2011 Book Challenges

Here I will list and update my progress in any 2011 Book Challenges that I join.

2011 Reading Challenge

Kc has


read 6 books toward a goal of 50 books.

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6 of 50 (12%)

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2011 Chunkster Reading Challenge

I LOVE large books, or tomes as I prefer to refer to them! I love getting lost in a story that continues for so long that you feel as if you are part of that world and the characters are your best friend. I'm always sad when I finish a long, good book and realize that my new friends are going back to the bookshelf.

The Chunkster Reading Challenge is perfect for me! The challenge is to read adult literature (fiction or nonfiction) books of 450 pages or more.

You can choose any level you want for your goal for 2011. I will be choosing the highest level- Mor-book-ly Obese, because I love a good book challenge! This level means that I will have to read at least 8 books of 450 pages or more in 2011, 3 of which have to be over 750 page! Woohoo!

Finally, I don't have to feel guilty about reading so few books (a 750 page book does take some time to get through), just because I enjoy a nice tome now and then.

Books Completed:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - 1088 pages

2. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - 592 pages

3. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - 1037 pages

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - 552 pages

5. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood - 460 pages

6. The Iliad by Homer - 704 pages

7. The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - 465 pages

8. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - 515 pages

9. Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran - 464 pages

10. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky - 667 pages

11. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - 680 pages

12. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - 464 pages

13. Elizabeth I by Margaret George - 671 pages

14. Decision Points by George W. Bush - 497 pages

15. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - 544 pages

16. Uncle Silas by Sheridan Le Fanu - 528 pages

17. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - 521 pages

18. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 465 pages

19. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - 503 pages

20. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson - 563 pages

21. The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 752 pages

22. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - 562 pages

Possible books to complete challenge:

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

Off the Shelf Challenge

 This challenge is all about reading the books that you've bought but just haven't gotten around to reading yet. My husband will be so happy to hear that I'm challenging myself to read these books since he hates my habit of buying books when he knows I haven't read all of them that I have! I just can't resist the lure of a shiny new cover, the smell of an unopened book, or a great recommendation from a friend!

The 2011 Off the Shelf Challenge will help me re-focus on the books I have so that I can save my money from buying more books (or maybe not...) and relish in the delights already on my bookshelf!

I will be entering at the Trying level, which committs me to read 15 unread books on my shelf.  Not only will that get almost all of my unread books read, but also means I'm committed to reading another 15 books this year!

Books Completed:

1. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

2. The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy

3. Human by Michael Gazzaniga

4. The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

5. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

6. The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

7. Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

8. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

9. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

10. The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

11. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

12. The Iliad by Homer

13. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

14. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

15. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

16. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

17. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Possible Books to Complete Challenge:

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2. Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh

3. The Brothers Karamazov by Fydor Dostoevsky

4. The Idiot by Fydor Dostoevsky

5. The Possessed by Fydor Dostoevsky

6. A Dance to the Music of Time 1st Movement by Anthony Powell

7. Middlemarch by George Eliot

8. Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

9. A portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

10. Demian by Hermann Hesse

11. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

12. The Strange by Albert Camus

13. Human by Michael Gazzaniga

14. Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter

15. I am a Strange Loop by Doughlas Hofstadter

16. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

17. The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

18. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

19. Wideacre by Phillippa Gregory

20. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

22. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

23. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

24. Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis

25. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

26. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

27. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L'Engle

28. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle

My 2011 Book Challenges are growing as I find more of them to join!

This challenge, run by The Broke and the Bookish, promotes reading non-fiction books in order to learn and grow in 2011. Here are the rules and guidelines:

Rules:

- The challenge runs from January 17th to December 31st 2011.
-  Anyone who links a review up is eligible to be entered to win a book of their choice (under $15). How many reviews you link up determines how many entries you get. Additional prizes may be added once I organize this more and depending on how many people sign up. (International readers welcome if Book Depository ships to you).
- Anyone can join. If you don't have a blog, you can link reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or wherever you have your reviews.
- You can join the challenge at any point throughout the year.

Here's the challenge:

Topics:

Culture: Non-fiction books about different cultures, religions and foreign lands; memoirs & biographies count.

Art: Non-fiction books about anything art related (painters, music, architecture, photography, dance, literature, film, etc.). Memoirs/biographies of any people related to the arts count.

Food: Food memoirs, anything related to food industry, food lifestyles

Medical: anything related to the medical field--industry memoirs, memoirs about illnesses (mental included) /diseases, etc.

Travel: travelogues, industry memoirs, travel guides, etc.

Memoir/Biography: Self explanatory

Money: Anything related to finances, economics, history of money, financial improvement etc.

Science/Nature: Anything related to any scientific field, memoirs count.

History: Anything history related-- events, biographies of historic figures, etc.

Levels:

1-3 books from different categories: Master of Trivial Pursuit
4-6 books from different categories: Apply For Who Wants to Be A Millionaire
7-9 books from different categories: Future Jeopardy Champion

For now, I am only planning on following the first level, Master of Trivial Pursuit. This means that I will read 1 to 3 (probably 3) non-fiction books, each from a different category. I am choosing the lowest level becasue while I do read non-fiction books, they tend to all be science related, which means that only one of them will count for this challenge.

Books Completed:
1. Human by Michael Gazzaniga - Science
2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Science/Cultural Studies
3. The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev - History
4. Traveling with Pomegranates by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor - Travel/Memoir
5. Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker - Medical/History
6. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - Science
7. Bossypants by Tina Fey - Memoir
8. You Are Not Your Brain by Jeffrey Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding - Science/Self-Help
9. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Barlett - Art
10. The Devil in the White  City by Erik Larson - History
11. Decision Points by George W. Bush - Memoir/Politics
12. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch - Memoir
13. Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton - Memoir

Possible Books:

1. Human by Michael Gazzaniga - Science

2. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell - 

3. Decision Points by George W. Bush - Memoir/Biography