Reading on a Rainy Day

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Showing posts from December, 2009

Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge (2010)

Alright, it's official. This is the last challenge I am signing up for! I will be lucky if I can complete half the challenges. What was I thinking? But then, making all these reading lists is such a huge thrill. I am an obsessed list-maker, something I speak about here . Whew! So, this challenge is hosted by Lisa at Gilmore Girls Reading Challenge . This follows from the TV show Gilmore Girls , in which there is, believe this, a huge number of books listed. The challenge will officially run from January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. Crossover books from other challenges are allowed. I am joining at the Lorelai level, to read 10 books from at least three different categories. So these are the books I plan to read: Update (Jan 22, 2011): I managed just 4 in the end. Category: Classics 1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Category: YA or Children's 2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling 3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Row

What's in a Name? 3 Challenge (2010)

This is going to be a fun challenge to do. Since it will be interesting to see how I can fit a title into a challenge or vice versa. This is being hosted by Beth F at What's in a Name? 3 Challenge . The categories are: 1. A book with a food in the title Chocolat by Joanne Harris 2. A book with a body of water in the title The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard 3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 4. A book with a plant in the title The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver 5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 6. A book with a music term in the title The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks Challenge Guidelines: 1. Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book). 2. Books may overlap other challenges. 3. Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category. 4. Creativity for matching the categories is allowed. 5. You do not have

Original TBR Challenge (2010)

Here's another challenge that I am doing in a couple of book clubs so I plan to blog about it here as well. This challenge is hosted by MizB at MizB's Reading Challenges . Challenge Guidelines: 1. The challenge is to read 12 TBR books in 12 months — you can read those all in one month if you want, or one a month, or however you wanna do it. 2. You should have a list posted somewhere for others to see 3. You CANNOT change your list after January 1st, of the current year!!! 4. You can create an Alternates list of MAXIMUM 12 books, if you want, in order to have options to choose from (you can read these in place of books on your original list). 5. Audiobooks and e-books ARE allowed 6. Re-reads are NOT allowed, as they aren’t TRUE “TBRs” 7. You CAN overlap with other challenges I plan to just create one list and stick to it. Here's my list of 12. Update (Jan 22, 2010): I read only 6 books out of the 12. At least that's 50% success. 1. The Bell Jar by Sylvi

A to Z Challenge (2010)

I am doing this challenge in a couple of groups at Goodreads and so decided to join this one online and blog about it as well. To sign-up, do so at A to Z Challenge . You can do authors only, titles only, or both. Ambitious that I am, I am going for both. This runs from January though December 2010. For letters such as Q, X, Z, if I find it hard to find / read an author, I plan to double up on some other letter. Update (Jan 22, 2011): I definitely bent a few rules, as you can see in the list below. Anyways, I'm marking this challenge as failed. Title A sterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli The B ell Jar by Sylvia Plath C ity of Bones by Cassandra Clare D addy Long-Legs by Jean Webster E mbroideries by Marjane Satrapi F ireworks over Toccoa by Jeffrey Stepakoff The G eometry of Sisters by Luanne Rice The H obbit by J.R.R. Tolkien My Name I s Memory by Ann Brashares The Elephant's J ourney by José Saramago What the Dead K now by Laura Lippman L ast Night in Mont

Women Unbound Challenge (2010)

My favorite genre is women fiction! I tend to prefer books written from the female viewpoint, may be because of the lesser obsession with sex in female-oriented books, or may be simply because I can identify with them better. As if I don't read enough books that are women-centered, here's a challenge to read more books focused on women or feminism. This challenge is hosted at Women Unbound and runs from November 1, 2009 till November 30, 2010. I plan to join at the Bluestocking level and read 5 books, of at least 2 are nonfiction. So here are the books I plan to read: Fiction 1. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 2. Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman 3. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Non-fiction 4. Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi 5. Denial by Jessica Stern Here's the Start-of-challenge meme questions and my answers! 1. What does feminism mean to you? Does it have to do with the work sphere? The social sphere? How you dress? How you act? T

451 Challenge (2010)

451 Challenge is based on 451 Fridays, a weekly feature hosted at As Usual, We Need More Bookshelves . 451 Fridays is based on an idea from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In his novel, a group of people (Bradbury calls them Book People ) are trying to keep the ideas found in books alive. Instead of actually saving the books, the Book People each "become" a book - memorizing it, word for word, and passing it down to the next generation. Based on this idea, a list of books have been compiled at 451 Challenge . On checking out the list, I noticed a bunch of books that I've been meaning to read, so I decided to do this challenge. Challenge Guidelines: 1. This challenge runs January 2010 till December 2010. 2. Re-reading is acceptable, as are crossovers with other challenges. 3. Audio, print, and e-books are all acceptable. 4. Each month, participants will be encouraged to post their reviews on the challenge blog, and each review posted will be an entry into a grand

