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!

2011 Global Reading Challenge

 

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?