January 1 – December 31, 2010

1. A book with a food in the title:  An Apple In The Dark- Clarice Lispector
2. A book with a body of water in the title: The Draining Lake – Arnaldur Indridason
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The White Queen – Phillipa Gregory
4. A book with a plant in the title:  A Place of Meadows and Tall Trees – Clare Dudman
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: Alone in Berlin – Hans Fallada
6. A book with a music term in the title: The Long Song – Andrea Levy

I’m delighted this challenge continues.  Great timing as I have just finished What’s In A Name 2.

Building:  Castle in the Clouds / Medical Condition: Dismissed Dead /Time of Day:  Miss Pettigrew lives for a Day / Body Part: The Blind Side of the Heart / Profession: My Cleaner /Relative:  Midnight’s Children

This is such a creative challenge -  how can I resist?  The rules according to Bartsbookshelf:

• Read 2 books from each category, making a requirement of 20 books total.
• The categories are intended to be loose guidelines only, if you decide it fits, then it fits. (Apart from those marked **)
• Categories marked with ** have tighter rules, and these must be followed.
• Each book can only qualify for one category.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• Books read from 01/01/2010 to 31/12/2010 are eligible.

So, on with the categories (and my first thoughts on what I will read …)

1. Young Adult
   Any book classified as young adult or featuring a teenage protagonist counts for this category.  (Two books by Philip Reeve,  A Darkling Plain / Here Lies Arthur)
2. T.B.R. **
   Intended to help reduce the old T.B.R. pile. Books for this category must be already residents of your bookshelves as of 1/11/09. (The only difficulty here is selecting two from the 700+ TBR!)
3. Shiny & New
   Bought a book NEW during 2010 from a bookstore, online, or a supermarket? Then it counts for this category. Second-hand books do not count for this one, but, for those on book-buying bans, books bought for you as gifts or won in a giveaway also count!  (To be determined)
4. Bad Blogger’s ***
   Books in this category, should be ones you’ve picked up purely on the recommendation of another blogger count for this category (any reviews you post should also link to the post that convinced you give the book ago).
   *** Bad Bloggers: Is hosted by Chris of Stuff as Dreams are Made on. (I already have a mountain of these.  The first two to spring to mind are:  The Flying Camel and the Golden Hump, recommended by Dovegreyreader and Colony, recommended at the Asylum.)
5. Charity
   Support your local charity shops with this category, by picking up books from one of their shops. Again, for those on book-buying bans, books bought for you as gifts also count, as long as they were bought from a charity shop. (To be decided)
6. New in 2010
   This category is for those books newly published in 2010 (whether it be the first time it is has been released, or you had to wait for it to be published in your country, it counts for this one!) (I’m eagerly awaiting new releases by Jasper Fforde and Andrea Levy ….)
7. Older Than You
   Read two books that were published before you were born, whether that be the day before or 100 years prior! (I’ll select two C19th sensational novels for this.)
8. Win! Win!
   Have a couple of books you need to read for another challenge? Then this is the category to use, as long that is, you don’t break the rules of the other challenge by doing so! (To be determined.)
9. Who Are You Again?
   This one isn’t just for authors you’ve never read before, this is for those authors you have never even heard of before! (Cue 2 debut novels …..)
10. Up to You!
    The requirements for this category are up to you! Want to challenge yourself to read some graphic novels? A genre outside your comfort zone? Something completely wild and wacky? Then this is the category to you. The only requirement is that you state it in your sign-up post. (Two non-fiction titles for me.)

Wilkie Collins Mini-Challenge – 2 books 01.10.2009- 30.11.2010

Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge – 40% of books read between 01.10.2009 and 30.11.2009 must have been on the shelves for 6 months or longer.

November Novella Challenge – 4 novellas in November

Potential reads: Cheerful Weather for a Wedding, Mathilda, The Lemoine Affair, The Green Dwarf, Something (anything!) by Theodor Storm, A Minute’s Silence, Confusion

Really Old Classics Challenge – One book pre-1600 by 28.02.2010.

Awesome Author Challenge – Moderate level – 6 new-to-me authors 01.01.2010 – 31.12.2010.  To be chosen from the following:  Anton Szerb, Willa Cather, John D MacDonald, Joyce Carol Oates, Colette, Anthony Trollope, Alice Munro, Virginia Woolf, Hilary Mantel

 With two weeks to go, I still had 3 titles to read and a major distraction in the form of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF).  Short stories to the rescue then.  But I couldn’t find a single short story published in 2003 on my shelves!  As I was trawling through the TBR, however,  I came across The Atlantic Ocean, a compilation of essays on Britain and America, which contained a variety of short pieces originally published in the years I needed to complete this challenge.  I was so relieved.  I was too close not to make it to the finishing line on this particular challenge.  Now that I have crossed that line, here’s a list of what I read, with hyperlinks to my reviews, where these exist.

