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

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

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

%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

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.

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)

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