My challenge

[janine]

I think I've come up with a challenge for next year: read more non-fiction. I'm thinking of aiming for 10%, up from 2% this year.

[~Geektastic~]

Gabby wrote: "I am not convinced about the idea of setting up challenges for reading books. If reading is a hobby and a source of enjoyment, why bother about reading a minimum number of so and so books within su..."

I think it's just the fun of setting a goal and living up to it. It's not a serious goal like "have a new job by February" or "lose 10 pounds before vacation," so it doesn't have any of that pressure but you still have a rewarding feeling of accomplishment on the other end. Plus, it can help motivate you to read something that you may have put off or has been collecting dust on your shelf. I like LG and Barb's challenges, because there's a goal but the means are not restrictively specific.

[Janice]

I agree with Amber and add another consideration. Challenges may get you reading books you might not normally read.

Last year, one of our challenges was to read steampunk. As a result, we had some great discussions about what steampunk is and a couple of us have discovered a new genre to enjoy.

[~Geektastic~]

Ok, I think I've come up with a decent challenge to track on TC, and that may help me make a dent in my enormous TBR.

The TC 10 for 2012

1. A volume of literary criticism not focused on Jane Austen or Victorian writers
2. A non-fiction art history book
3. A book by an author I've never read before
4. A book about religion- fiction or non-fiction
5. A book of poetry
6. A book in translation
7. A book about a place or culture I've never experienced before
8. A non-fiction study of myths and/or fairytales
9. An essay or journalism collection
10. A book by PG Wodehouse
Thank You, Jeeves

[Jonathan]

That looks like a great but daunting list, Amber. I'd start at 10 and then work backwards.

[~Geektastic~]

Jonathan wrote: "That looks like a great but daunting list, Amber. I'd start at 10 and then work backwards."

That's the plan. I have a PG Wodehouse Anthology sitting at home, itching to be read. I may have to kick-off the challenge before the new year.

[Jonathan]

Wodehouse is good fun.

[Jim]

Barb wrote: "Amber. It looks like Jonathan's book would fit into the #2 slot ... just sayin'."

Is this a euphemism?

[~Geektastic~]

Barb wrote: "Amber. It looks like Jonathan's book would fit into the #2 slot ... just sayin'."

Oh, good idea! I've had it on my TBR since before we were friends.

[Phil]

Jim wrote: "Barb wrote: "Amber. It looks like Jonathan's book would fit into the #2 slot ... just sayin'."

Is this a euphemism?"

Got to be very careful about what you put in that #2 slot.

[Jonathan]

Amber ~Geektastic~ wrote: "Oh, good idea! I've had it on my TBR since before we were friends."

It would be really wonderful if you read it, and incredibly flattering...but if you're only going to read one art history title during the course of the year, I would honestly feel remiss if I didn't mention some other possibilities--real classics of the genre that are also personal favorites of mine and that, together, cover a lot of ground:

Three essentials:
Art and Illusion by E. H. Gombrich
Nothing if Not Critical by Robert Hughes
Leonardo da Vinci by Kenneth Clark

Also enjoyable and meant for the general reader:
The Rembrandt Book by Gary Schwartz
Edward Hopper by Gail Levin
A Life of Picasso by John Richardson, 3 vols. (so far, with vol. 4 on the way)
Off the Wall by Calvin Tomkins
"David Hockney by David Hockney" (That's the full title--a terrific book but out of print, so you would need to find it in the library)

Somewhat drier stuff but very valuable:
Dutch Painting 1600-1800 by Seymour Slive
An Outline of 19th Century European Painting by Lorenz Eitner
A History of Impressionism by John Rewald
Painting in Renaissance Venice by Peter Humphrey
Mannerism by John Shearman
Painting and Experience in 15th Century Italy by Michael Baxandall

[Phil]

Barb wrote: "Jim! Phil!
Ficus."

Butt....

Butt......

It was Jim's fault!

