2009 Challenges

I have signed up for a crazy amount of challenges this year. My goal is to finish at least 60% of them by the end of the year. Books crossed out have been read. All challenges unless states otherwise are year-round. Wish me luck.

Personal Reading Challenges

• I Suck at Challenges - post several updates a year on my progress with my challenges

• To not buy another book until July. I can swap books as long as I don't buy the credits.

1. 100 Shots of Short. The goal is to read 100 short stories.

2. Essay Reading. 20 essays

3. A to Z (by author's last name)

• A: Adams, Douglas
  
• B: Becker, Bonnie
  
• C: Crowley, Joy
  
• D: Dickinson, Emily
  
• E: Engle, Margarita
  
• F: Frazee, Marla
  
• G: Gifford, Peggy
  
• H: Hyman, Trina Schmart
  
• I
• J
• K
• L: Leibovitz, Annie
  
• M
• N
• O: O' Shea, Samara
  
• P: Pearle, Ida
  
• Q
• R: Ransom, Candice
  
• S: Smith, Keri
  
• T
• U
• V
• W: Weisner, David
  
• X
• Y
• Z: Zambra, Alejandro
  

4. Young Adult (12 books)

• Paper Towns - John Green
• An Abundance of Katherines - John Green
• Looking for Alaska - John Green
• The Poet Slave of Cuba - Margarita Engle
• Freak Show - James St. James
• Eggs - Jerry Spinelli
• Monster - Walter Dean Meyers
• Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
• Tigerheart - Peter David
• The Teashop Girls - Laura Schaefer
• The Plain Janes - Cecil Castellucci

5. Steinbeck Mini-Challenge

• The Grapes of Wrath
• Winter of Our Discontent

6. Dewey's Books (6 books)

• Looking for Alaska - John Green
• Kockroach -Tyler Knox
• Exit Wounds - Rutu Moran
• Ismael - Daniel Quinn
• Monster - Walter Dean Myers
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• Gossamer - Lois Lowry
• The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
• Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
• Glacial Period - Nicolas De Crecy
• Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier
• Bonk - Mary Roach
• Life as we knew it - Susan Beth Pfeffer
• The Book that Changed my Life - Roxanne J. Coady
  
• The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupery
• The Saturdays - Elizabeth Enright
• Freak Show - James St. James
• People of the Book - Geraldine Brooks
• The Plain Janes - C. Castellucci
• The Secret of Lost Things - Sheridan Hay
• We Need to Talk about Kevin - Lionel Shriver

7. Year of Reading Dangerously

• The Black Book of Colors January
• The Poet Slave of Cuba by Maragrita Engle February
• Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks April
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker
• Her Blue Body Everything We Know - Alice Walker
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun

8. A Novel Group's Mini-Challenges

1. Collection of short stories- The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-Six - Jonathon Keats (4/7/19)
2. Play: Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks (4/19/09)
3. Nonfiction book: The Shiniest Jewel - Marian Henley
4. Two essays:
5. Book event:
6. Library book: Notes to Self - Samara O' Shea
7. New to you author:
8. Donation: First Book.org in January
9. Promote literacy: donated Flygirl by Sherrie L. Smith to local library
10. Buddy read/Group discussion:
11. Book or genre outside comfort zone:
12. Classic:

9. Read Your Own Books (30 Books)

• A River of Words - Jen Bryant
• How to be an explorer of the world - Keri Smith
• The Book that Changed my Life
• The Shiniest Jewel - Marian Henley
• Gods Behaving Badly- Marie Phillips
• The Rights of the reader - Daniel Pennac
• Without Blood - Alessandro Barrico
• 
  

10. In Their Shoes

• The Shiniest Jewel by Marian Henley
• A River of Words - Jen Bryant
• The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain - Peter Sis
  

11. Book Awards (10 award winners, from at least 5 different awards)

• Looking for Alaska - John Green (Printz 2006)
• The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman (Newbery 2009)
• The Color Purple - Alice Walker (1983 Pulitzer and National Book Award)
• Saturday - Ian McEwan (James Tait Black Memorial 2005)
• Angels in America - Tony Kushner (1993 Pulitzer in Drama)
• Castle Waiting - Linda Medley (1998 Eisner Award)
• Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks (2002 Pultizer for Drama)
  
• Beloved - Toni Morrison (1986 Pulitzer for Fiction)
• Cockroach - Raw Hage (2008 Giller Prize)
• This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun (2004 Impac Dublin)
• Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson (2007 Impac Dublin)
• various volumes from the Fables series - Bill Willingham (Eisner Award)
• Doubt: a play by Patrick Shenely (Pulitzer for Drama)
  

12. Jewish Lit.

• Angel of Forgetfulness - Steve Stern
• The World to Come - Dara Horn
• The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-Six by Jonathon Keats
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn

13. Unshelved Reading (Feb 1st - June 1st) 3 books req.

1. Mouseguard: Fall 1152 - David Peterson
   
2. The Lighting Thief - Rick Riordan
   
3. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
4. The Confessions of Max Tivoli - Andre Sean Greer
5. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein

14. 9 Books for 2009

• Free: The Shiniest Jewel -Marion Henley. Received it as an ARC.
  