9 from 2009

1. Land of Marvels – Barry Unsworth 2. The Crossroads – Niccolo Ammaniti 3. Grace – Alex Pheby 4. The Hidden – Tobias Hill 5. The Outlander – Gil Adamson 6. The Letters – Fiona Robyn 7. The Earth Hums In B-Flat – Mari Strachan 8. The Sweetness at The Bottom of The Pie – Alan Bradley 9. Burnt Shadows – Kamila Shamsie 10. The Wilderness – Samantha Harvey 11. A Cool Head – Ian Rankin 12. The Salati Case – Tobias Jones 13. Adam Gould – Julia O’Faolain 14. My Driver – Maggie Gee 15. Berlin Tales – Edited by Helen Constantine  16. The Blind Side of the Heart – Julia Franck (Trans. 2009) 17. Ice Cold – Andrea Maria Schenkel

8 from 2008

 1. A Case of Exploding Mangoes – Mohammed Hanif 2. Country of the Grand - Gerard Donovan 3. Late Nights on Air – Elizabeth Hay 4. This is Not About Me – Janice Galloway 5. Burning Secret – Stefan Zweig 6. The Bachelors – Adalbert Stifter 7. Glenfarron – Jonathan Falla 8. The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga 9. Typhoon – Charles Cumming 10. The Secret Scripture – Sebastian Barry 11. The Behaviour of Moths – Poppy Adams 12. Castle In The Clouds – Monica Janssens 13. Sorbonne Confidential – 14. Don’t Get Fooled Again – Richard Wilson 15. Fleck – Alasdair Gray 16. Shakespeare on Toast – Ben Crystal 17. Dear Everybody – Michael Kimball 18. Molly Fox’s Birthday – Deirdre Madden 19. Mystic Pig – Richard Katrovas 20. Home – Marilynne Robinson 21. The Invention of Everything Else – Samantha Hunt 22. Scottsboro – Ellen Feldman

 7 from 2007

1. The Road of Bones – Anne Fine 2. Helpless – Barbara Gowdy 3. Binu and The Great Wall- Su Tong 4. Amok and Other Stories – Stefan Zweig 5. The Road Home - Rose Tremain 6. No Word From Gurb – Eduardo Mendoza (Spanish 1999 – Trans 2007) 7. The Murder Farm – Andrea Maria Schenkel (German 2007 – Trans 2008)

6 from 2006

1. The Book of Chameleons – Jose Agualusa 2. Mothers and Sons – Colm Toibin 3. Beyond Sleep – W F Hermans (Translated 2008) 4. Child’s Play - Carmen Posadas (Translated 2008) 5. Fists – Pietro Grossi (Translated 2009) 6) Beware of Pity – Stefan Zweig (Translated 2006)

5 from 2005

1) The Big Over Easy- Jasper Fforde 2) My Cleaner – Maggie Gee 3) Three Bags Full (Trans 2006) 4) One City 5) After Hurricane Katrina – Essay from The Atlantic Ocean - Andrew O’Hagan 

4 from 2004 1. Author! Author! – David Lodge 2. The Blue Fox – Sjon (Translated 2008) 3. 98 Reasons for Being – Clare Dudman 4. Inkheart – Cornelia Funke

 3 from 2003

1. Me and Kaminski - Daniel Kehlmann (German 2003 Translated 2008) 2. All My Friends are Superheroes – Andrew Kaufmann 3. Celebrity Memoirs – Essay from The Atlantic Ocean – Andrew O’Hagan

2 from 2002 1. One Step Behind – Henning Mankell 2. Pharos – Alice Thompson

1 from 2001

1. The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

Objective: 5 titles containing numbers.

January 2009 – August 2009

For the second year running, I had to resort to a short story to finish this challenge.  I’m simply rubbish at Challenges that don’t run from January to December.  However, I have completed it and that is the main thing.

I read:

1) The Two Faces of January – Patricia Highsmith

2) Three Bags Full – Leonie Swann

3) 98 Reasons for Being – Clare Dudman

4) One City – Alexander McCall-Smith, Ian Ranking and Irwine Welsh.  (Review will appear tomorrow.)

5) Bed 29 – Guy de Maupassant  (Review to follow in due course.)

All were enjoyable reads.  And, I’ll sign up, if there’s a Numbers Challenge III.

All with the exception of the Fforde were great reads.  I enjoyed the challenge and look forward to joining in again next year.

Rules: from Read 5 books from 5 different awards during July 1, 2009 through December 1, 2009. Overlaps with other challenges are permitted. Lists may be changed at any time.

I’m in again.  I love this challenge.  No idea what I’ll read at this juncture.  I’m still working on Book Awards II which I finished months ago but I continue to read on.  (Current count is 17.)