My challenge is to make time every day to read. I generally read a newspaper or two, but I'd like to spend more time with fiction.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Gabby wrote: "I am not convinced about the idea of setting up challenges for reading books. If reading is a hobby and a source of enjoyment, why bother about reading a minimum number of so and so books within su..."

My challenge has no time limit. If I decide to read 10 non-challenge books in the middle of it, that's fine. I'm in no hurry to read these particular 10 books. I promise, this particular challenge does not detract from my enjoyment of reading. If I set myself a challenge of reading books about circuses, or protein diet cookbooks, or peewee football, that would feel like a chore.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Kevin "El Liso Grande" wrote: "Lobstergirl wrote: "People. Please. Could we have a clean thread and limit our discussion to book challenges?

Thank you."

well, better not catch you making off topic comments anywhere...."

Truly, the only reason I wanted to stay on topic in this thread is because people are going to be coming back and editing their challenge posts, and I don't want to have to scroll through pages and pages of off-topic comments to get to those posts.

[janine]

Jonathan wrote: "Amber ~Geektastic~ wrote: "Oh, good idea! I've had it on my TBR since before we were friends."

It would be really wonderful if you read it, and incredibly flattering...but if you're only going to ..."

I'll keep that list in mind for my non-fiction challenge.

[~Geektastic~]

Jonathan wrote: "Amber ~Geektastic~ wrote: "Oh, good idea! I've had it on my TBR since before we were friends."

It would be really wonderful if you read it, and incredibly flattering...but if you're only going to ..."

Thanks Jonathan, I will definitely be tracking some of these down. And I doubt I will read just one, now that I know some good ones to look for.

[Jim]

Phil wrote: "Barb wrote: "

It was Jim's fault!

"

Thanks for not throwing me under the bus Phil.

[Louise]

I'm doing the Around the World (in 52 Books) challenge
I found all books except 12 on my shelves at home :-)
If I feel like reading something else instead - or don't finish on time - it doesn't matter. It was fun fun fun to make the list, and I see this as a way of reading different stuff, and get some of my tbr books at home read :-)

Here's my list:

Fantasy Land/ Myth
I can't go a year without reading fantasy, so...
*Neil Gaiman Anansi Boys

EUROPE

Albania
*Ismail Kadare Broken April

Belgium
*Amélie Nothomb Fear and Trembling

Bosnia-Herzegovina
*Aleksandar Hemon The Question of Bruno: Stories

Channel Islands:
*Annie Barrows The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Denmark
*Lene Kaaberbøl KADAVERDOKTOREN

England
*A.S. Byatt The Children's Book

Finland
*Mikael Niemi Manden der døde som en laks

France
*Mathias Malzieu The Boy With the Cuckoo-Clock Heart

Germany
*Günter Wallraff Aus der schönen neuen Welt. Expeditionen ins Landesinnere / Fra den fagre nye verden

Greece
*Aristophanes Birds

Hungary
*Antal Szerb Journey by Moonlight

Iceland
*Sjón Splinten fra Argo

Ireland
*Colm Tóibín Mothers and Sons

Italy
*Italo Calvino De kosmikomiske historier / The Complete Cosmicomics

The Netherlands
*Cees Nooteboom The Foxes Come at Night

Norway
*Per Petterson Aske i munden, sand i skoen

Poland
*Bruno Schulz Kanelbutikkerne/The Street of Crocodiles

Portugal
*Robert Wilson A Small Death in Lisbon

Russia
*Boris Akunin Murder on the Leviathan

Scotland
*Christopher Brookmyre Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks

Spain
*Antonio Muñoz Molina Winter in Lisbon

Sweden
*Johan Theorin The Quarry

Switzerland
*Pascal Mercier Perlmanns Schweigen

Turkey
*Orhan Pamuk The New Life

NORTH AMERICA

U.S.A.
*Craig Thompson Habibi

Canada
*Robertson Davies The Rebel Angels

Cuba
*Leonardo Padura Fuentes Havana Red

CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina
*Jorge Luis Borges Seven Nights

Brazil
Jorge Amado Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon

Colombia
*Evelio Rosero Good Offices Done!

