Reading Challenges 2011
Ah…. they do tempt me. But I am also concerned about the arrival of the wee reader in March – will I have time to read then? Or will I just want to sleep and nap and doze during my precious free time?
But here’s what I think I might be able to manage, especially if I work on it during the first three months of next year!
The Medium Challenge
Read two novels from each of these continents in the course of 2011:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).
Try to find novels from fourteen different countries or states.
The Expert Challenge involves reading three books for each, but I figure I’ll start with the Medium Challenge and see how it goes from there. This challenge fits in with my constant goal to read more internationally, so I should be able to complete this one. I’ll do up a separate post on my reading pool, and will add the link here.
Update: Here’s the link!
Victorian Literature Challenge 2011
What you need to know:
This challenge will run from 01 Jan 2011 – 31 Dec 2011.
Participants can sign up at any time throughout the year.
Read your Victorian literature.
Queen Victoria reigned from 1837-1901. If your book wasn’t published during those particular years, but is by an author considered ‘Victorian’ then go for it. We’re here for reading, not historical facts! Also, this can include works by authors from other countries, so long as they are from this period.
Choose from one of the four levels:
Sense and Sensibility: 1-4 books.
Great Expectations: 5-9 books.
Hard Times: 10-14 books.
Desperate Remedies: 15+ books.
My pool:
Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Adam Bede – George Eliot
New Grub Street – George Gissing
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Reading Asia and the Middle East
I also have my own personal reading project, which is to read more books set in Asia and the Middle East. I’ve been working on a list of books that I can find in my library system and I have to admit it’s quite ambitious as there are slightly more than 200 books on it right now! I might post it one of these days, in case anyone’s interested.
What reading challenges are you thinking of joining next year?
Congrats about expecting a wee one!
I’m tempted by several challenges. I’m on the fence. I might join one but I’d like to be making more progress on my Fill In The Gaps list.
I’ve only just started following your blog so I’m not sure if the ‘wee reader’ news was new or not but congratulations all the same!
I haven’t even begun to think about challenges for 2011 but I must admit I’m feeling tempted by both the Global Reading challenge and the Victorian Lit challenge!
Thanks, Claire! I did first mention it quite a few blog posts ago, but it was buried within the post.
There are so many reading challenges out there, it’s pretty hard to pick! But I’m going to have to stick with those that are already along the lines of what my own reading projects are, essentially more world lit, classics and non-fiction. So these two challenges fit right in.
Ooh – good challenges! I really ought to read more books from China. I don’t think I’ve read any before!
Thanks for the comment, Bethany! If you need suggestions on books from China, let me know! Although the ones that immediately spring to mind are non-fiction ones….!
It’s lovely to hear of the arrival of a new wee reader. Congratulations!
I’m trying to resist challenges, but these two look irresistable. And I may well join you in Vanity Fair – my mother has been telling me to read it for years and she’s generally right about these things.
Thanks! It’s going to be an exciting year ahead! Hopefully I’ll have some time to read….!
Ah yeah, Vanity Fair has been on my to-read list for too long!
I’ve got this — increasingly unwieldly — file with links to all the tempting challenges I’m considering for the next reading year, but I’m still torn on some of my personal reading goals, so I haven’t firmly settled on anything yet. (Thanks for adding to that file. ::growls, grins::) Both Cranford and New Grub Street are books I’ve been wanting to read for awhile now too.
I’ll be interested to see what you’re being tempted by!
+JMJ+
I’m doing the Victorian Reading Challenge, too!
Vanity Fair (which I read and loved many years ago) is so long–and so wonderfully complex–that I think it should count as two books! Or something. =P But I don’t make the rules . . . LOL!
Thanks for leaving a comment! Yeah the problem with a lot of these Victorian lit is that they’re long and often try my patience! Hopefully I’ll be able to get through some of them!!