Book Challenges for 2010

I was very excited to log on this morning and discover that Lesley is hosting a book challenge. I was even more excited to discover that she's giving us a year to finish it!! A challenge I can totally complete! (Although I failed spectacularly at the alphabet challenge! But I was close, right?)

The idea is that there are quite a few books out there about books and reading and won't it be great to clear some of them off the shelves!? I went through all my shelves this morning during Leah's first nap of the day and came up with 15 books that have something to do with books and reading in some way, shape, or form. I'm going to shoot for the Bibliomaniac level of the challenge, meaning I must read 12 books about books in the coming year. The great thing is, re-reads are acceptable, which is great because at least 2 of the books below I've read and read yearly! I can't say for sure I will read all the books listed below, but these are books I have in my possession that seem to fit:

1. The Book Borrower by Alice Mattison
2. The Fiction Class by Susan Breen
3. The Ladies' Lending Library by Janice Kulyk Keefer
4. Rex Libris: I, Librarian by James Turner
5. The Romance Readers' Book Club by Julie L. Cannon
6. How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom
7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
8. Ruined by Reading by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
9. Shelf Life by Suzanne Strempek Shea
10. The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton
11. The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
12. 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
13. Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose
14. The History of Lucy's Love Life in Ten and a Half Chapters by Deborah Wright
15. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Barrows and Annie Shaffer

If you want to join the challenge, visit the BBC Blog at http://2010bbc.blogspot.com/ to sign up!



I also read about another book challenge via Lesley's site and have decided to join up with that one as well. This is the "What's in a Name?" Challenge and also gives you a year to complete 6 books. The books may overlap with other challenges, so it may be I read one for one challenge and count it for the other. There are 6 categories that your book title must fall into for this challenge. My current selections follow the category, although some of these will probably change!

1. A book with a food in the title: Leftovers by Laura Wiess
2. A book with a body of water in the title: Your Oasis on Flame Lake by Lorna Landvik
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Professors' Wives' Club by Joanne Rendell
4. A book with a plant in the title: The Cotton Queen by Pamela Morsi
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: A Far Cry From Kensington by Muriel Spark
6. A book with a music term in the title: Songs In Ordinary Time by Mary McGarry Morris

To learn more or sign up yourself, visit http://whatsinname3.blogspot.com/.

Happy Reading!