Prizewinners in the TBR:

Olive Kitteridge / The Solitude of Prime Numbers / Pharos / De Niro’s Game / Through Black Spruce / Moonshine in the Morning / An Equal Stillness / Fists / The Stillness of Life / Europe Central / The Silence of The Rain / How the Soldier Played the Gramophone /

What I read: Fists – Pietro Grossi / BBC National Short Story Award 2008 / The Suspicions of Mr Whicher – Kate Summerscale/ The Bethlehem Murders – Matt Rees / The White Castle – Orhan Pamuk / The Passport – Herta Mueller

January – December 2009

The point of the challenge is to read 9 books with 9 different colors in the title.
Six colors are required, while the last 3 can be your choice.
Books may be overlapped with other challenges.

Hosted by Lost In Books

1. BLUE: The Blue Fox – Sjon

2. RED: The Red House Mystery – A A Milne

3. WHITE: The White Castle – Orhan Pamuk

4. BLACK: Black Gold of the Sun – Ekow Eshun

5. SILVER: The Silver Swan – Benjamin Black

6. GOLD: The Camel and The Golden Hump – Aahron Megged

MY THREE OPTIONS:

7. YELLOW: Crome Yellow – Aldous Huxley

8. OLIVE: Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Trout

9. VIOLET: March Violets – Philip Kerr

EDIT: 11.10.2009

I haven’t made much progress.  So I’m changing the reading list to reflect my growing preoccupation with short stories.  These I will read before the year is out!

1. BLUE: The Blue Fox – Sjon

2. RED: Red – Somerset Maugham

3. WHITE: Snow White and the Prince – Regi Claire

4. BLACK: The Black Monk – Anton Chekov

5. SILVER: The Silver Swan – Benjamin Black

6. GOLD: The Girl with the Golden Eyes – Honore de Balzac

MY THREE OPTIONS:

7. YELLOW: Yellowknife – Steve Zipp

8. OLIVE: Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Trout

9. VIOLET: March Violets – Philip Kerr

OK – Here we go -  I’m over-committed but let’s see how it all pans out.  These are my initial intentions.  I reserve the right to change my reading lists according to any whim which may come my way!

Titles in bold = I’ve read it!  Hyperlinks to my reviews on Lizzy’s Literary Life.

Countdown Challenge (View status on separate post).

Objective: 10 titles from 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
May 2008 – Feb 2009

1. The Lost Honour of Katherina Blum 2. The Remains of the Day 3. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest 4. The Radetzky March 5. Amok 6. The Turn of the Screw

Out of time – 0.06% well-read is better than nothing I suppose.

7. The Third Policeman 8-10 Written by Edith Wharton

13 Canadian books
July 2008 – June 2009
1. Late Nights on Air 2. Helpless 3. The Emperor of Ice Cream 4.  The Outlander 5. Catholics 6. The Sweetness at the Bottom of The Pie 7. All My Friends are Superheroes

German Literature Challenge
6 books Jan-Dec 2009

Lost In Translation
6 books in translation (in addition to the Latin-American and German challenges listed above!) Jan-Dec 2009
1) Beyond Sleep (Dutch) 2) The Blue Fox (Icelandic) 3) No Word From Gurb (Spanish) 4) Berlin Tales (German) 5) Fists (Italian)  6) Soldiers of Salamis 7) The Camel and the Golden Hump Steal You Away

1) The Vaughan Bequest 2) Summer in February 3) Me and Kaminski 4)Lizzie Siddal – Tragedy of a PreRaphaelite Supermodel 5) Friedrich 6) Stealing the Scream 7) The Lost Painting I Was Vermeer

What’s In A Name
Jan-Dec 2008
Time of the Day:  Midnight’s Children
Body Parts: The Blind Side of the Heart
Medical Condition: Fever Crumb
Relative: My Cousin Rachel
Building: Castle In The Clouds
Profession: Royal Highness

Decades 09 9 books 9 Consecutive Decades

1909 Royal Highness
1910
1922 The Enchanted April
1930
1940
1952 The Tiger In The Smoke
1964 Two Faces of January
1979 The Mangan Inheritance
1981 Midnight’s Children
1994 What A Carve Up!

5 books Jan-August 2009

1) The Two Faces of January 2) 98 Reasons for Being 3) Number9Dream 4) Three Bags Full 5) One City

Orbis Terrarum
9 books 9 countries March-Dec 2009

1) The Blind Side of the Heart (Germany)

2) The Blue Fox (Iceland)

3) No Word from Gurb (Spain)

4) Fists (Italy)

5) Midnight’s Children (India)

6) Burnt Shadows (Pakistan)

7) Home (USA)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Canada)

9) The Earth Hums in B-Flat (Wales)

Total completed challenge count – 17!

Total challenge books/stories read – 80+.

Further details with links to my reviews below:

Jan-Dec 2008
Colour:
The White Tiger
Animal:
The Bower Bird
First Name:
The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
Place:
Death in Rome
Weather:
Violets and Strawberries in The Snow
Plant:
The Blue Flower

3 books September – December 2008

Objective: 9 books, 9 authors, 9 countries April – December 2008
1) Death in Rome – Germany  2) Pandora in the Congo – Spain 3) The Fifth Woman – Sweden 4) The Story of A Marriage – USA 5) Lorraine Connection – France  6) Romanno Bridge – Scotland  7) A Case of Exploding Mangoes – Pakistan  8. Country of the Grand – Ireland 9) Late Nights on Air – Canada

Objective: 6 novellas April – September 2008
1) The Falconer  2) Michael Kohlhaas  3) The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum  4) Doctor Glas (No Review) 5) The Lesson of the Master 6) The Bachelors

Objective: 6 Booker nominees Jan – Dec 2008
1) Lies of Silence  2) The Colour of Blood  3) Fasting, Feasting
4) The Stone Diaries  5) The Secret River (No Review)  6) A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Objective 4 Books Jan – June 2008
Theme: Our Feathered Friends

1) The Bower Bird  2) The Cry of the Owl 3) The Falconer 4) The Midwich Cuckoos

Objective: 4 titles describing characters within March – May 2008
1) A Partisan’s Daughter  2) Tess of the D’Urbervilles  3) The Man In The Window  4) The Artificial Silk Girl

2 New to U
Objective: Discover 2 new authors Feb-May 2008
1) Penelope Fitzgerald  2) Wolfgang Koeppen

Objective 3 books recommended by others
May – November 2008
1) The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets 2) Engleby (No review)  3) The Remains of the Day (No review)

July 2007 – June 2008 Objective 12 award-winning titles
1) Gone With The Wind 2) Sacred Hunger 3) The Lizard Cage 4) The Boy and The Sea 5) Consolation 6) Mister Pip 7) The Tenderness of Wolves 8. Joseph Knight 9) The Trick Is To Keep Breathing 10) Foreign Parts 11)A Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam 12) The Shoe Tester of Frankfurt 13) Restless 14) The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne 15) Set In Stone 16) The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 17) What Was Lost 18. The Bower Bird 19) The Stone Diaries 20) Fall On Your Knees 21) The Road 22) The Great Victorian Collection 23) The Secret River (No review) 24) Death In Rome 25) Fault Lines 26) Pack of Lies (No review) 27) The Oxford Murders 28. The Blue Flower 29. The Lost Honour of Katherina Blum

Objective: 4 books by Russian authors or set in Russia
Jan – Dec 2008

1) The Grasshopper  2) A Vengeful Longing  3) The Overcoat 4) The Road of Bones (No review)

Objective 1: 8 published 2008
1) A Vengeful Longing  2) The Long Delirious Burning Blue
3) A Partisan’s Daughter 4) Trauma  5) The Man in the Window  6) Pandora in the Congo  7) The Falconer  8) Being Emily  9) The Ice Princess  10) Glister  11) Lorraine Connection 12) A Case of Exploding Mangoes  13) Country of the Grand  14) Late Nights on Air
15) This is Not About Me  16) Burning Secret  17) The Bachelors  18) Glenfarron
19) Typhoon 20) The White Tiger  21) The Secret Scripture  22) The Behaviour of Moths

1) The Bower Bird  2) The Book of Words  3) The One from the Other  4) Fault Lines  5) Where Three Roads Meet  6) Helpless  7) Binu and The Great Wall (No review)

Objective 12 historical reads from differing genres jan – Dec 2008
Faction
1) Author! Author!
Memoir
2) This is Not About Me
Adult Fiction
3 ) The Radetzky March (No review) 4 ) Innocent Traitor  5 ) The Secret River (No review) 6 ) The Blue Flower  7) North and South   Beware of Pity  9) Land of Marvels (Review pending)

What An Animal!
6 books with animals in the title or animals as the main character
July – December 2008
1) The Book of Chameleons (No review)
2)The White Tiger  3) The Raven  4) The Behaviour of Moths
5) The Grasshopper  6) One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (No review)

Here’s one that preraphaelite supermodel Lizzy just cannot resist!

6 books in 12 months with art as a central theme.  Could be fiction or non-fiction.  Perfect – this will get me to those neglected, bought on a whim, TBR books, starting with:

1) Lizzie Siddal – Tragedy of A Preraphaelite Supermodel - Lucinda Hawksley (about time I got round to this!)

2) Stealing the Scream – Edward Dolnick

3) The Lost Painting – Jonathan Harr

4) Stone Virgin – Barry Unsworth

5) I was Vermeer – Frank Wynne

6) The Yellow House – Martin Gayford