BOOK CHALLENGES

2014 BOOK CHALLENGE

Last year I tried the "Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge" and didn't even come close to outdoing myself. This year I'm going to be easier on myself and join the Just For Fun Reading Challenge. The challenge is to read 12 books for the year, one book per month. I'm hoping I can manage that.

 

1.  The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan
2. Bird in Hand by Christina Baker Kline 
3. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik 
4. Swim Back to Me by Ann Packer
5. Driftwood Summer by Patti Callahan Henry
6. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen
7.  Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo
8. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close
9. Silver Girl by Elin Hildebrand
10. Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
11.  

2013 BOOK CHALLENGES

 

Brianna at The Book Vixen is hosting the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge. This challenge is perfect for me. If you want to read more books in 2013 than you did in 2012, go ahead and sign up here. I read 24 books in 2012 and would like to read 28 in 2013. I'm on fire!! Wish me luck.

1. Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve
2. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
3. Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry
4. It's About Your Husband by Lauren Lipton
5. Summer Island by Kristin Hannah
6. The Secret Lives of Wives by Iris Krasnow
7. The Art of Keeping Secrets by Patti Callahan Henry
8. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
9. The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante
10. How To Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong
11. Clubbed to Death by Elaine Viets
12. An Accident in August by Laurence Cossé
13. The Memory of Water by Karen White
14. Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern
15. The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher
16. Distant Shores by Kristin Hannah
17. The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
18. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

2012 BOOK CHALLENGES

Jen at The Hopeful Librarian is hosting the Unread Book Challenge 2012. I'm thrilled to participate since I have tons of unread books that I swore I would get to this year. The challenge is super simple: read the books that have been sitting in your TBR pile. Count every book you finish in 2012 that you own but haven’t read yet. Here’s the catch, though – books you add to the stack throughout 2012 count as part of your total of unread books. For more info and to sign up, click here.

1. Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand
2. Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin
3. One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
4. The Beach House by Jane Green
5. The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
6. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
7. Life's A Beach by Claire Cook
8. Wife Goes On by Leslie Lehr
9. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs 
10. The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
11. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
12. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
13. On This Day by Melody Carlson
14. Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James
15. The Wildwater Walking Club by Claire Cook
16. The House on Oyster Creek by Heidi Jon Schmidt
17. Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon
18. What Remains by Carole Radziwill
19. Love in Mid Air by Kim Wright
20. Blue Water by A. Manette Ansay
21. The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum
22. Happens Every Day by Isabel Gillies
23. Bride Island by Alexandra Enders
24. Before I Die by Jenny Downham

2011 BOOK CHALLENGES

I came across this challenge and decided to participate, especially since I've never read Anita Brookner and think I will enjoy her work immensely. My Porch is co-hosting International Anita Brookner Day. On July 16, Anita Brookner will turn 83 years old. By then, she will have published 24 novels in 30 years. For this challenge, read any one of Anita Brookner's novels by July 16, and then go back to My Porch to link up your review of the book or comment on what you thought of it.

I have so many unfulfilled challenges at this point, but I'm going to read The Debut for this one.

______________________________________________________

Gabriel at Gabriel Reads is hosting the Books I Should Have Read by Now Challenge. Gabriel is challenging himself to read 2 classic books per month between June 1 - December 31, 2011. The books you choose don't have to be classics, but they do have to be books that you own that you should have read by now. Any of those tomes that are collecting dust on your shelf are free game. For more info on the rules, click here.

I'm partaking in the "Casual Reader" category to read 1 book per month. Here's the list I hope to accomplish:

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman

___________________________________________________

Katy at A Few More Pages is hosting 2nds Challenge 2011. Since I'm already participating in a few other challenges, this one actually fits in with them so I figured why not.
The gist of this challenge is to read another book by an author you have previously read. This could be the second in a series or just the second time you're giving this author another read. You have until December 31 to accomplish this challenge. For more on the guidelines and to link up, click here.

I think I'm going to partake in the Just a Spoonful level and read 3 novels that fit this criteria:

An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Lucky by Alice Sebold
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian

____________________________________________________

Here's a fantastic reading challenge for the month of April. Uniflames Creates is hosting an Autism Awareness Reading Challenge. Since April is Autism Awareness Month, she wants to make more people aware of autism and decided to host this reading challenge.

The challenge runs from April 1 through April 30 and you only need to read one book that has to do with autism. Find out more on the rules along with some reading suggestions here.

For this challenge, I am reading A Pebble to Polish by Janet Lord Leszl.

                                                                                                                                 

I'm excited to say that I've taken on another challenge as well. Why not? This one is the Spring Reading Thing hosted by Katrina at Callapidder Days and I hope I can accomplish this challenge since I can set my own pace.

It runs from March 20 - June 20 and here's my (un)realistic list of books that I plan to read during that time period:
Outtakes From A Marriage by Ann Leary
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
Falling Man by Don DeLillo

                                                                                                                                       

I love to read and am participating in a reading challenge this year. I KNOW I won't read 100 books by the end of the year and will be pleased if I actually read more than 12, but I always believe in aiming high. Here's a list of every book I've read to date in 2011:

1. Waiting to Surface by Emily Listfield
2. Rococo by Adriana Trigiani
3. The Great Pretender by Millenia Black
4. The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens
5. The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson
6. Outtakes from a Marriage by Ann Leary
7. Falling Man by Don DeLillo
8. A Pebble to Polish by Janet Lord Leszl
9. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
10. An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser
11. The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
12. The Debut by Anita Brookner
13. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
14. Lucky by Alice Sebold
15. Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman
16. A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
17. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
18. The House of Mirth by Edith WhartonA