Checking it twice. Okay, I'm making my book lists for 2 future challenges:

The 2nd Canadian Book Challenge hosted at The Book Mine Set. I'm picking The Free Spirit approach. I don't like being boxed in. Well, mostly it's because I still have a bunch of books I haven't finished for the last challenge. I will do better this time. Here's my list:

I'm not a poetry reader, but I wanted to get out of my reading box this year. So when Becky decided to host 19th Century Women Writers Challenge I chose Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Sonnets from the Portuguese and Other Love Poems as one of my picks.

Becky is like me, she can't stop making challenges!

This one is to read 3-5 books by authors who have won the Margaret A. Edwards Award.

I must be out of my mind. I joined a few more challenges for 2008. I think I can overlap many of those. Click on the icons to know more about those challenges. Join as many as you can.

The challenges in alphabetical order are:

Total 52 books. 26 each for authors and titles.

This is getting insane!! I've joined three more challenges. I have got to stop browsing other blogs at work (downtime is wonderful isn't it?).

Becky from Becky's Book Reviews is hosting the Inklings Mini-Challenge. The Challenge involves reading either 2 books by C.S. Lewis and 2 by J.R.R. Tolkein or 4 by either author. I have 3 books by Lewis slated for reading in 2008 anyway and I only need to add 1 more to be eligible for this challenge.

I have owned these books for several years and they have been highly recommended by several people close to me but for some reason, I haven't gotten around to them. Here are my choices:

I found links at Joy's Blog to two more challenges that I just couldn't resist!

Both of these challenges are hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

I swear, every year it happens. I have the flu. I've had it since Sunday through the holiday parties and Santa's visit. I haven't been much fun to be around for my hubby and child. Poor guys. Hopefully, I'll kick it soon. Usually, I'm getting over being sick during the holidays but this year I had to have the worst flu I've had in years smack dab in the middle of it. Ugh!

I did get some good books from my better half:

In 2008 I'll be participating in Becky's Young Reader's Challenge. I need to read 12 books aimed at the 12 and under crowd. I read a lot of these anyways so I figured why not! I'll stay away from picture books since I'm doing that for the Celebrate the Author Challenge.

List to come

This is a good idea. It will help me read from my other challenges. From July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008 I need to read one book from six challenges I'm signed up for or will sign up for before then. Find out more here.

A tentative list is coming.

Ok...since the end of the year is quickly approaching, I decided to head over to A Novel Challenge and see if there were any challenges that I could add to my list without adding any more books to my schedule. Sort of a challenge within a challenge. I wanted to join this challenge and it worked out perfectly:

hosted by Annie from Words by Annie

I finished six books for RIP II Autumn Challenge.

Here are my reviews:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowlings

Since it's the beginning of November, I think it's a good time to see how I'm progressing with my reading challenges.

• RIP 2 Challenge. 4/4. Done. Hurray!
• The Something About Me Challenge. 4/10. This challenge ends December 31. Epp! I better get on that.
• The TBR Challenge. 8/12 (2/5 Alternates). I don't think I'm going to finish this one. It ends December 31 as well.
  

My summer is officially over. With that, here's a review of everything I read during June, July, and August. I set a few challenges for myself. I failed a few challenges for myself. Oh well. I read a lot. That's all that matters.

With that, I give you my summer in review (please note that the two starred entries refer to books I was, for whatever reason, unable to complete):

BOOKS READ IN JUNE
1. unSpun
2. Jude the Obscure
3. State of Fear
4. The Butterfly Revolution

I think I am getting cold feet looking at my own list. However, I have to do this. I can't go on procastinating!

Man Booker Challenge 2008
1) 2007 The Gathering by Anne Enright
2) 2006 *The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
3) 2000 *The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood currently reading it
4) 1981 *Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
5)
6)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With my completion of "Till Morning is Nigh" I have completed the Christmas Themed Book Challenge. Here's what I read:

• Holidays are Hell - Harrison, Sands, Liu, Pettersson
• Till Morning is Nigh - Leisha Kelly

I still have one more book that I plan on reading with a Christmas theme but it was not a title that I had originally named for the challenge. This was a fun one. Thanks to Susan at My Reading Adventures for hosting.

