At the beginning of this year, when I started blogging, I spent a lot of time surfing round any book blog I could find to see what other people wrote about and what was popular etc. One of the beggest things I found was that book bloggers appear to be obsessed with challenges. So after some careful consideration and narrowing the thousands of choices available to just a handfull I finally chose the following: Typically British, Thrillers and Suspense, Global Challenge, Our Mutual Read and Chunksters.

 

To be honest, I’ve been really lazy about keeping up with updating my challenges so I thought it about high time that I rectify that with a little post about where I am YTD:

Typically British

1) Corrag by Susan Fletcher

2) East Lynne by Ellen Wood

3) Shakespeares’ Truth by Rex Richards

4) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

5) The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson

6) Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid

7) In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson

8) The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski

9) Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

10) Part of the Furniture by Mary Wesley

11) Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski

12) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

13) The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley

14) The Land of the Living by Nicci French

15) Caedmon’s Song by Peter Robinson

 

Chunksters

For this challenge I had to read 4 books with 450+ pages during the course of 2010. I have read 5 so far:

1) East Lynne by Ellen Wood

2) The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

3) Blueeyedboy by Joanne Harris

4) The Help by Kathryn Stockett

5) The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

 

Thrillers and Suspense

 

Whodunnit???

 I planned to read 8 thriller / suspense novels this year but due to my clearly morbid taste I have already read 14 of them! I do love me some good ole whodunnits!

1) The Cradle Will Fall by Mary Higgins Clark

2) The Hanging Valley by Peter Robinson

3) You Belong to Me by Mary Higgins Clark

4) In a Dry Season by Peter Robinson

5) The Snowman by Jo Nesbo

6) Let Me Call You Sweetheart by Mary Higgins Clark

7) Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman

8) Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid

9) Say Goodbye by Lisa Gardner

10) The Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark

11) The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark

12) The Land of the Living by Nicci French

13) Caedmon’s Song by Peter Robinson

14) Caught by Harlan Coben

 

Our Mutual Read

 

Them Victorians!

 I just love those Victorians! This challenge is to read 12 books in 2010 from the Victorian era. Six of them must have been written between 1837-1901 and the other six can have been published later but must be set in Victorian times. Considering that this genre is one of my favourites I am not doing too well on this challenge yet. I have read a total of 6 but most of those are from the ne0-vic category. I must pick up some more Collins and Gaskell SOON!

1) East Lynne by Ellen Wood

2) Soulless by Gail Carriger

3) Alice I Have Been by Melanie Brown

4) The Victorian Chaise-Longue by Marghanita Laski

5) A Woman’s Life by Guy de Maupassant

6) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

 

Global

Globe-trotting!

I am a huge culture vulture and have actaully been to nearly 30 different countries around the world (I love exploring new places) so I just had to join in this challenge. The task is to read 2 books from each continent in 2010. So far I have read 7 out of the 14 I need:

AFRICA: The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Sierra Leone)

ASIA: The Japanese Lover by Rani Mancura (Malaysia)

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa (Israel)

AUSTRALASIA: None as yet

EUROPE: The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (England)

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Norway)

NORTH AMERICA: The Help by Kathryn Stockett (USA)

The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark (USA)

SOUTH AMERICA: None as yet

ANTARCTICA: None as yet

 

For reviews on any of the above books please go to the review tab and you will find most of the books above listed there.

Are you doing any of these challenges? How are you getting on with yours?