• Dusty
• Used
• Letter
• Strange
• Distance
• Alive or Not
• Cover
  

15. Year of Readers

• Supporting 826National.org and First Book

16. Childhood Favourites

• Daphne's Book - Mary Downing Hahn
• Where the wild things are - Maurice Sendak
• The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
• 
  
• 
  

17. Graphic Novels (24 books required)

1. The Shiniest Jewel - Marian Henley
2. Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile - Bill Willingham
3. Fables Vol. 7: Arabian Nights - Bill Willingham
4. Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm - Bill Willingham
5. Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love - Bill Willingham
6. Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers - Bill Willingham
7. Fables Vol. 6: Homelands - Bill Willingham
8. Fables Vol. 8: Wolves - Bill Willingham
9. Fables Vol. 9: Sons of the Empire - Bill Willingham
10. Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince - Bill Willingham
11. Faboles Vol. 11: War and Pieces - Bill Willingham
12. The Plain Janes - Cecil Castellucci
    

18. Lost in Translation (6 books)

• The girl with the dragon tattoo - Steig Larson
• Living to tell the tale - Garbriel Garcia Marquez
• Death with Interruptions - Jose Saramago
• Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron
• After the Quake - Haruki Murakami

• 40 Stories - Anton Chekhov
• Perfume: The story of a murderer - Patrick Suskind
• 2666 - Roberto Bolano
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
• The Little Prince - Antoine de Exupery

• Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson
• Memory - Philippe Grimbert
• Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett
• The Lost Daughter - Elena Ferrante
• Without Blood - Alessandro Barrico

• The Black Book of Colors
• The Butcher and Other Erotica - Alina Reyes
• The Elementary Particles - Michael Houellebeccq
• Bonsai - Alejandro Zambra
• The Devil and Miss Prym - Paulo Coelho
• The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolano
• The Rights of the Reader - Daniel Pennac

19. World Citizen

20. Dream King (Acolyte level: 3 works and 1 movie)

• The Graveyard Book audio and book
• Fragile Things
• Neverwhere
• Coraline the movie
  

21. Martel-Harper

22. 42 Challenge

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• Battleship Galactica Disc 1
• 
  

23. Orbis Terrarum

• The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery (France)
  
• Bonsai - Alejandro Zambra (Chile)
• The Rights of the Reader - Daniel Pennac (France)
• Without Blood - Alessando Barrico
• 
  
• 
  

24. Classics Challenge (April 1- October 31, 2009) 4 Books

• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
• ?
• Moby Dick - Herman Melville
• New Classic: Hunger Games -Suzanne Collins
  

25. Banned Books Challenge Feb. 22nd - June 30th

• Annie on My Mind - Nancy Garden
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
• The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
• Forever - Judy Blume
• Stones from the River - Ursula Hegi
• It - Stephen King
• A Day No Pigs Would Die - Robert Peck
• Beloved - Toni Morrison
• The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
• The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
• The Color Purple- Alice Walker
• Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
• The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales
• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
• A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

26. Spring Reading Challenge (ends March 20th - June 20th)

1. Sweet Hearts - Melanie Rae Thon
2. The Water Will Hold You: A Skeptic Learns to Pray - Lindsey Crittenden
3. Unearned Pleasures - Ursula Hegi
4. I am no one you know - Joyce Carol Oates
5. The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
6. Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
7. Delicate Edible Birds - Lauren Groff
8. The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson
9. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron
10. Tales of Burning Love - Louise Erdrich
11. Repair - C.K. Williams
12. Sinners Welcome - Mary Karr
13. Heliopolis - James Scudamore
14. Nocturnes - John Conolly
15. Cries of the Spirit - Marilyn Sewell
16. The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
17. Lullabies for Little Criminals - Heather O'Neil
18. Blue Highways - William Least Heat-Moon
    

27. Once Upon a Time Challenge (potential reads)

1. Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
2. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron
3. A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare
4. The Dark Hills Divide - Patrick Carman
5. The Book of the Unknown - Jonathon Keats
6. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie
7. Tigerheart - Peter David
8. Fables series - Bill Willingham
9. The Bloody Chamber - Angela Carter
10. Nights at the Circus - Angela Carter
11. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafron
12. Nocturnes - John Connolly
13. The Eyre Affair - Jasper Fforde
14. A Curse Dark as Gold - Elizabeth C. Bunce
15. Hansel and Gretel - Cynthia Rylant
16. The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
17. Perfume - Patrick Suskind
18. Hansel and Gretel - Cynthia Rylant
19. East - Edith Pattou
20. Dandelion Wine - Ray Bardbury
21. 
    

28. Diversity Rocks

1. The Black Book of Colors - Menena Cottin (Latino author)
2. The Poet Slave of Cuba - Margarita Engle (Cuban author)
3. Ellington was not a street- Ntzake Shange (Black author)
4. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery (French)
5. The Rights of the Reader - Daniel Pennac (French)
6. Bonsai - Alejandro Zambra (Chilean)
7. The Wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain - Peter Sis (Czech)
8. The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Unknown - Jonathon Keats (Jewish)
9. Topdog/Underdog - Suzan-Lori Parks
   

29. Herding Cats Challenge April 1,2009 - December 31, 2009

1. Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan (Nymeth)
2. The Secret of Lost Things - Sheridan Hay (3m & Puss Reboots)
3. Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck (Becky)
4. The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yoko Ogawa (3m)
5. Beat the Reaper - (Raidergirl3)
6. We have always lived in the castle - Shirley Jackson (Mem)
7. Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami (Chris)
8. Life as we know it - (Raidergirl3)
9. Danny the Champion of the World - Roald Dahl (?)
10. This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jalloun (Raidergirl3)
11. The Library at Night - Alberto Manguel (Gavin)
12. The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate - Ted Chiang (Gavin)