Jamaica
*Patricia Duncker Hallucinating Foucault

Mexico
*Octavio Paz The Labyrinth of Solitude / Ensomhedens Labyrint

Peru
*Mario Vargas Llosa ""In Praise of the Stepmother: A Novel

ASIA/ARABIA

China
*Qiu Xiaolong The Death of a Red Heroine

Japan
*Haruki Murakami The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

India
*Salman Rushdie The Enchantress of Florence

Indonesia
Y.B. Mangunwijaya Durga/Umayi: A Novel

Israel
Meir Shalev The Blue Mountain

Iran
Azar Nafisi Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books

Nepal
*Samrat Upadhyay Royal Ghosts

Pakistan
*Shaila Abdullah Beyond the Cayenne Wall: Collection of Short Stories

Saudi Arabia
*Turki Al-Hamad Adama

Syria
*Rafik Schami Damascus Nights

AFRICA

Algeria
*Assia Djebar A Sister to Scheherazade

Morocco
Joydeep Roy-bhattachary The Storyteller of Marrakesh

Nigeria
*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie The Thing Around Your Neck

Egypt
*Ahdaf Soueif The Map of Love

Botswana
*Alexander McCall Smith Morality for Beautiful Girls

South Africa
*Rayda Jacobs Postcards from South Africa

AUSTRALIA

*Garth Nix Drowned Wednesday

New Zealand
*Ngaio Marsh Death in Ecstasy

[~Geektastic~]

Wow, Louise, that's one hell of a challenge! Good luck, I'll be very interested to see how it goes.

[Scout]

I need to lie down.

[Sally, la reina]

How about Never Let Me Go?

[Janice]

How about John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
Ellery Queen
Xinran, Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet

I'm stuck on Y as well. Young? Yang?

[janine]

Y: Charles Yu - How to live safely in a science-fictional universe
Banana Yoshimoto

[janine]

If you read Dutch I'd have a great Q for you: Anton Quintana, but I don't think he's been translated.

Edit: you might be able to find The Baboon King, not my favourite of his books but still good.

[Riona]

Barb wrote: "janine wrote: "Y: Charles Yu - How to live safely in a science-fictional universe"

Added! Y is done.
Thanks J9."

I'm reading this right now and really enjoying it.


Next year I want to challenge myself to read more nonfiction and at least a few classics. I'll also continue my ongoing personal challenge to read more science fiction by female authors.

[Janice]

I decided to challenge myself to read more new releases. Every time one of those "Vote on this year's best" lists come out, I don't recognize any of the titles.

Today, the January 2012 newsletter was in my inbox. I decided that I would read a new release each month.

January 2012 selection is The Last Nude. I have it pre-ordered on my iBook. It's release date is expected to be tomorrow.

[janine]

I've decided to read more non-fiction (I'm aiming for 10 books) but since I hardly ever read non-fiction I'm not sure where to start. So far I have:

- either Eating the Dinosaur or Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

- something from Jonathan's list (message 72 in this thread)

Do any of you have suggestions for me?






Edit: storing the suggestions

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Fingerprints of the Gods

[~Geektastic~]

janine wrote: "I've decided to read more non-fiction (I'm aiming for 10 books) but since I hardly ever read non-fiction I'm not sure where to start. So far I have:

- either Eating the Dinosaur or ..."

Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages was a really interesting anthropological (as well as linguistic) examination of the use of language. I gained some valuable perspective on how limited our understanding of language really is, and he's a good writer that keeps you interested.

[Sarah]

Owen Meany is one of my favorite books - enjoy!

My suggestion for Y would have been Jane Yolen since we were discussing fairy tale retellings. I really like her Briar Rose.

[~Geektastic~]

Barb wrote: "I added it to my TBR for later, Sarah.
Thanks!"

It's really good.

