "Repair Kit" by Stephen Baxter (7/5/09)
32. "Phantom Pain" by Lydia Peelle (8/3/09)
33. "Madame Rosette" by Roald Dahl (9/6/09)
34. "Man from the South" by Roald Dahl (9/6/09)
35. "Sound Machine" by Roald Dahl (9/?/09)
36. "Taste" by Roald Dahl (9/25/09)

*Stories by Mathias B. Freese are from Down to a Sunless Sea.

9 for '09

Dates: December 27th of 2008 through December 27th of 2009

Host: Isabel

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read one book from each of nine categories. All books must already be in your TBR pile.

My list:

*The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. (This is for the "long" category. Each participant gets to choose their own definition of long...it is to be longer than one's typical read. But I read books of all different lengths, so I wasn't sure what to choose. Finally went with a book that would have fit in the Chunkster Challenge parameters at 485 pages.)

*News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (This is for the "free" category. I got this one from Paperback Swap.)

*Black Sunday by Thomas Harris (This is for the "dusty" category. I've had this one on my shelves for well over 5 years.)

*Five Past Midnight in Bhopal by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro (This is for the "used" category. Bought this used from Amazon.)

*The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier (This is for the "letter" category. For this category, one needs to choose a title that has a letter of one's name in it. I found one that had all the letters of my first name in it.)

*Sleeping With Ward Cleaver by Jenny Gardiner (This is for the "strange" category. Chick lit is definitely out of my comfort zone.)

*The Boys in the Trees by Mary Swan. (This is for the "cover" category. I love the cover of this one! Definitely why I picked it up to start with.)

*An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (This is for the "alive or dead" category. For this category, one needs to choose a book by an award winning/award nominated author. The book chosen for the challenge does not necessarily have to be the award winner/nominee.)

*The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost (This is for the "distance" category. For this category, one needs to choose a book set over 1,000 miles from one's home. The South Pacific definitely fits the bill.)

42 Challenge

Dates: January 1st through December 3rd of 2009 (officially)...but permission has been granted to start anytime

Host: Becky

For details: Click here.

The challenge (put simply): Read and/or watch and/or listen to 42 items in the realm of science fiction. No need to make list ahead of time.

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

1. The Thing, directed by John Carpenter (film)
2. Fahrenheit 451, directed by François Truffaut (film)
3. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (novel)
4. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (novel)
5. "I Am The Doorway" by Stephen King, from Night Shift (short story)
6. "The Father Thing" by Philip K. Dick (short story)
7. "Orange" by Neil Gaiman (short story)
8. "Ass-Hat Magic Spider" by Scott Westerfeld (short story)
9. "The Menace From Earth" by Robert Heinlein (short story)
10. "The Home Team" by Greg Wickenhofer (short story)
11. "Summer All in a Day" by Ray Bradbury (short story)
12. "Cheats" by Ann Halam (short story)
13. "The Fluted Girl" by Paolo Bacigulupi (short story)
14. "The Surfer" by Kelly Link (short story)
15. The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge by Harry Harrison (novel)
16. A Sound of Thunder directed by Peter Hyams (film)
17. The Dead & the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer (novel)
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (novel)
19. "Repair Kit" by Stephen Baxter (short story)
20. Masters of Science Fiction "A Clean Escape" (TV show episode)
21. Masters of Science Fiction "The Awakening" (TV show episode)
22. Stargate directed by Roland Emmerich (film)
23. Masters of Science Fiction "Jerry Was a Man" (TV show episode)
24. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
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