Reading Challenges

While I’ve always set informal reading challenges for myself (read 1 book per week, etc), today I discovered the world of online book challenges. Usually hosted by a blog, these challenges, uh, challenge their participants to read a set number of books in a particular theme for a set period of time. A Novel Challenge collects a lot of the challenges and has them categorized by subject and currency.

I’ve been browsing through the current challenges, looking for ones to add a little something to my reading for the year. So far I’ve come up with the following:

The Baker Street Challenge in celebration of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 150th birthday. I will be doing the lowest level of the challenge, which involves reading three Doyle books or books inspired by the Sherlock Holmes canon. The only Sherlock Holmes books I’ve read is Sign of the Four (in 8th grade!), so I’m looking forward to reading more. It’ll also prepare me for the movie coming out later this year starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law!

Possible books: Hound of the Baskervilles (novel), Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (story collection), and Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King (inspired by)

Chunkster Challenge encourages readers to read adult fiction or non-fiction books longer than 450 pages. I’ve got a few of these lurking on my to-read list, so I figure I should tackle those this year. I think I’ll complete the Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? option — at least three chunky books.

Possible books: American Gods by Neil Gaiman (480), Possession by AS Byatt (511), Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem (511), What is the What by Dave Eggers (475), Secret History by Donna Tartt (544)

2009 Mini-Challenges is a collection of 12 challenges relating to reading and literacy. Several of them will force me to read outside my comfort zone or try new things. I like that challenges can be completed in any order. Here they are: read a collection of short stories, read a play, read a nonfiction book, read 2 essays from the same collection, go to a book event, borrow a library book, read it and review it on your blog, read a book by a new to you author, make a donation, promote literacy, participate in a buddy read or group discussion, read a book outside your comfort level or from a genre you don’t normally read, read a classic.

100 Shots of Short has no time limit, but simply asks that one reads 100 short stories. I love short stories, but usually find myself eschewing them in favor of novels. Plus, I’ve got several volumes of Best American Short Stories collecting dust on my shelf!

January 5th, 2009  ♥  Books  ♥  2 Comments »