Audio Book Reading Challenge (2010)

Now audio books are something I don't enjoy much. I started listening to them a few months back, and I still much prefer the real books. Sometimes, it's the annoying reading by the narrator, sometimes, its the plenty of details I miss when I get distracted by something else. But anyways, I am considering doing this challenge at the Addicted level, which involves listening to 12 audio books. This challenge is hosted at Royal Reviews , and runs January 1st through December 31st. To sign-up, click this link . Update (Jan 22, 2011): Abandoned this challenge.

Flashback Challenge!! (2010)

I've been planning to re-read a few books during the next year. Now with Aarti @ BOOKLUST and Kristen M @ We Be Reading hosting this challenge, I guess this is one more I can add to my challenge kitty. LOL! Challenge Guidelines: 1. The Flashback Challenge will run from January 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010 . 2. You can do mini-challenges too! These are: - Re-read a favorite book from your childhood - Re-read a book assigned to you in high school - Re-read a book you loved as an adult For now, I plan to read the Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings series. I plan to sign-up at the Literati level, and read over 6 books. If you expect to re-read some books, go to Flashback challenge Update (Dec 27, 2010): I expected to finish this challenge, but I'm at least 2 books short. Oh well! Here's what I did read: 1. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge (2010)

Now this is a challenge that I can easily do. Most of the books I read are borrowed from the library. Funnily though, I am also planning to clear off my shelves next year. So it's going to be interesting to see how the two compete with each other. This challenge is hosted by J. Kaye @ J. Kaye's Book Blog . Challenge Guidelines: 1. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Young Reader – any book as long as it is checked out from the library count. 2. No need to list your books in advance. You may select books as you go. Even if you list them now, you can change the list if needed. 3. Crossovers from other reading challenges count. 4. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. There are 4 levels to sign-up at, and I am going for the Just My Size level, and read 50 library books, though I hope to read up to 75 books from the library. If you read a lot of books from the library, like I do, or would like to read more from the library, sign-up here . My final tally:

Awesome Author Challenge (2010)

There are so many authors out there that I want to try. Lately, I've been trying out a bunch of new authors, and there are more that I wish to try. Alyce @ At Home With Books is hosting a great challenge as a way to read those authors that have been time and again recommended to you but you are yet to try their good works! Challenge Guidelines: 1. The challenge starts January 1, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010. 2. Crossover from other challenges is allowed. 3. Titles and authors do not have to be predetermined, and can change at any time. 4. Books can come from any genre or reading level, the only requirement is that you have heard great things about the author, but haven't yet read any of their works. There are three levels for this challenge. I am signing up at the Challenging level. Here are the authors I would like to try, subject to change anytime. :-) Update (Oct 2, 2010) : Halfway through the year, I realized that I was not as eager to read some of the a

100+ Reading Challenge (2010)

Alright, so obviously this is the first challenge I would jump in for. Actually, I am hoping to hit 144, which makes a nice number, since it translates to 12 books a month (Thanks to Crystal @ Goodreads for spotting this). This will be a big challenge for me, but I should be able to cross 100. This year, with just the half year of reading and loads of grad work, I was able to read 50. This challenge is being hosted by J. Kaye @ J. Kaye's Book Blog . Challenge Guidelines: 1. The goal is to read 100 or more books. 2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, YA, Manga, Graphic Novels, Library books, Novellas, Young Reader, Nonfiction – as long as the book has an ISBN or equivalent or can be purchased as such, the book counts. What doesn't count: Individual short stories or individual books in the Bible. 4. Crossovers from other reading challenges count. 5. Challenge begins January 1st thru December, 2010. Books started before the 1st do not count. So, did you join this challenge? If

Let the show begin!

After starting grad school in 2008, I got into my biggest reading rut ever lasting a whole year. Part of it has to do with not finding time to read amidst the heavy graduate work load. But the major reason is due to not feeling a desire to read a book during the few free minutes I get each day, but rather to just catch up with lost sleep. Finally having caught up with my reading, I hope to up my read count for the next year. 144 is my target, but anything above 50 would be welcome! And with all the reading I hope to do, there's always a bunch of challenges to immerse myself in. Much as I tell myself not to jump into every challenge I hear of, but well, how do you resist? So over the next few days, I'll be posting the list of challenges I want to throw my hat in. I do have a couple of books that I plan to finish before the end of this month, but most of my focus will be on setting up my lists for the challenges next year! Whooo! Isn't that the best part of reading challen