Challenges Ahead, v. 2012

New Challenges:

There are a few Challenges that are new to me this year that I just can't resist. But there are also some old favourites that I'm going to continue on with for another year. Here are the Challenges I'm attacking this year!


What's In A Name 5 hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Here's How It Works:

Between January 1 and December 31, 2012, read one book in each of the following categories (no lists required but I always enjoy making my list of possibilities so here they are) :

A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title:
Bone Coulee / Larry Warwaruk
Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country / Louise Erdrich
A View of the Harbour / Elizabeth Taylor
Read: Invisible Mountain / Carolina DeRobertis

A book with something you'd see in the sky in the title:
The Moon of Letting Go / Richard Van Camp
Aurora Montrealis / Monique Proulx
When Rain Clouds Gather / Bessie Head
Read: Prisoner of Heaven / Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A book with a creepy crawly in the title:
Feathered Serpent / Xiobin Xu
Serpent and the Scorpion / Claire Langley-Hawthorne
Read: What the Bee Knows / P.L. Travers


A book with a type of house in the title:
The Opposite House / Helen Oyeyemi
The Last House / Michael Kenyon
In the Spice House / Marnie Woodrow
Read: Limpopo Academy of Private Detection / Alexander McCall Smith

A book with something you'd carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title:
Read: Textbook of the Rose / Joann McCaig
Letters of a Portuguese Nun / Myriam Cyr
The Chocolate Wars / Deborah Cadbury (because I always have chocolate in my purse, don't you?)

A book with a something you'd find on a calendar in the title:
Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis / José Saramago
Read: The New Moon's Arms / Nalo Hopkinson
Aleta Day / Francis Marion Benyon


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Eastern Europe Challenge 2012 hosted by The Black Sheep Dances

Amy at The Black Sheep Dances is carrying this 2011 challenge over into another year due to popular demand -- yay! I love reading fiction from this part of the world, and as this year I aimed to read four books and ended up reading five, in 2012 I'm aiming at the next level: reading 8 by year's end. Some of my possibilities:

1. The Case of the General's Thumb / Andrey Kurkov
2. A Country Doctor's Notebook / Mikhail Bulgakov
3. The Master & Margarita / Mikhail Bulgakov
4. Dead Souls / Nikolai Gogol
5. Dreams of my Russian Summers / Andrei Makine
6. Russian Winter / Daphne Kalotay
7. Any of the books in Language Lantern's Women's Voices in Ukrainian Literature series

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Tea and Books Challenge hosted by Birgit at The Book Garden (a new-to-me blog!)

This one is too enticing to miss; look at the gorgeous button! The challenge is to read books of over 700 pages, no rereads, large print or audio allowed. Too bad about the rereads -- there are a couple I'd like to get back to, but oh well, I'm signing up as a "Berry Tea Devotee" (ie: 4 books over the year). My possibilities:

1. Sir Charles Grandison / Samuel Richardson (1159 p)
2. Daniel Deronda / George Eliot (727 p)
3. Celestial Harmonies / Peter Esterhazy (846 p)
4. The House of Nire / Morio Kita (765 p)

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Truth in Fiction Challenge hosted by Amanda at the Fig & Thistle (another new-to-me blog!)

This Challenge has a great concept: read one fiction and one non-fiction book that are thematically related and then blog about them as a pair. There are 7 levels, but I'm going to stick with "Freshman" level and just see if I can get one pair read and reviewed. Any more than that would just be a bonus. Not sure what they will be yet!

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2012 Fearless Poetry Exploration hosted by Serena at Savvy Verse and Wit (a great poetry promoter)

And because I love poetry, I have to sign up for this one too! It's easy: I'm signing up to read & review 2 books of poetry over the year, plus be a part of April's Poetry Month blog tour. Fun stuff - I do enjoy sharing poetry on this blog.

Poetry I read in 2012
Omens in the Year of the Ox / Steven Price
Monkey Ranch / Julie Bruck
Dear Hermes / Michelle Smith
Halfway to the East / Marusya Bociurkiw



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This Challenge is just what it sounds like: read the unread books you have sitting around your house -- as many as you can. I'm going to join in on this one because I'm making an effort to include possible titles for all of this year's challenges from the books I already own. So far there are only a couple of titles listed for all of my challenges that I do not already own. And I am continuing on with my "TBR Twenty" for this year as well (more on that later) so we'll see how I do with this!

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Ongoing Challenges:

I know I'll repeat the Canadian Book Challenge when it flips over on July 1st - it is one of my favourites, definitely.

There are also a few seasonal challenges I like to join, most specifically the very Autumnal RIP Challenge held by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings (though I only read 3/4 this year).

But more on those later in the year!