[~Geektastic~]

Y settle for just one? Every challenge list needs an alternate or two, in case there's a stinker that you don't want to finish.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I thought I was reading a novel set in France (#9 on my list) but it turned out to be a novella and 4 stories, and several of the stories weren't set in France. Doesn't count. Oh well!

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

janine wrote: "Do any of you have suggestions for me?
"

Maybe The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals?

I hesitate to recommend because the nonfiction I read is all over the board, or extremely niche, and a lot of it wouldn't interest most peeps.

[janine]

I'll look into that as well. For now I'm just compiling a list to choose from.

[Lynda]

I made a personal challenge to finish and/or catch-up on 25 series this year.

I just finished my second series of the year.

[Janice]

I learned that Anne Rice has a new book coming out in February The Wolf Gift, and Stephen King has one out in April, The Wind Through the Keyhole. I like my self imposed challenge!

The cool thing is that King is incorporating fans' pictures on the back cover. I submitted a photo of me behind bars. It would be so cool to be one of the fans selected.

[Angela~twistedmind~]

Janice wrote: "I learned that Anne Rice has a new book coming out in February The Wolf Gift, and Stephen King has one out in April, The Wind Through the Keyhole. I like my self im..."

OT: Janice, do you know how many books are in Rice's The Songs of the Seraphim Series? I've searched GR and there are only 2 listed......not quite what I'd call a series. I tried Amazon and didn't have any better luck there. I appreciate anything you can throw my way. :)

[Janice]

According to Anne Rice's website, there are only the two books in the series. Here is a list of all her books I've read most of them with the exception of The Life of Christ series and The Songs of Seraphim series.

[~Geektastic~]

Janice wrote: "According to Anne Rice's website, there are only the two books in the series. Here is a list of all her books I've read most of them with the exception of The Life of Christ series and The Songs ..."

Me too. I stopped reading her after that first Life of Christ volume came out, but I used to read her stuff voraciously.

[Angela~twistedmind~]

Thanks, Janice. I've read most if not all of the vamp and witches books. I've never really read anything else. She's one of my all time favorite authors, but I haven't read anything of hers in years.

[Janice]

It's nice to see her back in the horror genre.

[Pat]

I am doing the 12 + 2 TBR challenge for the book addicts group here on GR. It's the same challenge as the one Amber posted.
My list is here

[Sarah]

I loved Kindred, Pat. Enjoy!

ps And Neverwhere.

[Alias Reader]

I'm reading
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie~~Lauren Redniss

It's on my 2012 challenge list. I'm enjoying this quirky book.

[Pat]

Sarah Pi wrote: "I loved Kindred, Pat. Enjoy!

ps And Neverwhere."

Hey thanks!
Both books have been on my list for quite a while.

[~Geektastic~]

Wow, LG, you're almost done with your challenge. I've barely made headway into mine. I keep getting distracted by re-reads lately.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

Yeah, I've been on a little break from the challenge. For some reason I've had a yen for nonfiction lately. I have several NF holds at the library. But I'll get back to it.

[~Geektastic~]

You guys are putting me to shame. I've read 2 from my 12 challenge, and 2 from my TC challenge so far.

[~Geektastic~]

Very true, Charly. I'm enjoying what I'm reading, regardless of the challenge. I'm just trying to form better habits when it comes to following through on goals. Now I know one thing to avoid: don't watch movies based on books you've read if said movie is going to prompt an immediate re-read of the source material. So distracting!

[~Geektastic~]

The TC 10 for 2012

1. A volume of literary criticism not focused on Jane Austen or Victorian writers
In progress: Am I a Snob?: Modernism and the Novel
2. A non-fiction art history book
3. A book by an author I've never read before
To Say Nothing of the Dog
4. A book about religion- fiction or non-fiction
5. A book of poetry
6. A book in translation
7. A book about a place or culture I've never experienced before
8. A non-fiction study of myths and/or fairytales
9. An essay or journalism collection
10. A book by PG Wodehouse
Thank You, Jeeves