Bath, book, wine - what else is there?
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
Yay for the Brits!
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!
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.
WOW! You are doing *amazingly* well with your challenges
Huge well done. I didn’t join any this year; I was too worried about just keeping up with the blogging – maybe next year! Maybe next year you’ll be hosting your own?
The secret it that I picked challenges where I know I read loads of books from that genre
I would have read these anyway (shhhhh!)
Aside from anything else, these challenges provide great reading lists for the rest of us! So glad to hear you’re reading The Book of Negroes – it was my #1 favourite book from last year.
I am doing okay in my challenges. I’m more-or-less on track with most, but I haven’t started the Daphne du Maurier one yet – we’ve got a year! Sometimes I find that they get in the way of reading books I want to read, and other times I love how they get me to read something that’s either been sitting around for ages, or something completely new. I try to take on challenges that get me to read my to-read mountain but it doesn’t always work out that way!
I have just finished The Book of Negroes, Shannon, and loved it! Review coming soon.
Oh I’m so glad!
btw, did the book arrive? I mailed it a few weeks ago now.
Oh Shannon, I’m so sorry – I kept meaning to mail you about it: yes, it arrived last week! Thank you so much! I loved the message inside too
Has your prize arrived yet?
Yep, a while ago now – I put them in my new books posts
Thank you again!
I am sooo impressed at how well you are doing! I’m also doing the Thriller and Suspense challenge. I think I’m doing ok except for my TBR challenge. Why is it so hard to read something from my TBR pile?? Next year I think I may look for an American reading challenge as I seem to focus more on British literature.
Ha ha, I have the same problem with reading books I already own!
I like the sound of an American challenge next year; I think I will do that one too (do you know anyone who hosts one?)
You’re doing really well with the challenges (even if you don’t really try). Very nice!
I’m trying to read 100 (dedicated) books from my virtual TBR this year, plus I have a couple of much smaller challenges. I can read up to 180 books a year, but I’m finding I read a lot of books that are not on the 100-list.
180 books in a year? Good grief! I think I will be lucky if I manage to get through 80 this year!
WOW!! I’m totally impressed Boof!! You are the true book whisperer
I’m not participating in any challenges but I have my own list of books I’m hoping to read before I start my MA this September…
well done boof bit behind on my 52 books challenge but will finish it eventually
Phew, my book challenge is just to fit in as many as I can, because it’s so hard! And not because I don’t want to but because I’m too freaking busy with two jobs, etc. I wish I could find more hours in the day; there are so many I want to read!