2026 Reading Challenge discussion

The Favorites Challenge
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2013

Completed 16/32

Category 1: Weather
C-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
L-Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez Completed 4/30 *****
O-O'Brien, Tim- The Things They Carried
U-The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry: A Novel by Rachel Joyce Completed 4/5/13 ***
D-Dostoyevsky, Fyodor-Crime and Punishment Completed 1/30/13 ****
Y-Yann Martel-Life of Pi Completed 1/12/13 *****

Category 2: Genre
I'm really into British Lit at the moment so I'll read 5 works of British Literature.
1.Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Completed 7/4 ****
2.Middlemarch by George Eliot
3.Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
4.Persuasion by Jane Austen
5.A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Completed 6/18 ****


Category 3: Author
Books by John Steinbeck
1. Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck Completed 6/19 ***
2. The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
3. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
5. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck


Category 4: Holiday
Since I will be getting married this year, I pick Anniversary spellout!

A-Ana Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Completed 3/25 ****
N-Niffenegger, Audrey- The Time Traveler's Wife
N-Neil Gaiman-American Gods Completed 6/25 **
I-The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Completed 8/1 ***
V-Virginia Woolf-To the Lighthouse
E-Edith Wharton-House of Mirth Completed 5/28 ****
R-Ready Player One by Ernest Cline Completed 7/11 ****
S-The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick
A-As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
R-Robin Sloan-Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Completed 1/9 ***
Y-You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself
by David McRaney Completed 4/15 *****


Category 5: Sport
I pick University of Houston Cougars. Go coogs!

C-Cheever, John-The Wapshot Scandal
O-One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Completed 6/9 *****
O-Ogawa, Yoko-The Housekeeper and the Professor
G-Gustave Flaubert-Madame Bovary
S-Susan Cain- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking Completed 8/1 ***

January Group Read
January 1 - January 31

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Done! 1/9/13 ***

Monthly Challenge: January

THE NEW BEGINNINGS CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1 - January 31

1. Read a book by an author new to you
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Completed 1/30/13 ****

2. Read a book that was released in the last six months
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan Completed 1/9/13 ***

7. Read a book nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Completed 1/16/13 ****

(message 67 on the January's New Beginnings Challenge board)

Chelsea wrote: " Yearly Challenge

The Favorites Challenge
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2013

Completed 0/32

Category 1: Weather
C-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
L-Love i..."

You've got a few books on your list that are also on mine, Chelsea - will have to see what you think of them!

Kathryn wrote: "Chelsea wrote: " Yearly Challenge

The Favorites Challenge
Duration: January 1 - December 31, 2013

Completed 0/32

Category 1: Weather
C-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark..."

Oh really? Which ones?

Well, not these lists so much, although The Time-traveller's Wife is on mine & there are some others I haven't added because I don't want my TBR to become totally out of control (& if I add everything I think I might like to read, I'm scared I won't stop!) - like Madame Bovary, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & I've never read any Steinbeck, so it will be interesting to see what you think of these.

We have some common books that we've read and listed to read (love the compare books link on other people's profiles!) - I'm not on my computer at the moment so can't check but just this morning when I was scrolling through your TBR I found at least 6, and from memory I think we had 20 - 30 common books (plus others I could happily read if I wasn't making an effort to decrease my own TBR!!

Hope you're enjoying yojr reading for this year so far!

Oh, I don't have any problem with letting my TBR get pretty huge! I created a separate "to-buy" list that I use more for times when I'm in a goodwill and I want to check if a book is on my list :)

I've read Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, and the Pearl, all by Steinbeck. I really enjoy his style of writing and the subject matter he writes about. If you want to get a "feel" for Steinbeck, I would start with The Pearl, it's about 100 pages long and it reads like a folktale.

Thanks, Chelsea, I'll look out for The Pearl! And your TBR list isn't too bad (just over double my own, at the moment), but some people have 1000 or more and while I suspect I could get up to that many with no worries, I don't think having that many on my list would be helpful to me!! I just need to accept that I can't read everything that sounds interesting and draw the line somewhere ;-)

And I also have a shelf for books I can't find at my local library for when I'm browsing in second-hand stores. I think they must be quite uncommon books since the libraries don't have them and I've had no luck so far in my browsing!! Either that or they're too new!

Kathryn wrote: "Thanks, Chelsea, I'll look out for The Pearl! And your TBR list isn't too bad (just over double my own, at the moment), but some people have 1000 or more and while I suspect I could get up to that ..."

That's actually my favorite way to shop for books. I collect them to display, also, so I love finding a classic in hardback for a dollar at goodwill or some of the local book swaps. If I go to the library, I feel like I'm cheating, haha!

Monthly Challenge: February
History of Civil Rights (mini challenge)
Duration: February 1 - February 28

Completed 3/3

2. Read a book from 1929, the year that women were declared "persons" under law in Canada (thanks to The Famous Five!) OR read a book with a female heroine.

Book with a female heroine- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Completed 3/25 **** (late)

3. Read a book from 2012, the year that President Obama said he believes homosexuals should have the right to marry OR read a book with characters who identify as LGBT.

Published in 2012- Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Completed 2/7/13 ***


4. Read a book from a year which is important in your country's history and has to do with civil rights OR read a book about people who fight against the government.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker Completed 2/9/13 *****


Message 8 on History of Civil Rights board

February Group Read
Feb 1st-Feb 28th


The Color Purple by Alice Walker Completed 2/9/13 *****

February:
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow

March:
No challenges since Anna Karenina is really holding me up. This is the general plan, though:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce

DECADES QUARTERLY CHALLENGE
Duration: April 1 - June 30, 2013

Completed 8/8

1) 1900-1909: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton published 1905 Completed 5/28 ****
2) 1920-1929: A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf published 1929 Completed 6/18 ****
3) 1930-1939: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck published 1935 Completed 6/19 ***
4) 1960-1969:One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey published 1962 Completed 6/9 *****
5) 1980-1989: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez published 1985 Completed 4/30 *****
6) 1990-1999: The Te Of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff published 1992 Completed 4/8 ***
7) 2000-2009: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel published 2009 Completed 5/19 *
8) 2010-present: You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself by David McRaney Completed 4/14 *****

(message 5 on 2nd Quarterly Challenge: Decades Challenge board)

April:
Finishing up The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
Then,
The Te Of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory Is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You're Deluding Yourself by David McRaney
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez

The plan for May is:
Finish Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel,

then The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
and maybe Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck if I can squeeze it in.

Audio books will be American Gods by Neil Gaiman
and
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

June:
Finishing up the Decades Quarterly challenge with:
A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
and
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey