2010 Challenges

The idea behind this challenge is to read works by authors who have been recommended to you time and again, yet somehow you haven’t managed to read any books by those authors. These are the authors that everyone else tells you are awesome, thus the "Awesome Author Challenge" title.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

Planned Authors:

1. Laurie Halse Anderson
2. Jonathon Safron Foer
3. Carlos Ruiz Zafón
4. Gabriel García Márquez
5. Terri Windling
6. Kazuo Ishiguro

Status: 1/6

So with 2010 just around the corner, I’ve decided to try to lessen the weight on my bookshelves, by reading books from my shelves, and then passing the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves my house once it has been read.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. The Bird Room by Chris Killen
   Passed to a friend
2. Swimmer by Bill Broady
   Donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care
3. Out of Time by John Marsden
   Given Away via Bookmooch
4. The Thirteen Treasures by Michele Harrison
   Donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care
5. What I Was by Meg Rosoff
   Donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care
6. Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell
   Donated to Marie Curie Cancer Care

Status: 6/20

Pick 12 books – one for each month of the year – that you’ve been wanting to read (that have been on your “To Be Read” list) for 6 months or longer, but haven’t gotten around to.

OPTIONAL: Create a list of 12 “Alternates” (books you could substitute for your challenge books, given that a particular one doesn’t grab you at the time)

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
2. Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland
3. Drinking Midnight Wine by Simon R Green
4. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
5. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
6. Slam by Nick Hornby
7. How to Talk to a Widower by Jonathon Tropper
8. The Mermaid and the Drunks by Ben Richards
9. Ergagon by Christopher Paolini
10. Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
11. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Alternates

1. Out of Time by John Marsden
2. After Dark by Haruki Murakami
3. Frozen Fire by Tim Bowler
4. Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick
5. Borderliners by Peter Hoeg
6. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
7. The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne
8. The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
9. A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away by Christopher Brookmyre
10. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday
11. Timoleon Vieta Come Home by Dan Rhodes
12. All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland

Status: 1/12

Read a set number of books (12, 25, 50, or 75) from the Young Adult Genre.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. The Thirteen Treasures by Michele Harrison
2. What I Was by Meg Rosoff
3. Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
4. Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell
5. Out of Time by John Marsden
6. TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow
7. Grl2Grl by Julie Anne Peters
8. 10th Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer
9. Freaks by Annette Curtis Klause

Status: 9/25

Ahem..

This would be my own reading challenge, I’m hosting! Read 20 books in 10 categories in 2010!
[click on the logo to find out more]

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. Young Adult
   The Thirteen Treasures by Michele Harrison
   What I Was by Meg Rosoff
2. T.B.R.
   Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
3. Shiny & New
   Graceling by Kristin Cashore
   MouseGuard Winter 1152 by David Petersen
4. Bad Bloggers
   Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
   Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley
5. Charity
   Swimmer by Bill Broady
6. New in 2010
   Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell 
   TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow
7. Older than You
8. Win! Win!
   Out of Time by John Marsden
9. Who are You Again?
10. Up to You (an open category I can choose as long as I name it at sign-up, so I’m going to go for Translated.)
    Chronicle of a Death Foretold  by  Gabriel García Márquez

Status: 12/20

Status: 19/100

Read one book for each of the listed categories.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. A book with a food in the title:
2. A book with a body of water in the title:
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title:
   Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell
4. A book with a plant in the title:
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title:
6. A book with a music term in the title:

Status: 1/6

An annual celebration of the science fiction genre. Hosted by Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings, being a celebration and not a challenge, there is no minimum requirement.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 28/02/10

Books Read

1. Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
2. Out of Time by John Marsden
3. TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow

This challenge takes in: Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and all their sub-genres. There’s multiple levels to participate with.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

I’m going for the Enthusiastic Level – Read 6 Speculative Fiction novels. 

1. The Thirteen Treasures by Michele Harrison
2. Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
3. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
4. Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell
5. Out of Time by John Marsden
6. TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow

Status: 6/6

A multi level challenge to celebrate the best of British! (British authors that is!).

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

I’m going for the max level – "Cream Crackered" – Read 8 Typically British novels.

1. The Thirteen Treasures by Michele Harrison
2. The Bird Room by Chris Killen
3. Swimmer by Bill Broady

Status: 3/8

Comics: not a genre

A multi level challenge to celebrate the vey best of the Graphic Novels medium.

Challenge runs 1/1/10 to 31/12/10

1. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley
2. Scott Pilgrim vs The World by Bryan Lee O’Malley
3. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O’Malley
4. MouseGuard Winter 1152 by David Petersen

Status: 4/10

For the challenge each reader is to choose 8 books.
Each book’s author must from a different country.

Challenge runs 1/4/10 to 31/11/10

Status: 0/8