In the fourth of the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne of Windy Poplars, our heroine Anne Shirley graduated university and gained a position as principal of Summerside High School. Anne's on her own. She has to make new friends in a new town. Not much of a problem for Anne, you might think, but she finds herself in hostile territory. The town is run by a family named Pringle and Summerside is lousy with Pringles. The Pringles are a clannish group who have a passive aggressive way of running people they don't like out of town. Poor Anne unknowingly took the post of principal from...a Pringle. Somehow (I won't say how) Anne gets the Pringles on her side just when she's about to give it all up. Anne goes on to make friends of nearly every odd character she runs across, until her three years are up and she heads back to Avonlea.

It is that time of year, isn't it? I've been seeing round-up posts popping up everywhere, and there is something quite satisfying about quantifying what you've been doing all year. Of course, this time of year also makes me realize I will never have enough time to read all the books I want to, probably not even all the books I have on my shelves. But I will keep trying, nevertheless. 2007 was a good year for reading - all the encouragement and suggestions from bloggers and our many challenges kept me picking up one book after another. How pleasant!

Books Bought 2007

This is one of those challenges that I wanted to join but I wasn't sure if I would be in the mood for Christmas reading. While out shopping with my family this weekend I ran across a couple of titles that got me interested so I am going indulge my inner whim-reader and join this one after all.

Here are my titles:

Holidays are Hell - Kim Harrison, Lynsay Sands, Marjorie Lui, and Vicki Pettersson. I picked up this one for a little Urban Fantasy escapism.

Booking Through Thursday

Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on and so on?

I don’t so much mean something like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or were written in the same year. Something like that… Something that strings them together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different authors…

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

I am already committed to reading from a large list of banned books so I just picked 4 for this challenge which is Feb 24 to June 30.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Ok, I know I'm crazy but this is THE LAST ONE! It has to be, I have no more room on my sidebar and I'm going to have to buy Barnes & Noble, or rent a room in the library if I keep going. So, I've joined another challenge. But this one will fit with my other challenges (likely excuse right?). I've joined the A to Z Reading Challenge hosted by Joy. If you think this will fit into your challenges, head on over to Thoughts of Joy and sign up like all us other crazy people =) I will add the Authors and Titles as I go along!

A -
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -

Ok...I have been over-committed for the 2007 challenges. I admit it. That's why I have been avoiding all of the new ones that have been popping up, even though some of them look really interesting and fun. But, Melissa over at Book Nut is hosting a challenge that fits right in with my reading plans for 2008.

Booknut is hosting this great challenge to read 4 books by authors that are not Caucasian. More details here.

I'm definitely participating as the majority of the authors I read are white. I don't have a list of books yet but I'll work on them. I'm going to do her second choice and read one from each of the categories listed (that's 6 books, but 4 minimum to finish this challenge) This challenges is from January-April 2008

Okay, one more challenge! My eye has been caught by the reinvigorated Chunkster Challenge, being hosted this year by So many books, so little time. Even though I didn't come close to meeting my goals with this one last year, it was fun. And I think it would make a lovely counterpoint to the Short Story Challenge -- a few stories, a reaaallllly long novel. Balance. So I'm going to sign up again, and fortunately, cross-challenge books are permitted. Yay, War & Peace!

Okay I can't resist this one and since no one else took initiative on this one, I will. Start looking through your books for non-fiction books related to spirituality. They can be for a certain religion or none at all. About living the life you were meant to live, or being your best, or connecting with God or whatever. As long as it's non-fiction and you consider it Spiritual.

Full rules, challenge graphic and place to sign up coming within 2 weeks. I'll announce here and at the Novel Challenges blog/group when it's up.

Dana is hosting The Chunkster Challenge this year. I didn't get to participate in last year's challenge because it had already started by the time I found the book-blogging community.

This fits right in to the books I have already planned for 2008 so I am going to play along.

The rules are that you must read 4 books that are at least 450 pages(750 large print) between January 7th and December 20th, 2008.

I finally decided on my picks for the Novella Challenge. If you don't remember, the rules are read 6 novellas (100-250 pgs) between April and September 2008.

1. Lesley Castle: Jane Austen
2. Stardust: Neil Gaiman
3. Fahrenheit 451: Ray Bradbury
4. Breakfast at Tiffany's: Truman Capote
5. The Lifted Veil: George Eliot
6. Summer: Edith Wharton

I've been looking forward to reading these for awhile and now I have the perfect reason to take them off the TBR list.